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Title: Obama: America's First Jewish President
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URL Source: http://www.nysun.com/blogs/latest-p ... ama-americas-first-jewish.html
Published: Jun 8, 2008
Author: Josh Gerstein
Post Date: 2008-06-08 15:49:50 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 315
Comments: 19
by Josh Gerstein Bill Clinton was America's first black president. Or so we thought. Until recently, John Edwards was running to be America's first woman president. Now, shocking word that Barack Obama may be in line to be America's first Jewish president. Discussing his affinity for Israel, Senator Obama tells the Atlantic magazine, "I've got it in the gut." He describes his own thought process as agonized (dare we say neurotic?) in a way that some might view as quintessentially Jewish. And he professes an "enormous emotional attachment and sympathy for Israel" that would make an Aipac board member jealous. "Sometimes I'm attacked in the press for maybe being too deliberative. My staff teases me sometimes about anguishing over moral questions. I think I learned that partly from Jewish thought, that your actions have consequences and that they matter and that we have moral imperatives. The point is, if you look at my writings and my history, my commitment to Israel and the Jewish people is more than skin-deep and it's more than political expediency. When it comes to the gut issue, I have such ardent defenders among my Jewish friends in Chicago. I don't think people have noticed how fiercely they defend me, and how central they are to my success, because they've interacted with me long enough to know that I've got it in my gut," Mr. Obama told the magazine. The senator from Illinois and likely Democratic presidential nominee also traced his ties to Jewish writers, thinkers--and even camp counselors. "I always joke that my intellectual formation was through Jewish scholars and writers, even though I didn't know it at the time. Whether it was theologians or Philip Roth who helped shape my sensibility, or some of the more popular writers like Leon Uris. So when I became more politically conscious, my starting point when I think about the Middle East is this enormous emotional attachment and sympathy for Israel, mindful of its history, mindful of the hardship and pain and suffering that the Jewish people have undergone, but also mindful of the incredible opportunity that is presented when people finally return to a land and are able to try to excavate their best traditions and their best selves. And obviously it's something that has great resonance with the African-American experience," the senator said. So, even if Americans are ready for their first black president, are they ready for their first Jewish one? For what it's worth, back in January, a Huffington Post contributor posited this play by Mr. Obama. And even earlier, Mayor Giuliani seemed to be seeking the mantle of the breakthrough Jewish candidate.
Poster Comment: The man knows who butters his bagel.
Obama: America's First Jewish President
Mon, 12 May 2008 at 9:21 PM 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 10.
#2. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
(Edited)
is there any doubt whatsoever who owns obama? i'd really like to know from whom his campaign $$ have really come. surely, we cannot believe that the majority of it hasn't come from the lobby. millions from grassroots individual donors? i think not. now, about that foreign policy "change that we can believe in." ;)
Did you know that the information was readily avialable? It's HERE. It's better to take a look and find the smoking guns before writing 'is there any doubt whatsoever...?' Of course there are doubts and there should be doubts about everything but, sometimes, making use of available information helps. By the way, I don't buy the idea that contributors 'own' a politician. There was recently a discussion on this forum having to do with the Stormfronters contribution to Barr being rejected. We were in general agreement that citizens have the freedom to support whomever they want and there was a positive quote from Ron Paul, stating that when people give him money, it's them picking him, not he picking them. It is my impression that a small but cohesive group of screamers have managed to degrade the quality of the debate on this forum - see the post immediately following yours for a good illustration - and some more intelligent contributors are letting them get away with it, because it is convenient to do so since their inarticulate screaming appears be in agreement with their views. I am sorry to see this happening.
what i meant by my comment is that it is my belief that obama is owned by AIPAC and the IsraelFirsters just as is every other establishment politician. see Justin Raimondo's latest denouncement of obama for the same reason. obama's own words, cited in this article, confirms it, in my mind.
