Well, if 78% of Jews in Chicago say Obama is great for Jews, then he must be, right?
Are you getting on that train?
Quite a few of Barack Obama's "friends from the past" have popped up recently. It's doubtful whether he even knows their names, but in the Chicago Jewish community many people really are long-time friends of the president-elect. Some of the older people in the community say that they "raised him," while others half-jokingly call Obama "the first Jewish president."
They raised contributions for him, provided him with contacts, and also enjoyed hosting him and believed in his glorious future in politics. During most of the campaign, when rumors were spreading among American Jews that Obama was a closet Muslim who was more supportive of the Palestinians and was interested in granting the president of Iran legitimacy, his support among American Jews did not even come close to that enjoyed by Bill Clinton. But at the moment of truth, according to the exit polls, it turns out that 78 percent of Jews voted for Obama.
Members of the Chicago Jewish community are not surprised. They claim that the Jews simply discovered what they have known for years. Obama lives near the synagogue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, an area with quite a large Jewish population. Some of area visitors may even mistake the heavy security presence on the street for the synagogue's location - that is, until they hear about Obama.Alan Solow, an attorney from Chicago, a leader of the Jewish community and a veteran Obama supporter, was one of the few who gained access to the president-elect after his speech in Chicago's Grant Park last week. "After his speech on Tuesday night [election day] in front of hundreds of thousands people, he was the same Barack Obama I know. I think his life is going to change, but it won't change the type of person he is. Presidents tend to become isolated, but I'm confident he'll fight hard against it," he says.
Solow used to live in Obama's neighborhood, and says that Obama has always had "excellent relations with the Jewish community."
"As a local senator, he was very effective and helpful in what we call 'the Jewish agenda,' the community issues, values. He has always had a deep understanding of Israel's need for security. I went with him to Israel for a week in January 2006, and when he started the race for the presidency I had no doubt I'd support him. The first thing that impressed me about him was his intellect - he's one of the smartest people I've met - but he's also a warm and caring person who has a keen interest in issues that people of this country are worried about," continues Solow.
"I said with a smile that he will be the first Jewish president. He also has a deep understanding of issues that confront Israel and the Jewish community. And I think his personal story reflects the story of Jewish immigration to the United States.
"He was raised in a family without any built-in advantages: His father was a stranger, but with the help of a close family and an emphasis on education and hard work, he succeeded. It's the Jewish story in America. He understands it, and that's why he's so close to the Jewish community. His first autobiography is about seeking his roots and he understands Jewish people's yearning for this - it fits into his world view and it's one of the reasons for his support of Israel.When he says that Israel's security is sacrosanct, I believe him.As I know him, he won't say things he doesn't really mean. And he has a lot of close Jewish friends who can confirm this."
Well, if they say so.
8 comments:
Jews are their own worst enemies. Too clever by half.
That seems as good an explanation as any. I can not figure it out.
I do know that, as an imaginative person myself, I sometimes have a hard time separating my own "vision" of reality (the way it should be) from reality itself.
I sometimes think that is what is wrong with much of the Jewish population.
They are certainly a visionary people, as is evidenced by their entrepeneurial spirit and their creativity.
Yes, and Germany is the nation of Kant
Sometimes the truth is too bitter.
Wouldn't you love to be able to ask Alan Dershowitz, who has utterly SKEWERED Walt and Mearsheimer, how the hell he can justify voting for a man who appointed Zbig one his chief advisers, and called Zbig "one of our greatest scholars, and someone I have learned an immense amount from" after Zbig called people like Dersh McCarthyites for criticizing his defense of Walt and Mearsheimer?
Wouldn't you love to be ale to ask Ken Adelman, who said, 'well at least he's competent', 'What if he is competent at avoiding conflict by retreat and appeasement?'
Most jews as usual have an allergy to the "R" in front of that line, but some really would do well to explain whatever tortuous logic they used to vote for Barack Obama, who today said he favored going back to the 1949 borders?
Epa,
Forget the torturous logic.
What do you think is the real reason behind the justication?
Do you have an opinion?
Sadly, I'm guessing it is a synthesis of two primary currents in the Jewish community,
1) they generally are truly Socially Liberal in that they believe we ought to be able to choose our own lifestyle and they believe, and largely this is justified, that the Democratic Party is more in line with their beliefs in that sense
2) the Jewish community still has an outsiders trust for the insiders which they perceive (once again, this is probably justified) as WASPy America
What do you think?
If you look at the founding of Israel, it was a totally socialist undertaking. A Kibbutz? Are you kidding?
I believe most jews coming from tiny social groups/families where one for all, and all for one is a doable and perennially voluntary thesis that works, believe this can be spread to society.
Tikkun Olam - "Heal the planet" Kumbaya
Of course as a cynic I know that in society one cannot require that one 'gives' according to his abilities.
In such small groups everyone MUST be equal.
Take a look at all the radicals at the turn of the century after the Shirtwaist Factory fire in NYC and what they wanted.
Add to that the discrimination against jews which seemed to wane and now is back full force, and one sees in Obama the fusion of every social and democratic feeling many jews have ever had. It's 1932.
It's also no coincidence that in the incident in "Mississippi Burning", the reality was 2 jews, Schwerner and Goodman were murdered along with the black, Chaney. That's iconic for the entire civil rights movement.
History has enforced a communal outlook which dictated that for jews to survive society must be changed in certain ways (or, there must be an Israel..which, of course there wasn't). Now, those changes may not in actuality be beneficial to jews, but none the less, the desire is real. And Obama's mantra was of course....
Besides, Bush sucking to the extreme did not exactly help, nor did the ineffective halting, disjointed McCain operation
Very interesting analysis, Epa.
You know, there is a Communist instinct in Christianity as well. The early Christians (as represented in the book of Acts) lived a Communal existence and that Communal existence is held up, in some circles more than others, as being representative of pure Christianity.
As you point out, such an existence is required of small persecuted minorities. In other words, it's preferableness is a result of pragmatism, not ultimate good.
Maybe you ought to write an essay on this subject. I think your thoughts might be helpful to people on a very large scale.
I'm not a Jew, but it is very frightening to me that Jews might think Obama is like one of them.
My instinct is almost to throw up my hands and give up.
By the way, the "well, if they say so" comment at the end of this post was meant sarcastically, as I see this Jewish support of Obama as being akin to Jewish support of the Vlaams Belang. That's why I also wrote,
"Are you getting on that train?"
Which train shall it be, the Obama Train or the VB train, the right or the left?
Either way, they will go to the same destination.
As Babba Zee says, there are three frogs which proceed out of the mouth of the Beast,
Islamism
Nazism
Leftism
They'll all kill you.
So the Jews martyred two of their own for the civil rights movement. Yet, they are not getting much love today from those they helped. In retrospect, was it worth it?
Anonymous,
You sure do love sniping at us here. It's like it's your hobby.
Hope you're having fun.
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