By now you’ve heard about the big rally in New York protesting the appearance of Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations. Sen. Hillary Clinton had been scheduled to speak at the rally months ago. But when she learned that Gov. Sarah Palin was also invited to speak, she pulled out. She made what should have been a bipartisan, and non-political show of solidarity against the Iranian dictator, political. It’s all about Hillary.
But that wasn’t the only reason Clinton would not attend. She didn’t want to be upstaged by, the growing in popularity, Sarah Palin. And she didn’t want to be there to hear Jewish voters yelling ‘Sarah, Sarah.’ It’s not just about Hillary. Maintaining the Jewish block vote was also at stake and Democrats saw the presence of Palin as a political threat to ‘their’ constituency. Aryeh Spero writes in Human Events . . .
This direct connection that Sarah Palin, a woman from and of the people, would have had with a Jewish audience was something the liberals had to stifle. It certainly could have made a difference in the election and perhaps have provided the impetus for the long awaited shift among many Jews from Democrat to Republican.
So why was Gov. Palin disinvited? Because of pressure from Democrat operatives who threatened the sponsoring non-profit Jewish organizations with investigations into their tax exempt status if Palin were to attend. How it is not a political event when Hillary is there, but is a political event if Palin were there is for the lawyers to figure out, but for Jonh Q. Public it makes no sense whatsoever. Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, told CBS 2 HD . . .
“This is insulting. This is embarrassing, especially to Gov. Palin, to me and I think it should be to every single New Yorker.” “It’s an absolute shame that this has happened,” Hikind said. “To threaten organizations … to threaten the Conference of Presidents that if you don’t withdraw the invitation to Gov. Palin we’re going to look into your tax exempt status … that’s McCarthyism.”
The organizers bowed to the pressure rather than risk their tax exempt status. (What was the name of Rev. Wright’s tax exempt church again? Trinity something?) Sen. John McCain said this . . .
Governor Palin was pleased to accept an invitation to address this rally and show her resolve on this grave national security issue, regrettably that invitation has since been withdrawn under pressure from Democratic partisans. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Republicans, Democrats and independents alike to oppose Ahmadinejad’s goal of a nuclear armed Iran. Senator Obama’s campaign had the opportunity to join us. Senator Obama chose politics rather than the national interest.”
Just an example of hardball politics, where the Democrat party and their run for the White House comes before standing up against probably the next biggest threat to the world. If there ever was a non-partisan issue to get behind, this would be it.
related links: Palin Disinvited from Anti-Iran Rally | Intense Pressure Led To Palin UN Snub | The Jewish Community’s Palin Gap