American Jews back Obama on Israel

Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama administration's handling of U.S.-Israel relations?

Via Ben.

GOP candidate compares embryonic stem cell research to "what the Nazis did to the Jews"

By GottaLaff

No. Uh-uh. Don't even go there. Curtis Coleman (R-AR), Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-AR) opponent in the Senate race:

“Embryonic stem cell research is taking the concept of taking a life and using it to conduct experiments so we can temporarily extend somebody else’s life. Let me tell you what I just described. I just described what the Nazis did to the Jews in the death camps of WWII,” says Coleman.

He went there.

This is why people like Blanche Lincoln get Democratic support. We need far better candidates in both parties.

Now check this out:

Curtis vs. Blanche

• Rasmussen Reports, Feb 02
  Curtis 50%

  Blanche 34%
• Mason-Dixon, Jan 22
  Curtis 39%

  Blanche 40%
• Rasmussen Reports, Jan 03
  Curtis 48%

  Blanche 38%
• Rassmussen Reports, Dec 03
  Curtis 44%

  Blanche 40%

U.S. poll shows many Israelis positive on Obama

Alot more fascinating analysis at the link, very complicated and nuanced. (Except for the 39% who think he is Muslim)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has a higher approval rating among Israelis than is widely believed, undercutting arguments he has lost Israeli public support for new peace efforts, a poll said on Thursday.

The poll by the Washington-based New America Foundation found that 41 percent of Israelis had a favorable rating of Obama against 37 percent who rated him unfavorably.

Despite this, 55 percent of Israelis polled said they thought Obama did not support Israel against 42 percent who said he did -- a reflection of the "complexity of views" about the U.S. leader as he presses both Israel and the Palestinians to resume stalled peace talks.

"They genuinely admire and like him ... but at the same time they also want to feel that he is in their corner, and they have concerns over this," pollster Jim Gerstein said in an email message.

Gerstein said that, in contrast to widespread media reports of low Israeli public support for Obama, the poll of 1,000 Israelis showed more support and solid backing for a possible future U.S.-brokered peace deal with the Palestinians.

Poll-itics: U.S. Jews Lead Other Religious Groups in Support of Obama

By GottaLaff

Need some good news? Here's some now!

(click on image to enlarge)

Obama receives broad approval from U.S. blacks and Hispanics, regardless of their religious affiliation; most of the variation in his support by religion is seen among non-Hispanic whites. Thus, it is instructive to look at the views of Obama by religion among the non-Hispanic white population.

"Importantly, the decline in approval of Obama among Jews since January is no greater than that seen among the general public."

On this basis, Obama's strength with U.S. Jews relative to other religious groups is even greater. Two-thirds of white Jews (66%) approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 44% of whites nationwide, 45% of white Catholics, and 37% of white Protestants. (The "Protestant" category includes both those who identify themselves as Protestants, and those who identify themselves as Christians but not Catholics.)

Mazel tov!

Video- President Obama: Warm Wishes for Rosh Hashanah

Senate without Jewish GOPer for first time since '57

That's pretty much the (almost*) last nail in the Republican Southern White Christian Paradigm. h/t Ben.

Former Senator Norm Coleman’s concession in the Minnesota Senate race ensures that for the first time in over fifty years there will be no Jewish Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

The continuous line of Jewish Republican Senators dates back to 1957. They included Arlen Specter (D-PA), who has since left the Republican Party, Rudolph Boschwitz (R-MN, 1978-1991) and Jacob Javits (R-NY, 1957-1981).

*There's always Cantor in the House.

Orthodox Jews launch Koogle, the kosher way to surf the net

Okay, not sure if this is a joke, but the site really is there. Obviously I don't know Hebrew, so I can't do a search and see if it really works.

Religiously devout Jews barred by rabbis from surfing the Internet may now 'Koogle' it on a new 'kosher' search engine, the site manager said yesterday.

Yossi Altman said Koogle, a play on the names of a Jewish noodle pudding and the ubiquitous Google, appears to meet the standards of Orthodox rabbis, who restrict use of the web to ensure followers avoid viewing sexually explicit material.

The site, at www.koogle.co.il, omits religiously objectionable material, such as most photographs of women which Orthodox rabbis view as immodest, Altman said.

(snip)

Nothing can be posted on the Jewish Sabbath, when religious law bans all types of work and business, Altman said.

'If you try to buy something on the Sabbath, it gets stuck and won't let you,' he said.

Video- Michael Savage: Obama "attacking Israel, attacking Jews and breeding a climate of hate against Jews"

This crap kills me but it's so typical of the way pretty much anyone can project their ideas on Obama since he's so damn centrist. Wright thinks the Zionists own the President and Savage thinks Obama wants to destroy them. Oy.

Newsmax.com - "Obama Breeds Climate of Hate Against Jews," linking Obama to Holocaust Museum shooting

Media Matters explains it, click to enlarge.

Muslims, Jews, and Catholics Are Obama's Biggest Fans

Wow, he even does pretty good with the Mormons.

• 85: Percentage of Muslims who approve of the job Obama's doing as president
• 7: Percentage of Muslims who disapprove
• 79: Percentage of Jews who approve
• 16: Percentage of Jews who disapprove
• 67: Percentage of Catholics who approve
• 22: Percentage of Catholics who disapprove
• 58: Percentage of Protestants who approve
• 30: Percentage of Protestants who disapprove
• 45: Percentage of Mormons who approve
• 40: Percentage of Mormons who disapprove

Headline of the Day

Retired barber promotes Christian salt instead of kosher salt
Oy,oy.

