Blog

OSTRICHES, TURTLES AND CROWS 

By David Perlstein | January 9, 2026 |

Opponents of America’s direction on both the internal and international fronts consist roughly of three basic species.  Much has impacted these Americans: The Trump regime—a more fitting word for an autocracy than administration—seizing Venezuelan oil after kidnapping its president (not a good guy to be clear) and leaving turmoil in its wake. Threatening Colombia. Threatening Greenland. Homeland…

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HAPPY CHANUKAH? DAMN RIGHT! 

By David Perlstein | December 19, 2025 |

After last Sunday’s ISIS-inspired shootings at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, two non-Jewish friends asked if it was okay to wish me “Happy Chanukah.” The title of this post gives you my answer.  When the Jewish world lost fifteen souls with dozens more wounded, I was shocked but not surprised. Why? Jews around the world…

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MY CHANUKAH WISH LIST

By David Perlstein | December 12, 2025 |

Don’t think me greedy, but I have a long wish list for Chanukah presents, and I want everything.   Chanukah is the Jewish “Festival of Lights.” The eight-night (and day) holiday begins on the 25th of the month of Kislev which, in the lunar-solar calendar, falls anywhere between late November and the end of December. Chanukah…

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VENEZUELA AND DELUSION

By David Perlstein | December 5, 2025 |

America is being led down the rabbit hole of self-deceit and towards potential war with Venezuela. I believe that our bellicose commander-in-chief has three goals in mind. Donald Trump’s fixation on small boats crossing the Caribbean from Venezuela to the U.S. goes beyond restricting drug-running. But first, let’s agree that the drug trade is horrible.…

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BIAS VS. BALANCE IN MIDDLE-EAST REPORTING 

By David Perlstein | November 28, 2025 |

Just as the Israel-Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran conflict seems perpetually muddled despite ceasefires, so does reporting on the region. Does mainstream journalism adhere to the objectivity it holds dear? On last Saturday’s PBS Weekend News, Leila Molana-Allen presented a televised report from Lebanon on Israeli air strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs. This, despite Israel reaching a…

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WHEN ISRAEL SHAMES ME

By David Perlstein | November 21, 2025 |

It pains me to write that an avowed Zionist and practicing Jew can be shamed by a nation he loves. October 7, 2023 focused much of the world’s attention on Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel. The brutality of that day, which claimed 1,200 lives, had nothing to do with finding a political settlement establishing two…

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SHOULD WOMEN VOTE?

By David Perlstein | November 14, 2025 |

Last Sunday, we saw the Broadway road-show musical “Suffs” about the suffragist movement. The Tony Award®-winner made a powerful and entertaining case for the 19th Amendment, ratified on June 4, 1919. Yet some (many?) Christian nationalists oppose women’s right to vote. On October 9, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat interviewed Doug Wilson, pastor of…

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INSIDE MY NEW NOVEL “RIDE THE TYGER” 

By David Perlstein | November 7, 2025 |

Reading a novel is easy. Harder: writing my tenth novel, “Ride the Tyger: The Lost, Unauthorized Oral Biography of Madison Hadder.” I started with a question: What leads someone to embrace the political far right and ignore reality? Witness Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, (R., Georgia) with “Jewish space lasers” and Trump former counselor Kellyanne Conway’s…

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SETTING THE CLOCK—AND AMERICANS—BACK

By David Perlstein | October 31, 2025 |

Sunday at 2:00 am, we’ll turn our clocks back one hour. Sadly, the month-long federal government shutdown is turning the national clock back to eras when millions of Americans went to bed hungry and sick.  Venture capitalists, bank executives, senior tech bro—they’re fine. But tens of millions of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. Others…

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THE NEXT GAZA CONUNDRUM

By David Perlstein | October 16, 2025 |

Last Monday at Israel’s Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem, President Trump hailed “the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” From his lips to God’s ears. The return of the last 20 living hostages from Hamas captivity offered a joyous moment. The ceasefire is more than welcome. Actual peace? A conundrum. Trump’s 20-point plan offers a…

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