Michelle Bachmann And Agudath Israel Meet

"She introduced herself" to the rabbis, said Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president of the Orthodox Jewish organization Agudath Israel. "A similar group has gotten together with Governor Romney and will get together with other candidates as well."

Michele kibitzes with key NY Jews
Touts pro-Israel stance
By JOSH MARGOLIN • New York Post

Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann may not be Jewish -- despite a misperception among some political donors -- but that didn't stop her from making a campaign stop in the Big Apple yesterday to talk up her pro-Israel positions.

The same day The Post reported that some Jewish donors are holding back their contributions to GOP front-runner Mitt Romney under the mistaken impression that Bachmann is one of their own, the Minnesota congresswoman was addressing a Jewish group here.

"We're meeting with people all across New York who are interested in my candidacy," Bachmann said as she ducked into a Broadway office building for a small, private sit-down with Orthodox Jewish leaders.

Bachmann spent about an hour at a private office discussing issues ranging from same-sex marriage to security for the Jewish state. She reminded the group she worked on a kibbutz in Israel 40 years ago.

"She introduced herself," said Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president of the Orthodox Jewish organization Agudath Israel. "A similar group has gotten together with Governor Romney and will get together with other candidates as well."

The rabbis have met previously with President Obama, who owned the Jewish vote in the 2008 election but is having trouble because of his administration's stance on future borders for Israel.

Bachmann, an evangelical Christian, offered brief opening remarks yesterday and then took questions. She portrayed herself as "a person of faith," Zwiebel said, but he added that "cuts both ways" for Jewish voters because of his community's strong belief in the need for religion and government to be separate.

When it was over, Bachmann made a quick exit.

"We're not answering questions now," Bachmann said as aides blocked a reporter.

Neither Bachmann nor her campaign would disclose details about her day in New York and she had no public schedule. She is set to be in Iowa today for a Tea Party event.

The timing of yesterday's session had nothing to do with the latest headlines about fund-raising or last weekend's controversy over Bachmann's comments on the earthquake and hurricane that hit the East Coast in the last week, Zwiebel said.

During events in Florida, Bachmann suggested God was issuing a wakeup call for the federal government to curtail spending. Following some controversy, Bachmann's campaign said the remarks were made in "jest."

Bachmann again downplayed the seriousness of those comments during yesterday's meeting and scored high marks among many in the room.

"She's really a very interesting person, very personable," said Leon Goldenberg of Goldmont Realty Corp. in Brooklyn. "She comes across more shrill on TV. She's certainly making a lot of waves. She has to be taken seriously."

Comments

[Stan]

think she's hotter than Sarah Palin.

[Jason G.]

Yes Stan and loonier, ergo more dangerous.

[C-G]

"think she's hotter than Sarah Palin."

This is the problem with allowing men to vote.

[corn popper]

is she wearing a shaitel or tichel?

[seymour]

read a recent study in the NTY times about how looks benefit the good looking people. men and woman

Unfortunately I will never know

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/opinion/sunday/ugly-you-may-have-a-case.html

[lion]

does michelle know agudas position on molesters

[Deremes]

Perhaps she should contact the holy pure rabbi who was shot in the head and he will inform her about Agudas positions regarding "protecting and enabling" child molesters.

[Dovid]

Michele Bachmann - another friend of the Jews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB8iiIwUEP0&feature=player_embedded

[Maple Bacon]

Bachmann is as crazy as some of the ultra-Orthodox rabbis; she stated that Hurricane Irene was a wakeup call from G-d to all politicans.

[Shmarya]

"think she's hotter than Sarah Palin."

This is the problem with allowing men to vote.

Posted by: C-G | August 31, 2011 at 02:45 PM

ROTFL!

Maybe I should post a survey and let people vote on the question.

[Stan]

This is the problem with allowing men to vote.
Posted by: C-G | August 31, 2011 at 02:45 PM

Is that so? Eight Million More Women than Men Voted for Barack O-vomit in 2008. Think we should repeal 19th amendment on that basis alone.

[MICHAEL]

I think she is one of the smarter people running for office. That said she is being advised very poorly. The republican nomination will be decided way before the NY primary and Obama will definitely carry NY.Why would she waste precious time visiting a group that, if it has any clout only has clout in NY. She should visit the ou which has much more clout in important states like Florida,PA,NJ etc.

[One Who Knowws]

She is part of the radical religious hardliners as Romney who believe they can --CONVERT MORMONS---Bachmann believes CHRISTIANS CAN---bring about Jesus Christ---threw the suffering of Jews in the end.

The Mormons in Nevada and Utah are CONVERTED at a strange large rate all you do is pay money to Chabad. Then they remain in the Mormon Church claiming Jewish even moving to Israel but follow Mormonism.

Before Nazi Germany CONVERTS did the same converting then when the law came down WHO IS A JEW--all the CONVERTS ran away saying I'M not Jewish really they were excused.

