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America has been expressing itself of late with a unique outpouring of emphatic and emotional communication that many of us perhaps had no idea was possible. The groundswell of opposition to what the Obama administration apparently has in store for the future of health care in our country has outraged much of the citizenry.
I believe that President Obama has misjudged the feelings and intelligence level of much of the American people. Granted that many of those featured on the news were not the most articulate or erudite of spokespeople, but it was that superficial ineptitude that made them appear so real, authentic, and sincere.
Frankly, I really do not know how much interest there is among our readership in the subject and details of national health care. Certainly there is great concern—in particular around here—about this notion that if you earn $250,000 a year or more, you’re in a combination of some kind of exposed and vulnerable state that equates you with a high-income-earning bad guy who has to pay up—or pay down as the case may be—in order to even things out and share some of your hard-earned income with the less fortunate (or less hard-working) folks out there.
I have been enamored these last few weeks with the way the idea of Town Hall meetings seemed to have picked up a life and momentum of its own across the country. Our Congress is on recess, with our representatives visiting their home communities and the people they are serving in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Obama administration has adopted a policy of attempting to change some of the fundamentals of our country at breakneck speed and before people have an opportunity to realize what is happening to us, them, and the country itself. It’s not that so much change is needed so quickly. Rather, it is the specific strategy to follow through with plans at maximum speed because they are potentially so unpopular.
This approach is not only being applied to health care or the economy. The political version of a fast break approach—or “run and gun,” as it is called on the basketball court—is being applied to Israel and the Middle East as well. Thankfully, the strategy is failing. We should be pleased that it’s not working, because it’s not a fair, proper, or workable formula for future peace in the region.
Just like Town Hall meetings have put the brakes on a radical “now you see it, now you don’t” application to health care, I believe it is possible to do the same thing in attempting to get Barack Obama and his advisers to retool their approach to Israel and the Middle East. To that end I have spoken privately with some political activists in our far-reaching community and am calling out to our elected representatives in Congress to convene a Town Hall meeting in our area to discuss the Obama approach and the role of Congress in future policy toward Israel.
I’d like to reach out to our senators—Charles Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand—and to our elected officials in Congress. That includes Carolyn McCarthy, Peter King, Anthony Weiner, Gregory Meeks, Steve Israel, and others. While they may not read this direct appeal, by virtue of the fact that their names appear in this essay their offices will most likely see this article via the Google Alerts service.
The people of the U.S. have spoken on health care. Why can we not be just as expressive and articulate on the administration’s tilted and hypocritical approach to Israel? Let us work to convene these meetings. Let’s turn out and fill the venues to capacity and speak out in a civil and reasonable way and try to understand why we as a community are being complicit in Israel’s isolation and her being turned into the one entity in the region that has traditionally been labeled the “obstacle to peace.”
The structure of the United States’ system of government is such that the President cannot get much done without the consent or agreement of the Congress. Our elected officials are directly answerable to the people who placed them in office—that would be all of us—the people who go to the polls and vote. That would explain why the Obama administration hit the ground running immediately after the inauguration. In terms of the dynamics of the electoral process, once Labor Day passes and this off-year election comes and goes, those who want to be reelected to the House of Representatives are going to have to begin their election campaigns. Those elections do not take place in a vacuum. There will be opposition both from within the political parties the candidates belong to as well as from opposing parties. President Obama will very much want to retain his party’s large majority in Congress, and that will mean closely monitoring all the races across the nation.
That means less time to ram philosophical economic and health policies along with inevitable tax increases that the people just don’t want or agree to. A profile on Obama’s Chief Of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, in last week’s New York Times said that the hurry-up-and-get-it-all-done-at-once strategy is the brainchild of Mr. Emanuel. They ran their way through the economic bailouts and through the stimulus program. Now it seems that it may all be coming to a screeching halt over health care.
Interestingly, had Mr. Obama gotten his quick way with health care, he would have picked up even greater speed and gusto in his approach to Israel and the need for peace between Israel and her neighbors. Prior to the health care issue bursting into the forefront and taking all of Mr. Obama’s time, he attempted to quickly slam Israel to the mat with a demand on freezing settlements and succumbing to all Arab demands for withdrawal.
I’m afraid that once health care fades from the President’s immediate agenda, he’s going to need a success—which, as in the administrations that preceded this one, means leaning on Israel. How can we possibly fault Mr. Obama for believing that the Jewish community supports his vision of a shrunken State of Israel if 78% of American Jews voted for him just six months ago?
That’s why we need a Town Hall meeting here in the Five Towns, in Queens, and in Brooklyn with our elected leaders in Washington. When Mr. Obama wants to meet with Jewish leaders he selects those who represent organizations that share his view on Israel and the Middle East.
