NJDC's Blog

When Guilting By Association... Spelling Matters

Wow, the pro-Santorum forces are desperate, incompetent, or both; read through to the end, where the Santorum campaign's true nature is, it would seem, scarily revealed:

For days now, numerous wingnut blogs -- from Redstate.com to The Right Wing Nation -- have been pushing the claim that Senate candidate Bob Casey (D) has been endorsed by the pan-Arabic TV network Al Jazeera. Incumbent Rick Santorum's (R) campaign even tried to turn this claim into a campaign issue, contacting local reporters to push the story.

There's only one problem. The claim that Al Jazeera endorsed Casey has now been shown to be completely false.

Here's what happened. A couple weeks ago, Santorum went on TV to denounce “Islamic fascism.” Not long after that, an article titled “Senator Santorum Repugnant Remarks on Islam, Iran, and Syria” appeared at a website called Al Jazeerah.info. The article concluded, “Don’t ask Santorum to apologize, folks. Vote Democratic.”

The wingnuts jumped into action, and numerous blogs started pushing the line that this meant that the Arabic network had endorsed Casey. For example. RedState.com posted the story with the headline, “Al-Jazeerah to Pennsylvania: Vote Casey.” The Santorum campaign brought the story to the attention of the Pennsylvania Morning Call. 

As it happens, taking the story to the local press proved to be a very bad idea indeed. Because a writer for the Call’s Capitol Ideas blog made a discovery: It turns out that the original article is not from Al-Jazeera, the Islamic news network, at all. Rather, it’s from a website that happens to also be called Al-Jazeerah (which means "island" in Arabic).

Whoops.

How did the Call blogger discover this? Well, he actually looked at the web site the original article was posted on. Good idea, right? The blog picks up the story:

What stood out for us was the fact that it explicitly mentioned the Lehigh Valley, making it unlikely that it had been penned by someone from the Al-Jazeera network headquarters in the U.A.E. The lay-out of the page is also too amateurish for a well-funded media operation. …

But if they had clicked on the site's Mission and Meaning link, they would have found that Khaku's letter was posted to the Web page of the Al-Jazeerah Peace Information Center, a four-year-old site operated by f the Dr. Hassan A. El-Najjar.

Al-Jazeera the news network, incidentally, also spells its name without an "h" at the end.

Thus informed, Santorum’s campaign apologized profusely for the error. We're joking! Actually, Santorum's spokeswoman still managed to use the incident to raise questions about Casey. She said, “Regardless, I wonder if Bob Casey agrees with these sentiments.”

Congressman Steve Israel's First NJDC Blog Entry

Last Wednesday, I participated in a conference call with a number of bloggers conducted by the National Jewish Democratic Council. Starting today, I'll be guest blogging here on the NJDC blog. One of my more enjoyable activities in Congress is writing my own daily blog on diverse issues from policy to process (check out my "Diary of a Floor Speech" on July 19th, among other entries ).

In mid-August I am scheduled to travel to Israel, Darfur and Iraq. If it's feasible, I hope to provide you with updates during my travels.

After our conference call, I had  the chance to read some of the blogs written by participants on the call. I was impressed with the wide range of views and topics: social justice, U.S.-Israeli relations, energy, Iraq, Hezbollah and more.

I'll keep an eye on some of those blogs over the course of the next few days and give you my thoughts about some of the issues they raise.  But I'd like you to tell me which issues are of most interest. Let me know, and thanks again to NJDC for asking me to join you here.

What Jews and Progressives Are Up Against

Laurie Goodstein of the NYT has this important article:

Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul — packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals — was passionate. Some members walked out of a sermon and never returned. By the time the dust had settled, Woodland Hills, which Mr. Boyd founded in 1992, had lost about 1,000 of its 5,000 members.

Cause for optimism?

“Most of my friends are believers,” said Shannon Staiger, a psychotherapist and church member, “and they think if you’re a believer, you’ll vote for Bush. And it’s scary to go against that.”

Sermons like Mr. Boyd’s are hardly typical in today’s evangelical churches. But the upheaval at Woodland Hills is an example of the internal debates now going on in some evangelical colleges, magazines and churches. A common concern is that the Christian message is being compromised by the tendency to tie evangelical Christianity to the Republican Party and American nationalism, especially through the war in Iraq.

At least six books on this theme have been published recently, some by Christian publishing houses. Randall Balmer, a religion professor at Barnard College and an evangelical, has written “Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America — an Evangelical’s Lament.”

