Saturday, June 02, 2012

Sybil Hussein Obama?

Lauri B. Regan

 
On the same day that the Polish foreign minister called Obama ignorant and incompetent for referring to a "Polish death camp" during a ceremony intended to honor a Polish war hero, the POTUS substantiated the accusations as he declared before an audience of Conservative Jews that he "probably knows about Judaism more than any other president, because he read about it."  
 
The man who apparently believes he is "The First Jewish President" has revealed yet another persona meant to wow a particular demographic.  But by adding one more element to the amalgamation of the composite individual running the country, who evolves faster than Charles Darwin could say "natural selection," Obama is proving that he actually knows less about everything other than race-baiting and class warfare than any other president, because he learned about those things.

Obama's latest narcissistic assertion is not surprising from the man who bills himself as one of the top four presidents in the history of the country.  But the most knowledgeable about Judaism?  On what does Obama base such an absurd statement?  And what has he been reading that has led him to make such a ludicrous pronouncement?  We can certainly rest assured that his days spent in the pews of Trinity Church[i] did not involve studying the Old Testament.  As Bill Kristol states:
His vanity boggles the mind. One could begin by citing Adams and Madison, who knew Hebrew, or Harry Truman, who knew Jewish history ... but it's silly to dignify this claim with a rebuttal. In thinking about the presidents since Truman, though, I'd guess the president who knew the most about Judaism was Jimmy Carter, who taught Sunday school and had a deep interest in religion. So let's stipulate that of the modern presidents, Carter and Obama "know" the most about Judaism. But what is it they know? In Obama's case, one could ask whether what he "knows" is what he learned from Rashid Khalidi and Jeremiah Wright.

And from John Podhoretz:
So let's move on to the fact that every president until the modern era knew more about Judaism than Barack Obama because the Bible was the one book every literate person knew, and the Bible includes the books Christians call the "Old Testament," and a working knowledge of the Old Testament certainly is the best introduction to "Judaism" there is.
Obama apparently forgot how ridiculous he sounded when he stated that "nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti-Semitism than I have."  Jake Tapper pointed out at the time:
Really?
No one?
Elie Wiesel? Simon Wiesenthal? Alan Dershowitz?
No One?
Wow.
But all of this is coming from the man who proclaimed, "We are partners with God in matters of life and death."  In that one arrogant and hubristic statement, Obama proved he knows absolutely nothing about Judaism, for while it may be that Islamic jihadists believe themselves to be partners with Allah in matters of death, individuals living under the teachings of Judeo-Christian beliefs and values know better than to declare themselves partners with the Almighty in anything.  Perhaps Obama would have more press conferences if he could force the press corps to begin each meeting worshiping his holiness with "Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe"; however, even Chris Matthews would likely give up his tingle before reciting such nonsense.

There are additional indications that Obama knows very little about Judaism.  Obama's gaffe earlier this week in which he called a Nazi concentration camp a "Polish death camp" certainly indicates a lack of understanding of history.  And let us not forget that while running for office, Obama made the grandiose claim that he had an uncle who was part of the first American troops to liberate Auschwitz.  The RNC quickly pointed out that unless Obama's uncle served in the Red Army, his story was a fabrication.  Obama's spin-meisters quickly offered up the excuse that it was a minor mistake and his uncle had been at the liberation of Buchenwald -- the historian-in-chief should have known the difference.
One of Obama's most egregious misstatements was made in his infamous Cairo speech, when he used the Holocaust as the justification for Israel's existence while ignoring the Jewish people's biblical, historical, and legal connections to the Land of Canaan.  And more recently, Obama graciously squeezed into his busy schedule a Hannukah party -- two weeks early -- and lit all of the candles on the Menorah, exclaiming that "we never need an excuse for a good party."
But even granting Obama his claims of brilliance, the label is meaningless.  Plenty of Israel-bashers are knowledgeable about Judaism.  Noam Chomsky, M.J. Rosenberg, and Peter Beinart could qualify as such but would never be called Israel's friends.  Obama made up a ridiculous proclamation of self-interest while hoping the public would ignore his record that speaks volumes about the fact that he is in fact the least friendly POTUS to Israel since its founding.

