How low will Joe go?

How low will Joe go?

By Binyamin L. Jolkovsky

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- IT IS CONSIDERED rude to point out that "I told you so." But what else is there to say about the one-time "conscience of the Senate" and Jewry's supposed "political Messiah?"

Jewish World Review and its publisher have been maligned by some as "haters" because we chronicled the flip-flopping moral retreat of the Democrats' vice presidential candidate. Joseph Lieberman, it is beginning to seem, will say and do just about anything in order to become Al Gore's Number 2.

The latest: In a recent radio interview Mr. Lieberman spoke of his respect for Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan, whose hateful remarks about whites -- and especially about Jews -- are well known. The senator also said he wished to meet with Farrakhan.

So what's wrong with a photo-op?

Plenty.

It was only a few years ago that another vice presidential hopeful announced that he wanted to meet with Farrakhan. Republican Jack Kemp praised the Nation of Islam's "message" of economic empowerment for the black community and said he would have liked to speak at the Million Man March.

At the time, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) was quick to pounce. (This is the same NJDC that was caught last week releasing a falsified transcript of Lieberman's remarks to Don Imus on the subject of intermarriage in an effort, no doubt, to work damage control for Lieberman and discredit JWR. )

As reportered in the Sept. 13, 1996 number of Forward, a national Jewish newspaper, NJDC's executive director, Ira Forman, described Kemp's actions as making a "deal with the devil." Kemp's hoped-for dialogue with Farrakhan, he added, was the "height of political naivete." NJDC's deputy executive director, Stephen Silberfarb, went further. According to the Baltimore Sun, he said: "The Jewish community does not differentiate between the message and the messenger. It's like allowing Adolf Hitler to take the podium."

Double standard, anyone?

Many in the Jewish establishment have continued to make excuse after excuse for Joe Lieberman. True, it is a mitzvah to give others the benefit of the doubt. But there eventually comes a time to say, "Enough already!"

It is understandably difficult for many Jews who once admired Mr. Lieberman -- as we at JWR did -- to concede that his selection as Al Gore's running mate has proven a grave disappointment. Sadly, this is a case of a decent man becoming so consumed with the quest for power -- or with the dream of making history -- that he has become in many ways a different -- almost unrecognizably different -- person. Until recently, many of us awaited the senator's comments on issues of public policy and morality with keen anticipation. These days, by contrast, we prepare for the worst nearly every time he speaks.

Is it time for a Jew to hold the office of vice president? Certainly. But by our lights, it should not be the senator from Connecticut.

America, and particularly Jewry, deserve better.

Binyamin L. Jolkovsky is editor in chief of JewishWorldReview.com. He can be reached by clicking here.