I'm in mourning over yesterday's election results. Were it only the case that Republican policies in recent years (decades even) have actually helped the economy and in particular the middle and working classes. Not in my view. Oh well, at least those who chose to vote have spoken. Now they, and those foolish enough not to have voted, must live with the consequences.
But I know that I want a woman as President in 2016 and she isn't Sarah Palin. Nor is she Elizabeth Warren. Yes, call me backward looking if you like, but I want to see Hillary Clinton as the first female U.S. President. Okay, back to my tissues to accompany my mourning.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Hold Back on Anointing Putin a Master Player, Doyle McManus
In the May 28, 2014, Los Angeles Times, regular columnist Doyle McManus wrote a piece entitled "Vladimir Putin, master player" in which he literally praised Putin for his deft handling of events in Ukraine.
McManus wrote, in part: "Let us now praise Vladimir Putin. Yes, Russia's president is a cold-hearted autocrat. And yes, he rules through a network of nasty oligarchs bent on squeezing profit from their country's oil riches. If he covets a piece of territory, he's liable to try to grab it. But he's not a madman. Putin has played an old-fashioned game of international brinkmanship masterfully -- and so far, he's coming out ahead."
McManus's full piece may be found at: Putin, master player.
I respectfully disagree with McManus's rush to anoint Putin and have responded by email to McManus as follows:
Dear Doyle,
I think you take a very narrow and, frankly, overly conventional and misguided view of events in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin's talents in your column, "Putin, master player," in today's (May 28, 2014) Los Angeles Times.
Too many pundits, including you, look with wonderment and fascination at Putin's actions in reclaiming Crimea and causing instability in Ukraine, and pronounce him, as you have, a "master player."
There is no question he is not a madman although it also seems clear that he is acting with great emotion rather than cold reason in his actions. But keep in mind the events surrounding his actions. A Russia leaning, constitutionally elected president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, was pushed out of power by a popular, but hardly universal, uprising in Kiev and the European-leaning western part of a deeply divided Ukraine. Ukraine, long an integral part of the Soviet Union and literally on the doorstep of Russia itself, appeared not only to be drifting westward toward the EU but there were at least some voices calling for its inclusion in NATO.
Recall the Bay of Pigs, Doyle? You're old enough, I believe. I'm 71. You were also taught the Monroe Doctrine as a small child, I am sure. Well, it isn't so surprising that Putin, and likely many other Russians, look upon Ukraine in a way somewhat similar to the way our country has looked upon Cuba, Granada, Central America (e.g., Panama) and even South America. Having built an Eastern European bloc in part as protection against invasions and other challenges from Central and Western Europe, suddenly Russia faced the possibility that, without an election, Ukraine might be incorporated into NATO, as was Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the latter three small Baltic states done without much attentiveness from the American people.
In any case, while I am NOT defending or justifying Putin's actions, I wouldn't call them the mark of a master player. Putin likely saw events in Ukraine as a threat to Russian interests and even, with possible NATO expansion, Russian security. And he acted. As for Crimea, it appears to have been "gifted" to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by Russia in 1954, although it remained Russia's key military port on the Black Sea. Again, that is not to justify Putin's land grab, but it is to put it into a perspective you fail to provide.
Actually, I think President Obama deserves considerable praise for his "handling" of the events in Ukraine. While the McCain crew (John, Lindsey and now Kelly who has replaced Joe) criticized Obama's response and called for strong American measures including military aid and some Americans even called for a token American military presence, Obama remained cool to any such direct intervention or involvement. Instead, he remained calm and rallied Western European allies to impose a gradually more severe set of sanctions against Putin and his allies. News reports indicated that very influential German industrialists were lobbying Merkel not to impose any serious sanctions yet it appears Obama persuaded her to at least strongly consider making such moves.
I share the belief of many that Putin's latest actions pulling back some Russian troops and indicating a willingness to negotiate with the new Ukrainian president are in part due to the threat of increased Western sanctions. But Putin's actions are not explicable entirely in that way. The costs to Russia of further Russian territorial expansion into eastern Ukraine, even apart from sanctions, would likely be prohibitive.
