Chutzpah: Obama Enlists Sen. Carl Levin to Sway Jewish Voters
Because I have never lived or worked in Michigan — and also because I root for the Yankees, not the Tigers — I was a bit surprised when Senator Carl Levin of Michigan sent me a letter asking me to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“I’m deeply troubled by how the Jewish community is being flooded with inaccurate and sometimes inflammatory attacks on President Obama, claiming that he is not a strong supporter of Israel,” wrote Senator Levin, who apparently got my email from the mailing lists of The Forward newspaper and other Jewish organizations.
For those who do not know what the Yiddish word chutzpah means, this is a pretty good example: those who promised “the audacity of hope” and who delivered the arrogance of hype now ask me to be grateful. The “audacity of hope” is a title Obama stole from his anti-Semitic pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and it really is a bold hope to bet Jews will forget the first three years of Obama’s term and pay attention only to the last three weeks.
Recently, Obama has said how much he loves Israel. He sent Gen. Martin Dempsey to a joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise. This change in tune came after Dempsey and other Obama messengers hammered Israel over many months for even thinking of striking at Iran’s atomic bomb program. Gen. Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs, said he and the U.S. would not be “complicit” with any Israeli military move, using the kind of language one employs for a criminal or rogue state. But now, Dempsey, Obama, and Levin are all smiles because we are in November 2012. It’s election time, and it’s payback time.
Sen. Levin’s cuddly letter does not cancel harsh public statements and deliberately damaging leaks from Obama, Biden, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, General Dempsey, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and so on. It does not cancel Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s top advisor, holding an Iranian confab in the White House the day after Iran and Hezbollah attacked Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. Levin’s letter does not cancel a “senior White House official” telling the New York Times the terror attack was “tit for tat” for Israel striking Iran’s nuclear scientists. Levin’s letter does not erase how the audacious president and his vice president erupted over Israeli apartments in Jerusalem.
Beyond the harsh statements criticizing Israeli military moves, housing plans, and political strategies, there is also the little matter of the Obama-Biden-Levin record of actions on national security and in the Middle East in general.
As part of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Levin has consistently politicized any discussion of intelligence and national security matters. He attacked U.S. intelligence-gathering techniques — like enhanced interrogation — that stopped several major al-Qaeda plots.
Senator Levin led partisan attacks on George Bush, Dick Cheney, and CIA officials who ran programs to monitor terror communications and bank transfers. Levin assailed those who questioned terrorists. Demonized them.
Levin protected inept and negligent CIA chiefs John Deutch and George Tenet, Democratic appointees who helped the CIA lose its operational and counter-terror edge during the 1990s before 9/11. Levin helped protect some of the people who enabled the Arab-Islamic terror of 9/11 and thereafter. Remember Democrat George Tenet telling George Bush that the CIA would only use drones to attack Bin-Laden “over my dead body”?
Levin and other Democrats boast about drone attacks under Obama, attacks which they condemned or tried to stop under Bush. They attacked Bush for “abuse” and “torture” in 2007 and 2008 for interrogating terrorists roughly, getting answers that eventually led to Osama bin Laden.
Levin, like Panetta and Obama, never apologized.
Levin is not alone. Joe Biden was once chairman of the Senate’s international relations committee, and he personally blocked congressional legislation to put pressure on Iran in the 1990s for its nuclear program.
As for President Obama, he is certainly the most anti-Israel president since Jimmy Carter, equaling Carter’s meager one-veto defense of Israel at the UN. Obama stood by, along with Secretary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice for most of the time, when Israel was savaged diplomatically.
Obama, Biden, and Clinton have allowed Islamist Turkey to push Israel out of certain counterterror forums and NATO exercises. Despite this, last week General Dempsey came to Israel for a photo-op and to take credit for programs that were put on line during the Bush administration.
It is no surprise that Obama would employ a Jewish senator to intercede with Jews — we expect a certain cynicism from all politicians, but using a letter from Carl Levin as a sort of “note from the rabbi” will not work. Obama’s real “rabbis,” his spiritual guides and ideological inspirations, have given him anti-American and anti-Israeli sermons over the years, and they include Reverend Jeremiah Wright, terrorist Bill Ayers, and the late Professor Edward Said.
