Most of you probably haven't heard about the recent controversy surrounding a Virginia congressman named Jim Moran (D-VA). It was probably buried in page seven or eight of your local paper, if it was carried at all. Several Jewish organizations and leaders are calling on Mr. Moran to resign after he made what they claim are clear anti-Semitic comments.
The controversy began on Monday, March 3rd, when Congressman Moran was discussing the possible war with Iraq. A woman in the audience, who identified herself as Jewish, asked the congressman why he didn't think the anti-war sentiment was as effective in the United States as it was in Europe. His response was as follows:
"If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this. The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going and I think they should."
The response from the Jewish community was immediate outrage. Groups of rabbis and other Jewish leaders began to call for Moran's resignation. He was accused of anti-Semitism, insensitivity, being misinformed, promoting the idea of Jewish control of the world, etc… They pointed out that this is just one more example in a long history of Moran's record for voting against legislation supporting Israel and his acceptance of campaign contributions from organizations with questionable connections to Palestinian terror organizations.
The attack prompted the following immediate apology from Moran:
"I made some insensitive remarks that I deeply regret. I should not have singled out the Jewish community and regret giving any impression that its members are somehow responsible for the course of action being pursued by the Administration, or are somehow behind an impending war."
The congressman later explained that he was simply trying to make a larger point by saying that any major organized religion could have a more direct impact on stopping the march to war if they organized against it. He was simply addressing the Jewish community, because the woman identified herself as Jewish. He would have said the same thing about Catholics if the woman had identified herself as Catholic.
A few key Democrats have already come out to voice their opposition to the statements made by Congressman Moran, and a few others who know Moran well have come to his aid by claiming that he is indeed not anti-Semitic. Democrats feel this was all a mistake, he apologized, so let's move on. Sound familiar?
It was not too long ago that Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) was caught in a similar situation. While the circumstances are not identical, they are close enough to merit comparison. Moran is certainly not as high profile as Lott, but he's a seven-term congressman who made a very stupid remark, causing groups to cry anti-Semitism and call for his resignation.
Here are the similarities: Lott made a stupid comment. Moran made a stupid comment. Lott was accused of being a racist. Moran was accused of being anti-Semitic. Groups called for Lott's resignation. Groups called for Moran's resignation. Lott apologized. Moran apologized. Republicans criticized Lott's comments. Democrats criticized Moran's comments. Republicans who knew Lott defended him as not being a racist. Democrats who knew Moran defended him as not being anti-Semitic.
It's still early in the game for Moran, but here's where I think the stories will take a decidedly different turn. Lott's story was played out as front-page news in major newspapers and as a leading story in television news for several weeks. I'm betting that after the end of this week you'll never read or hear about the Moran situation in the media again (assuming you ever even heard about it in the first place).
And don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that the media should be hounding Jim Moran the way it hounded Trent Lott. I don't know Trent Lott or Jim Moran personally, so I can't say with any credibility whether Lott is racist or Moran is anti-Semitic. What I do know is that what they both said, while it might have been ignorant and misinformed, does not justify a racist or anti-Semitic labeling.
The media milked the racist label for Lott for every drop, and they will give Moran a complete pass on his comments. While the media spent significant effort digging into the past of Lott and any other Republicans they could rope in as collateral damage with a racist label, no one will dig up Moran's skeletons to try and frame him as Hitler.
This recent situation will also clearly show the differences between the approach by Democrats and Republicans. Democrats declared all-out war on Trent Lott and the Republican Party when he made his statement. Everyone from Tom Daschle to Bill Clinton to Barbra Streisand tried to claim that Republicans were truly a racist group under the surface and that this was the "smoking gun" to prove it.
In contrast, you will not see Senator Bill Frist, George H.W. Bush or Arnold Schwartzenegger accusing the entire Democratic Party of being anti-Semitic under the surface or claiming anti-Semitism is the real reason they oppose war with Iraq. This would be a perfect opportunity for Republicans to frame anti-war Democrats as really being anti-Israel, not anti-war. But they won't go down that intellectually dishonest path.
Even if the Republicans did try to make an issue of the Moran situation, I'm sure the Democrats in the media would ignore it anyway.
Comments