Obama can't defeat AIPAC all by himself, especially not while he is a candidate. There is some evidence that the radical Zionists and the Neocons find Obama to be the least desirable candidate for US prez. Can he openly tell the AIPACs to stay away from him? Of course not. He IS a Demo and he does wish to be elected - remember what they did to Buchanan. If Obama is elected I do not expect to see the American Jews herded into concentration camps or for the US aid to Israel being cut down to zero - but he could surprise us all. I also do not expect Obama to send our boys and girls to die when Israel or AIPAC says so.
we'll (justin and i) will have to agree to disagree with you. ;) I have to say I was wrong – dead wrong – about Obama. In my eagerness to find a bright spot in a rapidly darkening world, I grasped on to his alluring rhetoric and his at-times trenchant critique of the Bush foreign policy, like a sinking man holding on to a life-jacket. But looking for hope in all the wrong places doesn't create opportunities for peace – it only prolongs our illusions. We must face the prospect of a much more terrible conflict than we have ever known, and look it squarely in the face, without flinching or looking for false messiahs. I know many of you are disappointed, and some of you are now exclaiming "I told you so!" All that we can do now is hope, and pray, that our country – and the Iranian people – will somehow survive the coming catastrophe. Justin Raimondo
Mr. Raimondo's site is one of my favorites. However, if peace ever breaks out, Antiwar.com dies. Obama is a relatively young man and he is not a seasoned Washington politician the way Hilly and McCain are. We all know that the pressure for him to give in to feminism/zionism/imperialism/redistributionism/globalism... whatever are going to be enormous. The neocons are not likely to be influential but straight Zionists may get his ear. However, without the neocon facade, Zionism is clearly another nation's pursuit so the Zionist demands are more likely to fall under 'foreign policy' rather than pretend to be part of America's alleged duty to fight bloody wars in the pursuit of universal democracy. So far, Obama did one good thing. He blocked Hillary. If he takes the job and prevents the slavishly neocon McCain to occupy the White House, he would be doing 2 good deeds before even inauguration. He promised to roll back Bush's assault on our individual liberties. If he keeps that promise, he would be, in Orwellian speak, a double-plus positive. As for taxes, spending and such, let's all remember, they fall under the legislative's main prerogative.
#11. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#10)
Raimondo's site is safe for the foreseeable future.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest"I've got it in the gut." He describes his own thought process as agonized (dare we say neurotic?) in a way that some might view as quintessentially Jewish. And he professes an "enormous emotional attachment and sympathy for Israel" that would make an Aipac board member jealous.
#4. To: christine (#2)
(Edited)
is there any doubt whatsoever who owns obama? i'd really like to know from whom his campaign $$ have really come. surely, we cannot believe that
#5. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#4)
(Edited)
#6. To: christine (#5)
#8. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#6)
I also do not expect Obama to send our boys and girls to die when Israel or AIPAC says so.
#10. To: christine (#8)
Replies to Comment # 10. However, if peace ever breaks out, Antiwar.com dies.
America's Wars and Casualties Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 290,000 4,000 0 Last Veteran: Daniel F. Bakeman, died 4/5/1869, age 109
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 287,000 2,000 0 Last Veteran: Hiram Cronk, died 5/13/05, age 105
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 106,000 1,000 0 Last Veteran: Fredrak Fraske, died 6/18/73, age 101
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 79,000 13,000 0 Last Veteran: Owen Thomas Edgar, died 9/3/29, age 98
Union Participants Union Deaths in Service Union Living Veterans 2,213,000 364,000 0 Confederate Participants* Confederate Deaths in Service* Confederate Living Veterans 1,000,000 133,821 0 Last Union Veteran: Albert Woolson, died 8/2/56, age 109 Last Confederate Veteran: Disputed.* Learn more...
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 392,000 11,000 0 Last Veteran: Nathan E. Cook, died 9/10/92, age 106
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 4,744,000 116,000 4,800 Living Veterans does not include World War I veterans with military service in other eras.
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 16,535,000 406,000 6,319,000
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 6,807,000 55,000 4,179,000
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 9,200,000 109,000 8,166,000
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 3,800,000 9,000 2,048,000
Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans Living Ex- Servicemembers 41,790,000 1,090,200 19,300,000 25,188,000
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, July 1998
* Authoritative statistics for Confederate Forces are not available. An estimated 28,000 Confederate soldiers died in Union prisons. In the VA press release, the last Confederate veteran is listed as John Salling.
Note: Figures on the number of living veterans reflect final 1990 Census data and include only veterans living in the United States. Details may not add to total due to rounding.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 10.