And Mr. Boyd has a new book out, “The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church,” which is based on his sermons.

Also worth noting,

Mr. Boyd lambasted the “hypocrisy and pettiness” of Christians who focus on “sexual issues” like homosexuality, abortion or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. He said Christians these days were constantly outraged about sex and perceived violations of their rights to display their faith in public.

“Those are the two buttons to push if you want to get Christians to act,” he said. “And those are the two buttons Jesus never pushed.”

We Agree With Colbert -- Wexler is Cool....

and the morning shows shouldn't be throwing stones at (misunderstood) satirical news programs until they become a little less unwittingly self-satirical.

Congressman Israel: Guest Blogger

NJDC Blog hosted a conference call this week with Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY). Jewish bloggers from across the political spectrum participated in the call, and some posted about it on their sites:

• The Moderate Voice
• The J-Blogosphere Blog
• Canonist

Congressman Israel will begin guest blogging at NJDC on Monday, so check here throughout the week.

Interfaith Advocacy at its Best

Well, interfaith advocacy is afoot again, and this time it is helping to get most of Massachusetts’ 550,000 uninsured citizens something they haven’t been able to get- affordable health care insurance throughout the state. In an article in the Forward, by Jennifer Siegel, reports that the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which includes left-leaning synagogues in the Boston area, has backed an effort by the state legislature to offer a state health care plan that is affordable to even the poorest citizens.

It shows a lot, in this rigid political climate, that liberal synagogues and right-leaning churches can come together in the spirit of helping those in need, especially with health-care costs spiraling out of control. Putting aside differences for the moment and working through an interfaith organization to mobilize congregants and supporters alike speaks to the basic human need to help one another.

The example of gathering enough signatures to get the health care initiative on the ballot, in the event the legislature did not go far enough with the needed reforms to the Massachusetts health care plan, is a feat in itself.  With 40,000 of the 110,000 signatures alone needed for the initiative to be put on the ballot coming from the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, this accomplishment is a testament to those who doubt, at least in the right circumstances, those of faith can enter and affect the public sphere in good ways. 

NJDC continues to support the expression of religious values in a fashion that is consistent with our constitutional separation of church and state. The endeavor by the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization demonstrates the positive public policy that can come about when religious values informs policy, rather than policy that has the government meddling in religion.

It is heartwarming that an interfaith organization can be non-partisan [Click here to see an example of  partisanship within non-partisan religious organizations] while working to give expression to deeply held religious values.

Wow -- Ohio GOP Finds New Low?

First, from TAP:

OH GOV: CLINTON STRICKLAND IS GAY.  Apparently Ohio Republicans are taking a page out of the Christina Aguilera playbook because the only kind of campaigns they seem to know how to run are DIRRTY ones. First they try to swift-boat Sherrod Brown with the now infamous fake 9-11 ad. Now they are smearing the Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland, suggesting that both he and his wife are gay. The state GOP’s “social conservative coordinator” sent out an email to supporters noting that the Stricklands do not have children and were married when the candidate was 46. The horror, the horror! The email also linked to a blog that directly questioned their sexual orientations and accuses Ted Strickland of being “soft on those who sexually assault children.”

Party spokesmen swiftly and passionately condemned the email. Wait, never mind. More from the Columbus Dispatch:

Party officials are accepting some responsibility because they did not explicitly tell Lankford he must have all materials approved before sending them, McClelland said. He couldn’t say how many people received the e-mail but said the party would not send out a follow-up e-mail or take any other action to repudiate it besides making public statements.

Oh yes, the state GOP seems really upset, just devastated by this little “mistake.”

Unfortunately I think we can expect to see more and more of these incidents as November approaches; Ohio Republicans are truly desperate. Already a Democratic year, a state-wide GOP fundraising/coin scandal has put Republicans in an even worse position than before in this swingiest of states. Strickland crushes Blackwell according to Rasmussen’s June poll. So put on your raincoats, friends, the mud throwing has only just begun.

Next, from that Columbus Dispatch piece:

The e-mail in question was sent from a computer at Ohio Republican headquarters by Lankford, one of several paid "outreach coordinators" targeting groups such as social conservatives and sportsmen leading up to the Nov. 7 general election, McClelland said. It was labeled "10 Things to Know About Ted Strickland."

[snip]

Lankford, who is also the headmaster of a Christian home school, until recently was listed as a state director of the Ohio Restoration Project. The organization of religious conservatives wants to develop a network of "Patriot Pastors" and sign up 400,000 new "values voters" for this fall’s election.

