ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization
August 10, 2000
ALERT: Al Gore's Historic Public Relations Coup
Though I'm not flattered by the attention given to things Jewish
in the media of late, whether it's the allegation that First Lady
Hillary, a strong candidate for NY senator, called her hubby's
campaign advisor a "Jew bastard" for flubbing Billy Jeff's run
for Congress in 1974 (the guy wasn't even Jewish), or Israel
Prime Minister Ehud Barak surviving a "no confidence" vote in
the Israeli parliament for entertaining a notion of giving away
the farm to the Palestinians (I offer no opinion on the matter),
presidential candidate Al Gore's choice of CT Sen. Joe Lieberman
as his running mate has brought my brand of Judaism, Orthodox
Judaism (from Greek, ortho=correct, dox=way), to the front
page of newspapers and online news services.
Will Joe Lieberman influence how I pull the lever in the voting
booth in November? Forget about it!
Let's keep things in perspective. First and foremost, Jews for
the Preservation of Firearm Ownership is about the preservation
of the Bill of Rights for all Americans. The Second Amendment is
there to keep our government from walking with cleats over the
other nine. The citizens of this country call the shots, and the
Second Amendment ensures, in the worst case scenario, that things
stay that way. At least that's how it's supposed to be. As an
Orthodox Jew and a rabbi, JPFO has provided me with a forum to
express my very pro-Second Amendment leanings to other Jews that
equate firearms with dangerous drugs and venomous reptiles
without being labeled anti-Semitic.
If Sen. Lieberman was a secular, assimilated Jew like Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ) or Sen. Charlie Schumer (D-NY), his pick for
VP running mate by presidential candidate Al Gore would have
done nothing more than elicit a yawn and a ho-hum.
But now, it's a *religious* issue, and who in their right mind
would attack a Jew that publicizes his Jewishness? Under severe
time constraints, I do try to stay informed about current events
and newsworthy figures. Prior to reading about Gore narrowing
his list of VP choices to six, with Lieberman among them, I never
knew he existed. (How many people do you know that can rattle off
all 100 US senators from memory?) Now that the Master of
Ceremonies has opened the envelope, Sen. Joe's Orthodox Jewish
lifestyle is grabbing all the news.
Well, Jewish religious matters are a topic near and dear to my
heart. All Jewish religious matters. Not just the G-d given right
and obligation of self defense.
The Legislative branch of the US government, the upper and lower
houses of Congress, proposes and enacts laws. The Executive branch,
the President, has the power of veto. The Vice President is the
non-voting president of the Senate, whose vote is only used to
break a tie. But the Executive branch can administer lots of arm
twisting to the Legislative branch to achieve its agenda.
Sen. Lieberman, through 12 years of office, first drew attention
to himself on a national level for being a Democrat in Congress
to blast the Commander-in-Briefs (a Democrat) for his lascivious
conduct in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Hilariously, when the
Senate voted on Clinton's impeachment, Lieberman voted to let
the Pres. finish his term. This is a senator being held aloft
as a monument to integrity. Now, perhaps I'm not the brightest
crayon in the box. Did I miss something?
What about abortion? To me, an Orthodox Jew, this is not a
political matter. It is a very religious matter. (Anyway, can
someone please show me how an earlier Supreme Court cited the US
Constitution to rule as it did in Roe v. Wade, whereas abortion
was protected by a constitutional right to privacy?) The Torah,
the first five books of the Bible, is the blueprint for Orthodox
Judaism. Jewish law, as expounded upon in the Talmud, prohibits
the killing of a fetus just as it prohibits the killing of the
born. So how does Sen. Lieberman from Connecticut view abortion?
The Internet is marvelous. It saved me hours in the public
library plowing through a few hundred back issues of the
Congressional Review. See
http://www.issues2000.org/Joseph_Lieberman_Abortion.htm and
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN01692
@@D&summ2=m&
I don't advocate Right to Life activists sniping at doctors
working in "family planning" clinics, but have you ever seen
film footage of a partial birth abortion? Absolutely sickening,
and that's only its visual and visceral impact. Jewish law would
only allow such a procedure if the mother's life is endangered.
It seems the senator got it right. He voted correctly. The Senate
bill, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1999, states in part,
"Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any physician from
knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion in or affecting
interstate or foreign commerce, unless it is necessary to save
the mother's life that is endangered by a physical disorder,
illness, or injury."
A candidate for the US presidency would never choose a vice
presidential running mate whose political views differ vastly
from his own. What does Al Gore say about abortion? See
http://www.issues2000.org/Al_Gore.htm#Abortion
Click around on that site, and see some of Gore's quotes on the
subject. Bottom line: Al Gore does not support the overturning
of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that gave the federal
government's blessing to legalized abortion under the color of
the US Constitution. Not being a legal scholar, it's my
understanding that Roe v. Wade carries no caveat, i.e. to save
the mother's life that is endangered by a physical disorder,
illness, or injury. If I'm correct, Roe v. Wade doesn't pass the
test of Jewish law. Are Sen. Lieberman and VP Gore in agreement?
If the outcome on November 22nd moves Sen. Lieberman into the
second nicest home in D.C., I'll be anxious to learn the answer.
And Joe Lieberman on the Second Amendment? See
http://www.issues2000.org/Joseph_Lieberman_Gun_Control.htm
Presidential Candidate Gore on the right to keep and bear arms?
See
http://www.issues2000.org/Al_Gore.htm#Gun_Control
How much distance divides Gore from Lieberman on the right to
keep and bear arms?
Senator Lieberman has been a low profile figure until now. I have
no desire to tar and feather any politician without cause, Jew
or gentile. If nothing else, Lieberman has been playing his
cards very carefully.
If you're a registered voter, don't sit out the November
election. But, above all, if you're a Jew don't blindly assume
that a vote for Gore will place *one of our own* in the VP slot.
Power does strange things to people. Today, the Orthodox Jewish
politician and integrity poster boy. Tomorrow,...?
Lieberman has already shown, by condemning Clinton on moral
grounds for his "inappropriate behavior" yet failing to vote for
impeachment, that his loyalty is to his political party and not
to morality. Presidential perjury didn't threaten our government
and national interest, Lieberman explained in rationalizing his
vote against Clinton's removal. Morality, Senator Lieberman,
involves more than paying cheap lip service to moral principles
and the Constitution. If you can condone lying under oath by the
highest elected official in America, you would probably condone
sins far worse, given the opportunity. You've flunked the test
already, Senator.
Rabbi R. Mermelstein www.jpfo.org
This Alert archived at http://www.jpfo.org/alert20000810.htm
================================================================
An ALERT from:
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
PO Box 270143
Hartford, Wisconsin 53027
Phone: 1-262-673-9745
Orders only: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!)
Fax: 1-262-673-9746
Web: http://www.jpfo.org/
================================================================
JPFO ALERTS is provided as a free service to the Internet
Community. If you wish to help support this service, consider
joining JPFO! $20/year (no, you don't have to be Jewish!)
Join for 2 years and receive a free JPFO lapel pin!
To SUBSCRIBE to JPFO Alerts: send a blank e-mail to:
jpfo_alerts-subscribe@topica.com
To UN-SUBSCRIBE to JPFO Alerts: send a blank e-mail to:
jpfo_alerts-unsubscribe@topica.com
America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization
August 10, 2000
ALERT: Al Gore's Historic Public Relations Coup
Though I'm not flattered by the attention given to things Jewish
in the media of late, whether it's the allegation that First Lady
Hillary, a strong candidate for NY senator, called her hubby's
campaign advisor a "Jew bastard" for flubbing Billy Jeff's run
for Congress in 1974 (the guy wasn't even Jewish), or Israel
Prime Minister Ehud Barak surviving a "no confidence" vote in
the Israeli parliament for entertaining a notion of giving away
the farm to the Palestinians (I offer no opinion on the matter),
presidential candidate Al Gore's choice of CT Sen. Joe Lieberman
as his running mate has brought my brand of Judaism, Orthodox
Judaism (from Greek, ortho=correct, dox=way), to the front
page of newspapers and online news services.
Will Joe Lieberman influence how I pull the lever in the voting
booth in November? Forget about it!
Let's keep things in perspective. First and foremost, Jews for
the Preservation of Firearm Ownership is about the preservation
of the Bill of Rights for all Americans. The Second Amendment is
there to keep our government from walking with cleats over the
other nine. The citizens of this country call the shots, and the
Second Amendment ensures, in the worst case scenario, that things
stay that way. At least that's how it's supposed to be. As an
Orthodox Jew and a rabbi, JPFO has provided me with a forum to
express my very pro-Second Amendment leanings to other Jews that
equate firearms with dangerous drugs and venomous reptiles
without being labeled anti-Semitic.
If Sen. Lieberman was a secular, assimilated Jew like Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ) or Sen. Charlie Schumer (D-NY), his pick for
VP running mate by presidential candidate Al Gore would have
done nothing more than elicit a yawn and a ho-hum.
But now, it's a *religious* issue, and who in their right mind
would attack a Jew that publicizes his Jewishness? Under severe
time constraints, I do try to stay informed about current events
and newsworthy figures. Prior to reading about Gore narrowing
his list of VP choices to six, with Lieberman among them, I never
knew he existed. (How many people do you know that can rattle off
all 100 US senators from memory?) Now that the Master of
Ceremonies has opened the envelope, Sen. Joe's Orthodox Jewish
lifestyle is grabbing all the news.
Well, Jewish religious matters are a topic near and dear to my
heart. All Jewish religious matters. Not just the G-d given right
and obligation of self defense.
