HAPPY HANNUKAH FROM HILLARY CLINTON, WINNER OF THIS WEEK'S DWT PANDER BEAR AWARD

Really gross, overt pandering has always been a real turn off to me. A few months ago I talked about it a little in regard to California Comptroller Steve Westley and why I'm not inclined to support his race for governor. The referenced article was a comparison with California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, who I saw speaking to a houseful of mostly upscale gay men and women in Beverly Hills. I was mighty impressed that the very savvy Núñez didn't say a word he couldn't have said in front of any audience anywhere. His inspiring message was positive for all progressives-- gay, straight, upscale, not upscale, white, non-white... That's why Fabian Núñez is a leader. And brings me to another example of why Hillary Clinton is not.

This morning my friend Rachel, a professor at the University of California in La Jolla, sent me a story by Kristen Lombardi called "Hillary Calls Israel a 'Beacon' of Democracy" from this week's VILLAGE VOICE. It was about a Hanukkah speech Clinton delivered at Yeshiva University last Sunday. Like Westley, Hillary should be made an honorary Pander Bear.

Her speech at Yeshiva U was... one-sided, very one-sided. I doubt it's the speech she'll make when she addresses Arab-Americans in Michigan, Florida and Ohio in 2 years when she's running for president. "The United States and Israel share deep and lasting bonds. . . . They are bonds forged in a common struggle for human rights, democracy, and freedom . . . There is no doubt that these strong bonds and values will remain as the lodestar of our relationship with our fellow democracy and ally. And Israel is not only our ally; it is a beacon of what democracy can and should mean. . . . If the people of the Middle East are not sure what democracy means, let them look to Israel."

I hate to be a party pooper but if there's one thing we should have learned from 5 years of Bush lies and propaganda it's that nations are not fighting for grand universal ideals but for their own interests. The U.S. in not fighting in Iraq for "democracy" or for the "freedom" of the wonderful Iraqi (whose dead children are nothing but "collateral damage" to Bush). The U.S. is in Iraq because of Bush's misguided perception of American national interests (and, tragically, for the financial interests of his family, friends and partisan allies). And the idea that Israel's struggle is primarily a struggle for "human rights, democracy and freedom" is equally laughable. Israel is fighting for its rights to exist as a nation. Given the geopolitical history of the area and the murderous, even barbaric nature of Israel's religionist-fanatic opponents, this job is daunting enough without burdening it with tawdry, supremacist motivations. Israel is a quasi-theocracy with lots of human rights, democracy and freedom for Jews and a more ambiguous situation for non-Jews. A beacon of democracy it's not-- not any more than George W. Bush is a beacon of democracy. Ms Pander Bear, apparently didn't think her speech at Yeshiva U was the appropriate time to talk a little balance.

And speaking of Bush, Hillary certainly knows how to use emotional images to manipulate an audience. "If Americans did not understand it before 9-11, it is abundantly clear now that we must stand beside Israel and make it clear we guarantee Israel's security... In defeating terror, Israel's cause is our cause. The evil of terrorism, a burden long suffered by Israelis, threatens to rip apart the fabric of the Middle East. And our effort fighting terrorism there is akin to our effort fighting terrorism everywhere." Well, more truth in that than she meant. The other people in that neighborhood have an entirely different perspective on what's ripping apart the fabric of the Middle  East. Maybe it's worth taking that into consideration as well as the perspective that has already been drilled into the heads of every person on Yeshiva U since they were born. But why would anyone expect that from someone like Hillary Clinton? That kind of tough talk comes from real leaders, not from pander bears.