Putin appears to have restored a large measure of Russian influence over Ukraine's Kiev government, which was likely a large part of what he sought. But, in many respects, isn't such a relationship the "normal" expectation regarding a country on Russia's border that had been part of the Russian empire for centuries, rather than an incredible feat by a "master player?" I think so.
As I said, I think Obama deserves considerable credit if you're handing out awards to alleged master players. Let's be more begrudging before anointing Vladimir Putin a "master player."
Sincerely,
Donald
McManus wrote, in part: "Let us now praise Vladimir Putin. Yes, Russia's president is a cold-hearted autocrat. And yes, he rules through a network of nasty oligarchs bent on squeezing profit from their country's oil riches. If he covets a piece of territory, he's liable to try to grab it. But he's not a madman. Putin has played an old-fashioned game of international brinkmanship masterfully -- and so far, he's coming out ahead."
McManus's full piece may be found at: Putin, master player.
I respectfully disagree with McManus's rush to anoint Putin and have responded by email to McManus as follows:
Dear Doyle,
I think you take a very narrow and, frankly, overly conventional and misguided view of events in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin's talents in your column, "Putin, master player," in today's (May 28, 2014) Los Angeles Times.
Too many pundits, including you, look with wonderment and fascination at Putin's actions in reclaiming Crimea and causing instability in Ukraine, and pronounce him, as you have, a "master player."
There is no question he is not a madman although it also seems clear that he is acting with great emotion rather than cold reason in his actions. But keep in mind the events surrounding his actions. A Russia leaning, constitutionally elected president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, was pushed out of power by a popular, but hardly universal, uprising in Kiev and the European-leaning western part of a deeply divided Ukraine. Ukraine, long an integral part of the Soviet Union and literally on the doorstep of Russia itself, appeared not only to be drifting westward toward the EU but there were at least some voices calling for its inclusion in NATO.
Recall the Bay of Pigs, Doyle? You're old enough, I believe. I'm 71. You were also taught the Monroe Doctrine as a small child, I am sure. Well, it isn't so surprising that Putin, and likely many other Russians, look upon Ukraine in a way somewhat similar to the way our country has looked upon Cuba, Granada, Central America (e.g., Panama) and even South America. Having built an Eastern European bloc in part as protection against invasions and other challenges from Central and Western Europe, suddenly Russia faced the possibility that, without an election, Ukraine might be incorporated into NATO, as was Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the latter three small Baltic states done without much attentiveness from the American people.
In any case, while I am NOT defending or justifying Putin's actions, I wouldn't call them the mark of a master player. Putin likely saw events in Ukraine as a threat to Russian interests and even, with possible NATO expansion, Russian security. And he acted. As for Crimea, it appears to have been "gifted" to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by Russia in 1954, although it remained Russia's key military port on the Black Sea. Again, that is not to justify Putin's land grab, but it is to put it into a perspective you fail to provide.
Actually, I think President Obama deserves considerable praise for his "handling" of the events in Ukraine. While the McCain crew (John, Lindsey and now Kelly who has replaced Joe) criticized Obama's response and called for strong American measures including military aid and some Americans even called for a token American military presence, Obama remained cool to any such direct intervention or involvement. Instead, he remained calm and rallied Western European allies to impose a gradually more severe set of sanctions against Putin and his allies. News reports indicated that very influential German industrialists were lobbying Merkel not to impose any serious sanctions yet it appears Obama persuaded her to at least strongly consider making such moves.
I share the belief of many that Putin's latest actions pulling back some Russian troops and indicating a willingness to negotiate with the new Ukrainian president are in part due to the threat of increased Western sanctions. But Putin's actions are not explicable entirely in that way. The costs to Russia of further Russian territorial expansion into eastern Ukraine, even apart from sanctions, would likely be prohibitive.
Putin appears to have restored a large measure of Russian influence over Ukraine's Kiev government, which was likely a large part of what he sought. But, in many respects, isn't such a relationship the "normal" expectation regarding a country on Russia's border that had been part of the Russian empire for centuries, rather than an incredible feat by a "master player?" I think so.
As I said, I think Obama deserves considerable credit if you're handing out awards to alleged master players. Let's be more begrudging before anointing Vladimir Putin a "master player."
