Shabbat Shalom 6 Nissan 5768

Recall the Inmates
People have the right to fire their elected officials

If an incarcerated person was up for parole, would you want their fate determined by a board set up to keep the public safe or would you prefer a panel of other inmates to determine who should be set free? Sure, the question is ridiculous; no way would a sane person want Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy deciding if Jack the Ripper should be a free man. However the same common sense does not apply when it comes to the asylum known as the government of Illinois and the inmates who are the elected officials.


Check out the rest of your brilliant bloggers article in Chicago Daily Observer



Taxpayers funding Muslim School
Charter schools are public schools and cannot teach religion...unless it's Islam

Do you hear that? That's the deafening sound of silence from the ACLU and their secular allies amongst the political left. The people who scream bloody murder when children say the Pledge of Allegiance or the Ten Commandments are posted on a wall in a government building, are no where to be found when the taxpayers of Minnesota are funding a charter school that teach, endorse and promote Islam.

Check out this disturbing article in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune



The Axelrod Effect
Obama campaign manager understands Jewish vote

Nearly two weeks ago, Internet news sites began reporting claims by Pro-Palestinian groups that they believe Barack Obama will be very sympathetic to their cause. News of Obama and his wife attending an event to honor Palestinian advocate and harsh critic of Israel, Rashid Khalidi, at a 2003 dinner surfaced, and once again the Obama camp is on the defensive.

Similar to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy, Obama didn't address the matter until the mainstream press began reporting his anti-Israel ties. Thursday the Los Angeles times ran a story about the Palestinian advocates claim of Obama support that the "new media" began reporting weeks ago.

In the story is a quote from Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who claims he met Obama several times at Palestinian and Arab American community events. Abunimah says Obama appeared sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and during a 2004 dinner told him that he needed to speak cautiously about the Middle East. Abunimah quoted Obama as saying that he was sorry he wasn't talking more about the Palestinian cause, but that his primary campaign had constrained what he could say.

To Obama's rescue comes campaign manager David Axelrod. The veteran Chicago based campaign consultant vehemently denied Obama made such remarks. "In no way did he take a position privately that he hasn't taken publicly and consistently," Axelrod said of Obama. "He always had expressed solicitude for the Palestinian people, who have been ill-served and have suffered greatly from the refusal of their leaders to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist."

Axelrod knows first hand the importance of the Jewish vote, especially in key swing states such as Florida and Ohio. In 1984 he saw first hand how the Jewish community could change an election.

In 1984 Axelrod managed the senate campaign of Illinois congressman Paul Simon. With two weeks remaining in the race, Simon found himself in striking distance of three-term incumbent Charles Percy. Unfortunately for Simon he ran out of money.

Unable to run television, radio and print ads, it appeared that Simon would fall short in his efforts to defeat Percy. However the sitting senator would soon alienate the Jewish vote.

During the race, Percy was being criticized by Jewish advocacy groups, despite having a record of supporting Israel, for his support of the sale of AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia. Even with the criticism, Percy appeared to still be on his way to victory, especially with a Reagan landslide expected.

With 8 days to go before the ballots would be cast, Percy gave Simon a lifeline when he lost his composure on an Urbana, Illinois radio interview. Percy responded to a caller who questioned his support for Israel with a tirade criticizing the Jewish community. The next day the New York times ran a prominent story on the interview and Simon began receiving campaign contributions all over the country.

Soon after, my father had a candid conversation with Axelrod in the lobby of the Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago. Axelrod told him that the Simon campaign had no money and after Percy made his remarks, "money from all over the United States and Canada began pouring in." Simon would go on to defeat Percy with just over 50% of the vote and Axelrod became a powerful player in Democratic politics.

With the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, so close he can taste it, Axelrod will not allow a "Percy moment" to end Obama's chances for the White House. However even Axelrod knows that he can't control the past. I assure you that he has sat Obama down and asked him what else will surface that can be construed as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. His defense plan is already set.

Like Percy, Obama has a pro-Israel voting record. However outside the 9Th congressional district of Illinois where the Jewish vote would support Sadam Hussein as long as he was a Democrat, pro-Israel advocates will abandoned the ship of a candidate whose support is viewed as disingenuous, especially if there are pro-Israel alternatives. That certainly exists in Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Questioning Obama on Israel will continue and your brilliant blogger already knows more is on the Horizon. At least for the Illinois senator he has a campaign manager who won't take the situation lightly. Axelrod knows what it is to win because of the Jewish vote, he sure doesn't want to taste being the loser.

Paulie