Our Democratic Friends and Allies

Whenever election day comes around American liberals in the form of the Democratic Party begin assuring Jews of their friendship for Israel. They drag out old hoary anecdotes describing of their long love and adoration for the State of Israel. Former President Bill Clinton claimed that his dying family priest had told him to protect Israel. Presidential candidate John Kerry spoke of Masada and along with fellow Presidential Candidate Wesley Clark rediscovered his Jewish roots. But true friends as always are discovered in need and in deed.

On Wednesday the 6th, prominent Democrats led by Senator Patrick Leahy of the State of Vermont and Diane Feinstein of California, who despite her last name is Catholic rather than Jewish, attempted to introduce an ammendment that would prohibit the use of Cluster Bombs near civilian areas and apply those same conditions to any country they are sold to, particularly Israel.

The cluster bomb scandal is the latest attempt by Israel's political enemies and Terrorism's allies to pin an atrocity on Israel. After the Qana bombing was exposed as a deliberately staged incident using planted corpses and disabled children. After repeated photos of Beirut turned out to be fradulent and Israel's supposed rocket attacks on a Reuters press car and a Red Cross ambulance both proved to be hoaxes; rather than retracting anything international organization, the UN and the media have quickly moved on to the next manufactured scandal of the cluster bomb condemning Israel for using cluster bombs near civilian areas. Of course the fact that Hezbollah terrorists were operating from civilian areas in the first place leaving Israel no choice is not a matter that ever entered their consideration.

The State Department, which is typically so pro-Arab that their viewpoint is virtually indistinguishable from their opposing numbers in Arab governments, had begun an 'investigation' of Israel for using cluster bombs near civilian areas and the Democratic Senators joined in. The measure would have undermined US-Israel defense pacts which had been kept secret and would have opened the door to Congress limiting Israel's ability to defend itself and by extension allowed any left wing Anti-Israel group to begin a campaign lobbying congress to prevent Israel from using any and every weapon they object to until Israel was left fighting the war with paper airplanes.

The United States Senate wound up rejecting the measure by a vote of 70 to 30 but the contrast in those votes is striking. The votes for the measure came overwhelmingly from Democrats beginning with the Democratic Majority leader Harry Reid. In July Senator Reid had put on a fantastic show of hypocrisy lambasting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Makli for not condemning Hizbullah and little more than a month later he voted to make it difficult for Israel to defend itself against Hizbullah. Most of the other Democrats who had raised a hue and cry over it did the same thing too.

Former and future Presidential candidate John Kerry who once waxed poetic and will again, of his love for Israel, voted for the measure. Jewish Senator Joseph Lieberman who was hounded out of his own party for supporting America's War on Terror opposed the measure, by contrast Jewish Senator Russel Feingold was more than happy to toe the Democratic party line and vote for the measure. Joining him were former Klu Klux Klan member Senator Robert Byrd and current celebrity Senator Barack Obama last seen taking an AIDS test in Africa along with Senator Ted Kennedy, compulsive drunk with a talent for driving women off bridges and leaving them to drown.

Truly it's said that friends in need are friends indeed and genuine support from true friends is worth far more than all the rhetoric in the world. When these same politicians come calling on Jews again as they soon will, professing their adoration and undying love for us like a straying husband returning as if nothing had happened, hopefully their audiences may be a trifle the wiser.