Sincerely,
Donald
Friday, April 18, 2014
My Response to George F. Will's "Progressives are Wrong about the Essence of the Constitution"
In a column entitled "Progressives are Wrong about the Essence of the Constitution," published in the Washington Post dated April 16, 2014, George F. Will praised a new book that he claims "lucidly explains the intensity of conservatism's disagreements with progressivism." The book is "The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty," by Timothy Sandefur, which I have not read.
Will claims that "The fundamental division in U.S. politics is between those who take their bearings from the individual’s right to a capacious, indeed indefinite, realm of freedom, and those whose fundamental value is the right of the majority to have its way in making rules about which specified liberties shall be respected." He criticizes a comment apparently made by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer that the Constitution is "basically about" one word, "democracy," and contends that "Democracy is America’s way of allocating political power. The Constitution, however, was adopted to confine that power in order to 'secure the blessings of' that which simultaneously justifies and limits democratic government — natural liberty."
Will and apparently Sandefur contend that progressives, in considering that democracy is the source of liberty, have reversed the Founders' premise, which is that liberty preexists governments which are legitimate only to secure natural rights. Will writes that: "Conservatives believe that liberty, understood as a general absence of interference, and individual rights, which cannot be exhaustively listed, are natural and that governmental restrictions on them must be as few as possible and rigorously justified. Merely invoking the right of a majority to have its way is an insufficient justification."
Will, and apparently Sandefur, attribute to the Founders a Lockean perspective on the origin of civil society and government. In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke opined that, prior to civil society, men and women lived in a state of nature, which he described as a state of liberty, in which each was "free to dispose of himself or his possessions" subject to the law of nature which, according to Locke, was reason, which teaches that, "because we are all equal and independent, no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." In Locke's state of nature, each person enjoyed the right to enforce the law of nature and punish offenders. But, under Locke's construct, given the challenges of individual enforcement, individuals came together to form a civil community and, in doing so, consented to relinquish their individual power to enforce the law of nature. The civil community then chose a form of government whose purpose was to enforce the law of nature and individual freedoms.
In attributing to the Founders and to the Constitution they wrote Locke's concept of the state of nature, the law of nature, and the purposes of civil society and government, Will and Sandefur describe a concept of liberty termed by the eminent philosopher Isaiah Berlin, in his 1958 essay "Two Concepts of Liberty,"as a "negative concept of liberty," meaning that freedom or liberty constitutes the absence of external restraint.
In contrast to this negative concept of freedom stands a "positive concept of freedom" or liberty. Under this concept, freedom involves self-mastery, controlling one's own fate or destiny. This appears roughly similar to negative freedom but it diverges when the concept of self-mastery takes into account that individuals often feel themselves struggling against their own internal demons, and that real freedom or self-mastery represents overcoming these demons and realizing one's "true" or higher self. At the same time, realizing one's higher self often involves incorporating or striving for standards or measures external to oneself, be they religious principles, political ideals or other values. The matter of who determines the nature of the "higher" self often leads to a corruption or manipulation of the "positive concept of freedom" in which organizations and individuals apart from oneself dictate the "higher" nature to which one should be striving. Students of political philosophy are familiar with Jean Jacques Rousseau's concept of being "forced to be free."
In American history two different schools of thought have emerged each of which is often described as "conservative" in today's vernacular. One school embraces Berlin's "negative concept of liberty" and is actually descended from the Lockean tradition as well as 19th century liberalism. This school of thought embraces reason as a core concept and in today's world continues to support a free market and individual freedom as conceived of as the absence of external restraint. Some who claim to be libertarians fall into this category. Interestingly enough, many who describe themselves today as liberal or progressive also embrace this negative concept of liberty although they differ with conservatives and libertarians on the extent to which government is needed to level the playing field so that all Americans may be able to develop their reasoning powers and exercise individual freedoms and choices.
But another school of thought in today's America that usually describes itself as "conservative" is far more associated with Berlin's "positive concept of freedom." This school tends to be steeped more in religion and religious values and other highly valued concepts such as community, duty, service, devotion and honor. While adherents of this school of thought speak of individual freedom, quite often they think of freedom as self-mastery that involves overcoming hedonistic and selfish proclivities and acting consistent with the values identified above. For example, for many adherents of this school, freeing oneself from addiction to drugs or liberating oneself from certain sexual proclivities constitute achieving personal freedom even if done under the tight control and direction of a charismatic leader or organization, which is not the same as acting in the absence of external restraint.
