Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem

Wait, so both Emanuel and Obama are their own persons, but they better be expected to repudiate a statement by Rahm’s father, or else…something.
Why? So we can all pretend things are hunky-dory in Israel?
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Help me out here.

No, he is not responsible for the opinions of his father. This isn’t the first time, though, that the sins of the father have been visited on the son. I would just as soon this is the last word on the subject.
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And since you don’t think he’s responsible, Michael, why are you bringing this up to us? It’s designed to tear down Rahm Emanuel, and for no other reason, and you’re apparently happy to oblige. This won’t surprise many of your commenters, as you know, but it does surprise me.

At least we know that Rahm’s personal charm is genetic!

Speaking of “sins of the father,” are Jenna and Barbara disqualified from ever holding an executive-level government position?

paliinatowel: that is not a nice thing to say.
Rahm, however, is very handsome and I think Scherer is jealous.

Cliff, The comments are spreading online, with significant viral energy. Rahm’s father gives the clear impression that he is claiming to speak with inside knowledge about Rahm’s intentions in the foreign press. There is a real danger that many people, especially in the Middle East, will think that Benjamin is speaking for Rahm. Such confusions could be damaging in the long run, not just for Rahm’s reputation but for the Obama administration. It is also a confusion that is easy to quash.

The comments are spreading online, with significant viral energy
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Says the author of the piece at TIME Magazines website. Too perfect.

The problem isn’t that Emanuel’s father made some stupid remark, the problem is that some people somehow think this has anything to do with the way Obama (or anyone) would govern.

The politics of guilt by (distant) association have got to stop. The way to make it stop is to stop giving it currency.

Schnorer’s word soup would make more sense to me if Emanuel’s parentage had previously caused any difficulties for the Clinton administration. I don’t believe it did. If it didn’t then, why would it now? And if the precise effect of Emanuel’s father upon US-Arab relations is zero, what’s the point of the article?

The politics of guilt by (distant) association have got to stop. The way to make it stop is to stop giving it currency.

BINGO. I don’t think Scherer gets that though?

Michael: I can buy that. Thanks for the clarification.
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It still seems strange, though, to worry about giving the impression of pro-Israel bias, when all our Presidential candidates are required to swear allegiance to Israel.
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Not a rag on you, that’s a rag on our political process in general.

Furthermore, is the McCain campaign not over yet? Repudiate your reverend! Repudiate that guy you served on that board with! Repudiate that highly respected member of Congress because he said mean things! Repudiate Rahm’s dad because what he believes will somehow become a comprehensive part of Israeli/Palestinian strategy!
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REPUDIATE DANGIT!!!!!!

I understand where you’re coming from, Kathy et al., but isn’t it good for us to know the background behind what will probably become a conservative talking point (even though this very blog entry may feed the beast)? That way we can refute it more easily. I really think that’s probably all MS meant to do: give us the context.
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Call me naive, but…

Mike Scherer,
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First off the comment has been covered by Politico since last week. Second of all there are no inside “intentions” in Rahm Emmanuel’s father’s statement. There IS a nasty smear against Arabs as people only fit to clean the floors of the WhiteHouse. But both Barack Obama AND John McCain expressed over and over and over again during the campaign that they would be steadfast in their support of Israel. As a matter of fact John McCain and the RNC spent a great deal of time effort and money trying to convince Jewish voters that Obama would NOT be pro Israel. So how in the hell is Benjamin Emmanuel’s father saying that in fact Rahm would influence Obama to be pro Israel which he has already pledged to be in the first place, some kind of controversy?
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To think I was actually trying to defend your ability as a journalist yesterday. Good grief man grow the phuck up and find a story that isn’t fed to you by Drudge!

1. “The Borgen Project has some good info on the cost of addressing global poverty.
$30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
$540 billion: Annual U.S. Defense Budget.”

MS the only reason that these statements sound like the father is speaking with inside knowledge is because you and likely the rest of the MSM choose to see it that way. Anyone else with a parent, or sibling, or any other family member understands family dynamics and this sounds like exactly what it is a father speaking out based on who he thinks he raised his son to be — pro Israel. Was there any doubt going in that Rahm Emanuel is pro-Israel? Please when Obama said it was time to put an end to immature politics he wasn’t just talking about the GOP he also meant the MSM who insist in focusing on trivialities instead of issues that really matter to our society. so how long will it be to the next forum at the Nuseum so the MSM can apologize for its dreadful coverage of the campaign?

