Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Dean, Israel etc 

Bad For The Jews

There they go again. Some self appointed Jewish-American ìleadersî and some of the Presidential candidates who covet their favor hit a new low point last week when they beat up on Howard Dean, twisting innocuous and sensible comments he made about the Middle East and unfairly accusing him of insufficient ardor in his support of Israel. (see Salon )

These attacks are unlikely to seriously damage Dean who, in any case, canít expect to become President without having to deflect such nonsense and worse. However, the supposedly pro-Israel demagogues not only tarnished their own credibility but they added to the odious trend of narrowing the space for much-needed creative thinking and dialogue in dealing with the Israel-Palestinian problem.

The contretemps was set off by an interview Dean did with the Associated Press in which he used the words ìeven-handedî and said that in the context of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which the U.S. mediates like those at Camp David, ìitís not our place to take sidesî.

Several self-interested demagogues pretended that Dean was not simply referring to such mediations but that he meant that the U.S. shouldnít ìtake sidesî in terms of our general policies in the region.

It is worth noting that Deanís wife Deborah Steinberg Dean is Jewish and their two children were raised as Jews. Dean's national campaign co-chairman, Steve Grossman, a former president of the ardently pro-Israel group AIPAC stated what was obvious to all concerned. "Howard Dean sees himself as a president who from day one will be deeply engaged and will build credibility with all parties to the conflict."

Nonetheless Senator Joseph Lieberman who has been badly trailing Dean in New Hampshire and Iowa, accused Dean of advocating ì a major break from a half a century of American foreign policy." Lieberman supporter former Congressman Stephan Solarz added, "It's a deeply disturbing expression of moral and political neutrality."

"Either he's not very knowledgeable or he's on the wrong side," chimed in Mark Mellman, a pollster for another Dean opponent, Senator Kerry. "Howard Dean is saying he wants to take American policy vis-ý-vis Israel in a radically different direction than it has been under Democratic and Republican policy for the last 30 years."

Not only are these hysterical reactions totally unfair, it is almost certain that the people making the charges know it. He was talking about playing a role similar to that of President Clinton. In fact the main message of Deanís interview was that President Bush should ask Clinton to play such a role now. To espouse anything other than Deanís position would be to eliminate any role for the U.S. in a future Middle East peace process, which would be terribly damaging for both the U.S. and for Israel.

Deanís second supposed transgression was even more ephemeral. Asked by CNNís Wolf Blitzer whether he opposed or approved of Israelís "assassinations of Hamas militants" Gov. Dean replied, "Ö there is a war going on in the Middle East and members of Hamas are soldiers in that war and therefore it seems to me that they are going to be casualties.î In other words, Dean was supporting Israelís moral right to kill members of Hamas. Jack Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress huffed on the Fox News show 'The Beltway Boys', ìAccording to international law, as well as common sense, Hamas terrorists are not soldiers but murderous terrorists who kill children. It's clear Governor Dean didn't bother to differentiate between terrorists, murderers and innocent civilians that are being attacked by Hamas.ì Of course, Rosen knows that Dean had not been asked to make that particular distinction but whether or not it was okay for Israel to kill Hamas members. Nonetheless, the AJ Congress sent a hysterical email with the gleeful headline ìAlert!!!! Alert!!!! Alert!!!! Dean Slips Up Againì (and, yes, they really used four exclamation points after each ìAlert!!!!î).

Desperate for traction in his lackluster campaign, Kerry entered Willie Horton territory when he shamelessly distorted Deanís meaning by claiming that "In going out of his way to term members of Hamas as 'soldiers,' Gov. Dean insults the memory of every innocent man, woman and child killed by these suicidal murderers."

As if in acknowledgement of the intellectual dishonesty of their attacks, many of these same critics quickly shifted their criticism of Dean from substance to style. Implicitly acknowledging that Dean was no threat to Israel, they accused him on ìinexperienceî in using words that could be ìperceivedî that way. Of course no one perceived Dean inaccurately except the very same people who intentionally pretended to do so in order to attack him for their own political agenda.

Howard Dean may yet stumble and fall in his ambitious and unlikely race to become President, but he would have to descend significantly to disgrace himself as much as Kerry, Lieberman, Solarz, Rosen and others have who cynically play word-games about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a time of great peril for both Israel and the United States.

posted by Danny 7:16 AM [+]
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Teen Spirit Watch 

Following are some grades of Democratic Presidential candidates in terms of their recent effectiveness at expressing "teen spirit". Criteria include:

- Expression of issues that effect young people
- Use of pop culture
- Memorable, understandable language
- Moral inspiration

The group of voters effected by such behavior includes not only young people but older voters whose primary cultural language is "pop."

John Kerry (B)

John Kerry has been photographed on motorcycle and played electric guitar last week joining a local Boston band, Popgun 7, in a rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." What's more, according to today's New York Times, he played on a 1961 album in a local band, The Electras, the liner notes of which called him a "producer of a pulsating rhythm that lends tremendous force to all the numbers."

This qualified Kerry as a bona-fide student of Bill Clinton's 1992 saxaphone playing on the Arsenio Hall Show. Of course Clinton already showed an affinity for old rock and roll eleven years ago and these are different times so the cultural statement doesn't mean that much.

