"Families of Lone Soldiers" shows volunteers' advocacy at I.A.C.'s Celebrate Israel Festival in L.A.

A British-Jewish veteran volunteer in the Israeli Air Force, Dr. Jason Fenton, discusses the history of overseas volunteers in Israel's defense, beginning with her Independence War.  Recorded at the Israel Independence Day Fair in Los Angeles, 2012 (today known as Celebrate Israel Festival).



In 1967, in anticipation of the Six-Day War, world Jewry sent thousands of Zionistic volunteers to Israel, that the Jewish Agency hoped to immigrate. Some did immigrate, while since that time, many Israelis emigrated.  Still today, a number of army-age teens Israelis from those families, along with diaspora-Jewish families, elect to enlist to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Because they haven't local family support in Israel for weekends, holidays, or "leave time," they are known as Lone Soldiers  The overseas enlistees comprise about 45% of the 6,300 I.D.F.'s total lone soldiers.  A support group was founded to serve as a liason between the service-members, their families back home, and the I.D.F. 

Pictured (l to r) at their booth at the Celebrate Israel Festival in L.A.: co-founders/c0-chairs Eli Fitlovitz and Dr. Lawrence Platt; philanthropic supporters Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson; Evie and Stuart Steinberg, parents who lost their son, Max, as a Lone Soldier in the I.D.F.

The Families of Lone Soldiers' group was founded in Los Angeles, as a result of the number of families from here whose children elect to serve. The group is now international. Their website describes their association as: "We are families who are united together to support each other while our children are serving or have completed their service in the IDF. It started out by connecting parents with each other and to the state of Israel and the government of Israel while their children are serving as lone soldiers in the IDF as well as to help families obtain resources. We support their families during the time of service and after. Assisting and supporting parents in this challenging time both in the United States and Israel."

Some of the leaders of the Families of Lone Soldiers' spoke with us at their booth at the Celebrate Israel Festival in Los Angeles. 

Video (above) includes co-founder/co-chair Eli Fitlovitz; are co-founder/co-chair Dr. Lawrence Platt; Stuart Steinberg, the father of Max (a Lone Soldier from L.A. who gave his life for Israel), and Israeli-American philanthropist, Dr. Miriam Adelson, who praised the Friends of Lone Soldiers booth at I.A.C.'s Celebrate Israel Fest as "Great!"

Israeli-American veterans of I.D.F. lone soldier enlistment, (pictured left to right) Mr. Adi Lerner, Danielle Tubul, and Sharon Marciano discuss their motivations and attitudes on upheaving their lives to relocate to the Israeli Army.

 

What did they do and learn in the country's national service for young people?

Veteran lone soldier, Jonathan ("Yoni") Cohen explains his motivations y he served to protect modern civilization - and what Israel's security means for the world.


In video below, Evie and Stuart Steinberg address an L.A. community gathering in memory of late son, Max, at Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theater, August 2014.


More info is available on the Families of Lone Soldiers' website. 

Veterans of US and Israel share fascinating details at shul's Memorial Day recognizing them

US Air Force Lt. Col. Dena Delucia (left) approaches

Harvey Keenan (right) behind Rabbi Ed Feinstein leading

tribute to women veterans at Valley Beth Shalom ceremony

Los Angeles synagogue Valley Beth Shalom held it's sixth Memorial Day commemoration salute to living, as well as fallen veterans. Honoring veterans of all religious denominations, Rabbi Ed Feinstein and organizer Harvey Keenan welcomed veterans from the 1940's through the 2010's. A number of airmen came from (and their colleagues) from "Wings over Wendy's," a Chatsworth veterans' group which has a number of Jewish War Veteran members. 



From "After three tours of duty in the Middle East, for this veteran, service still comes from the heart" L.A. Daily News May 24, '18

For the first time, many (younger people) are seeing and hearing veterans tell their stories in person about self sacrifice and serving one's country – a big part of the whole American story, Rabbi Feinstein says. “It’s become a nice thing that we clap for people serving now, but I remember when I was a kid, and the folks coming home from Vietnam were just not treated with respect,” he said. It’s a small token, but an important one.  

