Democratic cynicism

So the Democratic party powers-that-be, which must include Pres. Obama, decided to remove the "Jerusalem is Israel's capital" line from the Democratic Party platform, as well as any reference to God.   But, there was such a negative reaction from the Jewish and other pro-Israel elements in the Party that there was a so-called floor debate about the issue.  It would take a real expert in crowd volume to distinguish between the yeas and the nays to decide that 2/3 had voted to reinstate the line in the Party platform.  That's what the Party did, but from my perspective and that of many other observers, the majority seemed a lot slimmer than that.  Many Arab-Americans used the opportunity to try to carry thru a decidedly anti-Israel program.  They did not succeed, but any Zionist watching these proceedings must have been struck by the political cynicism of the Democratic Party, reluctantly reinstating a policy that it really didn't believe in.

In the final analysis, Obama may be defeated by Romney over economic and health policy considerations, but this vote will stick in the craw of many American Jews. For the first time an American Party showed conclusively where it really stands on the fundamental issues of the Middle East.  While the rest of the world is prepared to take a pro-Arab position in order to curry favor with the Arab majority, at least we Zionists hoped that the American party political scene would not be split between those that support Israel and those that don't.  However, for all of Obama's rhetoric, and that of the Clintons, it is now clear that the Democratic Party is less than enthusiastic about supporting the gut issues that Israel's existence depends upon.

The vacillation of Obama over the Iranian nuclear program has equally given the Iranian regime the message that the US is no longer a serious threat to its hegemonic intentions.  If you don't believe me ask the Sunni Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar.  You can bet that these States, notwithstanding Obama's more pro-Arab sympathies, will advise their supporters in the US to vote for Romney, because he at least can be depended on to project American power around the world and in the Middle East, as well as take a more conservative line on the US economy.  At this point any American Jew who votes for Obama is essentially jettisoning his or her support for Israel and accepting a less than honest Israel Platform of the Democratic Party. 

Now that Obama has given his usual eloquent performance in his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, many will say, let bygones be bygones.  He still commits the US to support Israel. But the shine is off, the message is no longer new and no longer persuasive.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!