In his column, George Will avoids any reference to or acknowledgment of this second school of thought despite its prominence today in American society and in Republican political circles. While he champions "natural liberty" and Berlin's "negative concept of liberty" as the essence of the U.S. Constitution, he fails to acknowledge that many conservatives today reject a woman's right to choose, certainly an instance of personal freedom as the absence of external restraint, as well as the right of same sex marriage, just two instances involving the exercise of the "negative concept of freedom." Even libertarians tend to stumble when it comes to a woman's reproductive rights, particularly the right to an abortion.
As well, for decades conservatives were not strong supporters of the First Amendment's right of freedom of speech. Rather, conservatives tended to emphasize competing social values, such as national security or social order, when it came to imposing regulations on free speech. Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas took what came to be called an "absolutist position on the First Amendment," asserting, typically in dissent, that free speech was absolute and not subject to a balancing test vis-a-vis other social values. This was not a position conservatives embraced, until recently in selective situations. Now conservative Supreme Court justices and other conservatives trumpet an almost absolutist position of free speech when it comes to the expenditure of millions of dollars by wealthy Americans and American corporations in political campaigns. The notion of balancing this right against other social values, such as free, fair and meaningful elections, seems foreign to them. And this absolutist position is even more on display when it comes to gun and firearms regulation. Conservatives have adopted an absolutist position on the 2nd Amendment despite a long history by conservatives of balancing individual freedoms against other significant social values even in instances where the language of the Constitution does not speak of balancing.
I believe that years ago, during the course of Will's political evolution, he drew distinctions between, on the one hand, those American conservatives descended from Barry Goldwater (and from others going back long before him) who reflected 19th century liberal concepts such as laissez faire, free speech and freedom as the absence of external restraint, and, on the other hand, those American conservatives whose views reflected the writings and beliefs of the 18th century English philosopher Edmund Burke as well as more religiously oriented conservatives who were no friends of "natural liberty" but rather embraced a more traditionalist, non-Lockean view of society and its origins and whose concept of freedom was closer to Berlin's "concept of positive liberty." These distinctions among American "conservatives" still exist but Will fails to acknowledge them in this column.
As well, it is questionable that either Locke or the Founders would embrace Will's description of the essence of the Constitution as fostering "a capacious, indeed indefinite, realm of freedom ... understood as a general absence of interference ... ." Locke made clear that a state of liberty in the state of nature was not a state of license and that the law of nature, reason, dictated that "no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." The Founders, who may have harbored more of a darker Hobbesian rather than Lockean view of human behavior, were quite concerned about the dangers of factions, as reflected in Federalist #10, which included what we would describe today as interest groups, PACs, and even political parties. While they were not willing to strip individuals of personal freedom to limit the dangers of factions but rather favored structural mechanisms to keep their effects in check, the Founders were certainly concerned that the excessive pursuit of individual freedom could undermine the public interest.
But the biggest flaw in Will's argument is his contention that progressives are above all else concerned about democracy, which he describes as a process, rather than individual liberty, which he describes as a condition. Liberals, a term I prefer to progressives, in the 20th and now in the 21st century, have never abandoned the commitment of 19th century liberals and earlier thinkers of the Enlightenment to personal liberty and the dignity of the individual as opposed to a glorification of the State, Church and Nobility, long the focus of conservative thinkers and groups. However, whereas the Church and State were often in opposition to individual freedom prior to the 20th century, in the 20th century the rise of powerful financial institutions, corporations and capitalism led liberals committed to personal liberty to turn to the State as a way to counterbalance the growing power of corporations over the lives of average citizens. The commitment of liberals to protecting and fostering civil liberties and civil rights, rights often opposed by the will of the majority and by conservative groups, attests to their focus on individual liberty rather than democracy. At the same time, in seeking to use the State to hold in check the growing power of corporations over the lives of individual workers and the public in general, 20th and 21st century liberals have recognized that democratic institutions, rather than government dominated by the wealthy and corporate interests, are more likely to come to the aid of individuals and assist them in pursuing life, liberty, health, possessions and happiness.