An honest appeal to Jewish Obama supporters should include a letter of support from them.
If a president supports Israel, he says it straight out that an attack on Israel is an attack on the US.
If the UN was legitimate, it would be saying that an attack on Israel is an attack on the UN, but the UN lets terrorists, bomb that country on almost a daily basis and accepts it, because so many arab countries, with no civil rights for women, get to be on the committees that make the rules about civil rights and situational ethics, that destroys and divides.
Guess what? Any Jew who pulls the lever for the Islamist-in-Chief is operating from an irrational head space, and nothing will change their mind. And it matters not a whit, how otherwise intelligent they are. When it comes to their religion of choice – leftism – they are blind as bats.
Their fealty to The One is beyond irrational, it is akin to a mental disorder – http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/08/08/leftism-lethal-to-jews-their-overall-health-others-too-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
The Islamist-in-Chief has more than enough chutzpah, capable of making a whore blush, but that still doesn’t obviate the part leftist Jews play in their own psychodrama – http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/08/23/when-does-delusional-thinking-become-a-pathological-illness-more-us-rabbis-support-obama-than-in-2008-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
They need a collective couch!!
Replying to one’s own posts in order to spam links to one’s own blog is also akin to a mental disorder.
Walter, You are entitled to your own agita. But many others are pleased to have information they otherwise would not, thanking me by droves, each and every day at my blog.
And THAT is what a giving human being does. And free of charge too.
Have a nice day.
During the last debate Obama was asked that exact question. He DECLINED to use those words saying instead; “I have Israel’s back”.The kindest thing that can be said about anyone who believes Obama will protect Israel after these past four years is that they have not been paying attention.
AMEN!
Haaretz disagrees with you:
“Obama continued this two-way track vis-a-vis Iran and the issue of Palestinian statehood. Under his pressure, Israel suspended for the first time – for a while – construction in the settlements. Relations between the two countries’ armed forces have never been so close. Obama’s challenge in his second term, if he wins the elections, is to lead the region to a stable arrangement of peace and security.
The outcome of the elections will be determined by the voters’ decision as to which of the two candidates is good for America. But if any of them are vacillating in their vote over whether Obama has been a good president for Israel, the answer is yes.”
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/obama-is-good-for-israel-1.473888
You’re quoting from Haaretz.
Andrea Levin, executive director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA), stated in 2008 that among Israelis Haaretz is seen as a “rather far-left publication” and accused the newspaper of doing “damage to the truth” and failing to correct errors. Earlier, in 2001, Levin criticized Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass for inaccurate reporting and charged Haaretz with fueling anti-Israel bias.
So there’s that.
Haaretz is a far left, post-Zionist rag that does NOT represent the views of even a significant plurality of Israelis or Jews. Better you should have a look at the excellent Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post, which is one of the most highly respected publications. The consensus there is that Obama is an unmitigated disaster and that is why Romney has overwhelmingly won the advance voting of Americans in Israel. They’re onto something, methinks.
Haaretz is “rather far left” in the coordinate system where the NYT is “centrist.” Far more accurate to say that they are out-and-out communists who never cease to try to undermine the current Israeli government, including leaking secret military plans.
The ultimate guide to what Israelis feel about Obama is that the vast majority of Americans living there have voted for Romney via absentee ballots. Which corroborates public opinion polls there.
Why Carl Levin particularly? I do not understand this assumption that Jewish voters are more likely to listen to other Jews. As if all Jews had identical interests and purposes.
Stan, don’t you know we’re all mindless animals simply following the one that most looks and sounds like us? That’s why the Democrats are so advanced. They realize everybody only make decisions based on tribal instincts. The recognize the folly of the Republicans, basing their platform on “principles” and “ideas”, instead of tribal rent-seeking. We all know that the goal to bring down the welfare state is so that white people can have everything and minorities nothing, as opposed to the conservative idea that welfare is destroying black families and communities.
