JLA, good article...
OF PIETY AND HYPOCRISY...
AL GORE'S RUNNING MATE
By: Alan Caruba
etherzone.com
I have a real problem with Al Gore's choice of Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his vice presidential running mate. It began with the avalanche of news coverage that preceded and surrounded the actual announcement. It was Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew. I'm not voting for the chief rabbi of America. I am voting for someone to be the chief executive officer. I am going to vote for George W. Bush because the current one should have been impeached for lying under oath and engaging it acts that defiled the highest office of the land and brought shame to the entire nation. A man whom Al Gore calls a great President.
What troubles me, too, is that everything Lieberman says is going to be filtered by the media through the prism of his being Jewish. We don't do this with Gore's Baptist point of view, but there is the hypocrisy of criticizing Bush for his commitment as a born-again
Christian and his belief in Jesus as his savior. If it is such a great thing that Lieberman is an orthodox Jew, why has this nation been engaged in a cultural war as liberals have striven to remove all reference to God from our schools and other public institutions? It stinks of hypocrisy.
I don't even regard the fact the Lieberman is a Jew as some historic milestone that says anything special. Jews have served this nation for a very long time in positions of leadership and-yes-power. Henry Kissinger comes immediately to mind, but we have nearly a dozen men in Congress today who are Jewish. The Clinton administration appointed Robert Rubin as Secretary of Treasury and his successor, too, is Jewish. Our current Secretary of Agriculture is a Jew.
In 1646 Peter Stuyvesant was named director-general of the colony of New Netherland and, among other things, tried to withhold civil rights from Jews. Their response was to demand the right to membership in the militia and the early predecessors of New Yorkers told Stuyvesant they could use every able-bodied man they could get. He backed down and Jews lined up to defend their newly adopted land. They have served in every war since those early days. One of them, Solomon P. Chase, served as Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury and is credited with having financed the north's Civil War effort. He later served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
I have problems, too, with the emphasis on Lieberman being an Orthodox Jew, as opposed to either Conservative or Reform. It's reported he does not drive a car on the Jewish Sabbath (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday), nor does he take telephone calls. He also does not wear the traditional skullcap which is usually taken as a mark of orthodoxy, although it need be said that many, modern orthodox Jews forego this. Perhaps this is because they see no need to advertise their piety that includes morning and evening prayers, and the reading of a portion of the Torah (Old Testament) every day? Lieberman's opening comments, before and during his acceptance of Gore's selection, was peppered with references to God. Oh yes, he seemed to be saying I am a pious man, a religious man. This Orthodox Jew, however, is remarried after having been divorced; something orthodox tradition frowns upon and he is pro-life. Most orthodox Jews share their Christian brethren's abhorrence of abortion as the taking of a human life. So, just how orthodox is Joseph Lieberman? And does it matter? We are electing civil servants, not religious leaders.
Well, yes, it does matter. Circle September 13th on your calendar because that is when Arafat is expected to declare a Palestinian State inside the borders of the sovereign nation of Israel. What side will Lieberman and the Democrat's choice for the next President come down on? What action will President Clinton take if an all-out war breaks out inside Israel as its Jewish citizens literally fight to protect and preserve their nation? Will he, as Nixon did, send arms to assist our ally? And what impact is the choice of Lieberman having right now in the Middle East where anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist, and anti-Semitic rhetoric fills their newspapers and broadcasts every day, including those of our other ally, the Egyptians, whose nation is propped up with billions of US taxpayer's dollars?
Here at home, it took barely a day before a representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples, speaking on the radio, questioned whether it was a good thing for a Jew to be in such a high office? Surveys indicate that one out of five Blacks harbor ill will toward Jews and that may be a low figure. Add in all the hate groups for whom Jews are the source of all evil in the world and you have a lot of Americans for whom the selection of an orthodox Jew raises the curtain on the bigotry that exists to this day. Gore's selection has not brought us all together. It has opened the Pandora's box of bigotry that always exists in a multicultural society.
And what was the Republican response to news of Lieberman's selection? Nothing but kindness and good will. Not an ill word spoken of the man. Compare that to the invective that filled the air when Dick Cheney was selected.
Don't kid yourself. American Jews are not that thrilled with this choice. They may not say that out loud, but Jews, a people who saw six million of their brethren in Europe systematically exterminated just fifty years ago in Europe are nervous. They are a people (not a race) who, for three thousand years, have survived in the Diaspora outside of Israel, their ancient homeland, by not calling attention to themselves.
They are not pleased with the sudden spotlight in which they suddenly find themselves. There are only about six million Jews in America, about two percent of the population. Their biggest problem these days has been assimilation as more of their children marry outside the religion and don't return. Worldwide, their numbers are dwindling and, within a generation, this ancient people may become a mere remnant of the past. But now, today, they must answer the old question; to what nation are you loyal? Why do you resist Christianity or Islam as your path to God? Why do you insist on being differen t?
This brings me back now to Sen. Joseph Lieberman. I do not question his piety, but I question his political positions, all well recorded in his many votes in the Senate. I question his too easy, swift reversal of those positions now that he is part of the Gore ticket put forth by the Democratic Party. I do not think he voted as a Jew. I think he voted as a Democrat. I think he voted as a man who believes that global warming is real and was willing to do an end-run to implement the UN Kyoto Treaty the Senate rejected unanimously. I question his denunciation of his longtime friend, President Clinton's defiling of the Oval Office, but who did not think that lying under oath or suborning witnesses was a sufficient reason to vote for his impeachment. I wonder. Would a pious man do that?
Gov. Bush and his running mate have promised to return dignity and honesty to the two highest offices in the Republic. I don't care what their religion is. I care about their character and I will vote for them in November |
