ArchitectGuy on Israel

LOS ANGELES TIMES
5 reasons why Trump is right about getting America out of Syria
by Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky
January 3, 2019

Much of America’s foreign policy establishment, on both the right and the left, has been in an uproar over President Trump’s decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. If Trump’s critics are to be believed, it amounts to one of the worst foreign policy blunders in American history, a catastrophe for the nation’s interests and influence in the Middle East. Although the president’s failure to consult and coordinate with Congress and allies in making the decision was a head-spinning case of diplomatic and political malpractice, on balance, critics’ fears about the withdrawal are overblown. Here are five reasons why…READ MORE

MOSAIC Michael Doran: The Strategy Washington Is Pursuing in the Middle East Is the Only Strategy Worth Pursuing America needs to back up its allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia, and potentially Turkey), and isolate its adversaries (Iran, Russia,  China,  Islamic State). Everything else is secondary.

JTA
‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ gets Jewish converts totally wrong
by Alexandra Pucciarelli
January 2, 2019

Since it came into our lives last year, I’ve had mixed feelings about “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Its jokes sometimes feel like the kind of things we say among other fellow Jews, but not to the rest of the world…One of its more discomfiting aspects (besides the mostly non-Jewish staff and cast — a subject for a different article) is the character of Astrid, Midge’s sister-in-law and recent convert to Judaism. In the newly released second season, she is treated as the butt of a joke rather than a whole person with a full life. READ MORE

LOS ANGELES TIMES Shtick, stereotypes, and self-parody: How ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ gets Jewish culture wrong However “Jewish” Sherman-Palladino wants the show to be, “Maisel” fails to grapple with the realities of the moment in Jewish American history it portrays. Which is ultimately what leaves me queasy about its tone — the shtick, the stereotypes, the comforting self-parody. The stereotypes aren’t that comforting anymore.