THE DAY OF REPENTANCE FOR SINS

First sin of 5769 - no time to be like Jonah!

This is a copy of an email by David Meyers to his list. David is a son of mine and what he writes is a clear indictment of John McCain and Sarah Palin for dangerous and "sinful" behavior.

As we conclude our annual soul-searching, we are hearing dangerous noises that are all to familiar. In its effort to win at all costs, the McCain-Palin campaign is fostering incitement against Barack Obama, whipping up their followers at rallies to a frenzy of hatred and loathing that is spine-chilling. A skin-headed, uniformed sheriff emphasizes Obama's middle name, "Hussein", to cries of "traitor" and "kill him." Palin herself barely stops short of calling Obama a "terrorist." Where does this lead? We know where this leads. If someone is a "traitor" or a "terrorist", what do we do? We seek them out and kill them, like we would Benedict Arnold or Osama bin Laden. There is no middle ground, no respectful disagreement, only a mandate to eliminate the threat.

Rewind to 1995, anti-Oslo rallies in Israel, effigies of Prime Minister Rabin in gestapo uniform being burned, shouts of "traitor." A clear mandate to kill - and if not Yigal Amir, someone else would have taken up the weapon. Because you have to kill traitors, not debate them and, if necessary, accept democratic defeat with honor and grace. Instead of one politician's ascendancy or continuation in power being undesirable, it becomes unacceptable and that is where democracy crumbles.

Despite his reprehensible role in whipping up anti-Rabin sentiments, at least Benjamin Netanyahu had some moral compass, backed by a knowledge of history, unlike Sarah Palin. When demonstrators at a rally shouted "Rabin is a traitor", he is seen saying "No, no, no. Rabin is not a traitor. He is mistaken and mistaken in a big way but he is not a traitor." No such compass or knowledge or conscience exist in Palin and she stands there doe-eyed, letting the frenzy take on its own life. Her running mate, with much more knowledge but perhaps having left his compass behind when he ejected from the cockpit, does nothing to dissuade his supporters from going down this path. As soon as this is allowed to happen, the implications are clear. People are not asked any more to compare the two patriotic records - fighting Communism in Vietnam (whether you agreed with that or not) and building democracy in Chicago by registering voters, or to compare the policies or the judgment of two men who want to do their best for the country. Instead, they are asked to define one of them an "enemy," and once you designate someone an enemy "all options are on the table." Is that the America that we want?

For many reasons that I have discussed on my blog - http://israeliamericansforobama.blogspot.com - we must elect Obama/Biden and not McCain/Palin and this is just one more example of the character of the two tickets. But, if you really must support McCain-Palin (can a Jew really believe that Palin can be President?)..but if you really have to support that ticket, then at least speak out to those whom you support. Tell them that you support their views but will not stand for incitement, demonization and demagoguery. Tell them that our people know where this leads. Educate Sarah Palin on the holocaust that she says we can't repeat but of which she has no understanding and of the difference between the democratic process and civil war (and, while you're at it, point out that the Constitution has no extra powers for her to assert). Tell them that this is unacceptable. Tell them that our democracy is more important than their victory and that your support requires them to accept that notion.

Let's not be like Jonah in the story that we heard today who ran from his responsibility to speak difficult truths. There is no time to get on the ship to Tarshish and there are not 40 days for Ninveh - or the United States - to repent.

Let's not start 5769 with the sin of silence. Speak out before this ugliness turns into tragedy.

Shana Tova and Gmar Chatima Tova, (
Have a good year and may you be written for the good in God's yearly journal.)

David

p.s. after finishing this, I heard audio from a McCain event where a questioner referred to "Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans" and McCain not only did not object but concurred. To those who talk about Iran as threatening a second holocaust, it should be pointed out that what started the holocaust was not threats against another nation but the deligitimization and demonization of fellow countrymen as the Nazis did to Jews in Germany. This is a much more dangerous and insidious threat than any external one.


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