Helen Thomas, Karl Rove, Gaza and Jewish Republicans
How’s that for a collection of keywords for Google search? Well, it was (sort of) earned by me last night from the interviews I conducted for PJTV at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition summer bash, this year at the Beverly Hilton.
Most notable was Karl Rove, the RJC’s keynote speaker of the evening, who is apparently a reader (once in a moon anyway) of this blog. I did something of a formal interview (up soon on PJTV) with Bush 43′s former senior adviser turned author, commentator, etc., etc., on a number of issues pertinent to the occasion, one of which has already become dated. Helen Thomas has retired or — as Drudge wittily put it — been “sent to Poland.”
Shall we sing it all together now? ”Ding, dong, the witch is dead… Which old witch… the wicked witch…” And on and on. (It’s worth adding, to be our version of politically correct, that Poland is far from the worst place anyone could be sent these days. How about Turkey?)
But back to Rove. Other than Thomas, I talked with him about two key areas — the Gaza Flotilla situation and the direction of the American Jewish vote.
On the former, he was quite explicit that the Flotilla would not have happened under Bush. It was the atmosphere and policies of the current administration that was allowing it to occur, not to mention expand, as it may.
Regarding the Jewish vote that went 78% for Obama, he was more than guardedly optimistic, seeing the situation at this moment as a great opportunity for Jewish Republicans.
Anecdotally, I think he has a point. I have been attending this annual RJC event for three years now, first for PJ Media and then for the last two years doing interviews for PJTV. I always asked essentially the same question: What’s the climate with your friends and relatives? Is everyone in your world (mishpocheh, in the parlance) still a knee-jerk liberal? Can you even speak to each other at the dinner table?
I always got basically the same response — a cynical shrug that signaled the old Yiddish expression “Vat den?” (’twas ever thus).
But not last night. Almost uniformly the attendees to whom I asked this question responded differently. Yes, they said, things were changing. Their mishpocheh – in the smaller and larger senses — were listening to them, not getting angry or walking away. Sometimes they just remained silent, but it was a thoughtful, worried silence. From what I could tell at the Beverly Hilton last night, the polls showing Jews deserting Obama were evidently not entirely apocryphal.
Most surprising to me were some words I exchanged with Rep. Dan Lederman of the South Dakota House of Representatives. (I didn’t even know there were Jews in South Dakota.) Lederman told me of his recently making a speech strongly attacking Obama policies to an audience of seventy or so B’nai B’rith members in his neighboring Nebraska and not getting a peep of objection. This would have been unheard of a year ago. Cue Bob Dylan — or should I say Zimmerman — and change, change you, or at least I, can believe in.
So I went home last night with a partial sense of optimism. (Alas, the Lakers lost.) I had an autographed copy of Rove’s new book Courage and Consequence under my arm and cracked it open in order to distract myself from the Lakers defeat. So far it’s a riveting read — not what you would expect. More on that later. For now, watch for my interview with the political guru on PJTV.
Update: My interview with Rove is now online at PJTV; click here to watch.
Thanks, Roger. A Hebrew lesson (“mishpocheh”) and an upbeat, informative article, all in a few paragraphs.
Is the PJTV video ready yet?
just FYI, my shiksa friend: it’s Yiddish, not Hebrew. completely different animal.
I liked the article too. thank God for Roger and the others on PJ–they balance out the awful huffpo and kos people…
Hebrew word in Yiddish, Ruth. A Hebrew word in Yiddish is still a Hebrew word.
On the same theme, I took a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv last fall. They only had Israeli newspapers, while most of the passengers were German or American Evangelicals. One of the passengers asked the lovely stewardess what language it was. She said ‘Yiddish.’
I thought, well, good enough for me – A ‘Christian’ airline flying to the Jewish state. If they care about Israel, I don’t care if they think every Israeli on the street is speaking Yiddish…
shiksa
“gentile girl,” in Jewish culture, 1892, from Yiddish shikse, from Heb. siqsa, from sheqes “a detested thing” + fem. suffix -a.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
I know that the use of this word has softened somewhat recently, but as we are respecting your religion and fighting for your side, I would like to request that the use of this word be avoided. I must say I had a visceral response to it.
I’m Jewish myself, and to this day I just cringe when I hear “shickseh” and “shaygets”. My mother and maternal grandmother used them with inflection that made them sound like they were referring to garbage, or worse.
