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Sen. Graham Grills Hagel
On 'Jewish Lobby' Remarks
The American Jewish community owes a
debt of gratitude to Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R-S.C.) for confronting Chuck Hagel
at Hagel's confirmation hearing regard-
ing his ugly slurs that the "Jewish lobby
intimidates" politicians and forces the
U.S. to make "stupid" foreign policy deci-
sions. ("Hagel A Controversial Nominee
For Defense," Jan. 10, page 30.)
Hagel admitted to Graham that he
could not name a single politician who
was intimidated by the Israel lobby, and
Hagel admitted that he could not name
a single bad policy that the U.S. took as a
result of pro-Israel lobbying.
Of course, Jew haters and left-wing
conspiracy theorists will always blame
Jews and Israel for all the world's prob-
lems, but it was helpful to get a powerful
person like Hagel to admit that his prior
rant about the "Jewish lobby" was non-
sense.
It is a shame that Sen. Carl Levin,
(D-Mich.) who chairs the Armed
Services committee, did not address
Hagel's past hateful comments during the
hearing and offered nothing but gushing
praise for a very questionable nominee.
Thankfully, we live in a great nation
where Southern Christians like Lindsey
Graham stand up for Jews even when
Jews who are powerful like Sen. Levin
cannot bother to stand up for us.
Josh Baker
Birmingham
Hagel's Defense Views
Would Weaken Nation
It was stunning to watch the recent
hearing on the nomination of Sen.
Hagel for secretary of defense. His posi-
tions on terrorism, nuclear disarma-
ment and proliferation, U.S. security
and Israel were clearly exposed through
probing questioning by Sens. Graham,
Inhoffe, Cornyn, Cruz, McCain, etc.
Sen. Hagel's views are incompatible
with American security needs, and his
lack of understanding of threats to our
country makes him completely unquali-
fied to manage our defense capability.
His sudden, miraculous reversal in those
previous positions certainly calls into
question his sincerity.
Contrary to the opinion of almost all
knowledgeable defense analysts, Sen.
Hagel continues to support not only
reducing each leg of the nuclear triad
(missile, air and sea), but even reducing
it to a dyad. He refused to sign a letter to
the European Union urging it to desig-
nate Hizbollah a terrorist organization.
And he still refuses to agree with a
Senate resolution calling for designating
the Iranian Republican Guard as a terror-
ist group, in spite of the fact that the IRG
has trained and provided the materials
for IEDs that killed our troops in Iraq.
He neither retracted nor apologized for
saying on the Senate floor that Israel's
response to Hizbollah's terrorism was
"sickening slaughter."
Sen. Hagel confessed, but did not
apologize for, using the anti-Semitic
term "Jewish lobby" He stated that he
used that term only `once on the record."
Apparently his mistake was using it "on
the record," not the use of the term.
Where is the outrage from the ADL
and our local Jewish organizations and
rabbis? Particularly disturbing is that
Jewish Sens. Levin and Schumer not
only did not condemn that remark, but
rushed like lemmings to embrace and
support the nominee. Does this mean
that Sens. Levin and Schumer share Sen.
Hagel's views?
Space restrictions prevent me from
fully detailing the inconsistencies
between Sen. Hagel's record and recent
responses. But, what is particularly
alarming is that President Obama and
Democratic senators appear to consider
him to be the most qualified person to
manage the Defense Department and to
advise the president on national defense.
Irving Ginsberg
Farmington Hills
Guns Protect Citizens
From Government Tyranny
I grew up as most Jews did without guns
in my everyday culture. Many, like me,
believed that guns seem to have a will of
their own.
In 1977, I lived in a rural area, where
one sheriff covered 30 square miles.
While I worked, my wife and child were
home alone. My fear of guns changed
when my wife and I were trained by the
local police on firearm safety, because
guns are tools requiring training for
proper use. Practicing emergency medi-
cine exposed me to the devastation of
firearms injuries.
The Second Amendment was written
to give the citizens of America a means
to protect themselves from a tyranni-
cal government. In many countries,
confiscation of firearms prevented free
citizens from opposing tyranny, includ-
ing Germany under Hitler. The notion
that we, as Jews, are safe from govern-
ment oppression in today's America as
a reason to negate the intention of the
Second Amendment is fallacious. The
Second Amendment was written for all
Americans, long ago.
When the Second Amendment was
written, the firearm of the day was
the musket. Today's are either a semi-
automatic rifle or pistol. Many Jews,
including Rabbi Joseph Klein, fear hand-
guns popular today, and those labeled as
"assault rifles." ("Gun Control," Jan. 24,
page 10).
Assault rifles are fully automatic
machine guns and are illegal for civilian
ownership. The majority of pistols and
rifles owned by millions of law abid-
ing Americans are semi-automatic with
detachable magazines. All of the recent
mass shootings were carried out by men-
tally ill young men. Rabbi Klein makes
no comments about guns and mental
health.
If laws are changed as the Congress
wishes, it will turn law-abiding gun own-
ers into criminals. We will save lives by
tightening current laws keeping firearms
away from those who are mentally ill or
who have criminal backgrounds.
Steven Rossmoore M.D.
West Bloomfield
Workers With Asperger's
Need Understanding Bosses
I always enjoy reading Rabbi Jason Miller's
articles. They are current and smart.
He recently wrote about Auticon, a
company that hires those on the Autism
Spectrum (including Asperger's) exclu-
sively ("Drawing Upon Strengths," Jan.
24, page 14). I think this is brilliant! In
my counseling practice, I work a great
deal with individuals on the spectrum.
I know a gentleman with Asperger's
who retired after a successful career with
a large corporation. He's now working
for a small firm and struggling with his
supervisor. Having Asperger's leads to
communication difficulties. They are
both frustrated.
I'm also working with a young man
who will be starting an entry level job
and is about to live independently for the
first time. Right now, they don't know
about his Asperger's. I trust that he will
do well, but it would be so much easier
for him if he worked for a company that
understood and could fully support him.
I'm also supporting a student who
plans to work in computer programming.
He is self-taught and has significant
Asperger's. He is brilliant and will do
best if he can be supported by a business
community who understands about his
challenges and his gifts.
I love the work that I do. I love my
clients! I am hopeful that someone in
the Detroit area will develop such an
employment opportunity in our area (as
Auticon), with quality career opportuni-
ties. If you're already out there, I hope
that you will notify me (and the Jewish
community).
Judith E. Lipson, M.A
Spiral Wisdom LLC.
West Bloomfield
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February 7 • 2013
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