1. "A friend and admirer of Senator Hagel called the other day to ask whether wed ever met the nominee to be secretary of defense. We expressed our regrets that we hadnt. Our friend wanted us to know that Mr. Hagel does not dislike the Jews. We said we were delighted to hear it, but we also tried to convey that the Sun doesnt care one way or another whether Mr. Hagel likes the Jews. His private views are not what we care about. What we care about is the policy line to which Mr. Hagel would hew.....
2. Weve written before about this question of private prejudice. Harry Truman didnt like the Jews. He didnt like African Americans or the Chinese or Japanese either. We know this from his private correspondence as a young man. Phew! It contains the coarsest kind of bigotry. Yet Truman became one of the great civil rights presidents and one of the greatest friends of Israel. Once lifted to high office in the Senate, where he served as both a senator and as vice president, and then in the presidency, Truman came to see things in a different light and to surmount his biases.
3. But weve been covering his [Hagel's] antics for years, and where weve come out is that hes just over his head in terms of policy. So hes emerged as a shill for Israels most implacable foes. It doesn't take a genius to comprehend what the mullahs in Iran are going to make of this nomination.
4. By what deep principles is Senator Hagel guided in his long years of hanging back from anything that could be construed as helpful to the Jewish state or unhelpful to her enemies? Hes made no lifes work of sound money. Hes made no lifes work of constitutional fundamentals. We cant think of a single over-riding principle in his career, save for an abiding sneer at Israel, in which he seems to take a certain mischievous glee.
5. President Obama may be a lot of things, but hes no Reagan. From the more than 140 million Americans over the age of 21, he has gone and selected one of the most worrisome figures for defense. It looks like Mr. Hagels anti-Israel record is the very raison detre of the nomination.
6. It looks like the nomination is about the Presidents determination to block Israel from going to its own defense against a regime that, in Iran, is preparing, by its own account, an attempt to annihilate the Jewish state."
Hagel and the Jews - The New York Sun
What can this say to the 69% or so of Jewish Americans who still voted for Obama?
Now, he'll be more flexible....and really stick it to them.
2. Weve written before about this question of private prejudice. Harry Truman didnt like the Jews. He didnt like African Americans or the Chinese or Japanese either. We know this from his private correspondence as a young man. Phew! It contains the coarsest kind of bigotry. Yet Truman became one of the great civil rights presidents and one of the greatest friends of Israel. Once lifted to high office in the Senate, where he served as both a senator and as vice president, and then in the presidency, Truman came to see things in a different light and to surmount his biases.
3. But weve been covering his [Hagel's] antics for years, and where weve come out is that hes just over his head in terms of policy. So hes emerged as a shill for Israels most implacable foes. It doesn't take a genius to comprehend what the mullahs in Iran are going to make of this nomination.
4. By what deep principles is Senator Hagel guided in his long years of hanging back from anything that could be construed as helpful to the Jewish state or unhelpful to her enemies? Hes made no lifes work of sound money. Hes made no lifes work of constitutional fundamentals. We cant think of a single over-riding principle in his career, save for an abiding sneer at Israel, in which he seems to take a certain mischievous glee.
5. President Obama may be a lot of things, but hes no Reagan. From the more than 140 million Americans over the age of 21, he has gone and selected one of the most worrisome figures for defense. It looks like Mr. Hagels anti-Israel record is the very raison detre of the nomination.
6. It looks like the nomination is about the Presidents determination to block Israel from going to its own defense against a regime that, in Iran, is preparing, by its own account, an attempt to annihilate the Jewish state."
Hagel and the Jews - The New York Sun
What can this say to the 69% or so of Jewish Americans who still voted for Obama?
Now, he'll be more flexible....and really stick it to them.
