Local boy makes good
We’ve written before about local Republican operative David Flaum. It looks like our boy has finally hit the big time. The Republican Jewish Coalition, of which Flaum is chairman, just got nabbed making nasty push poll calls:
The Republican Jewish Coalition, which is launching a campaign against Obama on behalf of Senator John McCain, sponsored the poll to “understand why Barack Obama continues to have a problem among Jewish voters,” the group’s executive director, Matt Brooks, told Politico. …
What’s the content of those calls?
Would it affect my vote, he said, if I knew that:
Obama has had a decade long relationship with pro-Palestinian leaders in Chicago
the leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, expressed support for Obama and his hope for Obama’s victory
the church Barack Obama has attended is known for its anti-Israel and anti-American remarks
Jimmy Carter’s anti-Israel national security advisor is one of Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisors
Barack Obama was the member of a board (sic) that funded a pro-Palestinian chartiable organization
Barack Obama called for holding a summit of Muslim nations exlcuding Israel if elected president
It’s probably too soon to call Flaum the Roger Stone of Rochester, but clearly he’s going places.
It’s a little troubling that he’s on the Board of Trustees at Syracuse University and the University of Rochester. So much for the myth of liberal universities.
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Rovian Amway
You are insulting Roger Stone.
Flaum’s wife serves on the MCC Board of Trustees.
Looks like all the points that he is making are true. I dare anyone to show me that they are not.
You are a lunatic. I am very sorry that people like you live in this country.
Well, Judith you are correct, all these things are true.
But what’s more important is what lies beneath the surface of these “truths.”
Did Obama work with people of Palestinian descent in Chicago?
Yes he did.
Did he work with Jews? Yes.
With Italian-Americans? Yes.
With the Irish and Germans and blacks and Hispanics? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Did they all have pro-‘whatever their ethnicity was’ feelings? Let’s assume they did. Many of us in this nation of immigrants are proud of our heritage.
What does that prove? That Obama can get people of different races and ethnicities and priorities to work together toward a common goal. That’s positive change. Good for him, good for us.
Did a leader of Hamas say that if Obama gets elected there may be hope that he can provide the leadership that both the Palestinians and Israeli’s have been clamoring for but not getting from this administration? Sure.
What does that prove? That Obama is seen as a hope in the Middle East for an opportunity to get people with different perspectives and agendas together to work together toward a common goal. That’s what a community organizer does. Whether that community is the south side of Chicago or the community of the Middle East, the principles for success are the same.
Did a minister at the United Church of Christ criticize some American policies? Sure he did. The founders of our nation wrote the protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, specifically the First Amendment, because they understood that the only way this nation of the people could survive, was if the people themselves held its leaders accountable. And the best vehicle to do that is to openly challenge their leaders.
But when the questioning of the actions of those elected by the people becomes “anti-American”, we have lost, and those who oppose us have indeed succeeded in bring us down to their level. Those that hate America use this very argument to control their people. Let’s pray we don’t go there.
Did a minister question some of the actions of the Israelis? Yes he did. And so have many of Israel’s own citizens. Israel is a democracy with a free press and freedom of speech protections. By their own admission they have made mistakes, this is one reason they have discontinued the use of torture, a lesson we could learn from.
What does this prove? Dissent is essential to the survival of a free society.
Obama was on the board of a non-profit organization that raised money for charity. What does it prove? That Obama cares about people, perhaps children caught in the middle of conflict they had no choosing in, refugees and other victims of war is an admirable trait, not something to be disparaged. Not everything a person does to help another human being means that they are “against” someone else. If I help a hungry child dislocated by war am I then automatically the enemy of the children of those on the other side? Of course not. Indeed, this is a long held Judeo-Christian value.
Lastly, Obama called for a summit of Muslim nations to provide an opportunity to meet with us. Aside from the fact that Israel is not a Muslim nation, one of the first things a good negotiator does, whether it’s a labor dispute, a family counseling session, or a dispute between nations is sit with each party separately to get their side of the story before sitting down with both parties to resolve the matter.
Is there some question that we don’t meet with the Israelis?
One of the criticisms often heard from the Middle East is that we don’t listen to anyone but the Israelis. Listening doesn’t mean that we agree, it only means we agree to listen.
Nothing frustrates a person or nation or race of people faster than the belief they are being ignored. As John F. Kennedy said, “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”
Listening is the first step to resolution.
So Judith, it’s all correct. But it is more because of these things, the ability to get people to work together, the ability to solve problems, the understanding that accountability to the people is the essence of a free society, empathy for the helpless including the victims of wars, and the abandonment of the idea that to listen to one party is to assume that they are “against” the other, are all good reasons to support the positive change this man wants to bring, not to disparage him.