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Dear DovBear:

I was disappointed by your snide characterization of The Jewish Press "eating crow." Why not just give us credit for being fair and honest?

I must also take issue with your claim that we said "irresponsible" things about Obama, presumably in our editorials, during the campaign. In fact, we were very careful to eschew innuendo and unfounded rumor and to concentrate instead on questions of policy. Not a few readers actually felt we were being too soft on a man they were convinced was a Muslim and a terrorist sympathizer, based on e-mails they'd read or websites they'd visited. (Lately we've been taken to task by some concerned citizens for ignoring the likelihood of Obama's being the love child of Malcolm X, apparently a hot item of discussion on some of the more excitable websites.)

Finally, our appreciation for Hillary Clinton's record on Israel is nothing new; we supported her reelection in '06 and endorsed her in this year's New York Democratic primary. I think the only real criticism we've voiced these past eight years concerned her handling of the Palin/UN rally flap several weeks ago.

Come on - - is it too much to expect you to be as fair to us as we're trying to be to Obama?

Fondly as always,

Jason Maoz

I did give the paper credit for being fair and honest, and I found nothing snide about my use of the idiom. It simply means you publicly corrected your mistake; calling attention to your retraction was a way of complimenting you. I also take note of the three pro-Obama op-eds that have appeared in your paper over the last two issues - Shoshana Greenwald and Rabbi Genack two weeks ago and Rabbi Tzvee Zahavy last week. I also regret characterizing your appreciation of Hillary Clinton, and her pro-Israel behavior, as something new. It isn't, and I welcome the opportunity to remind my coreligionists that your paper holds no grudges over the Suha kiss.

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