At the ceremony, veteran Robert Donovan, who served two tours in Vietnam with an air rescue team, will receive a special pin of respect honoring his service from Stephanie Stone, chief deputy director of the LA County office of Military and Veterans Affairs. 

The emphasis this year, though, is on women in the military, and the keynote speaker is 19-year US Air Force Lt. Col. Dena Delucia, who has already served three tours of duty in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq, and this September she leaves for her fourth — back to Iraq where she works in civil affairs. 

Harvey Keenan has performed years of service in veterans' welfare activism in excess of his Korean War military service (had he not been deferred due to family hardship). He discusses his organized annual, Memorial Day recognition ceremony outside Valley Beth Shalom in Encino California.

Air rescue pilot First Lieutenant Warren Weinstein discusses his experience and perspectives on veterans and liberal-biased curriculum in public school history education. 

Both Jewish and Israeli veterans participated in the recognition ceremony. Some of the veterans, such as Mark Thurston and Bob Donovan, also participated at the Memorial Day ceremony at L.A. National Cemetery on Monday.

WWII Airman, Art Sherman, at 2012

Wings over Wendy's meeting

Bob Donovan volunteers with aging and impoverished veterans, as well as arranging external support through Operation Gratitude C.A.R.E.-type packages and letters from home. 

In the 2nd half of this clip, meet Lee Levitan, a Jewish, World War II bombardier who dropped bombs from European-launched US B-26's on Nazi occupied Europe.

Arthur Sherman, another World War II USAF veteran, for years led the Wings over Wendy's Veterans group activities and educational endeavors.

100-year old Col. Nathan Jaffee, another veteran of WWII, who participated in, among other things, the Allies' invasion of France on the beach and the Battle of the Bulge - offers a look back and a look forward.

Members of Wings over Wendy's posed before their 16-year meeting place in February prior to relocating.

Watch Dr. Mordechai Kedar: 'How Israel's 70-year success must be a miracle'

On the eve of Israel's 70th Independence Day, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, who teaches Arab Studies at Israel's Bar Ilan University, addressed a gathering in Los Angeles on the theme: "Why Israel's thriving for 70-years must be through miracles."  Dr. Kedar spoke about how Israel, a nation made up of Jews, Christians, and Muslims from many countries, has established a single, national identity despite its tribal affinities and antagonism from the surrounding Muslim countries, which many of its residents have been emigrated from. 

In this interview, Dr. Mordechai Kedar explains how Islam and Muslims regard Christians and Jews - which he sees a vital to understanding the essence of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He discusses what moving the American embassy to Jerusalem represents to the Muslim world.

ד"ר מרדכי קדר: "איך, שעשינו את זה 70 שנה, ישראל חייבת להיות נס."

Exclusive film from April, 2018 at Israeli American Council ("IAC) Los Angeles, Shepher Campus: "A conversation with Dr. Mordechai Kedar" (in Hebrew) "How Israel's thriving for 70-years is nothing short of miraculous!" 

Docu on how black & Jewish entertainer, Sammy Davis Jr. navigated the turbulent '60's gets a little help from his friends

Historian Stan Taffel, comedian Tom Dreesen, festival director
 Hilary Helstein, actor Hal Linden, son of Sammy- Manny Davis

The 2018 L.A. Jewish Film Festival opened in Beverly Hills on Wednesday with the PBS' American Masters 
documentary, "I Gotta Be Me" (2017).  The film was produced by Sally Rosenthal, directed by Samuel D. Pollard, and written by Laurence Maslon. Executive producer for American Masters' was Michael Kantor.

A notable list of celebrities appear in the movie - Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, May Britt, Diahann Carroll, Billy Crystal, Sammy Davis Jr., Angie Dickinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine, Kim Novak, and Sidney Poitier. 

Manny Davis, Laugh-In producer George Schlatter, and comic
Tom Dreesen share their Sammy stories before theater crowd

Two of Sammy's collaborators featured in the movie also spoke to the audience after the Beverly Hills screening - George Schlatter, the executive producer of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" (who introduced Sammy's "Here Come Da Judge" to America); and live-show co-star, comic Tom Dreesen 

Sammy Davis had comic Tom Dreesen intersperse
 comedy in between shows' singing and dancing

(comedian with 61 Late Night TV appearances, who opened Frank Sinatra's shows for decades) who discussed Sammy's Jackie-Robinson-like role in breaking-through segregated entertainment venues. 