Obama team meets with broad spectrum of Jewish groups

By GottaLaff

An early Hanukkah present:

Senior Obama aides met with the leaders of an unusually broad spectrum of 29 Jewish groups today at transition headquarters.

Transition aides listened more than they spoke during a meeting that lasted almost two hours, and they heard a lot about Iran, but also about the question of boycotting a second Durban conference on racism next year.

Most interesting than the substance, perhaps, was who was there: Hawkish leaders who had been critical of Obama, like the Zionist Organization of America's Mort Klein, were invited, as were the leaders of conservative groups like the Orthodox Union and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs; Aipac was also represented.

But leaders of a series of liberal, peace-oriented groups were in attendance: Peace Now, J Street, the Israel Policy Forum, and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom.

Now let's play Compare and Contrast:

"I’ve been to a lot of Jewish meetings that the Bush administration has done, and Peace Now, IPF, J Street, and Brit Tzedek were never at those meetings," said one attendee.

Those attending included Jim Messina, Michael Strautmanis, Tonya Robinson, Eric Lynn, Dan Shapiro and Tom Perez.

"President-elect Obama's transition team shrewdly invited just about every national Jewish organization to participate in a wide-ranging round-table discussion that touched on just about every issue of concern to the Jewish community," said William Daroff, the vice president for public policy at the United Jewish Communities. "Left-leaning groups, Right-leaning groups, and all of us in between were included in the meeting — in a truly unprecedented effort to ensure representation by the vast spectrum of American Jewish opinion.

Mazltov, Team Obama. You're not even in office yet, and you've shown up BushCo on a daily basis. A mekhaye!

George Tenet, Drunk in Bandar's Pool, Screaming about Jews

By GottaLaff

Ambinder asks, "what was former CIA director George Tenet doing, drunk, in Prince Bandar's pool, screaming about the Jews? Allegedly."

We can't let that little nugget just lie there, now can we? Let's see what the original post says:

I just picked up Patrick Tyler's forthcoming book, A World of Trouble, about America's tortured relations with the Middle East, and the prologue contains this whopper of a scene, one that is quite devastating, if true: An enraged George Tenet, drunk on scotch, flailing about Prince Bandar's Riyadh pool, screaming about the Bush Administration officials who were just then trying to pin the Iraq WMD fiasco on him:

A servant appeared with a bottle. Tenet knocked back some of the scotch. Then some more. They watched with concern. He drained half the bottle in a few minutes.

"They're setting me up. The bastards are setting me up," Tenet said, but "I am not going to take the hit."

And then this:

"According to one witness, he mocked the neoconservatives in the Bush administration and their alignment with the right wing of Israel's political establishment, referring to them with exaxperation as, "the Jews."

Tyler reports in a footnote that, when asked, Tenet initially denied staying at Prince Bandar's palace, then denied that he had said anything in the pool. "He disputed the remarks attributed to him and denied that his memory might have been affected by the amount of alcohol he was reported to have consumed on top of a sleeping pill," Tyler reports.

Gee, I can't imagine why his reputation is in tatters. Allegedly.

Obama Far More Popular Among Jews Than Lieberman

By Paddy


Hahahaha snort guffaw. No really, this is a super way to start the day.

If Barack Obama has a problem among Jewish voters, then Sen. Joseph Lieberman is in monumental trouble.

Among the most high-profile Jews in Congress, Lieberman is viewed far more unfavorably than the presumptive Democratic nominee, according to a new poll. Only 37 percent of Jews view the Connecticut Independent in a favorable light compared to 48 percent who have a negative perception. As for Obama, 60 percent of Jews view him favorably while 34 percent view him unfavorably.

The findings were released as part of a recent survey of American Jews by the new progressive pro-Israel group J Street. They seem to upturn some of this year's conventional political wisdom.

Obama, who is set to travel to Israel this week, is often described in the press as facing significant obstacles to winning Jewish support, in part because of false claims that he is a Muslim. Lieberman, meanwhile, is regularly quoted disparaging Obama's credentials on topics considered dear to the Jewish voter's heart: toughness on Iran and support for the Jewish state. Asked recently whether he should be questioning Obama's commitment to Israel, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee responded, "why wouldn't I do that?"

(snip)

For Lieberman, however, the findings present another piece of dreary news in a month filled with controversy. In early July, Quinnipiac University found that the Connecticut Senator's approval rating among his constituents had dropped to 45 percent, with 43 percent expressing disapproval. One week later, the Senator watched as a petition, signed by 43,000 individuals, was sent to members of the Senate's steering committee urging them to boot him from the party.

Lieberman-Hagee: Caught on tape‏

By Paddy

Ugh, we're expecting huge thunderstorms and it's gotten my head all messed up- so you get an easy one. Take the time to sign this petition please? From J Street, a progressive Jewish organization-

Sen. Joe Lieberman called extremist Pastor John Hagee a "man of god." This is the same Pastor that said God sent Hitler to force Jews to move to Israel!

Go here to take action and tell Sen. Lieberman not to go to Hagee's group's conference:

John McCain's Jewish Problem

GWB lurks around the edges trying to stir up trouble between Obama and the Jewish community while McSame's bff Hagee says this stuff out in the open. Which one gets all the media exposure?

Via Talk 2 Action.