When Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank finally unburdens the Congress of his belligerent presence after his current term, he will leave two primary legacies. The first is his role in the housing crisis and subsequent deep recession by protecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from much-needed reforms, and the second is his decision to take the nastiness found in the far corners of the liberal blogosphere and mainstream it, introducing it into the regular give-and-take of the Congress. Those seeking comity and civility in American public life had few greater obstacles than Frank during his time in the House.
But Frank has a chance at a third legacy: there is a possibility that his district, deep blue but perhaps tired of Democratic governance in the age of Obama (as when his state voted for Scott Brown), may give a Republican a serious look to succeed Frank. That Republican is the Georgetown and Harvard-educated Marine reservist Sean Bielat, who ran against Frank last time and gave him a bit of a scare. (When Bielat met Frank for the first time during the election, he told him it was a pleasure to meet his congressman. Frank’s response: “I wish I could say the same.”) But with the renewed controversy over the broad Democratic Party opposition to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a statement made by Joseph P. Kennedy III, Bielat’s Democratic opponent for the seat, may garner some increased scrutiny.
In a primary debate earlier this summer, the Democratic candidates were asked about Mitt Romney’s comments in Jerusalem about the city’s status as Israel’s capital. Kennedy offered the following statement, in direct contravention of an observable reality: “I think that the capital of Israel is Tel Aviv.”
It is true that some have decided not to recognize Jerusalem as the capital until a two-state solution is in place, even though much of Jerusalem is not contested nor considered “occupied.” This is a silly affront to Israeli sovereignty, but even that is a far cry from the bizarre claim that Tel Aviv is Israel’s capital. No one in Israel argues this, and the mayor of Tel Aviv has gone out of his way to ask people to please stop lying about the status of his city. Those who claim Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel are attempting to express a uniquely uninformed brand of trendy leftist opposition to Israel.
Kennedy not only said that Tel Aviv is Israel’s capital (it’s not), but he also said that this reflects longtime American policy (it doesn’t). Some are pointing out that Kennedy’s fairy tale about Tel Aviv conflicts with what is on his website, but since he obviously has nothing to do with his own website, it only goes to show that his Tel Aviv pronouncements are his own and not those he’s hired to speak for him. Carl in Jerusalem notes that Kennedy’s great-grandfather was no friend to the Jewish people, but his grandfather, Robert Kennedy, was. (To the extent that a Palestinian assassin murdered Robert Kennedy to prevent a pro-Israel voice from gaining the White House.) So the Kennedy family influence is not the determining factor here either.
Kennedy’s comments also came before the Democratic National Convention scene in which Democratic delegates voted down adding a reference to Jerusalem back into the party platform, and booed loudly when the pro-Israel language was added over their objections. So Kennedy’s comments may be indicative of the Democratic Party’s antipathy toward Israel, but they were not inspired by the convention mess. Kennedy can’t blame this on his anyone but himself, and Bielat has decided that the best way to take Kennedy to task for these comments is simply to make sure people hear them. So Bielat has put together an ad letting Kennedy speak for himself:
Bielat (who seems to have a stronger grasp of basic geography) would like Kennedy to at least have to answer to the voting public for his foolishness. If he does, Frank’s new legacy might be helping to turn a blue district red. If not, Kennedy seems like the kind of politician that will make Frank’s current legacy look good by comparison.
So, another Kennedy is trolling for public office in MA. How surprising.
Barney Frank's seat.
For the sake of clarity,Israel should inform the US that our embassy in Tel Aviv is to be closed,and relocated to Jerulsalem,which is the capitol of Israel. If they won't do that,don't complain about ambiguity.
"make sure people hear them". Particularly Jewish and pro-Israel conservatives. This kind of BS should be broadcast loudly in Florida, New York, Illinois, etc. Make certain that Jews and pro-Israel conservatives in California are aware that Sen. Feinstein who is running for re-election in CA helped draft the waiver clause in the congressional legislation that required the president to move the embassy to Jerusalem, the REAL capitol of Israel. Every stinko president, of both parties, has since used that 'waiver' to defy the congressional legislation. So much for Ostinka's cry that OstinkaCare was passed 'fairly' by congress and should not thus be overturned by any court.
I'm always amused that anyone lists Bobby Kennedy as a "friend of the Jews" and does it with a straight face. Selective memory is a wonderful contraption but let's not forget that Bobby was Senator Joe McCarthy's counsel for seven wonderful years during which he pursued Jewish professors, Jewish intellectuals, Jewish diplomats and bureaucrats and Jewish actors and writers with the diligence and passion of Inspector Javert.