Will claims that "The fundamental division in U.S. politics is between those who take their bearings from the individual’s right to a capacious, indeed indefinite, realm of freedom, and those whose fundamental value is the right of the majority to have its way in making rules about which specified liberties shall be respected." He criticizes a comment apparently made by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer that the Constitution is "basically about" one word, "democracy," and contends that "Democracy is America’s way of allocating political power. The Constitution, however, was adopted to confine that power in order to 'secure the blessings of' that which simultaneously justifies and limits democratic government — natural liberty."
Will and apparently Sandefur contend that progressives, in considering that democracy is the source of liberty, have reversed the Founders' premise, which is that liberty preexists governments which are legitimate only to secure natural rights. Will writes that: "Conservatives believe that liberty, understood as a general absence of interference, and individual rights, which cannot be exhaustively listed, are natural and that governmental restrictions on them must be as few as possible and rigorously justified. Merely invoking the right of a majority to have its way is an insufficient justification."
Will, and apparently Sandefur, attribute to the Founders a Lockean perspective on the origin of civil society and government. In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke opined that, prior to civil society, men and women lived in a state of nature, which he described as a state of liberty, in which each was "free to dispose of himself or his possessions" subject to the law of nature which, according to Locke, was reason, which teaches that, "because we are all equal and independent, no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." In Locke's state of nature, each person enjoyed the right to enforce the law of nature and punish offenders. But, under Locke's construct, given the challenges of individual enforcement, individuals came together to form a civil community and, in doing so, consented to relinquish their individual power to enforce the law of nature. The civil community then chose a form of government whose purpose was to enforce the law of nature and individual freedoms.
In attributing to the Founders and to the Constitution they wrote Locke's concept of the state of nature, the law of nature, and the purposes of civil society and government, Will and Sandefur describe a concept of liberty termed by the eminent philosopher Isaiah Berlin, in his 1958 essay "Two Concepts of Liberty,"as a "negative concept of liberty," meaning that freedom or liberty constitutes the absence of external restraint.
In contrast to this negative concept of freedom stands a "positive concept of freedom" or liberty. Under this concept, freedom involves self-mastery, controlling one's own fate or destiny. This appears roughly similar to negative freedom but it diverges when the concept of self-mastery takes into account that individuals often feel themselves struggling against their own internal demons, and that real freedom or self-mastery represents overcoming these demons and realizing one's "true" or higher self. At the same time, realizing one's higher self often involves incorporating or striving for standards or measures external to oneself, be they religious principles, political ideals or other values. The matter of who determines the nature of the "higher" self often leads to a corruption or manipulation of the "positive concept of freedom" in which organizations and individuals apart from oneself dictate the "higher" nature to which one should be striving. Students of political philosophy are familiar with Jean Jacques Rousseau's concept of being "forced to be free."
In American history two different schools of thought have emerged each of which is often described as "conservative" in today's vernacular. One school embraces Berlin's "negative concept of liberty" and is actually descended from the Lockean tradition as well as 19th century liberalism. This school of thought embraces reason as a core concept and in today's world continues to support a free market and individual freedom as conceived of as the absence of external restraint. Some who claim to be libertarians fall into this category. Interestingly enough, many who describe themselves today as liberal or progressive also embrace this negative concept of liberty although they differ with conservatives and libertarians on the extent to which government is needed to level the playing field so that all Americans may be able to develop their reasoning powers and exercise individual freedoms and choices.
But another school of thought in today's America that usually describes itself as "conservative" is far more associated with Berlin's "positive concept of freedom." This school tends to be steeped more in religion and religious values and other highly valued concepts such as community, duty, service, devotion and honor. While adherents of this school of thought speak of individual freedom, quite often they think of freedom as self-mastery that involves overcoming hedonistic and selfish proclivities and acting consistent with the values identified above. For example, for many adherents of this school, freeing oneself from addiction to drugs or liberating oneself from certain sexual proclivities constitute achieving personal freedom even if done under the tight control and direction of a charismatic leader or organization, which is not the same as acting in the absence of external restraint.