MS
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Rahm’s father gives the clear impression that he is claiming to speak with inside knowledge about Rahm’s intentions in the foreign press.
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What a ridiculous sentence — how can an impression by definition be a clear indication of intention of a claim?
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I don’t like to pick on you MS, but you make it so easy (okay maybe I do like it).

Every President and senior White House personnel have had to cope with loud mouthed fathers, mothers (recall Barbara Bush on Katrina refugees in Texas), sons and daughters and assorted scounderls who try to create business opportunities – Billy Carter and Libya. We heard about Prof Khaladi, Prof Ayers is going on ABC tomorrow,and on and on. Your subsequent post defending your original piece is really sad. By the way the Jerusalem Post is very much against a settlement to the Israel-Palestine issue. You can confirm this by talking to Conrad Black, a one time owner of the JPost, currently a guest of our prison system. Or ask JPod.

We have the 2012 Presidential campaign underway egged onn by Blitzer, lauer and Larry King. Will you guys ever stop dishing our dollops of trivia.

“The comments are spreading online, with significant viral energy”
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I checked some sites-Drudge, The Corner, Atrios, Sullivan, and TPM-and found nothing. I see sg saw it at Poltico a week ago.
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MS, what was the motivation for this post? How did this subject come across your radar?

What was nasty or a smear? He didn’t suggest that Arabs are only fit to mop the floor of the white house.

What he did was confirm that his son is – newsflash! – pro-Israel (“What is he an Arab?”) and that he would be in a position of influence on the president (“He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House.”)

Jeez.

And yes, he made these comments last week, and they were reported on last week, why are you just getting to them, MS?

By the way Scherer
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Since we are talking about repudiations and denoucements….
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Why didn’t you call for John McCain to repudiate and denounce Joe the Plumber, a guy McCain said he was taking to Washington and said was his hero, for saying that if Obama got elected it would mean death to Israel not once but several times on FoxNews?
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Ill be over hear holding my breath waiting for a reply

I’m putting the odds at 70 gazillion to one that we’ll ever see a “John McCain’s Joe the Plumber” problem from MS.

Off topic
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I found this a little amusing. The comments section is funny too
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http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2008/11/12/cracking-the-code/

And Lastly I’m with Sg and Cliff this story is truly absurd..

Not really germane but I am going to fit the line “significant viral energy” into my dinner conversation tonight.

What does Mel Gibson’s dad think about all of this?

I’m sure Micheal is noticing the same irony that I am. After 18 months of having to repudiate rumors that he is a secret Muslim on a mission to throw open the secrets of the White House to the Calipahate, Obama is suddenly forced to repudiate the notion that he is an anti-Arab racist. I certainly can’t fault MS for finding it noteworthy.

Just a quick clarification: My problem is with the state of our politics, in that politicians are expected to repudiate family members for having inconvenient opinions.
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I don’t have a beef with Scherer on this one, I don’t think he’s got an ulterior motive for posting it, and I thank him for responding to commentary.

I think PNNTO and other folks have a good question – why do this post now MS? And why do it at all? And where was your post on GHW Bush’s father’s connections to Nazis? And John McCain’s father-in-law’s connection to organized crime?
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We could play this game all day long.

Dirks @ 3:11 may have written the most charitable sentance ever.
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I’m sure Micheal is noticing the same irony that I am.

On embarassing family connections: I hear that Jeb Bush has an older brother who is a real #### up.

If only people on the left could be as careful about what they and their family members and acquaintances say as those on the right, like Joe McCain, Pastor Muthee, Reverend Hagel, Sarah Palin, Barbara Bush, George Allen, Pat Robertson, George W. Bush, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Michele Bachmann…

Really, if you want to start inventorying stupid comments (and Benjamin Rahm’s comment about Arabs and ‘cleaning floors’ was incredibly stupid) then let’s keep a full and accurate accounting.

Actually, the John McCain father in law question is a serious one. He was involved with mobsters, that helped fund his rise as a beer distribution magnate, he gave McCain a cushy job. It was his money that essentially bought McCain his first congressional seat. McCain moved into his district in the house the day the previous congress person retired with Cindy using daddy’s money to buy it for cash.

Yet Rahm Emmanuel’s dad is worth covering. Why is that?