It’s time for the president and our other officials to hear us out and listen to what we have to say about the right of Jews to live anywhere in Israel that they please. Why is it so nonchalantly accepted that there can be one standard for Jews and another for Arabs? Why is the administration so bent on demanding that Israel destroy what they consider illegal housing in Jerusalem while they stand up to defend the right of Arabs to build illegally in the city? Has the administration pre-judged or drawn a conclusion on the matter of the future of the city, which they have insisted has to come about as a result of negotiations between the parties?
And why isn’t the U.S. Embassy located in Jerusalem after it was enacted into U.S. law so long ago? How can the U.S. support additional Israeli withdrawals from territory that borders so much contentious territory? Didn’t they see what happened after Israel unilaterally evacuated Lebanon and Gaza? The only dividend was violence. Is this sound policy for Israel that the U.S. supports?
I think we need some Town Hall meetings so that our elected officials can hear us loud and clear in the context of our feelings about the evolving U.S. policy to Israel as well as from the perspective of election days that loom ahead in the near future.
Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com. ♦
1 - Posted on 8/20/2009 11:45:54 AM
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My article as follows was not printed in this week's Five Towns Jewish Times due to "unspecified reasons" Yet, mysteriously, such OP ED directly on point suddenly appeared in its place:
HERE IT COMES – THE FIVE TOWN(S) HALL MEETING!
By: The Legendary Danny O'Doul
There is an exciting rumor in the Five Towns that Nassau County Democrat Jeff Toback will be holding one of those bare-knuckle, fight-to-the-death, ultimate fight club cage matches we affectionately call “Town Hall Meetings.” I am sure most old timers in these towns remember the Toback/Katz slugfest of a few years ago where the upstart Republican blamed Mr. Toback for everything but global warming and suggested that he missed crucial assembly votes for reasons less important than “disco bowling” at Woodmere Lanes. As Mr. Toback handily won that celebrity death match of an election, it should come as no surprise to the politically savvy afficianado of local government that Mr. T will hold such an evening of group therapy, class warfare and professional frustration venting. I hear that the Republican Party is sending in malcontents from Michigan – ex-autoworkers to appear in Chasidic garb and chanting slogans like “You call THIS a health plan”?; “Bailout – Shmailout” and “How about Cash for Kneidles?” Even the local doctors will attend, bearing their golf irons and shouting – “We won't play putt-putt or nine-hole,Obama. - GIVE US BACK OUR BACK NINE”! In fact, even the closely crazy cabal of machers currently developing KALMAN'S OF KOREA, the exciting “coming-soon” authentic Korean barbecue joint on the Avenue of Kimchi and Kias, will be there protesting our laisez faire attitude toward the North Korean mini-me, Kim Jong-Il and his lovely array of mid-range nuclear missiles. So, expect a lively farbrengin when Mr. Toback brings his show into town, probably before the end of August. The smart money and the dumb vox populli will both definitely be there!
With all the discontent and frustration in the nation today, I was very pleased to see my dear French friend, Joel Baruch, “Le Proprietor” of “Cravingz,” the latest and greatest “Boulangerie” (French Bakery) on the Avenue of Pierre Cardin and Peugot, enjoying a “Grand Opening,” successful beyond the combined French imaginations of Jean Jacques Rousseau and Jacques Cousteau. To see the local afficianados of bagels and baguettes was heartwarming and satisfying and I was very proud of and happy for Mes Ami, Le Grand Chat Du Cuisine Milchiques – M. Joel Baruch. Might I recommend that Mr. Toback stop in for a nice three-foot baguette before the Town Hall Meeting - for added protection, if the proceedings become lengthy and he gets hungry for a nosh. After all, the potentially tumultous crowd is a more fierce opponent than was Mr. Katz, The Republican.
And, speaking of Republicans – does anybody remember what those were? I am seriously fearing that the Party of Lincoln has shot itself in the foot and is now running into the night like John Wilkes Booth.
I personally can envision a 2012 Presidential Election which features a new third party –let's call them the Freedom Party - which will present a combo of Ron Paul and Sarah Palin, as a kind of Boris and Natasha “dream ticket,” and, if this happens, watch out – dust off the passport – and run, don't walk – to your nearest El-Al terminal for the next flight to Tel Aviv. If you think the gun-toting misanthropes hanging around outside these Town Hall meetings are scary, imagine a whole national political machine made up of them. In fact, it won't be a “Tea Party” anymore, it will be one giant Budweiser Beerfest – or, more likely, an Octoberfest with everyone wearing lederhosen, suspenders and green alpine hats. The sounds of Otto and his Octoberfest Surprise Polka Orchestra will rile up this gang of hooligans while St. Pauli Girl Beer maidens serve up brewskis on tap from a huge bottomless boubon barrel. All the while, the crowd chows done on Sauerbratten, wienershnitzel and funnel cake. A nauseating putrid vision straight out of Cabaret, sifted through the toxic lens of Walt Disney. Maybe, it's time you finally sent it that donation to the Republican National Committee.
