Right of Reply: Republican propagandists go off the deep end

Instead of dealing with the real issues outlined above, they made emotionally charged and totally false accusations that the Democrats have aligned their interests with the despised Ahmadinejad.

By SHELDON SCHORER
anti Iran rally 224.88 ap (photo credit: )
anti Iran rally 224.88 ap
(photo credit: )
A JPost.com exclusive blog In their blogs, the writers from Republicans Abroad occasionally sunk into the slime of lies and innuendos. It is not arguable that these excursions into fantasy may derive from excessive enthusiasm, rather than outright malice. In their article concerning the disinvitation of Sarah Palin to the anti-Iran rally held last week, however, they have gone too far. Their criticisms leave rationality behind as they plunged headlong into the bile of pure propaganda. The Republican propagandists were upset that the organizers of the anti-Iran rally held last week in New York decided to disinvite the Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They would have preferred for her to have made a speech at the rally. The disinvitation by the organizers of the rally to Gov. Palin (and not by the Democratic Party) came after Senator Hillary Clinton declined to appear on the platform with Gov. Palin. Sen. Clinton, who had earlier accepted an invitation, had hoped that the Republicans would send a Republican Senator to the rally to offer bi-partisan support for the rally. When the McCain campaign declined to send a senator and sent Gov. Palin instead, Sen. Clinton declined to attend and the organizers disinvited Gov. Palin. There are legitimate questions and issues involved here. Was Sen. Clinton right in declining to appear with Gov. Palin? Were the Republicans correct in refusing to send a Senator, but rather to send Gov. Palin, who is running for high office? These issues, however, were not the focus of the article submitted by the Republican propagandists. Instead of dealing with the real issues outlined above, the writers made emotionally charged and totally false accusations that the Democrats have aligned their interests with the despised Ahmadinejad and have given him "a huge gift by sabotaging a major bipartisan anti-Iran rally." Not one word of these statements, found at the opening of their outrageous article, is true. The Democrats are the fiercest opponents of the Iranian regime headed by Ahmadinejad, and have no interests in common with him. Moreover, it can be reasonably argued that the Republicans spoiled the bipartisanship of the rally by refusing to send a Senator and by trying to use this rally as a stage for advancing Gov. Palin's candidacy. It is also an example of extreme arrogance and self-absorption to believe that the disinvitation by the organizers of the rally to Gov. Palin was somehow a "huge gift" to the Iranian leader, bringing him any comfort or joy, or somehow sabotaged what proved to be a well-attended and, by all accounts, a successful rally. Senator Clinton, who is not a candidate for President or Vice-President, chose not to appear on a platform with Gov. Palin, who was invited only after Sen. Clinton had accepted an invitation. The appearance by Sarah Palin changes the dynamics of the event and is an appropriate reason for Sen. Clinton to reconsider her acceptance. Had the organizers advised Sen. Clinton that Gov. Palin was to be invited before Senator Clinton accepted the invitation, then surely this whole flap, a tempest in a teapot, would have been avoided. To blow this incident up into some evidence that the Democrats somehow wished to benefit Ahmadinejad is an outrageous lie, pure propaganda, totally false, utterly reprehensible, and totally irresponsible. This is particularly galling as it regards the issue of Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons, an issue which the Democrats stand four square with Israel against Iran. Here are a couple of quotes: "The Iranian regime supports violent extremists and challenges us across the region. It pursues a nuclear capability that could spark a dangerous arms race and raise the prospect of a transfer of nuclear know-how to terrorists. Its president denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe Israel off the map. The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat." - Sen. Barack Obama, Speech to AIPAC Policy Conference, 6/04/08 "I was absolutely clear about the fact that if Iran used nuclear weapons on Israel, or any of our allies, we would respond forcefully and swiftly. But, in some ways, this hypothetical presupposes a failure to begin with. We shouldn't allow Iran to have nuclear weapons, period. I have consistently said that I will do everything in my power to prevent them from having it and I have not ruled out military force as an option." - Sen. Barack Obama, ABC news interview, 4/22/08 Senator Obama authored and sponsored the "Iran Sanctions Enabling Act" [S.1430], a bill that makes it easier for state and local governments to divest their pension funds from Iran's energy sector. Senator Obama's bill has been called one of the most important pieces of legislation in the fight to stop Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon. In the Jerusalem Post of September 21, it was reported: "The truth is, John McCain had a real opportunity to stand up for Israel's security yesterday, but he refused to stand up to his allies in Congress who blocked Barack Obama's bipartisan divestment bill that would have increased pressure on Iran," the (Obama) campaign said in a statement put out later in the day. "So while Senator McCain uses the 'Stop Iran' rally to issue dishonest political attacks, he has refused to join with Barack Obama in supporting the kind of sanctions that could actually stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon." It says a great deal about Senator Obama, whose chose Senator Biden, a respected leader with 35 years experience in the Senate and who, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has great knowledge and ability in the field of foreign affairs. As a friend of Israel who has worked closely with every Israeli leader since Golda Meir, he reflects well on the type of person Senator Obama wishes to have at his side. It also reflects badly on Senator McCain to have chosen as his Vice-Presidential nominee a person with no experience at all in foreign affairs. At no time in her public life before receiving the nomination, did she even utter the word Israel or Jewish. She does not have a weak record on the problem of Israel and the Middle East - she has no record whatsoever. It is understandable why Sarah Palin would want to use the anti-Iran Rally as a platform for bolstering her weak credentials in the area of Middle Eastern politics. It is also understandable why Sen. Clinton was disinclined to allow the rally to advance Gov. Palin's candidacy, by turning the focus from Iran to Gov. Palin and by using the rally to advance her own partisan political ambitions. Whether you agree or disagree with the decision of Sen. Clinton to withdraw and the organizers to disinvite Gov Palin, there is no basis to allege that the Democrats have interests aligned with the Iranian leader. This is an indecent charge that puts the writers beyond the Pale, and for which the writers should be utterly ashamed. The writer is Counsel to Democrats Abroad Israel