Mom has considerably mellowed, especially since her second husband was gentile, and also the very best person who ever entered her life (and mine).
I’d like to see both words retired.
I would have loved to have the chance to hear Mr. Rove speak. Do you have to be Jewish to attend an event like this?
Not at all. You also don’t have to be Jewish to like bagels and lox, nor Italian to like spaghetti, etc. But you do have to pay for the dinner.:)
Retail.
Naah! I can get it for you wholesale!
/ducking
who pays retail ?
true,true ,but having to be norwegian to eat fiskebolle….clearly an exception to the rule,eh?
she lost her looks and her marbles approximately 50 years ago!
I’ve seen old pictures; to plagiarize from something I read earlier, she’s always looked just the same on the inside as she does on the outside.
# NahaCee: but you have to be raabidly Pro Israel and no critisism os Isaerl is allow or tolorated..
As the folotila would not happen under bush, Mr. Simo did you ask him what he was smoking? the Alquda damn near destroyed New York city under Bush
I am pretty sure the boat would have gonr through anyways.. by the way I love this site that you have created. it makes my!
Don’t look know, but I believe you left your brain in your other suit.
I like your last name
Are you sober?
I have many Jewish friends. My sense is that in their minds, they are reconsidering
what was an almost unquestioning loyalty to the Democratic party. Is change
in the offing. I believe so.
I think you are being overly optimistic or reading into things. None of the Jewish people I hang out with are ready to switch sides. The republican party still looks as crazy as before. How many republican senators or house members are Jewish? If the repubilcans think they can win the support of American Jews by giving Israel a reach around they are deluded.
I’m not surprised that none of the far left liberals that you hang around with are willing to consider switching to the Republican party.
Brian N,
You remind me of BCs logic when he posts here. Consider this and perhaps bounce it against your own experiences with your friends.
Because all of BC’s friends from the cafes in Cambridge Ma agree every Thursday night that conservatives are stupid, anti-science, have no grasp of economics…and so on…why then, it must be so. All his friends agree. All the internet sites they visit are populated with likeminded people who agree. No one sees any evidence to the contrary. Everyone agrees.
Yet surrounding them in their booths in those cafes on those Thursday nights are tables with groups of gentlemen like myself – consultants, physicists, Engineering Fellows, They are out grabbing a quick meal while working late at one of the myriad cutting edge engineering firms or think tanks in the MIT area. And they are smiling if not outright laughing at the utter nonsense they are overhearing from BC’s booth. (I speak from vastly amused experience, being one of those consultants.)
So if none of the Jewish people you hang out with are considering changing who they support politically, does that mean that you are hanging with a representative group of Jewish people? Or are there more experienced and level headed Jewish people in the booths around you listening to you and your friends equivocate about the current party in charge’s Israel policies and increasingly shaking their heads at what they are overhearing?
You are committing the same intellectual error as B.C. You assume too much. First, I am from Indiana, so do not cannot pigeon hole me as an east coast liberal elitist. Why is elitist bad again? Anyway, I have had the chance to hang out with Jewish people from all over the country. This includes extra conservative jews in chabad houses in many different places. Not to mention my 11 cousins in Israel whom I regularly talk with. I am sorry if I do not fit your stereotype. I have also talked with Palestinians. I hear both sides with open ears. I often go to services in many different kinds of synagogues. In fact I regularly read this blog so to make sure I am not in an echo chamber. How often do you read liberal blogs? I am not just talking about an article that is being trashed and linked to. I am not sure what a more experienced Jew is exactly. Perhaps you have not had the chance to talk with a level headed fellow Jew, and take your calls from fox news. Have you ever been to Palestine or talked in great deal with someone fresh from Palestine? I would accuse you of being equally guilty as BC for being in an echo chamber.
‘How often do you read liberal blogs?’
You’d be surprised. You’d also be surprised at how often I disagree with what I read on this site. I can coexist with as many ways of looking at the world as there are people looking.
But I do not suffer intellectual elitism masking pretentious and parochial ignorance of the real world no matter what the politics of the pretender. Nor do I suffer moral cowardice masquerading as reasonableness no matter what the politics of the pretender.
You sometimes give off a whiff of the first. You stink of the second.