In his column, George Will avoids any reference to or acknowledgment of this second school of thought despite its prominence today in American society and in Republican political circles. While he champions "natural liberty" and Berlin's "negative concept of liberty" as the essence of the U.S. Constitution, he fails to acknowledge that many conservatives today reject a woman's right to choose, certainly an instance of personal freedom as the absence of external restraint, as well as the right of same sex marriage, just two instances involving the exercise of the "negative concept of freedom." Even libertarians tend to stumble when it comes to a woman's reproductive rights, particularly the right to an abortion.
As well, for decades conservatives were not strong supporters of the First Amendment's right of freedom of speech. Rather, conservatives tended to emphasize competing social values, such as national security or social order, when it came to imposing regulations on free speech. Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas took what came to be called an "absolutist position on the First Amendment," asserting, typically in dissent, that free speech was absolute and not subject to a balancing test vis-a-vis other social values. This was not a position conservatives embraced, until recently in selective situations. Now conservative Supreme Court justices and other conservatives trumpet an almost absolutist position of free speech when it comes to the expenditure of millions of dollars by wealthy Americans and American corporations in political campaigns. The notion of balancing this right against other social values, such as free, fair and meaningful elections, seems foreign to them. And this absolutist position is even more on display when it comes to gun and firearms regulation. Conservatives have adopted an absolutist position on the 2nd Amendment despite a long history by conservatives of balancing individual freedoms against other significant social values even in instances where the language of the Constitution does not speak of balancing.
I believe that years ago, during the course of Will's political evolution, he drew distinctions between, on the one hand, those American conservatives descended from Barry Goldwater (and from others going back long before him) who reflected 19th century liberal concepts such as laissez faire, free speech and freedom as the absence of external restraint, and, on the other hand, those American conservatives whose views reflected the writings and beliefs of the 18th century English philosopher Edmund Burke as well as more religiously oriented conservatives who were no friends of "natural liberty" but rather embraced a more traditionalist, non-Lockean view of society and its origins and whose concept of freedom was closer to Berlin's "concept of positive liberty." These distinctions among American "conservatives" still exist but Will fails to acknowledge them in this column.
As well, it is questionable that either Locke or the Founders would embrace Will's description of the essence of the Constitution as fostering "a capacious, indeed indefinite, realm of freedom ... understood as a general absence of interference ... ." Locke made clear that a state of liberty in the state of nature was not a state of license and that the law of nature, reason, dictated that "no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." The Founders, who may have harbored more of a darker Hobbesian rather than Lockean view of human behavior, were quite concerned about the dangers of factions, as reflected in Federalist #10, which included what we would describe today as interest groups, PACs, and even political parties. While they were not willing to strip individuals of personal freedom to limit the dangers of factions but rather favored structural mechanisms to keep their effects in check, the Founders were certainly concerned that the excessive pursuit of individual freedom could undermine the public interest.
But the biggest flaw in Will's argument is his contention that progressives are above all else concerned about democracy, which he describes as a process, rather than individual liberty, which he describes as a condition. Liberals, a term I prefer to progressives, in the 20th and now in the 21st century, have never abandoned the commitment of 19th century liberals and earlier thinkers of the Enlightenment to personal liberty and the dignity of the individual as opposed to a glorification of the State, Church and Nobility, long the focus of conservative thinkers and groups. However, whereas the Church and State were often in opposition to individual freedom prior to the 20th century, in the 20th century the rise of powerful financial institutions, corporations and capitalism led liberals committed to personal liberty to turn to the State as a way to counterbalance the growing power of corporations over the lives of average citizens. The commitment of liberals to protecting and fostering civil liberties and civil rights, rights often opposed by the will of the majority and by conservative groups, attests to their focus on individual liberty rather than democracy. At the same time, in seeking to use the State to hold in check the growing power of corporations over the lives of individual workers and the public in general, 20th and 21st century liberals have recognized that democratic institutions, rather than government dominated by the wealthy and corporate interests, are more likely to come to the aid of individuals and assist them in pursuing life, liberty, health, possessions and happiness.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Searching for My Grandma's Hamantaschen
It’s Purim again. You know, that “other” Jewish holiday this
time of year that starts with the letter P.
Always the stepchild to Pesach, better known as Passover, even though it
occurs earlier in the Hebrew year.
As you may know, Purim celebrates the Jews’
survival from another threat to their existence.