Don’t you understand that the only way you can have power and meaning in your life is if you agree with the consensus of your ethnicity? It’s the only way we can live a “sincere life.”
Well , aside from jewish voters , you will find no other ethnic/racial/religious group that votes overwhelmingly democratic, with the exception of blacks.
And this has been the case since when? 1930? 1920?
So, yes, when is comes to voting, jewish folks are like automatons; if there is a “D” after a candidates name, the jewish voter will pull that lever.
It is simply an indisputable fact.
Jewish anti-semites usually called:”small but noisy group” by Jewish intellectuals are in the center of the attention on the pro-Obama market of cheap goods.Don`t call them corrupt,please! they are the sincere Israel-haters.
The Republicans (hopefully Conservatives) have a REAL chance to increase their House seats and take over the Senate by several seats.
Worthwhile reading for the day before the presidential election 2012:
Romney for President
The Obama record is unimpressive.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/332484/mitt-romney-president-editors
Sens Carl Levin and John McCain drew up the NDAA Bill which authorize the U.S. military to pick up and imprison, without charge or trial of American citizens, anywhere in the world. Signed by Pres Obama.
Politicians who vote 100% with Obama and never criticize his abuses of power have lost any right to our trust.
The Jewish people in the USA ought to read a Jew like Ayn Rand and not a Jew like Karl Marx
Ayn Rand was an atheist and a sociopath. She should only be read for entertainment value or to combat insomnia.
And so was Karl Marx, by the way. But unlike Ayn Rand, he was a rabid anti-semite. Recall that he wrote a small treatise entitled “On the Jewish Question.”
Well, excuse me, but there is no “jewish question” unless, of course, you hate jews; which he did with every perverted cell in his stinking body.
Karl Marx was a Lutheran – Atheist. His parents were born Jewish but converted to Lutheran before he was born.
Groucho Marx, on the other hand, was Jewish and a much better philosopher than either of those two.
“Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.”
If I am not mistaken isn’t Senator Levin Chairman of the
Washington Judenrat?
One need not look far for a stark reminder of why Jews don’t particularly like the right wing. Doesn’t take long for the anti-Semites to crawl out from under their rocks. Can always count on PJ Media for some good old fashioned Jew baiting.
Most of the commentators here that you accuse of antisemitism are Jewish. And if you know any Israelis [not expatriates like Rahm], you might be surprised how anti-Semitic they are by your standards – i.e., reviling Levin and his ilk. Ayup, you can never tell where you will find antisemitism. Sort of like those racists Allen West and Condoleeza Rice.
Jewish or antisemitic or not. I would ask for some consideration when refering to the Holocaust out of context. It is important not to cheapen or distort the meaning and memory of those events. It is not an appropriate comparison and a dishonor to those who perished.
The only thing Levin has accomplished is to blacken his own reputation.
Eighty-five percent of Americans living in Israel voted for Obama. ‘ Nuff said.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/anglo-file/poll-85-of-americans-in-israel-voted-for-romney.premium-1.473859
Correction ( before anyone has a conniption ) 85% VOTED FOR ROMNEY>
You mean Romney.”American Jews who are living in Israel have cast their votes in the 2012 presidential election, and the result is astonishing, according to Abe Katsman of the Times of Israel: 85% of their votes were for Mitt Romney.”
Many conservatives seem to love Jews when they are in Israel, not so much when they are in the US or elsewhere. Why is that?
Is that, indeed? Or is that a typical straw-man argument, or even worse, the projections of a liberal?
I mentioned on another thread but worth talking about again here. While we could debate the reasons for strong Democratic base among Jews there is a much bigger demographic issue that never gets mentioned here and I do not understand why.
The issue is the Latino vote. They are a much bigger percent of the population and growing quickly (as opposed to Jews who are declining except for Orthodox who vote Republican anyway). How did Republicans miss this opportunity? Hispanics are generally conservative, religious, family oriented and hard working. Obama has done nothing to help them. Where is the outreach?