However, before you put your check in the mail, why don't we plan a huge community-wide
fund raising event for the Republicans to be held at Cedarhurst Park. Afterall, Mayor Parise is a long-time Republican supporter and the new gazebo and flora-adorned gardens make the park grounds the perfect place to stage such a major event. We can invite the esteemed John McCain, former Governor - Jeb Bush, Mormon Superstar – Mitt Romney and local Republican favorite Rep. Peter King.
I , The Legendary Danny O'Doul, will, of course, sing the National Anthem and LIPA (the “Powerful Authority on Long Island on Jewish Music) will sing the Hatikvah. The Neshomah Orchestra will provide musical accompaniment for your dancing pleasure. Tickets will be free, however, patrons and sponsors will be entitled to exclusive “Gold Seating” to join such local luminaries as Mayor Parise, Trustee Ben Weinstock and Trustee Ari Brown. Also to attend, will be conservative radio stars:
Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage. Fox News' debutants, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Martha
MacCallum and Gretchen Carlson will grace the Gold Seating section and add a little glamor to the proceedings. Consider this upcoming Republican “Mega-Event” to be the “Simchat Beit HaShoeva
of the conservative contigent of the Five Towns.
I can now just picture the Goodyear Blimp hovering over the Cedarhurst Town Hall looking down on the tens of thousands in attendance sending back newsfeeds to a global satellite system of crisp images of men in their Emporio finery and women in their Jildor's glitter, while “Cedarhurst's Finest” distributes lovely souvernirs of this fine day on many of the car windshields along Cedarhurst Avenue. And this time , everyone will come eat at the area's fine eateries, not like when that frugal billionaire Jerry Seinfeld showed up and brought his own box lunch.
This may just be the giant spectacle that will resurrect the Five Towns and put them back on the map as a stylish, exclusive and vital part of the Long Island experience by the glitterati who declared
“The Hamptons” to be the reigning hotspot for successful A-Listers. Perhaps, this will be bring back the Ralph Lauren's, Isaac Mizrachi's and Barry Diller's to rediscover the privacy and excitement of Back Lawrence, Woodsburgh and Hewlett Bay Park. If you think there are hot cars on The Avenue now, just imagine when Ralph Lauren drives his 1938 Talbot-Lago T-150 CSS to Toddy's for Sunday brunch! Oh, and the models that they will attract – Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Mila Jovovich -
what a wonderful sight. Even the local ladies will want a new fall or sheitl to outshine the visiting
superstars. Maybe, we will even get a few more wig stores to accommodate the heavy demand.
So, first we start with Jeff Toback's “Bring Your Antics Roadshow” and then we end up with the Republican version of “Woodstock 2009”. What a fitting send-off to a summer that saw record job losses and the smashing of all previous attendance records for the sprinklers at North Woodmere Park.
We still know how to get our kicks – but, we're all still wearing last year's watershoes. If the recession is, indeed, waning – then how come there is such an icredibly lengthy wait to tee off at North Woodmere Park's public nine-hole golf course? In fact, its an even-money bet that Moshiach will be in driving cart directly in front of you. I would venture a guess that Tiger Woods can finish the back nine at Shinnecock during the time you are waiting in line too tee-off on the first hole at North Woodmere. Well, all I can say is the Mini-Golf at the Rockaway Boulevard Batting Cage is an affordable, challenging and pretty enjoyable alternative to “cart sitting” at North Woodmere, and
safer than sneaking on to the Lawrence Country Club's course at 2 AM to play a few holes.
This is The Legendary Danny O'Doul signing off and wishing you a Great Good Shabbos. May you rest up this Sabbath for your weekly Sunday 7:30 AM golf game and be as successful as me, The Legendary Danny O'Doul - who drives like Arnold Palmer, wears a snappy hat like Chi Chi Rodgriquez and is as colorful and fat as John Daly. Also, I know how to smoke a cigar while teeing- off and can actually walk the course without ever removing it from my mouth. Let's see Tiger Woods try that!
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by The Legendary Danny O'Doul |
Wemphis, New York |
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2 - Posted on 8/21/2009 10:05:56 AM
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Nicely said. Hopefully your piece will spur an open forum with our representatives. I am tired of writing letters and being put off by recent college graduates who do not know the issues as well as I do.
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by Anonymous |
Rockville Centre |
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