This year the Republicans and fellow their fellow ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) sufferers are trying to make a huge push for Jewish voters to turn from their traditional role as strong supporters of the Democratic Party to becoming Republican voters (particularly in "swing" states like Florida and Pennsylvania) and donors. In addition to continually ignoring or worse yet, lying about the Presidents record regarding Israel and Jewish people, these hapless Republicans continue to make tactical mistake after tactical mistake regarding our constituency.
The latest is in GOP Front Runner (and party establishment favorite) Mitt Romney. For all of his "lip service" to the Israeli Right, Mr. Romney is proving himself to be far from a friend to the Jewish people. How is this? Well, Mr. Romney is a member of the Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - LDS) Church. Part of the practices of this church are to conduct posthumous conversions of people to Mormonism in an effort to gain them access to heaven.
So, what is the issue here? Well it seems that the family of the late (and great Nazi Hunter) Simon Wiesenthal is upset that a Mormon official performed a baptism on the parents of Mr. Wiesenthal after they died. To be fair to the Mormon Church in this instance they immediately apologized - HOWEVER, they did not say that they would cease this practice.
In today's Haaretz the great Elie Wiesel calls out Mitt Romney for not addressing this issue:
Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney should have spoken up against Mormon posthumous baptism of Jews, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Eli Wiesel said in an interview on Wednesday....
.......Speaking to MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell's on Wednesday, Wiesel mentioned the name of Republican presidential hopeful and Mormon Mitt Romney in relation to the affair, saying the former governor should have communicated his position on the matter.
"Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and I respect all religions, including the Mormon religion," Wiesel said, asking: "How come he hasn't spoken up after all?"
"It's not, I'm sure he's not involved in that. But nevertheless, the moment he heard about this, he should have spoken up, because he is running for the presidency of the United States, which means it's too serious of an issue for him not to speak up," he added.
The Wiesenthal Center also expressed it's condemnation:
Following news of the posthumous baptism of Wiesenthal's parents, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced the baptismal rites.
"We are outraged that such insensitive actions continue in the Mormon temples," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the center.
Indeed, how would we feel if our parents were posthumously converted to another religion. Would we consider the church that carried out these practices to be friends of the Jewish people? While I appreciate that the LDS church did apologize - rather than apologizing they should simply cease this odious practice. moreover, Mitt Romney as a Presidential candidate and self described devout Mormon needs to address this issue.
But this is not the only case of Republican insensitivity towards the Jewish people and religion. We all know about Ron Paul (who polls between 15-20% of Republican base) and his Neo-Nazi connections. How Republicans and the ODS sufferers think we can ignore that is simply beyond me. But, they do. They keep saying "Don't vote for the Democrats, we will support you" but they simply refuse to address the problem that one in five or six Republican voters supports this bigot. It is like they want us to simply look the other way while a sizable part of their voting base flirts with people that want to actually end the State of Israel and hangs out with people found at hate sites like StormFront or Mondoweiss.
Or how about Rick Santorum (the new, not Mitt). Mr Santorum is a true religious Christian who makes all kinds of noise about supporting the Israeli Right and their quest to annex the West Bank. Nevermind that this act would end the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish AND Democratic State (something Republicans and ODS'ers care very little about particularly the Democracy part), in a typical act of arrogance Mr. Santorum sent a Chanukah card to his Jewish friends with the following quote on it:
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Ummmm, someone needs to tell Mr. Santorum that having quotes from the NEW TESTAMENT on a holiday card does not express respect for those of us who are Jewish. YET, we are are told to ignore all of this and vote against a man who has gone out of his way to provide friendship for the Jewish people (and Israel) and:
1. Held the first ever Seder in the White House
2. Named a month of the Year - Jewish History Month (May 2011)
3. Has had, not one but TWO Jewish Chiefs of Staff
4. Has been termed an "exceptional" friend of Israel by Israeli leaders across the Political Spectrum from President Shimon Peres (Kadima), to Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Atz'maout) to Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Betainu).
I would ask individual Jewish voters given this... Which party is it or which candidate is it that seems to have our best interests in mind? I think the choice is pretty obvious.
This might be a great thing to keep hammering Mitt with. I hope that Obama's campaign people are taking notes.
ReplyDeleteI want to see flyers go out to the South Florida condos in October saying that Mormons are baptizing dead Jews and Mitt Romney is doing nothing.
Yep... agree 100%, that is why I continue to hammer this point home regarding the G.O.P. vs. the Obama administration. I simply can't believe how the ODS'ers and Republicans can possibly think that their slate of candidates are more friendly to the American Jewish community than the current admin.