Paul Dirks
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The only problem is its NOT Obama thats being asked to repudiate the comment. Its Rahm Emmanuel being asked to repudiate his father which is ridiculous of you ask me. Now I think most of us take issue with THIS statement from Scherer justifying why he posted about the comment.
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Rahm’s father gives the clear impression that he is claiming to speak with inside knowledge about Rahm’s intentions in the foreign press.
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Thats a patently ridiculous justification in my opinion and thats why I said so.
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Also after taking a deep breath and getting a different perspective on this I think it might be an even dumber topic.
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The natural inclination is to link Ben Emmanuel’s statement about mopping the floor with the statement about Rahm not being an Arab. But, and I stress that I am just giving an alternate view, what if his statement about Rahm not being an Arab was solely supposed to be tied to his statement about Rahm being pro Israel. As in “why in the hell WOULDN’T Rahm be pro Israel, he isnt an Arab duh”. And the comment about mopping the floors comment was just a stand alone comment meaning Rahm Emmanuel wasnt going to the WhiteHouse to be a stump on a log or a yes man.
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Actually it makes a lot more sense than thinking about it the other way. But we are conditioned now to look for the worst in people.

To illustrate my point further allow me to move a few words around and see if it doesn’t change the perception of what he meant.
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Benjamin Emmanuel:
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“Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab?” he was quoted as saying “He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”

Paul D. Very good point
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Suzie – sometimes it seems that I defend Michael once a post, at least. I think he’s a terrific writer, does a thorough job of researching, and is fairly balanced. He was, after all, assigned to cover the McCain campaign, so he wrote about McCain a lot. For all those reasons, I’m especially annoyed when it seems like he’s gratuitously spreading bad rumors.
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Michael – A post with Paul Dirk’s point would have let you bring this up without seeming to make sure we knew every detail. And yes, I know you made clear Emanuel fils isn’t responsible for emanuel pere (if I’m not mixing my metaphors here).

Michale,

What a cheap shot. When will you wingnuts go away? Enough already. Let’s get on to the real business of real issues in a civil manner.

While Congressman Emmanuel is not responsible for teh commenst made by his father, as an elected official and not as a Chief o fstaff he should distance himself from such ignorant commnets. When Jessi Jackson sr made his famous commnent during the campaign, his son distanced himself from it. What would have been the reaction had this commenst made about another ethnic group?

What’s he going to do, turn Rahm from pro-Israel to super-duper pro-Israel?

I’m continually fascinated by Scherer’s selection of topics. But let’s address what he decided to write about today.

First off, as a Jew steeped in heavy “Exodus” pro-Israel propaganda at my Hebrew school in the 1970s, I take issue with labeling Irgun as “terrorist” organization without any further nuance or context. But I understand that’s a difficult topic.

Second, I completely agree with sgwhiteinfla, and I have no problem with the father’s comments when read fairly, as I believe she does above.

Third, even if his father was a conservative in the Israeli political sense, of which there are more Jews here of that persuasion when it comes to Israeli politics than there are in Israel, does anyone feel MS has made a convincing case for why or how that matters to Rahm’s duties to Obama?

todd
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Ahem… that would be HE not she lol

toddandincharge, Ask yourself, honestlty, had the following comment been made by and Arab whose father is serving as the Chief of Staff for the President of USA ” “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Arab,” he was quoted as saying. “Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, a Jew? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”

What would you have felt and wold you reaction be? Just be honest with yourself..

Lets get two points out of the way:
1: The comment was unambiguously offensive.
2: per the Update, Rahm indeed apologized.
That should be the end of it.

Wouldn’t it save time to be critical of Rahm Emanuel for bring pro-Israel because he’s pro-Israel instead of because his Dad is? It seems like that would be a shortcut.

It is okay if Rahm favors Israel because Obama is a Muslim and pals around with terrorists. Or so I’ve heard. They’ll cancel each other out.

Complete the following sentence (my answer is in parentheses): I am worried that Rahm Emanuel’s Dad will influence him to be (what he is already on public record as having been throughout his 20 year career in politics).

I wonder if this reassures Joe the Plumber or is he still maintaining that a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel? The continuing education of Joe Wurzelbacher.

I see your point easam, and I understand Paul’s view too. I just think you might need to hear it to see if the father meant “what is he, an Arab?” in response to whether the son would be pro-Israel. Then the “mopping floors” reference could be the Dad saying that his son is not some low level noboday in the White House, but will in fact be able to help shape Obama’s policies.

