Toeing the Party Line

The Evening Bulletin ^ | 8-25-06 | Michael P.Tremoglie

[Miami Vice]

Hezbollah is the terrorist organization that was responsible for killing more than 200 Marines who were on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon more than twenty years ago.

Hezbollah also was responsible for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of U.S. Marine Col. William R. Higgins in 1988 and CIA Beirut station chief William Buckley in 1984.

Hezbollah shot U.S. Navy Seabee Diver Robert Stethem, during a 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, and dumped his body onto the Beirut airport tarmac.

Representative John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, who publicly stated during a July 30 an interview with Michigan TV station WDIV-TV, "I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah, or for or against Israel." Congressman Dingell's comment, coupled with his vote against a House resolution condemning Hezbollah, ignited a storm of controversy.

Dingell is not just some ordinary congressman. He is a senior member of the party and the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce committee.

Representative Allyson Schwartz, is a Democrat, from Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District. Congresswoman Schwartz portrays herself as a devoted supporter of Israel. She often invokes that she is descended from a holocaust survivor.

Yet, when asked to comment about the remarks made by Dingell, her office refused. They merely cited a speech given by Schwartz, stating her devotion to Israel.

Schwartz's inability to comment is interesting to say the least.

Republican City Committee Chairman Vito Canuso said that Congresswoman Schwartz, "cannot state her position based on a speech she gave several weeks ago. She needs to tell us what her opinion is of Dingell's comments AFTER he made them."

Schwartz is not alone among Philadelphia's Democrat Congressional delegation. Congressman Chaka Fattah declined to comment, stating, through his Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director Debra Anderson, that he did not think it appropriate to opine about another member's remarks.

He did however issue this statement regarding the events in general, if not Congressman Dingell's imbroglio, "I am supportive of the initiative by

Secretary Rice to involve stakeholders in the region as active peacekeepers...Israel... has an undeniable right to defend itself under international law. Hezbollah has been the violent instigator of this crisis. The U.S. has always reserved the right to determine how to respond to security and military threats, and every sovereign nation - including Israel - has the same responsibility to its citizens."

Congressman Brady, who is a Senior Whip of the Democratic Congressional Caucus, which means he is responsible, "for ensuring direct communication between Democratic leaders and the congressional legislative body," did not respond to my inquiry at all. His office did not even bother to issue a statement reaffirming Israel's right to exist as did Schwartz and Fattah.

Some Jewish groups were not as reluctant as Philadelphia's Democrats to criticize Dingell's statement. According to the August 3 edition of the Ann Arbor News, Jeff Levin, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County.... found Dingell's vote against condemning

Hezbollah "disturbing." "He is simply wrong to call for U.S. neutrality," Levin said. "The destruction of Hezbollah is in America's interest, not just Israel's interest.'" (emphasis added) Washtenaw County is part of Dingell's district which includes Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The August 2 edition of the Detroit Free Press wrote, "Dave Twersky, director of international affairs for the American Jewish Congress, said he was 'disturbed' but 'not surprised' by Dingell's comments. Dingell 'thinks he can be above the fray here,' Twersky said. 'But there are no equal partners.

Hezbollah is a terrorist actor. The notion of being an honest broker always means backing away from Israel.'" Other Jewish organizations have been muted. According to the Free Press piece, "representatives of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Democratic allies of Israel contacted by the Free Press on Tuesday all declined to join criticism that Dingell's remarks drew no distinction between a democratic nation defending its borders and a terrorist organization deliberately targeting civilians with violence." It is ironic that some were more concerned about the anti-semitic remarks made by a drunken actor to a police officer while being arrested for a DUI, than they are about sober comments by a Congressman who refuses to take sides in a dispute between a terrorist organization that has murdered Americans, and an ally of the United States.

This is a grave concern because voters must know whether Representative Schwartz is more loyal to her party or her purported principles. Will she not even issue one comment expressing some disquiet about the moral equivalency a leading Democrat draws between a terrorist group and a democratic nation?

Her constituents have a right to know.

Michael P. Tremoglie is the author of A Sense of Duty avilable at http://www.geocities.com/nattybumpo1981/

[alloysteel]

These Dem'crats are transfixed, staring into the eyes of the snake, and they are frozen in fear.

Not the best preparation for the coming conflict.