The Legislative branch of the US government, the upper and lower
houses of Congress, proposes and enacts laws. The Executive branch,
the President, has the power of veto. The Vice President is the
non-voting president of the Senate, whose vote is only used to
break a tie. But the Executive branch can administer lots of arm
twisting to the Legislative branch to achieve its agenda.
Sen. Lieberman, through 12 years of office, first drew attention
to himself on a national level for being a Democrat in Congress
to blast the Commander-in-Briefs (a Democrat) for his lascivious
conduct in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Hilariously, when the
Senate voted on Clinton's impeachment, Lieberman voted to let
the Pres. finish his term. This is a senator being held aloft
as a monument to integrity. Now, perhaps I'm not the brightest
crayon in the box. Did I miss something?
What about abortion? To me, an Orthodox Jew, this is not a
political matter. It is a very religious matter. (Anyway, can
someone please show me how an earlier Supreme Court cited the US
Constitution to rule as it did in Roe v. Wade, whereas abortion
was protected by a constitutional right to privacy?) The Torah,
the first five books of the Bible, is the blueprint for Orthodox
Judaism. Jewish law, as expounded upon in the Talmud, prohibits
the killing of a fetus just as it prohibits the killing of the
born. So how does Sen. Lieberman from Connecticut view abortion?
The Internet is marvelous. It saved me hours in the public
library plowing through a few hundred back issues of the
Congressional Review. See
http://www.issues2000.org/Joseph_Lieberman_Abortion.htm and
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN01692
@@D&summ2=m& I don't advocate Right to Life activists sniping at doctors
working in "family planning" clinics, but have you ever seen
film footage of a partial birth abortion? Absolutely sickening,
and that's only its visual and visceral impact. Jewish law would
only allow such a procedure if the mother's life is endangered.
It seems the senator got it right. He voted correctly. The Senate
bill, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1999, states in part,
"Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any physician from
knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion in or affecting
interstate or foreign commerce, unless it is necessary to save
the mother's life that is endangered by a physical disorder,
illness, or injury."
A candidate for the US presidency would never choose a vice
presidential running mate whose political views differ vastly
from his own. What does Al Gore say about abortion? See
http://www.issues2000.org/Al_Gore.htm#Abortion
Click around on that site, and see some of Gore's quotes on the
subject. Bottom line: Al Gore does not support the overturning
of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that gave the federal
government's blessing to legalized abortion under the color of
the US Constitution. Not being a legal scholar, it's my
understanding that Roe v. Wade carries no caveat, i.e. to save
the mother's life that is endangered by a physical disorder,
illness, or injury. If I'm correct, Roe v. Wade doesn't pass the
test of Jewish law. Are Sen. Lieberman and VP Gore in agreement?
If the outcome on November 22nd moves Sen. Lieberman into the
second nicest home in D.C., I'll be anxious to learn the answer.
And Joe Lieberman on the Second Amendment? See
http://www.issues2000.org/Joseph_Lieberman_Gun_Control.htm
Presidential Candidate Gore on the right to keep and bear arms?
See
http://www.issues2000.org/Al_Gore.htm#Gun_Control
How much distance divides Gore from Lieberman on the right to
keep and bear arms?
Senator Lieberman has been a low profile figure until now. I have
no desire to tar and feather any politician without cause, Jew
or gentile. If nothing else, Lieberman has been playing his
cards very carefully.
If you're a registered voter, don't sit out the November
election. But, above all, if you're a Jew don't blindly assume
that a vote for Gore will place *one of our own* in the VP slot.
Power does strange things to people. Today, the Orthodox Jewish
politician and integrity poster boy. Tomorrow,...?
Lieberman has already shown, by condemning Clinton on moral
grounds for his "inappropriate behavior" yet failing to vote for
impeachment, that his loyalty is to his political party and not
to morality. Presidential perjury didn't threaten our government
and national interest, Lieberman explained in rationalizing his
vote against Clinton's removal. Morality, Senator Lieberman,
involves more than paying cheap lip service to moral principles
and the Constitution. If you can condone lying under oath by the
highest elected official in America, you would probably condone
sins far worse, given the opportunity. You've flunked the test
already, Senator.
Rabbi R. Mermelstein www.jpfo.org
This Alert archived at http://www.jpfo.org/alert20000810.htm
================================================================
An ALERT from:
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
PO Box 270143
Hartford, Wisconsin 53027
Phone: 1-262-673-9745
Orders only: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!)
Fax: 1-262-673-9746
Web: http://www.jpfo.org/
================================================================
JPFO ALERTS is provided as a free service to the Internet
Community. If you wish to help support this service, consider
joining JPFO! $20/year (no, you don't have to be Jewish!)
Join for 2 years and receive a free JPFO lapel pin!
To SUBSCRIBE to JPFO Alerts: send a blank e-mail to:
jpfo_alerts-subscribe@topica.com
To UN-SUBSCRIBE to JPFO Alerts: send a blank e-mail to:
jpfo_alerts-unsubscribe@topica.com