Obama as Rabin
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman warns that the demonizing of President Obama in the health care debate echoes the demonizing in Israel of Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination in 1995 by a Jewish nationalist:
A poisonous political environment... was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish settler as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.
Others have already remarked on this analogy, but I want to add my voice because the parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.
What kind of madness is it that someone would create a poll on Facebook asking respondents, “Should Obama be killed?” The choices were: “No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care.” The Secret Service is now investigating. I hope they put the jerk in jail and throw away the key because this is exactly what was being done to Rabin.
Even if you are not worried that someone might draw from these vitriolic attacks a license to try to hurt the president, you have to be worried about what is happening to American politics more broadly.
Full column here.
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Could you ghetto-Jews explain to me why justified criticism of the Messianic B. Hussein Obama is incitement to rioting and murder while the vilifications and distortions of George Bush’s were considered normal expressions of disagreement? To the best of my memory nobody in the NYT, the birdcage paper of record, was worried that a second John Hinckley would try to assassinate G.W.Bush due to the smears in the DailyKos and other assorted radical left-wing blogs. As usual, there is no left-wing extremism that could not be mainstreamed by the media.
Kumbaya, Obama, Kumbaya!
You have a collector’s item, The Times is up to its dirty tricks, Thomas Friedman the world’s expert on the middle east ewites in his op-ed piece about “one right-wing Jewish settler “ who killed Prime Minister Rabin.
Yigal Amir was not a settler, When the Times was told about the error, it did not issue a correction but changed the word settler to nationalist on its web site, To me that is a direty trick,
George H.W. Bush? Have you forgotten his 1988 campaign against Michael Dukakis? The tone was no better than today’s campaigns. Dukakis was un-American. He disapproved of the Pledge of Allegiance (a lie), he belonged to an anti-American organization called the ACL:U, he showed he was a traitor when he opposed the Viet Nam war. And he ran on the pledge “No new taxes” Since then, it has come out that he knew at the time it was a lie. He may have been “legitimate” because all of this was within the letter of the law, but that’s the best I can say about him.
Friedman is a hypocrite and so is the JTA for running this garbage. Where were you during the 8 years that Bush was called a Nazi? Where were you when people said that the only reason to not assassinate Bush is that Cheney would become president? Where were you when there was movie made about assassinating Bush? Where were you during the assassination attempts on Bush?
There has been no violence at the tea parties or at the town meetings. There was violence by the left at the G20.
Friedman talks about the poisonous political environment. Well, I have news for him. The environment was poisonous in 2005.
At least Bush didn’t tell congress to pass legislation without reading it.
The American Jewish Community cannot afford to blindly hitch our fortunes to every Democratic president. JTA must be non-partisan. The American Jewish Community and the World Jewish Community depend on JTA to be non-partisan.
How can slandering former President George W. Bush—or any other white President—be compared with slandering President Obama—a black man? When were whites—not only in the United States but throughout the Americas—singled out as inferior non-humans—as blacks were—and were fair game for Christians to lynch and burn alive—as blacks were? So, racism is part and parcel of this hate against President Obama, and it started with a Republican preaching, “I hope he (President Obama) fails.”
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Ivri Anochi
09/30/09 03:49 PM
Shame on Americans who defame our elected President. Healthy criticism of politics is acceptable but derogatory remarks which can lead to incitement must be prohibited. We are taught by our Sages and Rabbis to pray for our leaders and the government of the country in which we live. In the synagogue every Sabbath morning, a prayer is read aloud for the health and well-being of the President, Vice President and all those who govern us. If someone is dissatisfied with the President he or she has the free option to express it at the ballot box at the next election. But it is absolutely disgraceful to assassinate by character the leader of our nation. Remember what happened in Israel when a young fanatic snuffed out the life of Prime Minister Rabin. God forbid that it should happen here.
Hail to the Chief and God bless America.