So.... Now What? A Personal Perspective....

So... What now? Last night... the question asked of me by a good friend. What now? The President was re-elected, CA has a super-majority of Dems. running the show, he said, "What do you think?" and I had to think on that for a few minutes. And then I had to think for a few minutes more.

Prior to the election I had really been into Middle East politics. Some friends and I founded Team Shalom here, along with other Jewish advocacy groups. This interest took the form of creating a weekly news series dedicated to multiple perspectives on the news called "Fry'd Daze". We ran it for over two years and decided that since no one was much interested after a time, that there was no real point in continuing. So I thought to myself; "Why not get back into that issue?", I mean I have friends and family there, I semi-know the language, I practice Israeli Martial Arts, I read their on-line newspapers (Haaretz and Ynet) every day, I get polling updates from Israel on a regular basis.

But then I was dissuaded in two ways. The first was by the situation itself. It is a mess (belagan in Hebrew). I am not happy with the Israeli Right, who not only pursue policies that I simply don't agree with, but helped form a coalition of racists, crazy people and morons (who simply can't discern fact from fiction and have even stated that Republicans are hippies compared to the people that President Obama supports) to push their cause in the U.S. And arguing against them is fine BUT from all I can see, and according to all of the polls coming out of Israel, they will retain power and do it rather easily. At the same time, I certainly have absolutely ZERO in common with those that support trashing Israel publicly to prove what "good Jews they are" along with I don't see anything that I can support coming from the Palestinian side. So, while I would love to advocate for the Israeli Center and Center-Left (Meretz, Avodah, Yesh-Atid and Tzipi Livni - whatever she is doing), they can't even get themselves together so what the heck am I advocating for?
 
The second thing that dissuaded me are my Israeli friends. They don't understand U.S. individual advocacy for their cause. They appreciate that I feel a connection to them but honestly, I never went through what they have been through and they have not been through what I went through. They care about Jews and Jewish identity, but to them, unless we are moving there or giving them money, honestly... it is not a big deal. It really is this... that convinced me that while I still have an interest in things, honestly... it is not and should not be my main focus. They are right, I am an American. I should worry about my own country before thinking about any other. Watching the Presidents brilliant victory speech brought a complete welling of national pride for our great nation. We did the right thing this year and for that I am grateful. Of course, I will still write on the subject but it is not up to me to tell Israelis what to do. Not from my happy little perch in beautiful California.
 
So... Now what? I think it is to help push the President's agenda forward in a progressive manner. NOT to become bitter at the incremental progress he makes but, to try to make sure that things like sane budgeting, environmental improvement, education enhancement continue on the path that the President has started.
Making sure that we get the reasonable healthcare that the Affordable Care Act is supposed to provide. Making sure that the President knows NOT to cave in to Speaker Boehner and the failed policy proposals of the Teahaddists. Making sure, that we as Americans get renewables front and center in our energy policy, and finally making sure that Seniors and those who need assistance the most don't lose their social safety net and have the ability to live their lives with dignity.

I want to see the President that I voted for, and what President Obama became in the last year and a half and that is my cause. A liberal/progressive system of government that allows for the better nature of Americans to shine through. Because of this election I have that hope. Now, it's time to make that real.

THIS is what I want:

To My Republican and Conservative Friends, Family, and Readers

I know yesterday's election was a heartbreaker for you. 

The President was re-elected with a majority of the popular vote and with only two fewer states than he won last time.  The Democrats actually expanded their majority in the Senate.  For the first time ever, voters approved same sex marriage in several states, and even weed was legalized in two states. In California we passed Governor Brown's tax increase and Democrats got a supermajority in both houses of the legislature for the first time ever. 

Yesterday was quite a major victory for the center-left in America, and quite a major loss for the center-right.  The thing is, I know what it is like to lose an election.  It happened to my side in 2000, 2002, and 2004 - three times in a row.  It is utterly heartbreaking.  So unlike other people, I am not going to gloat about yesterday, I am going to say I am empathetic for your loss and I hope we can all move forward together. 

BUT, in return, I am going to ask of you one thing. It is a simple and polite request from a fellow citizen.

