The Presidential family invited high profile members of America’s Jewish community for a Hanukkah reception at the White House next month.  There’s only one small problem…..  the invites are for the Christmas reception:

It’s pretty clear the Prez isn’t giving much thought to things these last few months (or for most of his term, actually).  I didn’t think there were many more “Bushism’s” left in the guy.  I was wrong.

Laura Bush’s spokeswoman said:

“…the White House usually prints separate cards, but in the waning days of the presidency, there had been an oversight. ‘Mrs. Bush is apologetic,’ she said. ‘It is something that just slipped through the cracks.‘

[source: NYPost via Gwaker]

I’ve officially received the “Vote McCain because Obama will cause a second Holocaust e-mail”. Here’s a full copy of it for us to laugh, dissect, and generally scoff at:

Lori Kalner is a holocaust survivor whose true story is told in Bodie Thoene¢s Zion Covenant book series. If you think this election doesn’t matter, read this and then think again.

Last night, I found that the original YouTube of the children singing for Obama has been made private, but I found it online, and I have downloaded it.

HYMN TO HITLER

Posted by: Lori Kalner on Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Hymn to Hitler

by

Lori Kalner

In Germany, when Hitler came to power, it was a time of terrible financial depression. Money was worth nothing. In Germany people lost homes and jobs, just like in the American Depression in the 1930s, which we have read about in Thoene’s Shiloh books.
Read the full story

Is the push for Florida paying off for Obama?

A new poll commissioned by researchers at New York University reveals that American Jews favor Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama over his Republic rival, John McCain, by a 67 – 33 percent margin.

The survey, which sampled the opinions of over 3,000 respondents – half of them being Jewish – also found that Jews as an ethnic group will support Obama by almost 30 percent more than other white, non-Hispanic voters.

[haaretz]

American Jew vs. American Jew: Can we get any more polarizing than this?

[video above] Sarah Silverman tries to convince American Jews to vote for Obama.
My Reaction: smirk. She said ‘douche nozzle’.

[video above] Jackie Mason tries to convince American Jews that Sarah Silverman is an idiot.
My Reaction: Someone take the vodka away from Grandpa Mason, please.

I can’t speak for all Jewish voters but I can say that as a whole they’re very important in this presidential election.  Incredibly important.

This may be the one thing that both Presidential campaigns agree on.  The Jewish vote encompasses not only religion but international policy….. Middle Eastern policy, mind you.

And when it comes to their policy on Israel, Obama and McCain are virtually identical.  Israel can rest easy knowing she’ll be well taken care of with either candidate elected to the White House.

But there’s gotta be a tipping point for Jewish voters and for Israeli support of the candidates.

I think I found it:

Yes, that’s a little Israeli flag in the window of Governor (now VP candidate) Palin’s office in Alaska.

It doesn’t seem very significant to me, but here’s what Jonathan Tobin from the Jerusalem Post has to say about it:

Palin does not have a long history of stands on Jewish issues. Why should she? Neither the town of Wasilla, Alaska, nor the 49th state where she has served as governor for the last two years have large Jewish populations or much of a foreign policy.

But Gov. Palin does have a little Israeli flag in her office. Or at least did last winter.

I know that because in an e-mail forwarded around the world, Jewish Republicans were quick to point to the flag as a sign of her interest in the Jewish state.

Before the flag, she had absolutely no sway on the Jewish vote. And after the Israeli flag was noticed?

It isn’t much, but in politics you go with what you’ve got.

PALIN IS obviously a sharp and articulate woman with a thin political résumé that has been offset by a winning style and a record as a reformer that skyrocketed her into a spot on a national ticket. But her introduction to the big leagues has illustrated two points – one Jewish and one general – about our current political culture these days.

Every candidate needs a Jewish connection these days, I suppose.  Just like VP candidate Biden and Michelle Obama.  Hang onto that flag, Sarah.  I think you’ll need it.

Oh, the religious webs we weave….

Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago’s South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye’s mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama’s paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.

Funnye (pronounced fuh-NAY) is chief rabbi at the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in southwest Chicago. He is well-known in Jewish circles for acting as a bridge between mainstream Jewry and the much smaller, and largely separate, world of black Jewish congregations, sometimes known as black Hebrews or Israelites.

I think it’s a long stretch for Jewish voters to feel a kinship with Obama simply because his wife has a first cousin (once removed) who just so happens to be a chief rabbi.

Strangely enough, this information was never hidden nor ever announced to the media.  It just simply… existed.

Sort of like VP candidate Joe Biden calling himself a zionist because his son married a Jewish woman.

The newly anointed Democratic VP hopeful Joe Biden conducted an interview in 2007 with “Shalom TV”, a mainstream Jewish cable television network:

During the interview conducted by the Jewish ‘Shalom TV’ Biden said, “I am a Zionist. You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist.” He also revealed that his son is married to a Jewish woman, of the Berger family from Delaware, and that he had participated in a Passover Seder at their house.

Biden presented himself as a friend to Israel, which he referred to as the US’ greatest Middle East ally.

“Imagine our circumstance in the world were there no Israel. How many battleships would there be? How many troops would be stationed?” he asked.

He also called comments about Israel’s connection to the war in Iraq “insulting”, explaining that “if tomorrow, peace broke out between Israelis and Palestinians, does anybody think there wouldn’t be a full-blown war in Iraq?”

Obama’s choice in a veep is more calculating than I suspected. Does this mean they actually have a chance with the Jewish vote?

Don’t count on it:

In any case, with Obama a risk on Israel and untested in matters of national security and foreign policy, and with the Republicans offering John McCain, a long time strong supporter of the US-Israel relationship and a man, whose entire career provides a definition of the words “tested” and “experienced”, it is no wonder that those Jews who choose this year to finally vote Republican will have a lot more company than they might have in the past.