But don’t get me wrong — as quoted it doesn’t come off too good, I agree.

I still feel his Dad’s views should not have to force the son into an apology, right off the bat. If that were the case I would be apologizing to people left and right (sometimes I do anyways).

So we’ve had Obama call Nancy and now this. That’s two more than I recall in the Bush Administration.

Re/ the update-
I’ll give the BHO camp this, they know how to end a stupid sideshow.

Paul Dirks
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I don’t think you can say its unambiguous because the only reports we have of the event is a print report and as I said above if you move around a few of the journalist’s words the comment comes off as pretty innocuous especially if there is no “he was a jewish terrorist” context involved
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There is no way on Earth Rahm could have gotten away with NOT apologizing. But I didn’t see any repudiation which is what was called for by the AAADC
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I am not trying to be contrarian about this but I don’t see how this is some kind of cut and dried case.
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As to easam I would offer this:
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“Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Arab. Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, a Jew?” he was quoted as saying. “He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”

He acted appropriately and this statement is much better than the scripted one from his staff. Let’s move on

In the defense of the AAADC, what if it was:
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“Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-white. Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, a black?” he was quoted as saying. “He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”
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Would one not then expect African-American groups to be upset? Just saying, in the defense of the AAADC.

I don’t think you can say its unambiguous because the only reports we have of the event is a print report

So perhaps we can blame the Jerusalem Post instead of Benjamin. The damage is done in any event.

vicious
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That is not a fair analogy in my opinion, but I understand what you are getting at and I don’t think anybody is attacking the AAADC. Scherer is the whipping boy here, as usual.

Paul Dirks
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We could blame the Jerusalem Post only in terms of them not following up on that quote if they really thought Benjamin Emmanual was smearing Arabs. It shouldn’t have been too hard to ask “Are you saying that Arabs can only mop in the WhiteHouse?” And of course since this story has been out for about a week why hasn’t there been any out reach to Benjamin Emmanuel to get a clarification. Don’t get me wrong I read it the same way you did until a friend of mine pointed out how important the placement of the journalist’s words were. For all I know he DID smear all Arabs with that statement. But I think there is also a legitimate chance that he wasn’t and thats all I am saying. I would think if Ben Emmanuel had a history of smearing Arabs that it would have come up by now though. Especially since his supposed history as a “jewish terrorist” accompanies every story about this incident. It just doesn’t seem to add up to me but then again sometimes in life its not about logic.
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But lets not lose track of the reason that Scherer gave for blogging about it and that was the belief that some how people in the Arab world would take the quote to mean that Rahm is going to have some kind of shady influence on Barack Obama. And THATS what set me off because on its face its patently absurd. Even the AAADC didn’t take exception to the pro israel part of the quote in their letter to Rahm. They strictly referred ot the “mopping” part of the statement. So surprisingly Scherer evidently doesn’t have the pulse of the Arab community after all.

As for all of the shots at MS, this seems to be a relevant post to me. What to make it of beyond the clumsiness and stupidity of Emanuel’s father I am not sure. Maybe we need to bring in the reasonable holy Rev. John Hagy to mediate. I would have been happy to dispense with religious posturing in the new administration, but obviously it has become too ingrained in American culture to even hope for such a thing.

Beating a dead horse
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From politico
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The committee had written Emanuel demanding that he repudiate the remark, which could be read either as a slur against Arabs (it was followed by “He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House”) or simply as a statement of the son’s loyalty to Israel, where his father lives.

Wait a minute, wait a minute…

I thought Obama was a Muslim who was set on destroying Israel.

I am so glad to see so much uproar triggered by the old man’s disparaging comment about Arabs. I have been in the US for over 40 years now. For so many years previous disparaging comments about Palestinians, Arabs, Middle Easterns went unnoticed. Thank you AAADC folks for your alertness.
Our opposition to any disparaging statements made about any ethnic group should be applauded.
This is the tip of the iceberg. In Palestine, to be insulted by Israelis is the least of one’s worries. A struggle for survival is going on. Let’s do what we can to help.

I demand a Special Parse-e-cutor.

Absolutely disgusting – what a shame Dr. Benjamin Emanuel is allowed to spew such hate.

Yes, the irony–the Muslim with the secret mission to destroy Israel is now employing pipe-hitting Zionists against Arabs.

Sad truth? Obama’s mideast policy will be little diff than his two most recent predecessors’ or Palin’s stated policy of “never questioning anything Israel does,” including a strike on Iran someday?

And JESUS Michael, will you lend your extraordinary writing talents to the titles of your posts!?

Here’s one we’d send your way–”Michael Scherer’s intelligent-reader problem”

Not surprising that, when I first saw the blurb for this blogpost on Igoogle, Michael, although it was unsigned there, I knew it had to come from you.

I’m disappointed to see you already elbowing yourself to the head of the “God D*** America!” line, positioning yourself for 2010 or whenever the next Run for Anything Against the Godless Left takes place.

My father dropped bombs on Nazi Germany in WWII. That doesn’t make me a warmonger. I smoked some dope in college. That doesn’t make my kids potheads.

You’re setting a bad example (predictably conservative, but still unsavory) with this weak, sniveling argument, when the poor guy hasn’t been on the job more than a week and you’re already building up the case file against him.

I can see the YouTubes now: “Rahm Emanuel tries on a yarmulke!”

Which makes your update at the bottom all the more rewarding, and thanks at least for printing that after that tasty scoop full of irrelevant innuendo above it. Clearly Rahm Emanuel and every other politician on the blue side of the fence (that Obama will try to tear down) is still very aware of how quickly the attack squad goes into action to return itself to power by issuing that statement and promise to rap with the A-rabs. Smart, smart indeed. They know the political climate all too well: sneeze in the wrong direction, and you’re on some Republican hate list.

It’s only been 10 days since Obama’s election, and already I’ve started to breathe a little deeper and have found myself smiling more. The Dark Ages are passing. Yay!

If he does nothing else for America, I’m counting on Obama delivering from the psyche of the American electorate the notion that good people will be ruthlessly and low-mindedly slimed by fistfuls of whatever can be grabbed from the nearest Republican sludge pond. We’ve just had enough of it, it’s unseemly, what politics has become, and you’re not helping get with the program with this (stale, by the way) “news” item.

This used to be a country where a person got an even break until proven unfit. He/she got a chance at least to demonstrate his character and worth before being libeled, slandered and ridiculed.

I guess you don’t believe in such a country. More’s the pity. Republicanism and conservatism don’t have to forever be synonymous with nasty, nitpicking, naysaying, nattering nabobs of negativism…to expand on a line you may be familiar with.

How about, instead of this tiresome and endless ankle grabbing, promoting the many worthy tenets of conservatism, and leave the grundge to the Jerry Springer crowd, hm? Or is that your crowd? And if so, ever heard this phrase? “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

In a world sagging beneath the weight of uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that we can still count on MS being a tool.

If his father was a member of Hamas and lived in Palestine he would be gone.

The problem with such apologies–political apologies, that is–is that they rarely come from the heart. They are rarely imbued with meaning and substance that suggests we won’t see such rhetoric or behavior again.

When we receive political apologies we must see that there is some weight behind them–which is why Congress’ apology for slavery fell short, too, as it did not come with a demand for reparations.

But while Emanuel’s words are racist and disturbing, what I find more disturbing is his father’s participation in Irgun–a pre-state Jewish militia defined by the British as terrorist at the time–and his own participation in the Israeli army just a few years ago. These actions speak louder than words to me and demand repudiation as well. But more importantly, I think we need to see some evidence that neither these words nor these actions will be sanctioned by the Obama administration.

Marcy, Bravo. I agree completely. The innocent victims of the mess in the Gaza strip is a disgrace to humanity. To have this fool throw gasoline on the flames, and not be repudiated by Obama and his chief of staff will leave me very discouraged.

While I am in a drunken confrontational mood, I ask Friar Tuck to comment on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops vow to fight Obama on abortion issues. Or anybody to comment on it for that matter. I am outraged by it. Please discuss. Please be informed of the incendary statements issued by that conference before engaging.

[...] Emanuel’s Father Problem Posted in November 12th, 2008 by in Uncategorized Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem The incoming White House chief of staff is his own man. But that does not mean that he, or Barack [...]

Curious.
Normally, I wear my evil librul glasses when I read MS’s stuff.

1) Were any Americans harmed in the terrorist attack on the King David Hotel? Has the USA ever questioned Benjamin Emanuel about that attack? A talking point that was repeated often while we went about demonizing Saddam Hussein was that “Saddam killed his own people”. Isn’t that what Benjamin Emanuel’s group did – that they killed their own people?

2) Is one who spreads, or provides comfort and succor to those who spread, terror – OR participates in, or facilitates, actions that kill people – considered a “terrorist” or co-conspirator? If so, should good Americans be curious IF a leading government personality in Obama’s White House is associated with, or is fathered by, or spent his impressionable youth in the company of, a suspected terrorist?

3) In our society, parents are charged with the social responsibility of imparting values/virtues to the youngsters.
What are Rahm’s values?

4) I read recently that Osama bin Laden’s son is experiencing considerable scrutiny and sanctions wherever he goes. Why?
How likely would it be to find the son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg as a Chief of Staff at our White House?

5) Can Rahm assure us that as a gatekeeper at the White House, he will not be (consciously or sub-consciously) partial to the agenda of certain sections of our society? Are monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that he treads the straight and narrow?
So far, what we have heard about him and his character does not re-assure us. And how did Rahm get to ingratiate himself with Obama and insinuate himself into that high position anyway – especially since in temperament and style the two don’t match?

“The comments are spreading online, with significant viral energy.”
Maybe they should. In fact, the very suspicion that Michelle Obama uttered some words (which she did not) lit up the web. And what about the viral energy arising from comments uttered by Obama’s preacher? Aren’t the hate words uttered by a father, a role model, even more damning?
Why should Rahm’s past not be scrutinized – especially when he takes up such an important post at the White House?

We are more hopeful than ever that – riding on the goodwill of the world – Pres-elect Obama can FINALLY broker peace in the Middle East. But not when he palls around with the likes of Benjamin Emanuel’s son – whose neural pathways were set by his parent and role model, at an early age, in seething hatred of the other side.

smi2le Says:
” .. If his father was a member of Hamas and lived in Palestine he would be gone. ..”
There would probably be a din of pious outrage rising up to the high heavens against such an appointment – especially from Jewish Americans like Henry Kissinger – the same group who probably now don’t want us to consider the particulars of Rahm’s associations.

C’mon Michael, call a spade a spade and stop with the parsing BS. Unless you don’t feel that planting a bomb in a hotel and killing over 90 people is terrorism? What’s with the “have been widely categorized as terrorism…”? Last time I checked planting bombs was terrorism and it doesn’t matter if it’s Israelis, Palestinians or Iraqi’s who do it. If you give members of Irgun a pass because they were “Israeli freedom fighters” then you have far less intellectual honesty than I thought.

And for the record, I am in no way anti-Israel, I’m just sick of the double standard applied to Israel in this country. Menachim Begin was a visionary man of peace, a fact all the more striking because he was a ruthless terrorist earlier in his life. Ignoring or covering the sins of the past doesn’t help the present. The past makes the present, for better or worse. In Begin’s case it was for the better, in Emmanuel’s case it seems to be for the worse. I’m glad Rahm has a ton more sense than his father.

[...] being dug into holes.  In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, his father, Benjamin Emanuel kinda put his foot in it for his devoutly Jewish son: Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel.  Why [...]

Enough! Holding one person responsible for tha actions and words of another person is getting old real fast.

Lets get two points out of the way:
1: The comment was unambiguously offensive.
2: per the Update, Rahm indeed apologized.
That should be the end of it.
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Paul Dirks, well said.
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For the people who are saying that maybe it wasn’t an insult to Arabs, I’d suggest you read more about the Igrun. They were not the Weather Underground.
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MS, good, responsible post. This is clearly an international story, and showing how Rahm (and Obama) differ from his father is important.

Is it possible that the interviewer asked two separate questions of Benjamin Emanuel, and the editor sloppily spliced the answers together?

The first question something like: Will your son influence Mr. Obama in favor of Israel? And Dr. Emanuel replying, “Obviously he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab?”

And the second, discrete question perhaps: Will your son really be all that influential? And Dr. Emanuel replying, “He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House.”

Dr. Emanuel, a physician, surely has known many Arab physicians, and knows that Arabs don’t exclusively do menial work. And Rahm Emanuel said that he was not raised with such bias.

However, the Israeli paper Maariv is very biased against the right wing. And Israeli papers, especially Maariv, play faster and looser with facts than do most American papers, more like British media.

Plenty of Jews are areligious, but the actively anti-religious Jew has largely disappeared in the US, having assimilated and dropped out. But anti-religious Jews are many and influential in Israel, and several of the top newspapers subscribe to that ideology.