We have all been given some very dire predictions about what would happen in the case that Obama was re-elected.  These predictions have come from major pillars of the American Right, such as Fox Channel personalities, many Republican Party elected officials such as Michelle Bachmann and Allan West, and pundits such as Barry Rubin and Dinesh D'souza.  The later even made an entire movie on the topic of predicting what America will look like in 2016 if Obama wass reelected. 

There have been claims that America will become socialist, that we will simply lose our freedom.   There have been predictions that religion or guns will be banned.  There have been predictions that marriages and families will fall apart if gay marriage goes forward.  And, most importantly for this blog, there have also been many claims that Iran will get a nuclear weapon and that Israel will be abandoned, all if Obama won another term.

So what I am asking of my Republican and conservative friends, family, and readers is this:  IF, in four years, America is not a socialist hellhole, if in four years there have been no moves to limit freedom of religion or Second Amendment rights, if in four years the divorce rate is the same or lower, if in four years Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and Israel is in the same or a better security situation than today and has not been abandoned by this administration...

will you open your mind to the possibility that the above mentioned entities, the Fox Channels, the Allan Wests, the Barry Rubins and Dinesh D'souzas, have all been misleading you?  Will you open your mind to the possibility that these people are simply incorrect, when their predictions don't come true?

Breaking: President Obama Gains with Jewish Voters - Now at 70%

While perusing stories over at Haaretz (an Israeli Daily) I came across this happy news:

According to the polling data taken between July 1 and September 10th, 70 percent of registered Jewish voters plan to vote for President Obama. Only 25 percent of voters stated they were planning to vote for Mitt Romney, with 5 percent undecided. These results indicate a decline from earlier this spring, when 64 percent of registered Jewish voters said they would vote for Obama and 29 percent said they would support his Republican contender

and at Buzzfeed:

President Barack Obama is closing extending his lead with Jewish voters, leading among registered voters 70-25 percent according to unreleased Gallup daily tracking poll data . The data, obtained through a Democratic source, shows Obama up from leading 64-29 in polling this spring — and on par with his 2008 performance at this point when he led 69-25 over John McCain in Gallup polling. The data is drawn from tracking polls taken between July 1 and September 10th.

Despite a heated debate on Israel, most Jewish voters are Democrats and align closely with the Democratic Party on domestic issues from abortion to taxes and spending, and Republicans have tried without success for years to pry the group away from the Democratic Party. The Israel debate, meanwhile, often aims at a broad national audience that sees Israel as an ally, rather than specifically at American Jews.

As the Haaretz article goes on to state...

The rise in Jewish support for Obama, seems to indicate that the American Jews are less concerned with Israel than might be thought as accusations Romney has been making charging Obama with "throwing allies like Israel under the bus," and with failure in dealing with Iran's nuclear program don't seem to be helping garner Jewish support for the Republican candidate.

Two things:

The first is that first and foremost American Jews are American citizens. We vote for things that are in the interests of America. A more fair tax system, better education, better infrastructure, a better environment, a social safety net that works are in the interests of all Americans Jewish or otherwise. Also, the Presidents support for the Jewish community here as well as in Israel has been exemplary.

Second, the assumption that only the Hard Right in Israel represents Jewish interests in the U.S. is nonsense. Thinking that not agreeing to the YESHA policy and the concept of an Israeli One State solution is somehow against Israel is complete and utter bullshit. Just because President Obama doesn't subscribe to that doesn't mean he is "rolling Israel under the bus", it means that he (and most American and Israeli Jews) don't buy into a meme promoted by right wingers - and that is pretty much it.

The Republicans and their supporters just don't get this. At worst they assume (like many on the Far-Left as well) that Jewish Americans hold some sort of loyalty to Israel above all else and vote only that way. AND it is true that there are a small minority of people that do feel this way, but they are only a small minority. I personally resent this implication.

Well here is some cold hard advice. We are Americans, not Israelis and while we overwhelmingly support (and I think love) Israel and it's people we vote on issues that primarily serve Americans (both Jewish and non-Jewish). This poll and others like it show that the Israeli Right and Christian Zionists ARE not speaking in American Jewish interests but rather their own.

Until the Republicans can realize that their reactionary and heartless economic, social, and destructive environmental policy positions are at odds with American Jewish voters, they will never, ever, ever earn our votes.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova!