Earlier this week the liberal blogospghere was buzzing with reports that Orly Taitz, the legal godfather of the "birther movement" and a candidate to be the GOP’s nominee in the race for California secretary of state, was listed as a "special guest" in promotional material for a major gathering of the California branch of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Liberal bloggers portrayed it as an example of a mainstream organization embracing the fringe, some say racist, campaign to discredit President Obama by denying that he was born in the United States.
In the end, though, this take was off the mark. It’s safe to say the last thing the RJC and its executive director, Matt Brooks, wants is for birthers or other fringe players to take center stage. Their problem as a partisan organization is figuring out when is the right time to take the difficult step of violating Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment — thou shall not ciriticize a fellow Republican. Brooks has raised concerns about Rand Paul. If Taitz had won the nomination (she got trounced on Tuesday) I suspect we would have heard something similar, if not stronger, from the RJC on the birther queen.
So why was Taitz listed as a special guest at the RJC bash? It was a courtesy extended to all of the candidates who were expected to attend the event. You can argue that the RJC made the wrong call in treating her like all the other candidates, but this was not a case of the RJC going out of its way to embrace a big-time brither.
If you’re looking for an example of a Jewish organization embracing a confrontational theory about the president, then check out the press release from the Zionist Organization of America titled "Some Concerns About Obama’s Attitudes Toward Jews." Specifically, take a look at item 10, suggesting that Obama has sent out a coded anti-Israel message to the Arab world:
President Obama released a photograph of his speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by phone. What was peculiar and troubling is that the photograph showed President Obama with his feet up on his desk, exposing the soles of his shoes – exposing one’s soles to another is considered a deep insult in the Arab world. No such photograph of President Obama speaking to any other world leader has been ever released. Was this another signal to the Muslim world of his disdain for the Jewish state?
It’s not quite the same as denying that the president was born in America or insisting that he is a Muslim, but ZOA certainly is pushing the envelope. Just to be clear, this was only #10 of 11 points — so if you think this reads like a case of throwing the baby out with the birther, uh, bathwater, then check out the full list. In an interesting twist, the ZOA statement came out the same day that Obama was hosting the first ever American Jewish Heritage Month celebration in the White House.
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