Bruce Ticker is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The city of Lowell, Massachusetts., did it right confronting anti-Semitism. It was not so right when Manhattan dealt with distortions on Israel. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Lowell, Mass., Knows Better Than NYC How to Respond to Antisemitism Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USAThe Jewish stars aligned, politically speaking, on Nov. 3 and Jan. 5. A case can be made that the Jewish vote swung six statewide races to elect Joe Biden as president, hand Democrats control of the Senate and elevate Chuck Schumer as the first Jewish majority leader of the Senate. Strangely enough, the margins in these elections corresponded with the likely size of the Jewish vote in three states – Biden’s race against President Trump in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania and three Senate elections in Arizona and Georgia. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Jewish vote provided majorities in battleground states Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USAThe legal hook to snag Donald J. Trump: “Stay peaceful!” Ironic words to meld a criminal case against our soon-to-be ex-president for his role in the siege of Capitol Hill. I could not figure out how Trump is culpable for his pep talk to the thugs who went on to murder a police officer, injure other officers, terrify hundreds of powerful figures and trash the halls of Congress. At first. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Trump’s inaction following rioting may be his biggest crime Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USAAs he experiences his first week in Congress, Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) will start on a path to do everything he suggests that former Rep. Eliot L. Engel failed to do and perhaps even obstructed. To blame Engel for destructive social conditions in the Bronx or elsewhere in America, even by implication, exposes how clueless Bowman is about the obstacles that Engel faced and now Bowman himself will face in the next two years. [ Bruce S. Ticker]
Bowman in for a congressional reality lesson Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USAPat Toomey could not get elected as a senator for Illinois, our sixth most populous state, but since 2010 he was narrowly elected to two terms in Pennsylvania amid low turnout in Philadelphia for each election. One can draw a straight line between his re-election in 2016, possibly on Donald Trump’s coattails and his late December proposal to shut off a safety valve to salvage state and municipal budgets such as those in his home state. And mine. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Toomey typifies Unrepresentative Senate Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USATwo religious leaders, Jew and Catholic, each succeeded in breaching the wall separating church and state within two days of one another. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Two clergymen who wrongly put religion over country Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USARashida Tlaib’s mantra “From the river to the sea” may soon compete with “From the Narrows to the Potomac.” Or “Biscayne Bay to the Potomac.”
“From the River…” etc. is meant as the stretch of land that comprises Israel and its territories, all of which many Palestinians claim is theirs.
Both Nicole Malliotakis and Maria Elvira Salazar will be traveling regularly to the Potomac, the former from the Narrows (which separates Staten Island from southern Brooklyn) and the latter from Miami. They could both form part of a Republican faction in the House of Representatives that will rake Tlaib’s “Squad” over the coals each time that Tlaib and friends open their big mouths. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Anti-Squad Republicans Should Be Careful to Not Overreach Read More »
Bruce TickerIt all comes down to “promote the general welfare” vs. “the free exercise…of religion.”
On Nov. 8, Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum more than freely exercised his religious traditions by hosting a family wedding in Brooklyn reportedly attended by 7,000 guests at a time when coronavirus cases persisted at high levels of infection. On Nov. 23. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promoted the general welfare by socking the organizers with a laughable $15,000 fine. On Nov. 26, our dysfunctional Supreme Court stamped a final judgment on a synagogue attendance case – rooted in Brooklyn – prioritizing “the free exercise…of religion” over “the general welfare.” [Bruce S. Ticcker]
Free Exercise of Religion vs. Promoting the General Welfare Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USAIn case you ever doubted it, Palestinians have the same conflict over career paths as you and I. Young Americans must choose between accepting a steady and lucrative if humdrum job or chasing a stimulating if risky profession. Such as a businessperson or teacher as opposed to an actor. The Palestinians last week presented their own contrasting example – that of a nurse or of a … terrorist. It turns out that it is far more profitable to choose terrorism rather than a nursing position or any other employment offered by the Palestinian Authority. [Bruce S. Ticker]
What’s better paying in P.A? Nursing or terrorism? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Business & Finance, Lifestyles, Middle EastIn recent years, my past paranoia moved closer to reality with searing memories of the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life temple, the killing spree at a Jersey City kosher grocery store and the murder of a congregant at Chabad of Poway near San Diego. These inflamed feelings intensified on Monday when the FBI reported that bias-motivated murders in 2019 increased as well as bias crimes in general, with a 14 percent surge in anti-Semitic incidents as part of it, according to media sources. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Hate crimes, growing in number, still are underreported Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, USADemocrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock must navigate an obstacle course to convert voting figures so they can join the U.S. Senate on Jan. 5 and Jewish Georgians wary of “apartheid” phrasing could help swing their elections.
Warnock’s antipathy to Israel could cost Dems the Senate Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USAIt is safe to speculate that the Squad’s rantings cost Biden Jewish and Cuban votes in the three counties, two House seats in Miami-Dade and in large part a winning margin of Florida’s total vote, not to mention disappointing election results elsewhere in the country. [Bruce S. Ticker]
The ‘Squad’ prevented Biden’s victory from being bigger Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USAMy head swelled for awhile as Joe Biden, Donald Trump and their surrogates traversed Pennsylvania’s 46,000 square miles imploring us to vote for them. With Election Day past, the nation’s eyes are cast upon a handful of states to add up the remaining mail-in ballots. To think that the fate of the nation – and the world, for that matter – depends on the few, the Pennsylvanians, especially in my corner of the state, Philadelphia. If the former vice president takes Pennsylvania by one vote, and with it the election, I’m taking full credit. Doubtful, of course. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Pennsylvanians glory in their election role Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USAI can’t blame either congresswoman for fearing for their lives. “Posting a photo with an assault rifle next to the faces of three women of color is…incitement,” tweets U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. “There are already death threats in response to this post.” Adds her pal Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “It’s dangerous in a time of rising political violence openly encouraged by this fascist president that a soon to be member of Congress thinks a post threatening women’s lives is acceptable.” [Bruce S. Ticker]
Haters on the right and left this political season Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA