Free Republic

In his speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition, Newt Gingrich just pledged that, if elected, he would ask John Bolton to be his secretary of state.

Foxman and friends seem to have forgotten that debate, discussion and yes, even disagreement are precisely what democracy is all about. The American presidential election may be over a year away, but two leading Jewish organizations are already gearing up to assist Barack Obama in his effort to win a second term. In a highly unusual move, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) have joined forces to launch what is being billed as a “National Unity Pledge for Israel.” The document, which is being widely circulated to garner signatures, ostensibly seeks to promote bipartisan support for...

Cynthia Tucker, one of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s highest-profile columnists for more than 20 years, is leaving the AJC to become a visiting professor at the University of Georgia’s journalism school. Tucker, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2007, assumes her new role Aug. 12, the AJC and UGA announced Wednesday. They said her position at UGA will be part of a partnership between the AJC and the university’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Tucker, 56, was editorial page editor of AJC from 2001 to 2009, when she moved to Washington as a political columnist in a...

Obama could have called for a “moon shot” tonight to make a transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, and he failed to do that. He made his first-ever speech in the Oval Office, and he had all three networks at the 8 p.m. slot, and he didn’t make good use of it. The speech was flat and uninspiring. He recited a litany of the things the administration has done to try to bring the spill under control, but it was a rehash of things the public has already heard. Yes, he’s going to make BP pay. That’s good —...

WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing the AJC Annual Gala tonight, delivered a powerful reaffirmation of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and the shared goal of achieving a negotiated comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. "Israel's right to exist is non-negotiable and no lasting peace is possible unless that is accepted," said Clinton. "Regional peace must begin with the recognition by every party that the United States will always stand behind Israel's security," said Clinton, adding that guaranteeing Israel's security "is more than a policy position; it is a personal commitment."

NEW YORK, March 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC warmly welcomed remarks by CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus in which he denied that the perceived pro-Israel slant of U.S. foreign policy endangers the lives of American troops serving in his area of responsibility, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

NEW YORK, March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Jewish Committee (AJC) today urged the Obama Administration to call a halt to its public denunciations of the Israeli government and return to the use of language befitting the close relations between Washington and Jerusalem. "Israel made a serious mistake last week in announcing a controversial Jerusalem housing project during Vice President Biden's visit," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "It should not have happened. We fully understand the White House dismay, but Vice President Biden accepted Prime Minister Netanyahu's apology. The shared values that bind the U.S. and Israel, as the...

After listening carefully to readers and thinking deeply about the modern role of a newspaper in elections, the AJC Editorial Board is taking a new approach to election coverage, beginning with this November’s elections. Going forward, our board will use its unique position to work for readers in pursuing with candidates the issues that are critical to the future of our community. The board will provide readers with clear, concise information about candidates’ positions and records. The AJC will no longer endorse political candidates.

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Jewish Committee sharply criticized South African Judge Richard Goldstone's verbal attack on Israel during a UN Human Rights Council debate concerning his commission's recent report on the Gaza conflict earlier this year. "Judge Goldstone described Israel's own investigations into allegations of wrong-doing by IDF personnel as 'pusillanimous,'" said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "I wonder what is the appropriate word for the Goldstone Commission, which convicted Israel before its investigation had even begun, which barely mentioned the suffering of Israelis living with endless Hamas rocket attacks, and which received its mandate from...

Though American Jews make up around 2 percent of the population, they have always enjoyed ample representation in Congress, where they account for around 8 percent of legislators. Only one of them is a Republican, but Rep. Eric Cantor, who will visit Israel this month, says Jews belong in the Republican Party. "I'm a firm believer there is a big place for the American Jewish Community in the Republican Party," says Cantor, 46, a Virginian seen as one of his party's great promises. He says he decided to head the delegation of congressmen to visit Israel this month to counteract...

Newspaper to eliminate distribution to 7 outlying counties The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Wednesday it will cut its full-time news staff by about 90 people, or nearly 30 percent, to lower costs as it tries to regain profitability amid a severe revenue slump. The company also announced it will eliminate distribution to seven more outlying counties, reducing its circulation area to 20 metro Atlanta counties, effective April 26. The cutback will pare daily and Sunday circulation by 2 percent. The AJC’s news staff will drop to about 230 full-time positions, down from about 323 currently. Staff members with five or more...