Actually, that seems to be the theme to many Jewish holidays: Passover
and Chanukah come to mind. Purim
dates back to the 4th century BCE when Jews faced eradication in Persia during
the rule of King Ahasuerus. His grand
vizier, Haman, apparently felt himself insulted by Mordecai, a Jew who refused
to bow down to Haman, and Haman decided to kill all the Jews. Fortunately, however, the Queen of Persia,
Esther, just so happened to be Jewish, although neither the King nor Haman knew
this at the time Haman devised his plot to kill the Jews. Mordecai, who was Esther’s cousin and
guardian, convinced Esther to intercede with the King which she successfully
did. As a result, Haman faced the gallows. The Jews survived. For those who
want the authentic story not distorted by my abbreviated version, read the Book
of Esther in the Old Testament. For
those who need a website, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther.
As a child, I loved
Purim, far more than I loved Passover.
During Passover I could not eat my favorite foods. When I was growing up, the number of foods
that were “kosher for Passover” was limited.
One of my favorite “foods,” using that term loosely, Heinz Ketchup, was
not made kosher for Passover despite my unanswered plea to the Heinz company by
letter in the 1950’s. Some of the best
chocolate were also not available.
But Purim, which
admittedly only lasted a day, had abundant treats, most notably hamantaschen. What are hamantaschen, you ask? A hamantasch is a filled-pocket cookie or
pastry in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine recognizable for its three-cornered shape.
The shape is achieved by folding in the sides of a circular piece of dough,
with a filling placed in the center. The
filling is often poppy seeds but sometimes prunes or other delights. The pastry draws its name from Haman, of
course, and is eaten as part of the festivities celebrating Jewish survival and
Haman’s downfall.
During Purim, the
Megillah of Esther, the Scroll or Book of Esther, is read at the
synagogue. Young children furiously
shake noisemakers or groggers every time Haman’s name is mentioned during the
reading. Then it’s back home for the hamantaschen. I imagine there was some deep religious
discussion that accompanied the celebration of Purim when I was a child but,
frankly, that was lost in translation!
In any case, my family
would always travel to my mother’s parents’ home when I, my brother and sister,
were children, and there we would devour Grandma’s hamantaschen. They were absolutely delicious. We would always take a truckload of them home
with us. Grandma’s hamantaschen were
filled with prunes and were large, soft shelled and puffy.
Ever since my childhood I
have longed for my Grandma’s hamantaschen. One year, decades ago, my mother
made a batch and mailed them to me in California.
Since then, however, I have sought my Grandma’s hamantaschen in vein. I searched various Jewish bakeries in
Southern California to no avail.
This year I decided to at
least try to figure out what made my Grandma’s hamantaschen so different than
all the others I have tasted. And I’ve
discovered the key! My Grandma did not
use cookie dough, whether soft or hard, to make her hamantaschen. Most who make hamantaschen use cookie dough. My Grandma used dough with yeast that yielded
a much softer pastry with a brownish color.
Unlike most cookie dough hamantaschen which crumble before they reach
your mouth, Grandma’s hamantaschen retained their shape until disappearing
inside our mouths.
I was able to find
several sources on the Web that distinguish Grandma’s kind of hamantaschen from
the usual cookie dough variety.
The usual cookie dough
variety of hamantaschen typically looks like this:
In contrast, my Grandma’s
hamantaschen looked like this:
Now I must find someone who knows how to cook
to make my Grandma’s hamantaschen. Then
life would be sweet!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Why I Love My Google Maps and Waze Apps
I had occasion to use both my Google Maps and Waze applications on my iPhone today, February 28th, while navigating from my home to West Los Angeles and back for a delightful lunch with two former college classmates. The inclement weather gave me concerns about freeway driving so I turned to these GPS navigation tools for help. And, in the course of using the devices I realized why I really love them.
Aside from the soothing female voice that provides directions, I think the key to my affection for these GPS applications is simple: no matter how often I disregard the directions I am being given and take some other route, she never gets angry at me, never yells at me, never tells me how dumb I am for disregarding her directions, always remains calm and always remains unflappable. No matter how misguided my decision was, she simply recalibrates the route to coincide with the new path I have taken and provides me with a new set of instructions designed to get me to my destination.
Lest you think my feelings toward Google Maps and Waze say more about me than about these applications, well, what can I say!
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