Maariv was involved in an admitted hoax involving their editor, Amnon Rubinstein, a couple of years ago. They also were the main player in that odd event involving the pilfering of Obama’s note in the Kotel, an event which seemed to me also demonstrably a hoax.

It might be worth something to get the raw transcript of that interview.

Perhaps the answers were cobbled together to save space. Maybe it was even done maliciously.

The Meretz folks may feel righteous in hating someone who was in the Irgun, and have no compunction about trying to torpedo someone who they believe is on the right, even pro-settler, by smearing someone near him. Perhaps a subclinical type of swift-boating.

I wondered if Scherer’s “center-right” wingnuttery would dissolve, once his Maverick Hero was bested. Not wondering, anymore. Seems his job now (as he sees it) is to skewer the Obama Administration with guilt by association (when there’s nothing else at hand). While it’s a pretty dull tear-down tool, it’s all he’s got right now. And it’s sad, more than anything else that he has to resort to such scribblings to fill his anti-Obama quotient for the day.

Dr. Tantillo, who has a marketing and branding blog , did a recent post on president-elect Obama, and how it will be essential (and difficult) for him to preserve the integrity of his brand.

In Tantillo’s post (which was, I think, before these comments from Rham Emanuels’ father were heard), he quotes Emanuel as saying that the president must ‘Do what [he] was elected to do . . . Do what you talked about on the campaign. If you got elected, that’s what people expect. Don’t go off on tangents where part of your party is demanding an ideological litmus test. Neither of those things was part of the campaign.’

I think that Emanuel’s assertion that Obama does not need him to ensure “steadfast and unwavering” “commitment” to Israel reflects a confidence that Obama Will be true to his brand–hopefully this will manifest itself in the U.S.’s perennial support of Israel..but tempered hopefully by more meaningful dialogue and consideration of the Arab side–rather than blindly steadfast and unwavering support to Israeli interests, at the cost of justice for Palestinians as well as Israelis.

Tantillo’s full post

sloane8 Says:
” .. Obama does not need him to ensure “sloane8 Says: ” .. “
A few issues that you are not addressing directly:
1) If Obama has drunk the Israeli Kool-aid and has committed himself to “steadfast and unwavering” “commitment” to Israel” should we then stop beating about the bush and say it loud that the conflict in the Middle East is between Israel/USA Vs Palestinians/Arabs? Why do we waste valuable resources on that protracted “peace process” instead of declaring a total war – with “shock and awe” and surge – on the Palestinians/Arabs?

2) Did we, the over 3 million contributors to that Obama brand, commit ourselves or the USA to a “steadfast and unwavering commitment to Israel”?
Shouldn’t we have a say since such a commitment involves billions of dollars of US tax-payers’ money diverted from the programs the USA citizens and defaulting mortgage payers sorely need?
Did we – of the government by the people, for the people, of the people – have a say in this or is it yet another case of the age-old hijacking of the constitution (towards a more perfect union) by the ruling-elite through denigration of the masses?
Why should the USA taxpayer (be taxed that extra so as to) be paying each citizen of the foreign desert country of Israel more than US$2,000 a year while right here in USA we have
* more than 30 million starving kids in USA –
* and many more homeless veterans on our streets –
* many more American households facing foreclosure -
* and more struggling parents – good Americans – who need a little government assistance to help their kids realize the American dream (just like the parents of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Gov Deval Patrick of Massachusetts were able to do?)

Whose government, and whose POTUS, is it anyway? Does our constitution empower an individual or a group of lobbyists or PACs – be they foreign-born or native-born – to determine (without referendum or amendment) that the bellicose needs and parasitic well-being of ANY foreign belligerent sovereign supersede those of our sovereign USA?
[May it be known that we resisted the foreign British and their "taxation without representation" and we can resist the Israeli too.]

3) Why should the whims and intransigence of Israel dictate what POTUS we can have? At least this time our POTUS-elect cannot pretend that he is beholden to the Israel’s PACs of heavy campaign contributors and lobbyists – or is he?

4) Pres Reagan was known to say: “He who pays the piper calls the tune”. The USA taxpayer (and those virulent sympathizers who mint their money within the business environment fostered by the USA’s might) foot the bill for the Israeli war-mongers and saber-rattlers. Thus, it is only proper that the USA must step up and call the shots with regard to what we want in the Middle East and what Israel will do – and MUST DO.
And all Americans – including the hard-working, very hard-working Appalachians and racists in Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas- must have a say in how billions their tax-dollars are spent each year, how the prestige of our USA is squandered on prosecuting age-old supremacist vendettas and how our precious American young men and women die.

anybody who criticizes a JEW is ANTI-semitic,
REGARDLESS OF HOW CORRECT THE CRITICISM IS!

