As this is the Erev Yom Tov, I would normally share a D’var
Torah. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the reaction to it by so many
people that I respect who comment here (reactions that include fear, anger, frustration, and looking for someone to blame for it all) I feel the need to get something off
my chest.
When former President Barack Obama was in the White House,
I could not stand the bigotry and lack of objectivity by so many of his detractors. Especially from those commenting here.
In some cases it amounted to pure unadulterated bigotry disguised as criticism of his policies. When it came to Israel, he was attacked by many as an antisemite. They mostly refused to acknowledge that he was in any
way pro Israel - when that was far from the truth.
He was clearly NOT an antisemite. He was a philosemite who
chose an Orthodox Jew to be the Secretary of the Treasury. He continued the
tradition started by President Bush (43) of hosting an annual Chanuka
party in the White House. I believe he was the first President to
host a Pesach seder there.
Regardless of all the so-called ‘proofs’ many
used to show that he was anti Israel or an antisemite. He was NOT
either of those.
He was pro Israel. He showed that support by providing Israel with
more military aid than all of his predecessors. He supported spending US tax dollars for Israel’s ‘Iron
Dome’ anti missile defense system. He supported US assistance in maintaining Israel’s military edge. There had never been closer ties between the US
and Israel including sharing military and intelligence at unprcedented levels to that time
It is true that his views were not always in concert with my
own on certain aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Which I noted
during his time in office. But I am certain that he meant what he said about
always having Israel’s back. He just had a somewhat different view of how that
was to be implemented. A view not unlike many Israelis on the left. (About half
the country.)
Now we have a different man in the White House. And I see
the same degree of unreasonable prejudice about him from the Left. It is beyond troubling to
me when so many intelligent people are so blinded by hatred, that they refuse to
recognize any possible good a President does. It doesn’t matter if it is coming
from the Right about Obama or the Left about Trump.
This is of course not to say that the current President doesn’t have
what to criticize. Of course he does. I was first in line to reject
the possibility of his becoming President. So much so that I voted (and urged
everybody else to vote) for his opponent even though I couldn’t stand her. I
believed he would destroy the country – if not the entire world. But I was
wrong.
It is now 3 and a half years later. And if not for this dreaded virus, we
were doing just fine. MUCH better than I had predicted. In fact until a few
weeks ago, my guess is that this country was in the best economic shape it had been
in since the Great Depression!
The American relationship with Israel has never
been closer. Relations never warmer than they are now. And yet his detractors have an inability
to see anything in him that is positive… explaining away the great economy we
had as not true. Or if it was, it was really
the product of the Obama administration. Which the President cynically took full credit for.
His pro Israel policies are explained as not really pro Israel at all... doing more harm than good. This blind hatred of the President by so many people on
the Left has never been made clearer than during the ‘new
world order’ caused by this invisible and deadly virus. That was made abundantly clear
by the stunning response from one of the more intelligent commenters here when I asked him if there was
anything positive he could say about the President. Here was his response:
This president has nothing that anything nice can be said about. He has demonstrated no quality or characteristic that can be seen as positive. Pilate had more humanity.
The inability to see any good at all – or even the humanity in someone - instead seeing them as worse than Pontius Pilate – the Roman
governor of Judea who - during Bayis Sheni - was responsible for crucifixion
of the Christian ‘god’ - shows just how compromised their objectivity is.
It aggravates me beyond words that intelligent people can be
so biased that they see everything a person does in only the most negative
light - unable to judge anything they do objectively.
No where has this been more evident than now. In virtually
every instance, they view this pandemic as Trump’s fault. Maybe he
didn’t invent the virus (they might concede reluctantly). But he may as well
have in their eyes. They blame only him for its spread and
thereby the unnecessary death of thousands of people because of his late
reaction to it. As though he were holding a gun and firing it at innocent people. There is absolutely no discussion about other reasons for the spread of the
virus. Only that what is happening now is all Trump’s fault. And are angrier than
ever at him for that.
Not a word is said against the Governor of a state
that has almost half of all COVID-19 infected patients in the country. The
same charge against Trump of not acting soon enough to order a ‘shelter in place’ can be made against the governor. That might have minimized the massive devastation
there. I suspect that New York state has some of the finest epidemiologists in
the country. Surely they must have given him the same kind of warnings the
President had. Had the governor acted a lot sooner thousands of lives would have been saved!
And yet, not a word of
criticism about the governor. You will not see me criticizing him either. He too
is human just like the President. And just like the President had he acted
sooner, we would all be in better shape. Meanwhile both of them are working hard to see a positive outcome.
Let me add the reason given by Trump detractors as to why the governor is
not criticized while the President is... is because the President is the leader of the country and could
have ordered the states to comply with a shelter in place order.
But that is a meaningless explanation. First - because the governor of New York is a leader too. What’s true for the big goose is true for the little goose. Perhaps
more relevant is the fact that governors are now claiming that the President
has no jurisdiction to dictate anything to the states. Which many of them - including
New York’s governor have been saying now in response to the President declaration that as President - it is his decision to make about when to open up the country..
Those attacking Trump here are not alone. The left leaning media fawned all over President Obama as
though he could do no wrong. All of his policy decisions were near perfect. But when it comes to this President, there is absolutely nothing positive
to any about him from the media. The lack objectivity is beyond obvious
– although the pretense is still there. And it is fodder for those that love to
cite these ‘objective’ journalists to corroborate their own biased views.
The truth is there for anyone willing to open their eyes. Trump is not pure evil, nor is he pure goodness and light. The same thing
is true about Obama.
The problem at this point in time is that that Trump’s antagonists will scoff at this post and say that
it’s me. That I am the one that has no objectivity. That I am the one that
cannot recognize the truth right in front of me. This post will not
change anyone’s mind, unfortunately. But I still had to speak my mind here. I suppose
there is a part of me that hopes that I can reach at least someone who was blind - but will now see. That the truth is a mixed bag.