Calls to the tax-exempt project, which has been named in a complaint to the IRS about its association with Blackwell and Republicans, were not returned. McClelland said Lankford would not comment.

Finally, some past Blackwell hits -- first, about his ties to Lankford's scary "Ohio Restoration Project," and second, his smear on the faith (or lack thereof) of Democrats.

McCain -- More Myth Than Legend?

I rather suspect that, in the coming months, NJDC Blog will have cause to write ever more frequently about what we see as the substantial gap between John McCain's saintly reputation (even in the Jewish community!) and his reality.

For starters, however, consider this tidbit from yesterday, as captured by Think Progress.  Please note how McCain's Bush Administration cheerleader instincts won out over any straight talk against the horrible display of America -- thru Hastert & Bush -- according a rare honor to the anti-Israel voice of al-Maliki.

        McCain Falsely Claims the Iraqi Prime Minister Has ‘Condemned Hezbollah’             

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has repeatedly refused to condemn Hezbollah for its role in initiating the Lebanon-Israel conflict. Yesterday, in a press conference with President Bush, he “criticized the ‘damage and destruction’ caused by Israeli attacks but said nothing on Hezbollah’s role.” Other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, have condemned Hezbollah for its role in initiating the conflict.

Sen. John McCain appeared on Fox this morning and falsely claimed that Maliki has “condemned Hezbollah.” McCain said that, as a result, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others who have criticized Malaki for his position on Hezbollah are “not qualified to lead.” Watch it:

Transcript:

FOX ANNOUNCER: I want to change gears for a minute because the Prime Minister of Iraq, of course, is in the United States, met with President Bush yesterday. He’s going to be speaking at the joint meeting of Congress later on. There’s been a lot of turmoil about this in the last 24 hours regarding Democrats, some saying they’re going to protest this because of the Prime Minister’s comments, or lack thereof, about Hezbollah as a terrorist group. What do you think about the potential protests of this meeting?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Well, we’ve got a conflict going on in Iraq where the United States is fighting and doing everything that they can to help democracy evolve there. The Prime Minister of Iraq and others have condemned Hezbollah and say they do not support them. So, if you want to have our effort in Iraq impaired by this situation, go ahead, but I think the Democrats are proving again why they’re not qualified to lead.

                            

Glad to Clear That Up! Stem Cell Research Not "Murder"

So, while the Senate candidate who disavows Bush has previously been forced to apologize for comparing stem cell researchers to Nazi doctors like Mengele, we learn from Bush's spokesman that Bush doesn't believe stem cell researchers -- you know, doctors trying to improve and save lives -- are murderers.

Whew!  I almost for a second thought Bush might have forgotten the "compassionate" part of his conservatism.

The Associated Press:

White House press secretary Tony Snow apologized on Monday for suggesting that

President Bush believed stem-cell research amounted to "murder," saying he was "overstating the president's position."

"He would not use that term," Snow told reporters. At issue was Snow's comment last Wednesday defending Bush's veto of legislation to expand federally financed research on stem cells obtained from unwanted embryos.

"The president believes strongly that for the purpose of research it's inappropriate for the federal government to finance something that many people consider murder. He's one of them," Snow said at the time.

Snow said Monday that the president remains opposed to using federal funds for such research because it involves "a destruction of human life."

Snow's characterization became an issue on Sunday for White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, who struggled on NBC's "Meet the Press" to answer whether Bush agreed with his spokesman that destruction of unwanted fertilized embryos was tantamount to murder?

"The president thinks that that embryo, that fertilized embryo, is a human life that deserves protection," Bolten said. "I haven't spoken to him about the use of particular terminology," Bolten said.

Said Snow on Monday: "I overstepped my brief there, and so I created a little trouble for Josh Bolten in the interview. And I feel bad about it."

Bush's veto of the stem-cell bill was sustained by the [REPUBLICAN] House.

Pelosi on al-Maliki

Pelosi's statement today:

This morning, I asked the Prime Minister directly to explain his criticism of Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism.  I was not satisfied with the response.  During his address, Prime Minister Maliki spoke with conviction about 'the terrorists who are falsely claiming to be speaking for Islam and Muslims,' he missed an opportunity to single out groups fitting that description, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and condemn their activities.  If defeating terrorism is indeed the duty of all of us, as the Prime Minister proclaimed, the road to victory starts with identifying the enemy.