Secretary of State of Vermont, Deborah Markowitz,
has criticized me world wide,
see the Jewish State of Israeli,
Israeli State Forum CFCA,
the link is on my campaign website,
and it looks like a “hit-man” poster to kill me.

First of all, the Secretary of State of Vermont
is NOT Secretary of State of the United States,
so she has excessively exceeded her authority.

Most importantly, my criticism of “some JEWS” in Vermont
is absolutely 100% correct!

http://crisericson.com

Just curious.
Did Rahm Emmanuel fill in the 63-item questionnaire that those who join the Obama administration must submit?
And if he did, then he passed! Many are dying to know whether he was candid.

Since, it seems, those who join the ranks of the Obama administration must have a squeaky-clean background with no revelation that can be embarrassing, Rahm would have no objection to having his clean questionnaire available to the members of the public.
[Unless the questionnaire is yet another tool to be used conveniently as a ruse to weed out the profiled ones in a pseudo-fair, pseudo-equal-opportunity-employer exercise ..]

[...] via Time/CNN [...]

Rahm Emanuel = Duel Citizenship, and fought for the Israeli Military. Enough said.

[...] Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem [...]

Hey, I’ve got a novel idea: Who cares! But thank you for doing your part for the de-substance’ing of American politics by perpetuating and legitimizing all these idiotic guilt-by-association arguments and the disproportional nit-picking of people’s pasts. I thought the ugliness of the Palin campaign ended weeks ago, but I guess I was wrong. Get over it! Nobody’s perfect!

[...] Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem Rahm Emanuel is his own man, with an identity distinct from his father’s. He is not responsible for the actions [...] [...]

Smi2le made the most accurate comment here:
” .. If his father was a member of Hamas and lived in Palestine he would be gone. ..”

That is a fact. Even if his father had been a member of the PLO it would’ve been the same.

[...] wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House." Swampland – TIME.com � Blog Archive Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem � __________________ The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the public alarmed (and hence [...]

Hmmm…

[...] for his cabinet are catching flack for their connections, or, as in Rahm Emmanuel’s case, from something his father said, In an interview with Ma’ariv, Emanuel’s father, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, said he was [...]

[...] children and even US senators. So Rahm Emanuel, whose own father was a member of the Irgun, a Jewish terrorist organization that bombed the King David Hotel in 1948, wants the executive branch to be the decider on who can and who cannot own a firearm, [...]

[...] last line reminds me of Rahm Emmanuel’s dad, except it’s used sarcastically of course. About time the US and EU started tying Israeli [...]

[...] of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a former civilian volunteer for the Israeli army and the son of a former member of the Zionist terrorist group Irgun, is a self-hating [...]

[...] Re: White House appears ready to drop 'public option' dr emanuel, brother of the ram, is obviously a complete whacko no one really believes he'd ever be able to implement the theories he writes for the textbooks people like obama study at places like harvard cuz the good doctor would never be able to get away with it in america as of now maybe sometime far down the road he could but not today even to try would be POLITICAL suicide and THAT's the point so the appt of the ram's brother is not really indicative of anything REAL to fear but it IS extremely REVEALING about the MIND of obama i mean, WHO would pick doctor malthusian in the first place? for ANYTHING? only the worst politician at the national level america has ever seen that's who unbelievably bad politics dr emanuel do you know about the the ram's father, benjamin? Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem – Swampland – TIME.com [...]

[...] of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a former civilian volunteer for the Israeli army and the son of a former member of the Zionist terrorist group Irgun, is a self-hating [...]

[...] nor there, but rahm emanuel's father benjamin was a member of irgun at the time of the king david Rahm Emanuel’s Father Problem – Swampland – TIME.com rahm's white house happens to have moved pretty far away from his dad's druthers, it appears [...]

Rahm Emanuel is not responsible for his father’s comments, and his apology was unnecessary. But look at how differently his father’s attitudes are treated compared to equally bigoted views from a non-Jew. Suppose Hilary’s father had said “What is she, a Negro?”. She’d lost her job! Society is more tolerant of Jewish ethnocentrism than of its white equivalent. This is discrimination, privilege, whatever you want to call it…