Man up and take a stand like Miriam Rove has done. A vile piece of work is she, but at least honest enough to get off the fence.
Brian, you’re still at it? I’m going to have to talk to your mother. You’re going to bed tonight without supper.
open ears????
That would be a first. Given the number of lies you spout and the number of times those lies have been corrected with actual, real world facts, your claims to be willing to listen to both sides are, to say the least, laughable.
You can look to New York in 1993 to see that there is a point to where you cannot push liberal Jewish Democrats before it’s even too much for them to tolerate. The same mindset that elected Barack Obama in 2008 put David Dinkins into office in 1989, and the same feeling four years later that the mayor was, if not openly hostile to Jews at least unconcerned with their problems, led enough voters to switch to Giuliani to allow him to win their rematch and starting turning the city around.
Crown Heights was the last straw for liberal Jews in NYC back then. With Iran reportedly sending two boats to ‘escort’ the latest flotilla to Gaza, we may be seeing Obama’s own Crown Heights unfolding over the next week or so. And if he reacts with the same sort of indifference or refusal to acknowledge Israel’s side of the argument, all the Hope and Change in the world isn’t going to get some normal Democratic Jewish voters back to Obama’s side (though as in NYC post-Rudy, they’ll be perfectly willing to slip back into their same voting patterns a few years down the line, once and if they perceive the main problem they were worried about has vanished).
Agree on all counts.
Exactly. Superb analogy to Crown Heights and David Dinkins. Here is another insightful look at BHO:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294231631318728.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
I’m a sorta christian (attend church at Christmas) but have been pro Israel most of my life. It is beyond me how jews that have made pilgrimages to Israel support the Democrats over the last couple of decades, but in particular the last few years.
There are policies and paths that could promote peace in the middle east without selling out Israel, but the left seems to scream about any discrimination except when is is toward the jews or conservative christians.
A lot of liberals (Jewish and otherwise) who don’t actually hate the mere existence of Israel instead treat it as if it was the 51st U.S. State — that is, they see no problem with interfering in the nation’s internal politics, and see the current Likud government as being equal to the Republican party and conservative movement in the U.S., while Labor is associated by them with the Democrats and their own liberal beliefs. That’s why Bill Clinton had no problem OKing James Carvelle going to Israel in 1999 to help Ehud Barak get elected prime minister, because he believed a Labor government headed by Barak would be more open to dealing with Arafat (and hopefully in getting Bill his coveted Nobel Peace Prize — at least that’s not a motivating for Obama any more).
The creation of Israel was supported by the Soviet Union in 1948, because Stalin thought it’s leaders would set up a socialist satellite state for him in the region — the Soviets only aligned with the Muslim nations after that failed to pan out, while in the U.S. and elsewhere, Democrats and the ‘soft left’ stood by the country … until 1977, when Likud and Begin won election, and have dominated the prime ministership there for most of the past 33 years. If you think of Israel as, say, Texas and Bibi Netanyahu as George W. Bush, then it’s far easier to understand why liberal Jews in the U.S. seem to be willing to go against Israel’s best interests in the current crisis; to them supporting Israel under Bibi is like backing the U.S. war on terror effort under Bush — their distaste is based on the man in charge and his party; let the same thing happen under a Labor government, and Israel would have far more support among the ‘soft left’ in this country and even in Europe.
I was at the event last night as well. Karl Rove was by far the most interesting speaker last night. You have definately tapped into the Jewish angst over Obama. You could feel the vibe in the room, lots and lots of energy. The times are ‘a changing.
One thing that stuck in my mind is that he said that we must show what we “are for” in the next election, not merely what we are against. There is much to be excited about, but a great deal is at stake here as well.
Excellent stuff.
The Democrat Party has always had enough Jews to keep the anti-semites in the party at bay, until now. The Buchanan wing of the Republican Party is still irksome enough to have influence and, for them, the ” No Jews Allowed ” sign has never come down. Was it just a coincidence that charges of dual loyalty were brought against some AIPAC members just as the Republican Convention was being held in NYC? I don’t think so. Buchanan is an anti-semite and an ignoramus to boot. As long as he is welcome in the Republican Party many Jews will think twice about joining.
The sad thing is, the same Jews who would refuse to have anything to do with the Republicans because of Buchanon, would have no trouble sitting down to dinner with Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Both of whom are still very influential in the Democratic party.
