AMERICAN POLITICIANS HAVE A JEWISH PROBLEM

I went to speak at an informal Democratic club brunch in Los Angeles today. Even though I was fasting, it was very pleasant and enjoyable. After I was finished explaining why Rahm Emanuel is Satan and the other stuff I talk about when I get within earshot of 3 people, there was a discussion and several former Clinton backers-- all are now Obama supporters-- brought up that some of the old yentas on Fairfax Blvd are still not convinced that Obama's the one. "They say he's a Muslim," one woman told me. Another said that many don't believe he's strong enough on Israel.

I pointed out that Obama already went too far in placating the Zionist vote when he spoke at AIPAC and that anyone who still repeats those kinds of charges either is too dumb to understand a simple declarative sentence or-- more likely-- is a racist who find sit more comfortable to say that "Obama might not be strong on Israel" rather that "I hate schvartzes," the real reason for whatever small discontent we're seeing from the same small number of Jews we always see before election time. Polling, as we've been pointing out, shows that far more Democrats support Obama than Republicans support McCain and that Jews overwhelmingly support Obama, regardless of GOP propaganda efforts claiming the contrary.

Perhaps there will be some old fressers on Fairfax that will never vote for Obama until he wraps tefillin around himself, but by that time he'll start losing normal people-- including normal Jewish American Democrats.

Suppose Obama were to make a speech and say that "the thousands of housing units Israel is building on captured land were harming peace talks with the Palestinians?" Well, it would be true and obvious. But don't you think there would be an uproar on Fairfax Avenue? McCain would be putting out press releases and Fox would be predicting that Obama will bring on the end of Israel. Well those words were spoken today-- but not, unfortunately, by Obama. They came from the Bush Regime. Ah... finally something McCain can disagree with!

On the latest of her nearly monthly visits here to push along Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Ms. Rice was more explicit than usual in asserting that the construction is reducing confidence in the talks. The United States hopes to get the two sides to produce a peace framework by year’s end, but the Palestinians say the new housing is a big stumbling block.

Referring to the construction of what Israel considers Jerusalem neighborhoods but much of the world considers illegal settlements, Ms. Rice said, “I do believe, and the United States believes, that the actions and the announcements that are taking place are indeed having a negative effect on the atmosphere for the negotiation-- and that is not what we want.”

She stressed that any such building would not be considered permanent by the United States, saying, “The issue is to try to get back to a place where there is some confidence that this is not an effort to dictate or prejudge the final status outcome.”

I'm an American and I expect an American president to look out for the interests of the United States first and foremost. Rice was doing that for Bush today. McCain, Clinton and Obama weren't doing that when they prostrated themselves-- unseemingly-- before AIPAC recently. It made me want to puke.

There are always members of minority groups, Jews included, who support the right-wing, even if the right-wing puts them in ovens and kills them. Early on in Hitler's rise to power, he had a superstar clairvoyant, Erik Jan Hanussen, who helped him gain control of Germany. Hannusen, who was Jewish, used his inside Nazi knowledge to predict Germany's 9/11-- the staged Reichstag fire, which Hitler used the same way Bush used 9/11-- and which very much helped Chancellor Hitler consolidate dictatorial control over Germany. That same year Hanussen was murdered by some of Hitler's Sturmabteilung (aka- the SA).