Biden's Future Jewish Son-In-Law is My Doctor

What woman can resist a Jewish doctor. Apparently not, Ashley Biden, daughter of Vice President Joe Biden.I have been a big fan of Biden since I volunteered and donated to his ill-fated 1980 Presidential campaign. So you can imagine my happiness when I found out that his daughter, Ashley, was engaged to my doctor, Dr. Howard Krein.

Dr. Krein is a very nice, thorough doctor. He is part of a big ear, nose and throat practice at Jefferson Hospital. My only complaint is that he kept me waiting over an hour and did not offer any apology when he did finally see me.

The office is very automated probably due to Krein's sideline. When you enter the office, you are asked to type your name into a computer and sit down.

Howard Krein is Chief Medical Officer at OrganizedWisdom Health. His brother Steve is a serial internet entrepreneur, with Organized Wisdom being the latest. The company "helps doctors set up their digital offices in minutes." The website  boasts, "The Most Effective Way to Save Doctors Time While Creating Healthier, Happier Patients". Former Time Warner CEO Gerry Levin serves on the board of directors of the company while Internet guru Esther Dyson is on the board of advisers.

Employees of Jefferson Hospital told me that Howard is proud of being Jewish so expect some Jewish elements at the wedding. Maybe that will shut up some of Obama's Jewish critics.

While Ashley Biden is marrying outside her Catholic religion, she not marrying outside of her party. She is marrying a liberal.

Mazel Tov Howard and Ashley!

Update: I saw Dr. Krein today. He had a sense of humor about my blog posts. Ashley is a very lucky girl.

Pollard and Tuna Tartare On The Menu at Biden's

Last night, more than 140 Jewish community leaders, members of Congress, and administration officials gathered at Vice President Biden's home at the Naval Observatory to commemorate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Ha Shanah. The usual suspects like Abe Foxman, head of the ADL, were there.

The Kosher food selection included: North African meatballs, petite turkey slider on homemade brioche with cranberry aioli, classic tuna tartare presented in a mini wonton cone, wasabi mousseline, sweet tomato jam tartlets, and crisp vegetable ceviche shooters. The desert table was festooned with French macaroons, apple latkes served with a honey creme, petite honey and walnut cakes, and mini chocolate cupcakes with lemon frosting.

The party occurred a midst a flap over Biden's comments about the possible release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. The New York Times reported several days earlier that he said,"President Obama was considering clemency, but I told him, ‘Over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time. If it were up to me, he would stay in jail for life. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz later reported that he claimed to be misquoted.

Something good has come out of Biden inserting his foot in his mouth. The Jewish community has coalesced around Pollard. Biden has agreed to meet with a small group of Jewish leaders to discuss the release. Along with arguing for the release, the Jewish community possibly should pursue a different tactic and ask for the reason that the intelligence community is so opposed to his release. With the entire intelligence community united in their opposition, there must be more to his transgressions than what was publicly released during his case. Even if the the spooks can not divulge the entire basis for their antagonism because it is classified, maybe they can provide some color.

Could Obama Be Ready to Jumpstart the Peace Process?

There has been much discussion of Obama's vacation reading list. Tevi Troy at the National Review criticizes the list because it is top heavy with novels. According to Troy, reading novels shows that you are out of touch with reality. He also pans novels because you can not learn anything from them. Don't tell that to my Wall Street friends, whose lives were changed forever by reading one of Ayn Rand's novels. Troy seems to have forgotten how Upton Sinclair's novel, "The Jungle" reformed the meat packing industry.

Snobbish bibliophiles sniffed their noses at the detective novels on the list. Robin Black on Salon complained that the President does not read enough books by women authors. Eric Herschthal, a writer at  Jewish Week, promulgates the false notion of Jewish American cultural superiority over Israelis by suggesting that Obama shouldn't have chosen a book by Israeli author David Grossman but instead one by a Jewish American writer.

The President most likely picked this seminal Israeli novel about loss to read because he wants to better understand Israeli culture while reading beautiful literature. Grossman, who is considered one of Israel's greatest writers, has been awarded the Bialik Prize for Literature, the Emet Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, and many others. The Israeli public voted him one of the 200 Greatest Israelis of all time in a newspaper tabloid poll. Grossman, who is a hero of Israel's left wing, was recently beaten by the police during anti-settlement protests. Humble as ever, he shrugged off the beating by saying that the police probably did not recognize him.

I had a chance to talk with Grossman, who is a reservist in the Israeli army despite his celebrity status. Grossman was "thrilled" that Obama took his book, "To the End of the Land" to Martha's Vineyard. The book, which is Grossman's first overtly political novel, is an emotionally wrenching portrait of an Israeli mother mourning the loss of her son killed during one of  Israel's interminable wars. He wrote it shortly after the death of his son Uri in the Second Lebanon War.

 "After reading my book, I think that Obama will better understand Israelis," said Grossman. "I think that it could jumpstart the peace process."

 He hopes "Obama puts Netanyahu and Abbas in a room and knocks their heads together." "Everyone knows what the terms of a deal should look like - a reconfiguration of the 1967 borders, Palestinians get a demilitarized state, but give up the right of return," said Grossman.

These terms by a proud Israeli sounds suspiciously similar to the terms that Obama outlined in his MidEast policy speech in May, which was deemed by critics of Obama and Israeli activists anti-Israeli. Maybe the Jews and Politico owe Obama apology for their rhetoric especially since Prime Minister Netanyahu offered the same terms if Palestinians would not introduce a resolution to the United Nations asking for an independent Palestinian State.

Obama Spotted Drinking Martinis.

I do not care if the President takes a vacation or where. I am more concerned with what he does when he is supposed to be working. Still, I could not resist reporting sightings on Martha's Vineyard.
On Thursday, Obama ate dinner at the restaurant State Road with Vernon Jordan, Massachusetts Governor Patrick, and their spouses. The Obamas ordered martinis.
The President played golf on all three of the island's courses. My friends, who were members at these clubs, said the President was "friendly" and "pleasant."