Every once in a while I get this gut feeling that the right-wing lies and deceit aimed at electing John McCain at any cost have hit rock bottom.
How much lower can than go? I wonder.
How blatantly will they manufacture an ad with zero truth whatsoever just to score a few nudges in a poll? I ask myself.
Surely, they can go no lower. No question, we have seen the bottom.
Then I see something like this ad that the Republican Jewish Coalition is running in Jewish community newspapers throughout the country--and I realize we are nowhere near rock bottom.
Oh. My. God.
Now, I have to say right up front: I am Jewish, and not just a little bit. I grew up in the great Midwestern shtetl of Metropolitan Detroit and am darn proud of it. I know Jewish communities. I know what makes Jewish people worry, what makes them ask questions, what makes them afraid.
There is nothing more offensive to a Jewish person in the United States right now than the idea of Pat Buchanan being elected President. Buchanan did not just wake up and become a symbol of anti-Semitism in this country. He has over time repeatedly made statements favorable to Hitler and critical of Israel. Just like he has for every other ethnic group in America, Buchanan has spoken and written about Jews with the voice of someone who believes that Jews enjoy the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship by the grace of their Christian hosts. He is a repugnant man. This much you know.
Reacting to the print ad campaign by the Republic Jewish Coalition is not as easy as crying 'anti-Semitism.' It is far worse than that. This kind of ad--which uses juxtaposed images and incredibly misleading statements to claim that Obama and Buchanan somehow share views--that they are somehow political brethren--is the most vile kind of targeted political marketing designed to induce fear and insecurity in an ethnic group.
This is an ad made by someone who created a list of Jews--and then ran focus groups and test campaigns to see which images and which rhetoric would fill Jewish voters with the most fear about Obama.
This is immorality in print.
Moreover, this ad campaign comes at a time when Republicans are funding push polls that ask Jewish voters how they would feel if they 'found out' that 'President Ahmadinejad of Iran had endorsed Barack Obama.'
This ad is anti-American in the extreme.
This ad is the politics of cruelty.
Forget everything question you have about Jewish people, Israel, Palestinians, Iran, the Middle East, Obama, McCain, Bush--forget it all for a second. Ask yourself this question instead:
What do you call it when a political party targets an ethnic minority with pure lies in order to petrify them?
What is the word for that kind of behavior? Do we call it cynicism? How about fascism? Do we call it evil?
In my family, we used a phrase to describe this kind of behavior, instead of a single word:
never again
That's right, 'Never again!' Not because this ad is somehow connected to another Holocaust. That's not the point. I say 'never again' because when this kind of political behavior is allowed to go unchallenged, then it is not just individuals who suffer, it is not just communities, it is not just Jewish people (e.g., as it is this time)--it is all of us. All of society suffers from this kind of offensive, cynical, soulless propaganda. Our entire society is diminished by it. And if we let it go unchecked--if we allow the people who inject this kind of filth into our society to remain unchallenged--then society itself begins to unravel.
I can speak from experience, these ads by the RJS (there have been three so far) are having a profound and sinister impact on Jewish communities across America.
Jewish voters across the country are divided about 2-to-1 in favor Obama, but that is not what is at stake here. The Republican Party does not care if they win the majority of the Jewish vote. They see some kind of long-term gain to be made by spreading lies about Obama in Jewish communities across America and so they are investing millions of dollars into these campaigns.
Jewish friendships are being torn apart by these Republican ads.
Jewish families are being torn apart by these Republican ads.
Jewish communities are being torn apart by these Republican ads.
An ad of Barack Obama inset on a giant picture of Pat Buchanan is not just a political lie. It is the seed of division cast in print.
This vile ad must not stand. This campaign by the Republican Party to divide Jewish communities by aggressively publishing anti-Obama ads in Jewish print papers must be exposed.
Nothing weakens these kind of campaigns faster than exposure to the light of day. Most people in America do not even realize how influential Jewish print newspapers are in this country. In an age of internet media, a vast majority of Jewish households still receive the same print Jewish newspaper that they have been getting for decades and decades.
Growing up in Detroit, I can not remember a single day when we did not have a copy of the Detroit Jewish News in our house. It changed formats, it changed editors, but it was always there.
Here is what we can do, right now.
First, if you are Jewish, tell everybody you know about these false and misleading campaigns.
Do not assume anybody knows and understands these ads--tell everyone about how false and sinister they are, even people who you think should know.
Second, track down and find the editorial office of your local Jewish newspaper and write them a letter of protest. Be polite, but be form.
Editors must hear our sense of outrage and our sense of betrayal that such blatant, false propaganda would be allowed in the pages of a papers we have had in our families for generations.
Third, talk about this RJC ad with people in your social worlds: at work, at the gymn, everywhere. Do not assume that just because you may not be Jewish, that you do not play a roll in shining a light on this campaign. Use the power of your own voice to exert pressure in your face-to-face worlds.
Tell everyone you know about this toxic Republican ad campaign and how wrong it is.
Keep in mind, just because this is the word 'Jewish' is in the 'Republican Jewish Coalition' does not mean that this is some internal ethnic community squabble. This concerns all of us.
Everyone on this site is offended by the image in that ad. Everyone.
And we can all do what is necessary to fight back.
And remember:
Stay positive.
Work together.
Fight the lies and push Obama's message.
Let's get out there and win this damn election.
Update [2008-9-18 16:57:1 by Jeffrey Feldman]:
As suggested in the comments: a great diary about a huge number of Rabbis who endorsed Obama: Rabbis For Obama
Update [2008-9-18 17:25:36 by Jeffrey Feldman]:
Also from the comments: a video of Pat Buchanan telling MSNBC viewers that Sarah Palin (who?) was a state chair for his presidential campaign and attended a fundraiser for him. So, here's a hocky-mom joke fer ya: What's the difference between John McCain's VP and the Alaska state chair of Pat Buchanan's Presidential campaign? Answer: Who said they were different?
Update [2008-9-18 17:37:33 by Jeffrey Feldman]:
One great way to push back against this is this ad is the system set up at:
JewsVote.org
This is a site tailored for Jewish progressives to outreach to other Jewish voters by building a quick social network and using common resources. It is a very smart site. I have been using it for weeks to put progressive pressure on my home town community. Check out JewsVote.org