Rounding out the panel were Sammy's youngest son Manny, and film-historian Stan Taffel who led the discussion the guests' experiences with (and knowledge about) Sammy. 

As Sammy Davis surprised Archie Bunker with a kiss while the pair posed

taking a snapshot on "All in the Family" episode Feb 1972, Stan Taffel and

and Manny Davis re-enact that moment in the lobby of Laemmle's Ahrya

Fine Arts Cinema in Beverly Hills. (original pic: CBS Landov/NY Times)

JooTube asked Manny just how Jewish was Sammy and his household? Manny said, "He really was Jewish. He always practiced his faith, he always made sure that he didn't work on Yom Kippur and things like that. Those are things I was able to celebrate with him, as well. He observed the holidays. What people don't know is that his wife was Catholic. So we had a chance to celebrate both of those. We always followed the Jewish traditions and always followed the Catholic traditions.  And I was kind of raised Baptist. But either way, we celebrated everything because everybody was always welcome in our house." Watch the whole interview here:


"I've Gotta Be Me" screens again at 5pm Sunday, 29 April at Laemmle's Town Center Cinema in Encino. Check the schedule for the L.A. Jewish Film Festival for other films' times through Wednesday, May 2nd. A number of them have panel discussions with the filmmakers and casts.

For Israel's 70th birthday, CBN's produces & televises new documentary evidencing unpublicized, Israeli humanitarian efforts around the world

CBN's "To Life: How Israeli Volunteers are Changing the World."  Christian Broadcasting Network's director, Erin Zimmerman, introduces new docupic "To Life: How Israeli Volunteers are Changing the World" segments of which run  this week on "The 700 Club" on OTA TV and on the Free-form Cable Channel. This presentation was recorded at National Association of Broadcasters' Proclaim '18 in Nashville, Tenn at the end of February.



At NRB's Israel's 70th Independence tribute luncheon, we asked Gordon Robertson, CEO, why CBN's news and documentaries have consistently been the most reliably objective - not distorted by anti-Zionist leftist propagandists, an endemic problem among mainstream international news reporters and outlets. 

After he emceed the Israeli Tourism Ministry's joint premiere with CBN- of Erin Zimmerman's produced documentary "To Life: How Israeli Volunteers are Changing the World," we caught-up with CBN News' Chris Mitchell, Israel's top English language reporter. How is CBN News the most effective English language, TV news resource internationally for Israel?


Director, Erin Zimmerman, of the Christian Broadcasting Network in Israel, offers a look inside the her documentary, "Israel: To Life!" about Israeli humanitarian volunteerism at crises around the world. Airs in segments on CBN's "The 700 Club" the week of April 16th- and is available online, on the CBN App, or  DVD for $10 from CBN.com

Las Vegas Jewish community organizes memorial for the fallen heroes and martyrs of Zion

Israel Scouts lower flag to half-mast for memorial ceremony

Diverse parts of the Las Vegas Jewish and Zionist community (among them the Jewish Federation, the IAC, and Shevet Pisgat / Israeli Scouts) joined together to organize a Memorial Ceremony combining recognition of Yom ha Shoah and Yom ha Zikaron - paying respect to Zion's fallen victims, martyrs and heroes. The event took place on April 8th at the Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas around the time of the holidays.

Daniel Szafran recounts life from Auschwitz to
Palmach soldier

91-year old survivor of Auschwitz and Israel's War of Independence, Daniel Szafran, gave personal testimony of his family's murder by Nazis, his subsequent enslavement as a laborer, and his quest for sanctuary in Palestine, joining Israel's Palmach towards Jewish defense and sovereignty in our homeland.

The ceremony offered speeches from communal leaders, such as IAC Regional Director, Noa Peri-Jensch, who told JooTube, "This day is very important to us because the next generation, the children who take freedom for granted -

IAC Regional Dir., Noa Peri-Jensch at Adelson Campus

especially living here in America being so far away from the hardships of our brothers and sisters who live in Israel. I think it's important that we incorporate them into the process of honoring the fallen soldiers, paying respect to the bereaved families - as we are also as a community preparing for the celebration of Israel (independence) which is coming up in weeks. (Video of this, along with others, is viewable in the playlist above).

