You also can’t always keep them quiet.
Rahm Emanuel has got to be ready to give a loud holler out about now. His father,
Benjamin Emanuel, has really stepped in it.
As President-elect Obama begins
to assemble his White House staff, Rahm as chief of staff has gotten a lot of
attention from the wingnuts, something I can only judge is a good thing. But
I’m one of the people who is pro Rahm in the West Wing. However, Obama can certainly
do without his father’s rhetoric, a specific comment getting a lot of attention right now and just triggered a letter from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Part of the letter from the ADC (h/t Syria
Comment):
This has been an historic election, one which energized our Country and gave
many people the reason to vote for change. I know the Arab-American community
was very involved in this presidential election, and voter turnout in the
community was exceptionally high. We wish to congratulate you on being named,
by President-Elect Obama, White House Chief of Staff. We were, however, deeply
disappointed by comments made by your father, Mr. Benjamin Emanuel, on the
momentous occasion of your announcement as Chief of Staff. According to numerous
news stories in the U.S. and in Israel, he made the following comments in
an interview with Ma’ariv, “Obviously he’ll influence the
President to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s
not going to be mopping floors at the White House.”
Ma’ariv is a newspaper in Tel Aviv, offered only in Hebrew on the web.
Not exactly helpful, whether it was meant as harshly as it sounds or not, especially if the Obama administration hopes to go places the current occupant of the White House never cared to tread.
As Haaretz reported,
Benjamin Emanuel was once a member of Irgun,
short for “National Military Organization in the Land of Israel,”
which operated between 1931 and 1948. Shorter: militantly Zionist. That’s what makes the elder Emanuel’s words so biting.
Jake
Tapper reported on this as well, wondering what the Arab response would
be. We didn’t have to wait very long to find out.
The ADC is asking Rahm Emanuel to “disavow and repudiate these remarks publicly.”
Time for Rahm to have a little chat with dad.
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