DeleteI mean whether you like President Obama or not - this crew openly disrespects our religion and religious traditions and then tries to act like these acts and attitudes don't mean much.
What I would be curious to see is exactly what % of the Republican vote is from dominionists or dispensationalists. My feeling is that this number comhined with the Ron Paul racist wing would be about 40% or higher. NOTHING in the Democratic party comes even close to that.
The South Floridians may not be able to properly see the levers between Gore and Buchanan, but I suggest they care more about substance than what, to me, is an issue sensationalized for political purposes.
DeleteAccording to the article:
The church immediately apologized, saying it was the action of an individual member of church — whom they did not name — that led to the submission of Wiesenthal's name.
"We sincerely regret that the actions of an individual member of the church led to the inappropriate submission of these names," Michael Purdy, a spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a statement issued Monday. "We consider this a serious breach of our protocol and we have suspended indefinitely this person's ability to access our genealogy records."
It is the church that must speak to the matter as I see it, not necessarily Romney.
I oppose injecting religion into the arena, and believe that this matter is a diversion, yet have a suspicion that the media will gladly run with it.
On the other hand, I have a feeling that this would be more interesting in the confines of South Florida and elsewhere:
Obama administration to seek waiver on UNESCO funding ban
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/02/15/3091696/obama-administration-to-seek-waiver-on-unesco-funding-ban
To me, this would help renew the effort at statehood in the UN and accelerate UNESCO's anti-Israel agenda that seeks to remove Jewish history.
I do not see this as positive for Israel or Jews, or an act that one might expect from a friend.
I am going to have to disagree with you regarding the LDS matter being a "little" matter amd evem less of a matter than UNESCO, but that is just my perspective as an American Jew. I think Mr. Romney who has been a Bishop with the church and claims strict adherence does need to address this issue. Support of Posthumous baptisms go against everything in our religion. It is straight out sacrilige. AND for a candidate for the Presidency of the U.S. to not denounce this practice to me is offensive and wrong. It just shows where we as Jews fit into his world view. I will go with Elie Weisel and Rabbi Cooper on this.
DeleteAs for the ban on UNESCO - I am saddened to see the story (I read it on the JPost) HOWEVER, I am curious as to what the Administration is saying about it. I would reserve my judgement on what is happening until I hear both sides, not just Ilena Ros-Lehtinin's (R-FL) commentary.
The fact of the matter though is that the UNESCO funding cut (something I do support) has not much to do with the P.A.'s bid for statehood since the U.S. is on record for vetoing anything that goes to the Security Council. So they aren't getting a State that way in any case.
Further did you also notice that in the budget there is a Provision to CUT ALL AID TO THE PALESTINIANS if they do not officially seek a Peaceful solution and end anything that could lead to terror. According to Haaretz:
The budget plan stipulates that no funds be allocated to a Palestinian state unless the Secretary of State determines and certifies that the Palestinians have addressed a long list of issues including “a firm commitment to peaceful co-existence with the State of Israel” and “taking appropriate measures to counter terrorism and terrorist financing in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Now that, is very much the action of a friend.
I think the Jewish voters in South Florida agree with me (particularly regarding their antipathy for the Republican field) since Jewish turn out in the Florida Republican primary was only 1% of the total as compared to 3% of the total in 2008.
(livosh1)
DeleteGeez, volley! Are you hanging out a sign on this blog that says "right-wing talking points from Republican operatives are welcome"? I mean, really, you write a diary about the Republican frontrunner's failure to show any moral leadership with respect to the LDS's posthumous baptisms of holocaust victims, and we get the typical RNC-type response that (a) it is no big deal, and (b) "hey -- look over there!" There are plenty of web sites out there providing a platform for right-wing Republican talking points. No need for yet another one. There's nothing Progressive or Zinoist about Republican Party talking points.
LOL livosh - I let his post stand because it is easy to see just how weak the RW talking points are. You're right there is nothing progressive about their talking points but there is a lot progressive about destroying them and seeing them for the bullshit that they are.
DeleteBut as usual livosh... excellent points. That was a great example of "HEY... SQUIRREL". Thing is, that works on the Republican drones so they figured it would work here. The fact that the Republicans and their ODS minions can't see just how vile the LDS practice is, or the insensitivity of Santorum's card or the fact that we care that 1 in 5 or 6 Republicans votes for some Nazi Affiliated lunatic is really just how blind they are.
As I read that language, it says that in the event there is a Palestinian "state" it cannot receive any funds without the Sec. of State certification.