I've got nothing against Kerry. In fact I think he'd be a terrific President and he's been more focused since he formally announced his candidacy than before. But Kerry is still fundamentally running as the guy who was a war hero. Not only will this rationale be dramatically undercut if Wesley Clark enters the race moreover, although George W. Bush and most of the hawks in his administration didn't serve in the Armed Forces, Bush still has, and will have, a lot of supporters in the military if for no other reason than that people in the military in recent years tend to be Republicans.

Richard Gephardt (B+)

Gephardt gets points on "language" for his repeated use of the phrase "miserable failure" to describe the Bush presidency. Although such repetition in recent debates and subsequent interviews does come across as a contrived, pre-planned "soundbite" it was nonetheless effective and re-positioned Gephardt.

Howard Dean (A-)

Dean still gets points for moral believability. He's handled the barrage of attacks on his minor political faux pas with grace and confidence and he still comes across as the only candidate other than Al Sharpton who has a mind of his own.

Al Sharpton (B+)

Sharpton is still the most entertaining candidate and the best natural speaker but he needs a more compelling vision if he's going to fill Jesse Jackson's shoes or more.

Wesley Clark gets an (A) for motivating a letter from Michael Moore, currently the definitive "teen spirit" arbiter... but this could quickly fade if he doesn't announce or if his announcement cycle doesn't live up to the hype.

Edwards, Mosley Braun, Kucinich get "incompletes" because at this moment I don't feel them in the game.

Lieberman as always, gets an (F), this time for petulant petty attacks on Dean for supposedly vacillating on support for Israel (Dean's position on Israel is, in fact , maddeningly conventional). Kerry lost some points for this too -- but he did it in a more pro-forma way whereas Lieberman's bitter satisfaction at "nailing" Dean had all of the intellectual dishonesty and pettiness of the worst High School Asst. Principal.

posted by Danny 7:11 AM [+]
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Young Missouri 

Follows is an email typical of many young organizers I've heard from around the country who are not currently getting the appropriate support from the Democratic Party:

Mr. Goldberg,

First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to call me back, and listening to me prattle on. I'll try not to take up much of your time. Here's a quick list of things that the Young Democrats of St. Louis would do with contributions.

Our first concern is operating costs. We would not want to eat up a lot of capital on items like office space, phones and net technology, but it's something we will need in the coming months. We also want to purchase personalized business cards for our officers. If we don't buy union made, it's bad for our reputation. The Young Democrats are also active in recruiting candidates, and helping all Democrats to be elected to office. We will use a portion of the funding to go directly to campaigns, but our help usually comes in the form of people power. We make phone calls for candidates, and distribute literature as well.

Our second need is to have funding for advertising. This is my main goal at this point. The Young Democrats, and the Democratic party in general, does not do enough to market itself to the general public. If this were done on a regular basis, we would not have many of the problems that we are experiencing in today's political climate. I would use the bulk of funding to put together a campaign to raise our membership. I would buy airtime on radio stations who market primarily to the 18 to 34 demographic, and our main message would be for young people to lend their voice to ours, and to be the advocate for our generations. We are also interested in organizing events that would not be necessarily "Democratic" in nature, but would be to get the Young Democrat name out there. I would like to be able to book concerts for bands sympathetic to the cause, and have forums that focus on the issues of young people in Missouri. We also have to conquer the racial divide in St. Louis, and this won't be easy, but is possible with the right support. I believe that we can accomplish all of this with a marketing campaign that is done correctly, and we will be able to appeal directly to the self interests of the 18 to 34 demographic by opening the process up to them. We will use this to apply pressure to the hierarchy of the State Party to address the concerns of those who will inherit this country next, and to set up the young Democrat organization to be a force for the next generation of leaders as well. This should result in Democrats no longer being pigeonholed by the Republican Party's definition of issues in this state.

Here's an example of the ineffectiveness of the State Party, and what I would do differently if I had the resources to do so: President Bush is coming here today for a fundraiser for our Senior Senator, Kit Bond. He has been receiving free advertising from the local news at every news update they air. He has come to St. Louis 12 times since he was selected, and each time the news agencies give him half the coverage of the entire newscast each for each visit, and at the same time, they largely ignore the protesters outside these events. The state party has done nothing in the way of getting the word out, showing a presence at these events, or offering a counter argument to the media in any way. I feel they are making a huge mistake. I would fight fire with fire, and I would use part of the monies raised by you to mobilize Democrats with advertising on the radio.

Unfortunately, this will take a lot of capital, and since all of the State Party's resources are going to the Gephardt Campaign, (much to my chagrin) and our party's growth is being curtailed by this. It is exactly as you describe, that the Democratic Party is only focused on persuading the Lipitor vote to go Democratic. This is a short sighted strategy, and it's why I was motivated to call you.

I know I'm asking a lot, but we need the help. 11 electoral votes that will potentially swing this election, as well as the life and health of the Democratic party for the next generation, is counting on possible contributors like you. There are no limits on what the Young Democrats can receive, and the more money we can raise, the more effective we can be in taking the party from the entrenched, Good Old boy system, and reviving the Missouri Democratic Party.

Thank you once again. I hope to hear from you very soon.

Sincerely,
Joe Bruemmer
Press Secretary,
Young Democrats of St. Louis
(YDSTL)
(314) 565-6127
posted by Danny 6:18 AM [+]
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