It is appropriate to the article because I suspect some similarity. Although it may not be so much the case today, in the past Jews did not feel welcomed by the old Republican establishment, and I am putting that mildly. They got support from the Labor movement and City governments and so landed in the Democratic camp. Once established that pattern is difficult to break and takes generations.
I think the same thing is happening with Hispanics today. Just today I saw on PJM comments about the “rights of White Americans” and defense of xenophobia as legitimate. Well fine if that is how you think but this is no way to reach out and win elections. The image of the Republican party as a narrow minded racist populist political party may no longer be deserved but it will take concerted effort to change that perception in the minds of many voters.
“The image of the Republican party as a narrow minded racist populist political party may no longer be deserved”
That image of the Republican party was NEVER deserved.
The GOP was NEVER a racist party. NEVER.
“The image of the Republican party as a narrow minded racist populist political party may no longer be deserved”
That image of the Republican party was NEVER deserved.
The GOP was NEVER a racist party. NEVER.
“Because I have never lived or worked in Michigan — and also because I root for the Yankees, not the Tigers — I was a bit surprised when Senator Carl Levin of Michigan sent me a letter asking me to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”
Levin has been in the Senate for more than 33 years now. One could argue that he doesn’t live or work in Michigan, either.
Att: Jewish Democrats. This is not your grandfather’s Democratic party.
A PARTY THAT NEGOTIATES FOR THE PALESTINEANS ?
Obama’s “pro-Israel” fact list may satisfy some, BUT … nothing can change the fact that Obama’s 2012 Democrat platform clearly revealed his agenda of
· appeasing the Arab world and
· abandoning his “unbreakable bond with Israel”.
4 crucial issues in the 2008 Democrat platform that were
NOT MENTIONED in 2012 platform:
1) The United States should continue to isolate Hamas.
2) Palestinian refugees should settle in its new State and not in Israel.
3) It is unrealistic to expect Israel to return to the armistice lines of 1949.
4) Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel.
“I think the omissions are troubling — particularly the omission about the Palestinian refugee issue and Hamas are, I think, deeply troubling.” Alan Dershowitz
being a resident of michigan i will say levin does not represent me and my point of view. he has been in office for far to long. time to go carl. also time for the union backed stabbinow to step aside also.
“but using a letter from Carl Levin as a sort of “note from the rabbi” will not work.”
If one considers the infamous “Rabbis for Obama” list, fully five of them are linked to a prominent Washington, DC synagogue. To my knowledge, they haven’t promoted Obama publicly, and I doubt their sympathies have swayed anyone otherwise inclined to go with Romney.
I am Jewish and if Obama brought King David with him i would still vote for Romney.
Good for you, Ed. I have about half a dozen Jewish friends in or from Philly and Va. who are voting for Romney.
Pardon me if I think that ossified cretin could not possibly be of any help IF Obama had to call on him at the last minute. Is there anyone in Mi who would think that he WOULDN’T support the party’s Manchurian president?
Well the political stupidity of american jews is really puzzling : Despite Obama flagrant muslim bias, hostile policy towards israel, jews do not care …they only think of their wallet.They will vote again for the marxist-muslim MOLE , and they will consider themselves as smart…? Actually the second term of Obama will be ten times harsher against Israel, since BHO will not be able to run again.The Mr niceguy ‘s mask will fall down and you will see him giving Iran the nuclear toy to destroy Israel and Egypt more arms to attack Israel from the south and the sea, and more leeeway for Turkey to raise hostility.BHO is a muslim mole.The past four years clearly proves he wants a radical islamist takeover of the mideast .This kind of upheaval will have negative outcome on the wallets of all americans and westerners, etither jews or non,The coming islamist empowerment engineered by Obama, will raise the oil price, cause hunger riots all over the mideast.That americans still vote for such a MOLE is unbelievable.It seems you have no sense of history, no sense of the geopolitical shift engineered by Obama alliance with the radical islamists, either sunni (Egypt lybia ) or shiites (Iran Syria Lebanon). The storm created by Obama will reach your mainland quickly , but it will be too late.Obama promised a real change and you will get it but in a very painful way.