Pat Buchanan has not been a Republican for nearly twenty years! He is a marginalized individual who feels at home only among radical right individuals—and the occasional left-winger. Buchanan is so whacked out that he now blames the United States and Great Britain for starting WWII.
Pat Buchanan has been ostracized long ago. He had an appearance some years back on Fox News where he came completely unglued. He was promoting his new book and started making weird claims about WW2 and revisionist history. I remember it clearly. There was a weird uncomfortable vibe. And he has not bin seen on Fox News again after that. It was a particularly strange moment because he used to be a host on Fox with his own show and was a regular commentator. After that he was just gone. Nobody takes him seriously anymore.
Menachem, turn over any rock and you’ll find and anti-Semite. Right now there are many more anti-Semites in the Democratic party than in the Republican party. Here’s a simple question: who would you rather have in power George Bush or Barack Obama. The answer is as simple as that. Yes, there are still anti-Semites in the Republican party that doesn’t mean that I can’t work with them. Just try working with the anti-Semites of the Democratic party.
What Andy Gump said. The Democrats for years have succeeded in painting the Republicans as anti-Semitic, when only a few idiots like Buchanan truly are. The same herd of bigots that joined the Dixiecrats over the Civil Rights Movement now rail against Israel.
The number of Buchananites in the GOP can be counted on the fingers and toes of a quadruple-amputee; now, if you’re talking about the Libertarians, that’s a different matter.
You should really learn a little before setting out to make yourself sound stupid.
There are Buchanites in both the Republican party and the Libertarian party, and probably in similar, very small numbers.
I say that as a libertarian who knows many other libertarians.
Wake up! Passive American Jews right now– need to stand up for Israel and fight, fight, fight for the right of their homeland. Where are the Student Israeli groups in our universities to fight the hatred and the intolerance that is permeating our academic institutions. Our president and this administration have abandoned Israel. It is up to American Jews to defend, speak out, protest, march, and scream!!! for the right of Israel.. Stand up and do the PR work that the other side does against Israel… Vote Republican to support Israel…
Report
annie……..Its starting to happen. I was just at a pro-Israel rally this Sunday in front of the Jewish Consulate in LA. There were roughly speaking 5000 in attendance including Christians and even bikers with their colors on. It was the third demonstration in an eight day period for me and I’m glad to say what I saw was beautiful. They are waking up.
Let me also address your next comment. As a Jew I would do anything I could for Israel; but, that doesn’t stop me from loving this country. This country, the USA, saved what was left of my family in Europe and gave me a new home. It gave me an education, a chance for a good life, and security. Saying that I love this country is a vast understatement. Now on the other hand, take a secular Jew, he also loves this country probably no less than I do. He was raised a Democrat when it really meant something. He was there when there was discrimination and racial intolerance. Through the Democratic party this country was changed to be truly equal to all. Its hard for him to change, to realize that those times are gone, that the Democratic party has left him. He’s waking up, some quicker than others; but, he is waking up. Believe me, he’ll make a great Republican.
WOW! Not a word or photo or anything about it on any “news”, yeah, yeah I know! But there has got to be a way of getting that out there somehow. Thanks to all that went for your efforts. I still see that young high school student, all alone…
There was also a large demonstration against the new mosque in NYC. Nobody heard anything about it either. Have a few hundred moslems demonstrate anywhere and the news media fights to have a front row seat.
That high school student brought me to tears. Friday he was joined by two to three hundred others in facing the second demonstration by Palestinians. You should have seen those kids, they were beautiful.
A few hundred???
All they need is three or four.
You make the classic far right mistake. I and my ilk(young liberal jews) are not antiIsrael or antisemitic. We dislike the current policies of Israel. I love Israel and every Israeli I have ever met. My uncle and many cousins live in Israel. However, I see both sides of the issue and do not agree with either sides approach. This includes Israel’s policies. Just because I am jewish does not mean I cannot have compassion for Palestinians. To all the Christians what, happened to compassion?
Compassion to people who have sworn to kill and are actively trying to do so?
You do realize, that the palestinians don’t care whether you support Israel or not. They don’t care if you live in Israel or not.
You are a Jew, they will try to kill you, if given the chance. Their holy book requires it.
