Today’s Jewcy

The Jewcer Now tolerating your opinion: Day One feedback, an Early Bird sampler: User JCScott responds to “The Jewish Jihad for Jesus”: Jews for J——s is not a new phenomenon; we’ve had Jews for Ba’al and Jews for Zeus long before that half-god Hercules Jesus came along. It’s odd though, that Quakers for Quetzalcoatl (“What’s a little demon worship between Friends?”) hasn’t had nearly the success of the more well-known campaign.

Beth likes Jordie Gerson’s Rabbinical School Dispatch: Really interesting, Jordie. My own experiences in pluralistic Jewish communities have been really transformative – they've helped me understand why I'm a Reform Jew, they've deepened my commitment to klal Yisrael (the entire Jewish people as opposed to just "my type" of Jews) – and they've also made me a more traditionally-oriented Reform Jew. But while te transformation is beautiful, the "tactful acceptance" is key – the challenge is finding ways to be open to each other's influence while ultimately respecting our differences. Harder in real life than it sounds in the abstract.

Steve Halper says Jeff Koyens need not apply: What a completely ignorant article. I hope Jewcy will not sink to that level of "writing" again. Where do you get off slagging an entire nation. As if the Israelis don't have to put up with enough crap from the Jew-hating masses. Worse stereotypes are made about Americans as if you are all alike. It is simply shocking to read shit like this. I thought maybe it was going to be a joke or satirical. No such luck. It's borderline hate material. Good thing you're not in Canada. You could get criminally charged. Have a nice day.

The World

The honeymooners: Bipartisan vaudeville gets off to a brisk start. Ned Lamont still telling friends and family that he’s never even met George Bush: As Mr. Nelson questioned General Abizaid, the Arizona senator stood up to confer with Senator Susan M. Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine. At this, Mr. Lieberman got up and walked to the Republican side to join them in a brief, chuckling huddle, then ambled back to his party’s side with a glance at his colleagues as if to say, “You watching?” {NYT}

Reconstructed: Trent Lott returns to the Senate leadership after minatory midnight visit from chain-rattling Strom Thurmond: It's actually more than the passage of time that has saved Lott. He survives because he has the competence Allen lacks and collegiality Kerry doesn't have. Lott was in the House for 16 years and has served in the Senate for 18 more. For 10 years he was his party's official vote counter, first in the House and then the Senate, and it is a role he relishes. {Slate}

iJihad: Build a computer store that looks like a Lucite Ka'ba and serves hooch inside and you reap the whirlwind: While Western civilization is inventing scientific and artistic marvels, the other wings of Islamism are preoccupied with inventing provocations in the hope of mobilizing otherwise ordinary Muslims. We have seen this before: the Muhammad cartoon controversy exhibited the same faulty reasoning but unfortunately it succeeded in turning thousands of Muslims to violent protests. This latest incident is one more in a growing list of examples of Muslims over-reacting, over- and mis-interpreting, jumping to conclusions and causing controversy over something innocent or innocuous. {TCS Daily}

Vatican learnings for no more make hand party in clerestory: Priests who don’t return phone calls, though… Gotterdammerung: Pope Benedict XVI has met top advisers at the Vatican to study requests from Catholic priests who wish to marry. {BBC}

The new pragmatism: So, wobbly on ethics but willing to sign on out of opportunism. The House as scripted by Charlie Kaufmann: Murtha, 74, a former Marine who was among the first on Capitol Hill to call for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, may have hurt his own chances Tuesday night when he derided the Democrats' ethics and lobbying package before saying he will push for its passage anyway out of deference to Pelosi. {WaPo}