Republican Group Responsible for Negative Obama Calls

I reported last night about the calls that some Jewish voters have been receiving asking nasty loaded questions about Barack Obama. Today a group called the "Republican Jewish Coalition" is taking responsibility for the calls. Like nearly all Republicans, of course, they are quick to defend themselves with phony and dishonest outrage when called out on their behavior:

[Executive Director Matt] Brooks, however, denied that the poll was meant to influence Jewish voters, and said it was a traditional poll meant to gauge the opinions of Jewish voters.

"What we did is test, in standard polling methodology, a number of factual issues that have been reported on in the press and are policy positions to see how they're resonating in the Jewish community," said Brooks. "The notion that this is a 'push poll' is offensive to us."

Aw, poor baby. He's offended. Don't I feel so awful now for calling this scumbag's push poll a push poll? Oh, I do. I sure do. Not.

Nu? Michelle Obama's Cousin is a Rabbi?

This changes everything, bubele!

[Obama's] wife's cousin, Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., leads a mostly black Jewish congregation on Chicago's Southwest Side. He is Michelle Obama's first cousin once removed: Her paternal grandfather is the brother of Funnye's mother.

...

The Obamas have not publicized the connection to Funnye out of respect for the privacy of their large extended family, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama.

Funnye said he sees the Obamas occasionally at family gatherings. The Obamas have never attended services at the stately tan brick synagogue of the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in the city's Marquette Park neighborhood.

Funnye's relationship to the presidential candidate has been relatively unknown outside the Chicago Jewish community. The Forward, a Jewish newspaper, first reported the relationship.

"It was a total surprise to me," said Ira Forman, the executive director of the National Democratic Jewish Council. "Despite coming under attack unfairly in the Jewish community, Obama didn't even mention this. I think it's a piece of the puzzle that validates him."

Oy, I'm all verklempt!

Republican Scumbags Targeting Jewish Voters with Nasty Push Polls

Can you say "desperate", boys and girls?

After going over some more issues and confirming the fact that I was likely to vote for Obama, the caller made a series of rather pointed inquiries. Would it affect my vote, he said, if I knew that

Obama has had a decade long relationship with pro-Palestinian leaders in Chicago

the leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, expressed support for Obama and his hope for Obama's victory

the church Barack Obama has attended is known for its anti-Israel and anti-American remarks

Jimmy Carter's anti-Israel national security advisor is one of Barack Obama's foreign policy advisors

Barack Obama was the member of a board (sic) that funded a pro-Palestinian chartiable organization

Barack Obama called for holding a summit of Muslim nations excluding Israel if elected president

My notes are pretty close to verbatim. (I started typing as soon as I realized I was getting polled.) When the caller was finished, I got a supervisor on the phone and asked if he would tell me who was sponsoring the survey. He said he couldn't reveal that information.

Jews in Florida are getting this filth too. Gee, you think maybe McCain and company are a bit worried about the Jewish reaction to their hard right-wing radical VP?

I'd point out that the GOP has become a den of liars and thieves who will stop at nothing in their desperate power grab, but anyone with an IQ over 70 knows this already.