McGray, as far as I know, they brought equal vigor to pursuing non-Jewish intellectuals, diplomats and bureaucrats and non- Jewish actors and writers. RFK's 1947 and 1948 dispatches from Israel and the late Palestine mandate are well worth reading for a sympathetic but unvarnished picture of what was going on.
You may want to review the Kennedy history; Joe Sr.'s affection for the Nazis; JFK's first campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives from Charlestown; and the large number of American Jews pursued by the McCarthy Committee when Bobbie was counsel which is not to demean the fact that Bobbie loved to pursue "soft targets" no matter who they were. You might also want to dig deeper into the circumstances as to how Joseph Welch, in who McCarthy and Bobbie's replacement, Roy Cohn, finally met their match, was appointed as the Army's counsel. You may also want to dig deeper into why Bobbie left the Senate sub committee. The new apple, Joseph kennedy III, does not fall far from the family tree.
The point though is what drives them to utter such unasked nonsense in the first place unless it's to be obnoxious and alienating? If you're campaigning and kissing babies and eating hot dogs etc and you blurt out "Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel" the question we have to ask is why? The people who are going to vote a Democrat or a Kennedy no matter what even if he showed up smoking crack and beating a little girl are going to vote him no matter what. Saying something angrily retarded about Israel guaranteed to offend the Jews isn't going to make the least difference to the glint eyed people who were going to vote for him anyway. And the undecideds, it's not going to help him. So other than being a tool of the Democratic machine where borderline Jew Hate is the price of the ticket, you have to wonder if there's any other reason. And if there isn't then it's simply bigotry.
" even if he showed up smoking crack and beating a little girl " or leaving a young pregnant campaign worker to drown (or worse).
Apparently she clawed at the roof of the car before she drowned, while Kennedy sat in safe house pondering how to save his political future while the alcohol cleared his system. n nThis was the 'Lion of the Senate'. n nWhat a family of horse's asses. n nInterestingly, the posting system hear deletes the post if it contains the word r#a#p#e.
She had a 7 hour air bubble in the car. In the DARK, she had no idea the roof of the car was sticking up OUT OF THE WATER and if she'd opened the door and stepped out, and stood on the river bottom, her head would have been OUT OF THE WATER. n nBut she had no way of knowing that.
You have to admit – Dims are always absolutely consistent. They always pick the absolutely EVIL side of any issue – no matter what. n nSo why would they pick the Side of Right in the issues regarding ISRAEL? nTHIEVES ALWAYS VOTE to disenfranchise the LEGITIMATE HEIRS. n nALWAYS.
Tell Hillary Clinton that the US embassy to Israel will be relocated to Uzbekistan.
Stating either Kennedy was "pro-Israeli" is nonsense. n nJFK was doing everything in his power to end the Israeli nuclear program at Dimona. In was Kennedy's actions regarding the nuclear program at Dimona which led to the resignation of Ben-Gurion. n nNot only was Kennedy attempting to end Israel's quest for nuclear weapons, Kennedy had infuriated the Jewish mafia when Kennedy did not allow the US to follow through with the Bay of Pigs or act on Operation Northwoods. Meyer Lansky, the boss of all mafia bosses, lost an incredible amount of power and money when Cuba was taken by Castro. n nRobert Kennedy carried the same positions as his brother, and while the Cuba position was not a deal breaker, the nuclear program at Dimona was. Israel could not afford to allow anyone, especially a non-jew, to dictate to them whether they could or could not have a nuclear weapon which the Israelis felt would secure the existence of Israel for all time. n nTo think or to state either was "pro-Israel" shows how ignorant the author is, or how the author has chosen to distort the actual stances of the men in order to further the belief that the US and Israel have always been one. n nOne can wonder why Kennedy chose to give his Secret Society speech to the media, a media largely owned and heavily influenced by the Jewish. Weird Israeli coincidences abound Kennedy's death, and I do believe Israel had a primary role in the deaths of both men. None have gained so much from the deaths of these two men as Israel has gained. Since the deaths the US has become blindly one sided when dealing with any issue Israel raised and we have become puppets to a foreign government. n nAnd fwiw, Jacob Leon Rubenstein, also knows as Jack Ruby, was a member of the Jewish mafia and underling to a boss who was subordinate to the Meyer Lansky Crime Family.