Over the years, some of my wildest critics seem to have assumed I am Jewish. At the same time, some of my closest friends wish I were. So let me set the record straight: I live in New York. I have a wife who craves Chinese food. And people I trust tell me I practically invented the word "chutzpah." Ladies and gentleman, I am humbled by the honor you have given me - because this award speaks more to your good work than it does to mine. The American Jewish Committee started in response to the persecution of Jews in...

NEW YORK, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC rejected charges made by Ambassador Charles Freeman blaming the "Israel Lobby" for his decision to withdraw his acceptance of the position of chair of the National Intelligence Council. Freeman was formerly the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the chair of the Middle East Policy Council, funded in part by the Saudi government. His foreign policy views drew considerable scrutiny.

By Julia Wallace,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday, March 08, 2009 Two weeks ago, you heard from our publisher, Doug Franklin, about the economic challenges at this newspaper and newspapers across the country. Last week, you heard from our head of sales and marketing about his team’s efforts to effectively sell advertising in the Atlanta market. Today, it’s my turn. I want to give you more detailed information on the content changes ahead in the next two weeks. I also want to respond to your questions to our publisher about what we are doing to make sure our news and editorial pages...

Dear Readers, Newspapers serve many important roles. We report on the most important stories in our market, we publish the top news from around the region, nation and world, and we present information that helps you make wiser decisions about how to invest your time and money. Every day, in our @issue opinion pages, we also publish commentary, analysis and opinions from our editorial columnists and your neighbors. Our opinion pages serve as a public forum for differing views and lively debate. For more than 20 years, one of the most well-read columns on our opinion pages has been written...

Posted on Wed, Jan. 14, 2009 Gore, Goldman executive discuss economy By Harold Brubaker Inquirer Staff Writer In speeches yesterday in Philadelphia, a Goldman Sachs strategist said the U.S. economy was not "the 1930s revisited," and Al Gore said short-term thinking had been catastrophic for capitalism. The economy is in an era of swinging between extremes, Goldman's Abby Joseph Cohen said at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce economic-outlook breakfast. "In the course of six to nine months, many investors and many businesspeople have gone from one extreme, fearing rip-roaring inflation, to the other extreme, fearing the extraordinarily negative consequences...

Welcome to the poorhouse. This past Monday, AJC staffers were informed about the sudden “retirement” of their boss, publisher John Mellott. Perhaps the first question that popped into everyone’s mind was, Who retires at 51? On Wednesday, during the newspaper’s quarterly staff meeting, employees got to meet the new publisher, one Doug Franklin, who has years of experience as a veteran newspaper executive. (Mellott, by contrast, had previously run another Cox subsidiary, Dent Wizard.) They were told that the bottom had fallen out of the embattled paper’s revenues sometime around October, which served to confirm the widely held suspicion that...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will reduce its circulation area to 27 counties in and around metro Atlanta and cut 56 full-time and 100 part-time jobs as the media industry faces “unprecedented economic challenges,” the company said Wednesday. The cutback — the third such move since early 2007 — will eliminate circulation to 22 counties: Banks, Butts, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Greene, Habersham, Haralson, Heard, Jackson, Lumpkin, Morgan, Pickens, Rabun, Spalding, Towns, Troup, Union, and White in Georgia, along with Cherokee, Clay and Macon counties in North Carolina. The change is effective Jan. 11. The move will reduce daily and Sunday circulation about...

How to destroy Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? That’s the quandary of the left, of the campaign Democrats and the bloggers and other commentators who camp with them. She sailed through the first two tests — her introduction to the nation as John McCain’s running mate and her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention — with an easy self-confidence that alarmed adversaries expecting a deer-in-the-headlights revelation of the former small-town mayor’s unpreparedness for the duties ahead. One of her greatest tributes came from an independent-thinking feminist and Democrat, Camille Paglia, a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia....

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cut its workforce by 8 percent, or about 189 jobs, and eliminate all of its geographically targeted news sections as part of a cost-cutting plan announced Wednesday.