Israel Matzav

Don't drink and spit

I hope you will all forgive me if I make a comment that is a bit off topic.

Yesterday, it was reported in the media that at a rally in Wisconsin, Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic Presidential frontrunner Barack Hussein Obama made the following statement:

... “for the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.”

The Talmud quotes our Rabbis of blessed memory as saying that one should not spit into a well from which one once drank, even if he no longer needs the well. Michelle Obama has been given boundless opportunity by the United States of America - a Princeton undergraduate education, a Harvard law degree, the opportunity to work at a major law firm, the opportunity to be part of the administration of a major university and maybe (God forbid) the opportunity to be the 'First Lady.' After having taken advantage of all those opportunities, for her to thumb her nose at the United States in the way she did yesterday is disgraceful.

Although I live in Israel today, because I believe it's where Jews should live, I recognize the United States as being what the Rabbis called a 'malchut shel chessed' - a kingdom of kindness - for the Jewish people. I will always be grateful for the opportunities that the United States gave me.

In The Corner, Kate O'Beirne adds:

Her litany of the insurmountable barriers faced by hardworking Americans portrays a miserable landscape of stacked decks. To share in this unrelenting misery by throwing herself in with the hopeless victims of America’s inequities, Michelle complains about having to pay off the Obamas’ student loans. They both have Ivy League undergraduate degrees and are Harvard law grads. They presumably borrowed money to pay for these sterling credentials because they thought it was worth it. The University of Illinois would have been cheaper. Apparently, such choices are unfair. Her husband has gotten a lot of mileage out of being the first black editor of The Harvard Law Review. Is Michelle saying that it wasn’t worth the price? Harvard law degrees should be free?

Yes, of course. So long as the people getting them hold the 'correct' political views.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:03 AM