It resides in my heart-alive and well thank you. The info received by “us” (everyday people) is terribly filtered and presented in a very biased way–by every outlet. Not to mention the behind the scenes string pulling by the “men behind that curtain”. My perspective-That ship had the ability to sail freely without boarding to port and have it’s “relief supplies” inspected and passed along. I haven’t heard of Israel keeping non-military supplies from the Gaza strip. If the ports are opened without inspection and scuds by the 1000′s flow in, Israel might as well have slit her own throat/given up and run away, however you chose to say it. I am wrong/mis-informed here? If so I will gladly consider changing my mind. Just give me the facts, not opinions please.
Brian N,
You feel compassion. That is good. You should feel compassion for those in distress.
But.. be aware that the Palestinians have been indoctrinated into an anti-semitic death cult of unheard-of proportion. Their hatred precedes ’67 or even ’48 (look up the Hebron massacre). Add to that the Islamist threat, Iran, European hostility and American indifference and that leaves the Israeli gov’t with few options.
No one can claim to have simple answers. But I’m inclined to think that the only way the Palestinians will get on with their lives is if they are not only defeated utterly but they are made to believe that they have no hope of victory in their conflict with Israel. Sort of what happened with Germany and Japan after WWII. Unconditional surrender. And there is the problem with well-meaning people who express their ‘solidarity’ with the Palestinians. By supporting them, their fantasy of defeating the Jews and returning to their ancestral homes is maintained which means paradoxically that the conflict and their suffering just gets perpetuated. Sounds harsh but in the long run, it could be the best solution.
Mark, that might be the stupidest thing I have seen you write. I lived with a Palestinian for a year and she never tried to kill me. She did make me dinner on occasion, but I do not consider that an act of hostility. Keep in mind that he father had recently gotten out of Israeli prison. I had dinner the other day with someone from Lebanon and her grandfather was killed in the bombings of 2008. She did not hate jewish people. They both understood the situation is complicated and did not hate the other side. Why cant you?
CC and
Ohhh, you slept with one palestinian, and that proves that all palestinians love everyone. Pathetic bit of reasoning, but on your normal level.
Brian N,
You say, ‘I and my ilk(young liberal jews) are not antiIsrael or antisemitic…However, I see both sides of the issue and do not agree with either sides approach.’
This is baseless cowardice. You have one side that is a democratic state that has bent over backwards to accommodate the other short of committing national suicide. Literally and horrifically suicide. They have done so seeking peace often at the cost of their children’s lives. The other side has subjugated themselves to a political and religious dogma that has openly and repeatedly expressed the adamant condition that peace will only be attained when Israel does just that – commits national suicide. And has worked ceaselessly committing barbaric and horrific acts for 60 years to that end. And sacrificed their children’s lives to that end.
There is no two sides. There is no hint of equivalence here in any degree or proportion. Any more than there was two sides or equivalence between the actions undertaken by the Allies invading Normandy beaches 66 years ago with the aim of destroying Nazi Germany and Nazi Germany’s solution to the problem of Jews living in Europe. And if you know your history there were people who made that claim of equivalence then.
When the world finally turns it’s back on self-destructive progressive nonsense and rejects false equivalence, just as they did over 60 years ago, the world’s armies will crash into the Middle east just as they did into Europe 66 years ago. They would do so with the same intent as they had 66 years ago. Forcibly remove a ruling class that infected an entire region with a culture of death while the world gave lip service to progressive and liberal denial of moral imperatives. And then transform that culture, forcibly if necessary.
I hope Israel can hold out until the world comes to it’s senses. If the night of the long knives comes beforehand it will be no more consolation to Israel then it was to European Jewry of the 20th century.
You also said, “Just because I am jewish does not mean I cannot have compassion for Palestinians. To all the Christians what, happened to compassion?”
You confuse compassion with lack of moral fiber.
There is no gray area here, Brian. There are no two sides. There can be no compassion for those who would ignite another holocaust. The sooner you and your friends and your fellow travelers worldwide understand that the sooner there will be true peace in the Mideast.
I leave you with this. For every person, leadership and lead, who paid the price tor ending the holocaust 60 years ago, there were two fellow travelers who ducked responsibility. Take a stand.
AMEN
pay attention Brian- or you will be the next Adam Shapiro (ISM)
married to a sick ideology
No nation has ever been as compassionate to it’s enemies as Israel
Brian, did your Palestinian girlfriend do it for you camel style?