Educational and cultural event pleases Las Vegas Jewish
community benefactors, Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson 

Dr. Miriam Adelson plays a special role in advancing Zionist education in Nevada, along with Jewish advocate husband, Sheldon, Chairman of the Las Vegas Sands corporation. 

Mr. Adelson told JooTube, "This is a very special event. There's hardly a family in Israel that hasn't had a death (in connection with the state's survival) a relative or friend injured or dead. And it's an honor to come to attend to pay respects. (Educating our youth) is the purpose of this school (we foster)." 

How do allegations about good leaders' personal lives influence their ability to serve religious-voters' matters?

Pres Trump, Melania, son-in-law Jared and daughter Ivanka Kushner 
with Western Wall rabbis at King Solomon's Temple site in Jerusalem

In view of the mainstream media's obsession on politicians alleged personal foibles, how do leaders who represent the values of religious Jewish and Christian voters actually maintain their support?


"Trump, Adultery, Morality" by Dennis Prager, Town Hall - Opinion, March 27, 2018

Anderson Cooper gave Michael Avenatti and Stormy Daniels

a national TV forum (photo tweeted by Michael Avenatti

"I have considerably more moral contempt for the media's and the left's obsession with Stormy Daniels than I do for Donald Trump for his alleged night of sinful sex with her. That "60 Minutes" correspondent Anderson Cooper and many in our country found it acceptable to ask a woman, "Did he use a condom?" on national TV is a far graver reflection of America's moral malaise than a man having a one-night affair 12 years ago.  

It should be clear that this whole preoccupation with Trump's past sex life has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with humiliating Trump -- and, thereby, hopefully weakening the Trump presidency -- the raison d'etre of the media since he was elected. Here's one proof: The media rightly celebrate, as we all do, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as one of the moral greats of the 20th century despite reports of his having committed adultery on numerous occasions.

At the predominantly conservative Christian-Zionistic, National Religious Broadcasters Convention, Proclaim '18 in Nashville, Dennis Prager spoke with us to elaborate on how religious voters, in face of the mainstream media's obsession on leaders' alleged dalliances, maintain supporting them?



Mr. Prager continues in his essay:

And, by the way, if sexual infidelity invalidates the character and, therefore, the worthiness of a politician, why doesn't it invalidate the character and worthiness of an editor at The New York Times or The Washington Post? Why aren't their sex lives investigated? They have, after all, more influence than almost any politician.

So, dear anti-Trump conservatives, please tone down the moral horror at Donald Trump's character, and the suggestions that it overshadows the good he has done and continues to do for America and the world.

The fact is, it is none of my business and none of my concern whether a politician ever had an extramarital affair. To cite just one of many examples, a president's attitude toward the genocide-advocating Islamic tyrants in Tehran is incomparably more morally significant. That is just one of many reasons -- on moral grounds alone -- I far prefer the current president to the faithful-to-his-wife previous president.

Read more:

Panelists at N.R.B.'s Proclaim Conference:  Marjorie Dannenfelser, pres, Susan B. Anthony List; Tony Perkins, (Family Research Council); Todd Starnes, host Fox News/columnist FoxNews.com; Salem Radio hosts Larry Elder and Dennis Prager. 

I.D.F. servicemembers and their Friends of the IDF supporters counter detractors' slanders with personal testimonials

Gene Simmons of KISS entertains the FIDF Gala in L.A.

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) raised a record $53.8 million at its annual Western Region Gala on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017 at the landmark Beverly Hilton Hotel. The figure represents the most money raised at any single FIDF event in the organization’s history. The sold-out gala, which has become one of Los Angeles’ premier charitable events, united some 1,200 supporters from across the country to support the brave men and women of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Presiding as the evening’s master of ceremonies was Israeli actress and model Moran Atias. The event featured special performances by singer Seal, The Tenors, David Foster & Friends, and Gene Simmons. 

