Americans First

Roger L. Simon, screenwriter and author, reminds Jews that a political party should not be a substitute for religion.

From the days of FDR, the vast majority of American Jews have identified with the Democratic Party almost if it were their religion.  This included most especially secular Jews like me whose blasé attitude toward their faith and toward religious observance in general made such a replacement all the more important emotionally. This same Jewish majority also identified with the cause of social justice and, as Barack Obama among many others has noted, were some of the most active participants in the civil rights movement of the Fifties and Sixties. That was all how it should have been and was a perfectly logical and praiseworthy epoch in the development of our country.

Hello – those days are over!  The events leading up to Monday’s anti-Ahmadinejad demonstration by Jewish organizations at the UN put the final nail in an already long-moldering coffin. Jews should no longer align themselves with the Democratic Party any more than they should align with the Republicans.  They should act and think for themselves, devoid of ideological or partisan bias. They should first be Americans, not Democratic Party Americans.

Comments

[Greg]

This is pretty much a no brainer. I would argue that everyone should put country first before political party. Just as I believe African American should not just be aligned to the Democrats either. In most circumstances this is reasonable.

What I found interesting, and perhaps I missed it, was the fact that Mr. Simon did not address as to the underlying reasons he believes the Democrats seem to have a stranglehold on the Jewish vote. On the surface one must ask does he believe those who are unlike him are naive and not smart enough to make the right choice, or perhaps they just see things different than him? I am not sure, because I did not see him address the cause for his concern, again I could of missed that part.

I would suspect that Simon takes a more hawkish stand than others. In that I would think he might be more in the line with AIPAC and Lukud than others more moderate might be.

So let me ask you this Peg. Why do you believe the Jewish community votes in large number for the Democrats? Do you not think they understand the issues, are they just blind sheep to the Democrats?

One last thing to add to the mix. Sarah Palin. American Jewish organizations and Jewish bloggers have been lit up over Sarah Palin's little-known record on Israel and other key Jewish issues. Much of this chatter has focused on the fact that, a few weeks ago, Palin sat in her Alaska church as her minister glowingly introduced the head of Jews for Jesus, a group of mostly evangelical Christians who aim to convert Jews to Christianity. In the talk, group Executive Director David Brickner blamed Middle East violence in part on Israeli Jews who didn't accept Jesus. She sat in the church when this sermon was given, and did not walk out. Care to remember your tirade about Obama not being in the church during a past Rev. Wright speech. I know, why do I need to go with the continuous double standards you set for Obama.

Later a spokesman for the McCain campaign said that Palin did not know Brickner would be speaking that day and did not share his views. The McCain spokesman said the following:

"Governor Palin does not share the views he expressed, and she and her family would not have been sitting in the pews of this church for the last seven years if his remarks were even remotely typical"

But that didn't stop the National Jewish Democratic Council from slamming Palin as "a poor choice" in a statement.

"We in the Jewish community have to question McCain's judgment for choosing a right-wing religious conservative with absolutely no foreign policy experience and a brewing scandal which is being investigated by the Alaska state legislature,"

They went on to not that Palin is "totally out of step with Jewish public opinion" on everything from abortion to climate change to creationism, which she says should be taught in school along with evolution. Could this be a reason for them voting Democrat?

I am not finished yet. Barack Obama picked Joe Biden as his vice presidential nominee while John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. These two picks say a great deal about the judgment of each presidential candidate and about their understanding of the American Jewish community.

Biden is the more conventional pick especially for the Jewish community. The senior senator from Delaware is one of the most well-known and respected politicians among American Jewish leadership. He may be unique for a non-Jewish senator in that he loudly exclaims that he is a Zionist. Even his adversaries admit that there is no more knowledgeable senator when it comes to Middle East policy.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency describes his record his record on Israel as "sterling." On domestic issues he is totally in sync with Jewish public opinion, supporting the separation of church and state, reproductive freedom and energy independence.

Palin is another story. She is an exceedingly odd choice for a party which has spent the better part of the past year loudly exclaiming that it was reaching out to Jewish voters and made much to do about considering two Jewish legislators - Joe Lieberman and Eric Cantor - as vice presidential possibilities.

First, Palin has absolutely no foreign policy experience. Moreover, Palin has never visited Israel and besides signing a pro-Israel resolution passed by the state legislature, she has apparently never spoken out or focused on the Jewish state. On domestic issues she is totally out of step with public opinion in the Jewish community. Palin is against reproductive freedom even in the cases of rape and incest and as a result one of the first organizations to support her nomination was the Christian Coalition.

These are some of the reasons why this might be so, but being that I am not Jewish I have no clue into why they vote the way they do. I just thought I would offer some what I think could be plausible reason as to why they do.

[Greg]

One last point. My comment was not meant to criticize, it was only meant as a plausible reason why Jewish people vote in the manner that they do. As I stated before, I do not think it is healthy for particular group to vote via party (such as a great many African Americans who only vote Democrat).

I just did not see, and I read Simon's piece quickly so I could of missed it where he offered any reason why he believed this was so. So I am curious to know why Peg or anyone else believe they vote in the manner that they do if Simon's analysis is correct.

[Peg]

Greg - Simon really did give reasons why this happens:

Many Jewish Americans still do this for reasons that are at best sentimental and nostalgic, and at worst self-destructive.

People of all sorts do this kind of thing for a variety of reasons. They don't have the time or inclination to pay much attention to politics. They vote for a party because their parents did and their grandparents did.

They read pretty much from the same sources - so they don't get different perspective on issues.

They assume that because something (a political party) was one way in 1940 or 1980 or 2000 - that it remains that way in 2008.

Political parties do not stay in one place. What the Democrats AND the Republicans were a generation or two ago is not what the parties are today. And - 10 years from now, they will be different still.

Basically - Simon is only saying that we should not take who they are nor what they do for granted!

You may have a different view from that of Simon's as to what the parties are like today. But - as they say, that is another story.

[Greg]

Here is a different view than you or Simon have.

Israelis For Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2VFRt5W4FM

Truly moving