Christians are the most loyal allies of Israel…but we need your help.. The Bible commands us to support you and we do, we love Israel. But, you must fight for yourselves. When we visited Dachow, and the Holocaust museum in DC, we were taught that we must learn the history of the past to prevent a repeat (holocaust) in the future. This administration has abandoned Israel and all Israelis… Why would any Jew work for this administration?? Loyalty to your homeland is crucial, is it not?? Of course, if you are a Jew and do not care about your wonderful heritage, your people, your country, or your very existence, or even another Holocaust., then continue as you have been, as Helen Thomas, and several in this administration who support opposition to the tiny country of Israel…. Who have they ever hurt??? A tiny country without oil, natural resources. Why must they be exterminated??
Hi, Annie, I share your alarm at the plight of Israel but please don’t say things like “Loyalty to your homeland is crucial, is it not??” when you talk about American Jews and Israel.
My homeland is the United States and my loyalty is to the United States first. My heart aches for Israel and for its people. When the President treats another Judeo-Christian country unjustly, I feel that he’s not doing anything for my benefit, that I’m incidental in the grand scheme of building utopia.
Well said. I too am American – of German heritage. I support Israel because it’s the right thing to do and I would do the same for any country that finds itself on the short end.
Send the mean old bat “back” to Lebanon. She’d fit right in with the hizballah social circuit.
thanks for taking the words out of my mouth- saved me bit of typing-
yes why Poland, send her to the Hezzbollah
I have a friend who works for the local Jewish Federation in Maryland near to DC. She voted for McCain because of her perception of his anti-Israel/pro-Arab leanings. She says that she fears to say anything negative to anyone at work about Mr Obama and his policies for fear of being fired.
Whose anti-Israel feelings ? Obama’s ? or McCain’s ? I assume you mean the first.
ooops..Mr Obama’…sorry…
At my Sedar my 30 odd year old cousin said, “You know, I didn’t realise I was a Republican until now — except for the abortion stuff.” Then 20 others agreed.
I was a Democratic activist–precinct delegate, county committee, chaired a state platform subcommittee–finally stopped calling myself a Democrat at all when it seemed downright fatuous to call myself “a member of the Lieberman wing of the party’ when there wasn’t one anymore.
It wasn’t just that the party was pro-Israel; I’m Jewish but I’d be pro-Israel even if the Israelis were Vietnamese. It was, at least for a substantial chunk of the party, part of an overall worldview, that countries like Israel needed to be supported and that our enemies were indeed our enemies and needed to be opposed.
And now…no such group exists in substantial numbers inside the party any more. I don’t think I’m likely to become a Republican, but the Democratic Party is not the same organization in which I grew up…it’s just got the same name. I doubt the party as it now exists is sorry to see me go and I can’t say I’m sorry to be gone.
You are right. There is no longer a Lieberman wing in the Democrat party. It is all hard Left from here on out. I’m sorry, but that is just he way it is.
Very similar story to mine – I live in Washington State and was a Scoop Jackson Democrat back in the late 60s and 70s – until Carter got elected. I voted for him sorry to say. I voted for Reagan in 80 and haven’t looked back. I’m quite sure if Senator Jackson were still alive he’d be a staunch Republican.
My ‘transformation’ from Dem to Conservative took 15 or so years – but really I didn’t change all that much. It was the parties that changed. Dems kept leaning left and many of the Repubs leaned with them – I’ve remained in the same frame of mind. Strong on defense – and on support of Israel – fiscally conservative, believe in smaller government – and a strong Libertarian bent in social issues.
When I’m in D.C., as I am now, I stay at a relative’s home in the NW District. Karl often power walks by and I’m tempted to engage him in such discussions. However, when a man’s power walking, I figure it’s best to let him proceed on. Glad you caught him there and that he expounded on the greater truths we need to hear.
Pat Buchanan famously called Capitol Hill ” Israeli occupied territory”.
The odious Helen Thomas has been saying horrible things for decades and not so much as a slap on the hand from the MSM or the WH.
ONE comment about the Jews and its lights out for the disgusting Ms. Thomas.
I am happy tonight for two reasons.
One. Helen Thomas is gone
Two. The American people see the curtain pulled back and who is actually calling the shots in Washington.
Helen Thomas lost her job not to teach her a lesson but to teach the MSM a lesson……….about what not to say and who to not say it about.
That was hardly Thomas’ first anti-Semitic remark — just an unusually egregious one.
If your implication is that ‘the Jews that control Occupied Capitol Hill (and who call the shots in Washington)’ forced Helen Thomas’s firing, then why not come right out and say it?
Just a by-the-way moment. I obviously don’t know if your real name is “Nathan Milstein” or this is simply a nom-de-blog but it brought back one of my fondest memories. About twenty years ago I had the privilege of attending a performance during one of the last concert tours of the great violinist Nathan Milstein. (I was in the third row,) He was in his eighties and had been performing for well over seventy years. He was small, stooped and modest yet his playing was still lyrical, technically brilliant and achingly sensitive. The generous program included Mozart, Bach and Ravel and he gave the totally engrossed audience encore after encore. I have never been closer to pure genius than I was during that concert.
Yeah! Those nasty Jews should all go back to Poland…and their little dog too! Aaahhh! I’m me-e-l-l-ting!
Rove is wrong. American Jews are beyond hope. Obama could nuke Israel and he would still get a majority of Jews to vote for him. Simply put, most Jews lack the gene that controls the self-preservation instinct (only half in jest).
Yes. They do seem to. Such is the power of atrocity.
As in ‘the power of atrocity to dull the survival instinct’? Sad but true.
Everything is about Israel and who is doing what to whom in the Middle East, and that is important buuutt…how about who is doing what to whom/or better yet not doing/ in the US?????????
I live in Israel with my family, and we have a fairly large circle of American friends. Only 2 of them voted for Obama, but almost all of our relatives and friends in America voted for Obama. Up until February or March of this year, they responded vociferously to our e-mails in which we lashed out at the Administration for its policies, not only the on Israeli issues, but Obamacare, Clunkers, Cap and Trade, Stimulus, etc.
But since then, it’s been pretty much dead silence. I asked several of our friends here if they were experiencing the same reaction, and the answer, in every case, was the same. In November, we’ll find out if it’s a trend, or just a blip.
If anyone wants to help Israel, help Shlomo Hizak of the AMI Jerusalem Institute. Shlomo has been helping to unite Christians and Jews for decades now, as well as Arabs in Israel. Now is a real time of paranoia in Israel (because of the actions in the White House) and unity between Christians and Jews is a huge key in stabilizing our most prized Democratic ally in the Middle east. America is not Obama and Obama does not represent America but Christians and Jews do represent all that is worth saving. Show your support for truth and freedom. Israel we all need you to stand now. Israel represents peace on Earth. Imagine the chaos without Israel. Think twice.
I have a question: where is the “78% of Jews voted Obama” from ? How do we know this is exact ? This is just a poll and polls make mistakes. In fact, one poll alone does not mean anything. Furthermore, who are the “Jews” of this poll ? I mean, in the US, they have a strange way of including non-Jews as Jews like Reform converts, people whose father is Jewish but not the mother and so on. So among people who are really Jewish, what was the vote ?
All I can tell is that I know dozens of US Jews around 25-35 years old and the vast majority of them voted for McCain. Many of them hated Obama and hate him even more now. And most of them are *not* religious orthodox Jews.
Cute, Simon. Apparently only AGE mellows the socialist “intellectual” Jews.
They upset Goldwater’s election in 1964 where I campaigned for him.
Then they prolonged the Vietnam war with their (your, Simon) chants of “Mao …”.
You got older, wiser and now cuter. But you never apologized to the mothers of the boys who died in that extended war, nor for the tragic slide into socialism by the triumph of Lyndon Johnson.
Have fun, by all means.
Gee Pelaut, you’re just full of Christian love and repentence. Do you yell at Ronald Reagan’s grave for being a card carrying Liberal before he Saw the Light?
Almost. But Reagen’s early unionist sentiments had no social reverbrations nationally. No one died. AND he apologized profusely and often.
If you go and read the comments column on the Helen Thomas story in the SF Chron yesterday(If it’s still up) you will find something like 60% of them expressing support for everything Helen said. The closeted (and non-closeted) Jew bashers were out in force. Some of them tried to turn her firing into a free speech issue (Helen has a right to call for ethnic cleansing) Some of them were simply bashing Israel (Helen has a right to call for ethnic cleansing as long as it’s Jews who are being cleansed). Now admittedly the SF Bay area is ground zero for the loonie left but there were hundreds of comments so lacking in principle that even I got worried.
