Obama Switftboating?

There has been a fair amount of coverage lately within the political world regarding the spreading of the idea that presidential candidate Barack Obama is, if not outright anti-Semitic, then at least a danger to Jews. (Some have even tagged Obama as being a Muslim or a "half-Muslim." What the hell is a "half-Muslim" anyway?) The basis for these claims is that the daughter -- let me repeat that, the daughter! -- of the pastor of the church that Obama attends in Chicago chose to present an award to Louis Farrakhan. (The daughter is the publisher of a magazine that is linked to the church, but other than the existence of the church itself, there is no known link between the daughter and Obama.) One would think that anyone without a very sharp political ax to grind would see through such a flimsy connection with no trouble, but therein lies the rub. These whispers will hurt Barack Obama within the Jewish communities around the nation, especially in the larger populations of New York and California. These words will take hold with the far right of the American Jewish population, a population that pretty uniformly supports either Clinton or Giuliani due to their staunch pro-Israel positions. What is worse for Obama from a political angle is that some moderate Jews will also believe the allegations or at least keep them in the back of their minds as they form their opinions about the candidates in the days leading up to Super Tuesday. They are now more likely to do so because the allegations, which heretofore had been only whispered, have now been shouted from the highest tower in the form of a Richard Cohen op-ed in the Washington Post. (That it comes from Cohen should pretty much tell you all that you need to know.)

From where did this idea about Obama come? Is he being swiftboated by another presidential candidate? Some may believe that, but M.J. Rosenberg over at TPM Cafe lays out a pretty good argument that the idea comes from the politically far-right of the Jewish community itself. Whether you have previously read the Cohen piece or have heard of this unfolding story elsewhere -- or even if you are learning of it here for the first time now -- I recommend Rosenberg's article for a fresh perspective and a little sanity.

15 January 2008

Update 1: After thinking about it a bit more, I'd like to add a quote from the Rosenberg piece linked above regarding Cohen himself. It tells you something about Cohen, but also has something interesting to say generally about the Obama candidacy as well.

Richard Cohen was once a liberal. He often invokes civil rights activists Mickey Schwerner and Andy Goodman (who were murdered in Mississippi along with their African-American friend, James Chaney in 1964).

Does Cohen not understand that these two Jewish boys died in pursuit of a dream that Barack Obama embodies? Does he think Goodman and Schwerner would want the first viable black candidate for President in our history to be smeared because of something his minister did? Would they want him libeled because he is not a hawk when it comes to West Bank settlements?

The answers are obvious. Cohen should be ashamed. But, rest assured, none of the people involved in the race-baiting of Barack Obama are capable of it.

Update 2: I thought that I'd add a link to another relevant article on this subject. This article references still other articles on the subject.