Dr. Salman Zarka tells Christian and Jewish communities in

the U.S. about Ziv Medical Center's treatment of Syrians

wounded in their country's civil war.

Col. (Res.) Dr. Salman Zarka, director general of the Ziv Medical Center in Israel, described Israel’s extraordinary humanitarian initiative “Operation Good Neighbor,” which provides aid to refugees and victims of the Syrian civil war. Zarka, with 25 years of experience in the IDF Medical Corps, has led a staff that has treated hundreds of wounded Syrian civilians.

Ethiopian-Israeli Lt. Mazal Zemmru, 23, leads training of Kfir Brigade recruits in the Jordan Valley. She discusses her work and her family life - including her relations with Ashkenazim and Sephardim.

Austrian-raised, I.D.F. artillery Sgt. Leah Duxler discusses anti-Zionism in the life of European Jews old and young - and her views of Zionism -which propelled her and others to emigrate to join the Israel Defense Forces.

What is FIDF's Impact Program for underprivileged soldiers?  Let Sephardic beneficiary, Sgt Major Ma'or Cohen, explain to you:

Do you remember John Goodman's movie character, Walter Sobchak in The Big Leibowski, who converted to Judaism for marriage and all through his life became a devout contributor to Jewish culture?

Courtesy: Pordorat on YouTube

JooTube spoke with Roman-Catholic-raised, US Marine Lt. Col. (ret.) David McCarthy.  The veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars declares respect for FIDF - which assisted his once, lone-soldier son, Sgt. Joseph Daniel McCarthy, with a flight home to the United States. Lt. Col McCarthy also tells us of his impression of US - Israel military collaboration and how moved he was by the appearance of Israeli parents of slain border-police Corporal Hadar Cohen that he gave her parents his Marine Challenge-Coin.              

Friends of the I.D.F. Gala will return to Los Angeles on November 1st, 2018.

Islamic anti-Semitism in France is moving toward ethnic cleansing

Jewish victims of Mohammed Merah in Toulouse France, Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, his two sons, Gabriel 3, Arye, 6, and Miriam Monsonego, age 8 (photo: Chabad.org)

"Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls: France Is Getting Better at Responding to Antisemitism" by Ben Cohen in the Algemeiner

On March 19, 2012, an Islamist gunman named Mohammed Merah entered the schoolyard of the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse. In quick succession, Merah, a product of jihadi training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, murdered Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and his two sons, 6 year-old Aryeh and 3 year-old Gabriel, and 8 year-old Miriam Monsonego. Three days later, Merah himself was killed by French police following a siege at his apartment.

Two months after that, Manuel Valls was appointed as France’s interior minister, and plunged headlong into the fallout from Merah’s killing spree – during which three French paratroopers were murdered and one more was wounded in the same nine day period as the attack on the Jewish school. Initially frustrated by the insistence, on the part of former domestic intelligence chief Bernard Squarcini, that Merah had acted alone, Valls fought back. He publicly repudiated the “lone wolf” theory in January 2013, hours before the first of Merah’s accomplices were arrested.

Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls appeared in Los Angeles in December to addressed European Leadership Network's fundraiser in Beverly Hills in December.

"Islamic Anti-Semitism in France: Toward Ethnic Cleansing" by French professor, Guy Milliere in Gatestone Institute

- Graffiti on Jewish-owned homes warn the owners to "flee immediately" if they want to live. Anonymous letters with live bullets are dropped into mailboxes of Jews.

- Laws meant to punish anti-Semitic threats are now used to punish those who denounce the threats. A new edition of a public school history textbook for the eighth grade states that in France it is forbidden to criticize Islam.

Muslims riot in Paris' Jewish suburb, Sarcelles, July 2014 (photo: AP- HaAretz)

- Those French Jews who can leave the country, leave. Most departures are hasty; many Jewish families sell their homes well below the market price. Jewish districts that once were thriving are now on the verge of extinction.

- "The problem is that anti-Semitism today in France comes less from the far right than from individuals of Muslim faith or culture". — Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Without the Jews of France, France would no longer be France, said Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls in 2016 . But he did not do anything (about it).  

Recently he claimed that he had done his best, that he could not have done more. "The problem," he said, "is that anti-Semitism today in France comes less from the far right than from individuals of the Muslim faith or culture."  