My point is for my Jewish friends you may not even be safe in the U.S. Barry and his cronies have made anti-semitism cool again and you are, no matter how influential, 2 1/2 percent of the population. You better start finding and supporting (or being)politicians of principle (I know, I know, contradiction in terms) but with storm clouds gathering on the economic horizon………….
Evil does not come with a sign identifying it as such. In the 1920s the people of Germany were energized by a man who promised hope in a time of misery. But to see into the future and predict the consequences of his political and social policies, all the citizens (and the world) had to do was read the man’s hateful words and listen to what he was saying. I recommend we all carefully listen to what is emanating from the administration. There’s no excuse for remaining ignorant. It’s all there to see. If you say in a few years, “I didn’t understand,” you were not paying attention. Or chose not to.
“Ding, dong, the witch is dead… Which old witch… the wicked witch…”
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My favorite comment on the Helen Thomas affair was posted on Gateway Pundit’s blog: “Don’t be too hard on Helen Thomas. She’s had a rough time of it ever since that house fell on her sister.”
“Buchanan wing”? Buchanan doesn’t get a wing, he’s had to supply his own pup tent for a long time. Ever since he went gaga. He doesn’t even get a room in the attic anymore.
It’s strange, how the anti-Semites keep thinking that the strong support in America for Israel is a product of the “Jewish lobby”, when it’s been non-Jewish Americans that have formed the base of that support for a long time.
One aspect of all conspiracy theorists, is that they don’t think to hard about the conspiracy theory they are pushing. To them lack of evidence to support their pet theory is just more evidence about how effective the cabal that they have managed to penetrate.
Being the bearer of secret knowledge gives meaning to their otherwise meaningless and wasted lives. Challenging their conspiracy theory challenges their world view, their very reason for being. That’s why they react so violently whenever anyone disputes them.
They would no doubt claim that the vast majority of Americans actually agree with them. If a Rasmussen poll shows otherwise, that’s evidence that Rasmussen is part of the conspiracy.
Miriam, could you please, please learn the rudiments of written English? It’s bad enough that your content is invariably incorrect and odious, but to continually abuse the *form* of your communications as well is simply too much to stomach.
#29 Kalmia: sorry about that.. I will try to do better.
Miriam, have you met Brian N yet? You know he has an Arab girlfriend. Maybe you can hook up with him and become part of his harem?
I still think this is all too easy. Obama is too good a politician and too uncaring about the world to get this unpopular.
My prediction is that he will say “enough”, have a Sister Soulja moment, and attack Iran.
He probably doesn’t care about doing that one way or another, but he needs the votes and will do what he has to to get them. Its probably too bad, if he’d acted tough from the beginning, he wouldn’t have to play tough later. But as I said, he doesn’t care.
Plus the Saudis are probably telling him he has to attack Iran, and that is a better reason (for him) than any real interest in Democracy, Israel or human rights.
When fear is the motivator one has to wonder.
Rove thinks Jews will swing into the Republican camp? You better take that with a giant tablespoon of salt seeing as how Rove was the architect of the grand strategy of wooing Hispanics into the GOP. A lot of hope and no changey.
Helen Thomas disgusts me.
And she’s ugly.
penny@dorne.info
I have been a staunch Democrat because of basic human justice towards those in the U.S. who have no chance of attaining the “dream”. However, I will vote Republican for president for the first time because of Obama’s refusal to see the extreme danger of Islamic extremism.
I am very disallusioned with both parties however, as they bow down to foreign oil. The oil companies pay for campaigns on both sides and have polluted our country and world beyond repair. Now the gas companies are slowly, but surely, polluting well water in all the states they’ve moved into. We will dramatically weaken the Middle Eastern despots if they have no funds to support terrorism and their dreams of world domination. They might have to actually start working econmies based on their people’s productivity. NOW is the time for the U.S. to lead in green energy alternatives- we have the technology! We need the will to all make a small sacrifice so that our soldiers stop making the ultimate sacrifice where they are used as target practice by a culture that does not value life. Wars of containment only embolden the enemy- only complete defeat works. The U.S. and its PC stopping of Israeli victories has been devastating (enter Lebanon,Turkey,… into the Iranian fold).