While proclaiming his Jewish bona fides, Obama personality 15 did not stop there.  The man who doth protest too much not only whined that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are not asked about their support for Israel, but went on to explain that many of his friends in Chicago are Jewish.  This statement served to prove Obama's childish bona fides while at the same time using the lamest excuse in the book to deny that he is not a friend to Israel.

Even Obama, in infusing himself into the Trayvon Martin debacle, seemed to denounce the claim that George Zimmerman could not have been racially motivated since Zimmerman had black friends.  In an article entitled "Trayvon Martin: The Problem with the 'Some of My Best Friends Are Black' Defense," Nowile M. Rooks wrote, "Research on racial perception proves that even the most diverse group of friends doesn't make one immune to race-based prejudice."  Our brilliant president must have been hanging with the Choom Gang on the day that lesson was taught at Columbia.

And as long as Obama wants to discuss his friends, let us take a look at the individuals whom we know he surrounded himself with during his days in Chicago.  There is of course Reverend Jeremiah "God damn America and Israel" Wright, who was Obama's spiritual advisor, mentor, and close family friend [ii].  Obama friends and domestic terrorists Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers are now supporters of the Free Gaza Movement, call Israel an apartheid state, and support the BDS movement.  Then there is Palestinian [iii] Rashid Khalidi, of whom Obama spoke so warmly at Khalidi's going away party several years ago and with whom he and Michelle shared quiet dinners that he stated served as "consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots."

In addition to Obama's anti-Semitic friends of whom we know, he also had friends in Chicago about whom we are still learning.  In "The Chicago Way," John Fund discusses Obama's close relationship with "gatekeeper and spokesman for Obama's inner circle" Eric Whitaker, convicted felon Tony Rezko, intimate advisor Valerie Jarrett, and others.  Interestingly, not one of Obama's friends whom we know as a friend or confidant is Jewish.  The people in Obama's life who are Jewish serve as his useful idiots.  Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel gave him cover and bragging rights, while Penny Pritzker is a campaign bundler hosting fundraisers for the billion-dollar man.

And while we know the president enjoys "a good party," the real question is whether he enjoys sharing them with Jewish people when they do not involve raising money for his campaign.  In a New York Times report on the history of "the Obama Seder," candidate Obama joined several staff members in a small gathering during the Passover holiday that fell during the campaign [iv].  Obama invited several African-American friends who "peppered the outnumbered Jews at the table with questions...'We're not exactly crack Hebrew scholars,'" responded one of the Obama staffers.  Apparently, the man who claims to know more about Judaism than the 43 U.S. presidents who preceded him was also incapable of responding to any of the questions relating to the Passover story.  But the article does share with us that Obama took it upon himself to revise the Haggadah ending the Seder with "Next year in the White House!"

What we also learn from the Times story is that the Seder is now a WH tradition, and "[n]o one considered inviting prominent rabbis or other Jewish leaders; it is a private event."  We also learn that "as in many Jewish households, the Obama Seder seems to take on new meaning each year, depending on what is happening in the world and in participants' lives."  Wrong.  The meaning of the Jewish holiday has not changed in thousands of years.

The man who claimed to "serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views" is nothing of the sort.  He is more like Sybil, intentionally morphing into a different persona when he determines it politically expedient.  He is certainly not knowledgeable about Judaism, he is not an honest man, and he has spent his life in the midst of some very bad people.  Obama's personality will be vetted this time around whether he likes it or not.  And grandiose statements made in the shadows of Greek columns will prove to be incapable of supporting his faux image and multiple personalities, just as the European Union has proven incapable of supporting the faltering Greek economy.

While the rest of the country is waking up to the fact that the smartest man to catapult to the highest office in the land may not actually be as brilliant as his handlers would have us believe, Obama has yet to take off his rose-colored glasses when he views himself in the mirror.
(Many thanks to Ed Lasky for his contributions to this article.)


[i] Obama did not seem to have a problem with Trinity Church's magazine carrying op-eds by Hamas leaders accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and whose charter calls for the killing of Jews wherever they may live.

[ii] This is the same Jeremiah Wright who gave an award to Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, who called Judaism a gutter religion, praised Hitler, and most recently promised that Allah will bring death unless the U.S. submits.
[iii] Recall that Obama stated that no one is "suffering more than the Palestinian people."
[iv] That may have occurred at about the time that West Bank Palestinians began making international get-out-the vote phone calls to U.S. residents.

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