ReplyDeleteFunding for the PA is within the budget and the provision cited was not mentioned with respect to the funds allocated.
As to UNESCO, going backward will create new focus that the US is not so resolute in its view, and with change in composition of the SC, it may actually necessitate use of the veto.
According to the algemeiner:
Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) agrees in part with Ms. Bokova but he stopped short of backing the White House’s propsal.
“I like UNESCO, I support UNESCO, and I fought to get the United States back into UNESCO. But I also believe that actions have consequences. We told the Palestinians that we were unalterably opposed to their effort to acquire the trappings of statehood at the UN instead of negotiating with Israel to achieve an actual state. We told the other members of UNESCO that U.S. law would compel us to withhold our funding if they voted to make Palestine a member of UNESCO without actually being a state,” Congressman Ackerman said in a statement to reporters.
“Now both we and they have to live with the consequences, which, I will be the first to say, have set back our interests in UNESCO’s work, which supports American policy goals. Maybe all the nations that chose to follow the Palestinians over the cliff will come up with the money to replace our contribution. I tend to doubt it, but I would love to be surprised,” he said.
The Congressman added that UNESCO “does a lot of good” but he “will not support a UNESCO waiver.”
http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/02/16/white-house-to-press-for-unesco-funding-after-accepting-palestinian-bid/
The Mormon matter is a domestic one where Democrats can go on the attack. The UNESCO matter has international ramifications. Why is Obama seeking a waiver of US law to pay UNESCO $79 million? How does this indicate friendship toward Israel and Jews?
The primary percentages in Fla mean nothing. Republican turnout is down almost everywhere. The general election is another ballgame completely.
The main point, however, was that these stories are the red meat of the partisans much more than average voters that care about substantive issues.
Well I just wrote to the White House and the Dept. of State. SO rather than read a Right Wing Source I will wait for their response and then decide. However, whether they do this or not will not affect my support for the President. I would agree with Congressman Ackerman in this.
ReplyDeleteAs for funding the P.A. - Right now I think that this is a more productive route to go than letting say Iran or the Saudi's fund them. But that is just my take. Should the P.A. solidfy with Hamas (unification is far from reality) then I would say "cut them off" but until then, no. Still though, I personally believe that engagement in this case is the best option. I am not willing to cede the Middle East to the forces that hate Israel. Salam Fayyad is someone who can be worked with. SO... I support the President fully in this.
Yes, the Mormon conversion matter is a domestic issue and if you recall I am an American voter. That is what I care most about. Domestic Issues. I care how the potential future President of the United States sees the Jewish religion and our community. That may not resonate with you (and I see from your snide little remarks at the Hate site that it doesn't) but it does with me. I care a boat load more about that than I do about whether UNESCO gets money.
President Obama's alleged attempt at a waiver (again I await the White House's response in all fairness) is not a whole lot of anything in the scheme of things given the total support for Israel that the President has exhibited in office. Not following what the Likud, or Im Tirtzu or the National Union's policy demands are does not make the President anti-Israel. I would say that if indeed the UNESCO thing were as represented by conservatives then while I would disagree with it given the totality of the Presidents and Democratic support for Israel, I really don't care that much. It is not a make or break issue. Again, the domestic stuff is far more important to me.
As for Florida, you may not want to admit it, but it is significant. You are trying to whitewash the facts here. Even if turnout were down as a number the % of Jewish voters should remain constant. It is not the numbers we are talking about - it is the % of voters. Now, you are part of a group trying to convince people to turn away from the President, and you are on the masthead of a site that claims Jews are bailing out on the Democrats this year so I get what you want to do, but sorry - the numbers don't lie. If your efforts were paying off or your claim that Jews are bailing out was right - Jews as a % of the vote should not have dropped so significantly. And in the general, well we will just see when we get there. Depending on who the Republican nominee is I say the Jewish vote will anywhere from 72+% (Romney) to over 80% (Santorum or Paul, well 99% if it is Paul). Let's see who's right.
Blow off the domestic stuff all you want - I think you will find that American Jews vote for that FAR more than some agenda cooked up by the Right.
Israel and the state of Jews is NOT just a domestic issue, however. From a domestic standpoint, the American consensus holds no matter the Administration.
ReplyDeleteBy the same token, you can blow off the international stuff all you want. But these matters over foreign aid, Israel, the PA, the Arab Spring, Hamas, Iran, the OIC, the MB, etc. are more in the international than domestic bailiwick, at least for this American voter.
"at least for this Republican voter" is more like it.
DeleteHa... yep
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