He added that in France, for at least two decades, all attacks against Jews in which the perpetrator has been identified have come from Muslims, and that the most recent attacks were no exception.  

Valls, however, quickly suffered the consequences of his candor. He was elbowed to the margins of political life. Muslim websites called him an " agent of the Jewish lobby" and a "racist." Former leaders of his own party, such as former Foreign Minister Roland Dumas, said that Valls' wife is a Jew and hinted that he was "under the influence".  

In France, telling the truth about Islamic anti-Semitism is dangerous. For a politician, it is suicidal.  

French politicians, right or left, know that political correctness reigns, and that transgressing its unwritten rules leads to being excluded from the media and effectively ostracized. They know that some words cannot be used any more in France, and that "anti-racist" organizations ensure that no one can criticize Islam.

Prof. Guy Milliere - Liberal authorities cow to Muslim/leftist hostility; force Jewish citizens to flee.



Antisemitism is intensifying in France. It is essentially a Muslim anti-Semitism, and neither the government nor the major media speak of it. It is an anti-Semitism that attacks, kills, and mutilates. Jews leave cities and neighborhoods that have become too dangerous. They leave France if they can. If current trends do not reverse, France will lose its Jewish population, and by losing it, it will lose a crucial part of its soul and its culture. It is outrageous and revolting.

Last Wednesday, January 10, 2018, a 15-year-old girl was attacked on her way out of a Jewish school in a neighborhood called "Torah Center". The attack took place in the city of Sarsel, north of Paris, when a man hit her head and destroyed her face with a sharp tool. After the attack, the girl's parents filed a complaint at the local police, which opened an investigation to find the suspect. The Jewish community in the town is shocked and scared by the manifestations of anti-Semitism and violence against it, when the girl's assault illustrates the escalation which they experience.

Guy MILLIERE - "L’ANTISEMITISME MUSULMAN CHASSE LES JUIFS DE FRANCE"


L’antisémitisme redouble d’intensité en France. C’est un antisémitisme essentiellement musulman, et ni le gouvernement ni les grands meédias n’en parlent. C’est un antisemitisme qui agresse, tue, et mutile. Les Juifs quittent des villes et des quartiers devenus trop dangereux. Ils quittent la France s’ils le peuvent. Si les tendances actuelles ne s’inversent pas, la France perdra sa population juive, et en la perdant, elle perdra une part cruciale de son âme et de sa culture. C’est indigne et révoltant.



"Why Gentiles should respect and defend Jews & Israel against jihad" - Gentile, French academic, Guy Milliere. 




The Jews have contributed gifts to Western civilization which Christians should respect and protect them against enmity and resentment, the French law-history professor says.

Jewish Federation's political-analysts' conversations at JFNA's General Assembly in Los Angeles

Politics panel at General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America ("J.F.N.A."), November, 2017.

Christina Bellantoni (LA Times), Hugh Hewitt (Salem Radio), Adam Nagourney (NY Times),
Jake Sherman (Politico), Danielle Berrin, (Jewish Journal)

"Did You Hear?: Informed Looks Inside the Current Political Climate." 

Part 1: "Expect the Unexpected: Perspectives on Today’s Politics"

Moderator, Danielle Berrin (senior writer & columnist at the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles; Christina Bellantoni (Assistant Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times), Adam Nagourney (L.A. Bureau Chief, New York Times), Jake Sherman (senior writer, Politico), Hugh Hewitt (daily morning-program host, Salem Radio. 

(From left: Christina Bellantoni (Asst Managing Editor, L.A. Times), Adam Nagourney (L.A. Bureau Chief, N.Y. Times),
Hugh Hewitt (national morning radio show host)

Part 2:  "New Politics:  Emerging Policies that Impact Our Work."

Moderator, Danielle Berrin (senior writer & columnist at the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles; Christina Bellantoni (Assistant Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times), Adam Nagourney (L.A. Bureau Chief, New York Times), Jake Sherman (senior writer, Politico), Hugh Hewitt (daily morning-program host, Salem Radio. Mr. Hewitt was the only conservative journalist on any conference panels).