SICKING-

[Stan]

Why would she waste precious time visiting a group that, if it has any clout only has clout in NY. She should visit the ou which has much more clout in important states like Florida,PA,NJ etc.
Posted by: MICHAEL | August 31, 2011 at 03:20 PM

WHY? Donations to her campaign!! Don't you read the newspapers or only this website?

[Deremes]

Posted by: MICHAEL | August 31, 2011 at 03:20 PM

Agreed.
When it comes to Mayoral,governor,senator,congressman and anything local, Aguda and other Orthodox groups is the place to go for candidates but not when it comes to running for president.
The majority of Orthodox Jews live in NY and when it comes to the presidential election they are a drop in the bucket.
Seems like shes getting similar advice like Carl Paladino when he ran for governor in NY he went to a rabbi and with that he thought he get the Jewish vote and in the end that was partly why he sunk.

Mrs.Bachmann,when we speak about the Jewish vote that usually means secular Jews with the big bucks.

[MICHAEL]

WHY? Donations to her campaign!! Don't you read the newspapers or only this website?

You gotta be kidding. If the Agudah has big givers they are keeping them for themselves.Also dont kids yourselves the frummers are pretty smart they only throw money if they think you can win and they know she can't win -at least not this time.

[C-G]

"Is that so? Eight Million More Women than Men Voted for Barack O-vomit in 2008."

This comment makes me even more sure. Thanks for proving my point.

[Guest]

When the lefties call someone names, it means they're scared of that person.

It means that person really believes in the conservative priciples that made this country so great.

Unlike the RINO's.

And so, the lefties hate her. And they are scared of her.

The lefties hated Ronald Reagan too.

[Shmarya]

I think she is one of the smarter people running for office. That said she is being advised very poorly. The republican nomination will be decided way before the NY primary and Obama will definitely carry NY.Why would she waste precious time visiting a group that, if it has any clout only has clout in NY. She should visit the ou which has much more clout in important states like Florida,PA,NJ etc.

Posted by: MICHAEL | August 31, 2011 at 03:20 PM

Rabbi Menachem Genack, the CEO of OU Kosher and therefore the main source of money for the entire OU, is a well connected Democrat with close ties to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Past that, the OU probably would not see it as its role to host such a meeting.

It is far more likely the RCA would do it as part of pre-planned series of meeting with candidates from both parties.

You gotta be kidding. If the Agudah has big givers they are keeping them for themselves.Also dont kids yourselves the frummers are pretty smart they only throw money if they think you can win and they know she can't win -at least not this time.

Posted by: MICHAEL | August 31, 2011 at 04:00 PM

Actually, they tend to donate based on affinity with a candidates views, with regard for the candidate's influence whether or not the candidate can win, and to keep a foot in the door.

[C-G]

...and when those who really believe in the conservative principles that made this country great (unlike the RINOs, of course) call someone a name- like "RINO" or "leftie"- it really means they're scared of that person? Thank you for clearing that up. I'd been wondering about that for a while.

[lion]

aguda the disgrace of jewish groups thats who she met with

im going with perry

[Guest]

I didn't know that calling someone a "leftie" means calling him a name. Thank you for clearing that up.

As for RINO, it stands for "Republican In Name Only". It refers to someone who is a member of the Republican Party in name only, but does not vote according the principles of the Republican Party.

Nice try.

[Guest]

C-G

Here's a link to get your blood boiling:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_083111/content/01125111.guest.html

[C-G]

Guest-

I challenge you to define the "principles of the Republican Party", please. Hint: if you cut and paste Tea Party diatribe, you'd be wrong- very wrong. Plenty of your dreaded "RINOs" are actually de facto Republicans. The name is appropriate, though. They're also endangered species.

As for your link to Rush Limbaugh's site, if keeling over laughing counts as making my blood boil- congratulations, you did it!! Yay!

[Dovid]

"she is one of the smarter people running for office"

ROFLMAO. I guess you didn't watch the video of this "smart" woman in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB8iiIwUEP0&feature=player_embedded

[Chicago Sam]

I would love to see a cartoon illustrating what these Orthodox rabbis actually thought of her as she spoke; I suspect their mind was not on anything what she said . . .

[Andrew]

Stan -- i think Sarah Palin is hot, but think that Bachman is hotter. (Throw Ann Coulter into the mix and you got a good cup of Tea Party.)

Look for coverage of this in the Chareidi press -- they'll likely air-brush her out.

[Chicago Sam]

Ann Coulter looks like the comic/cartoon figure "Skeletor" from He-Man.

[Chicago Sam]

Now wrt Sarah Palin, she ought to retire from politics and pose for Playboy. I think she is an answer to Obama's prayers.

[Adam Neira]

I think Michelle Bachman'a heart is in the right place. Whether she will be the President is up to the American people.

I know a cure for her migraines.

[Guest]

If someone says something negative about Obama, they are branded a racist.

Remember in the old days, if someone tried saying something negative about Hillary, they were branded a sexist.

But if you say it against Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, or Clarence Thomas, that's ok.

Double standard.

[Adams]

Anyone but Obama. I am hoping Ron Paul can win.

[Guest]

I don't think Ron Paul is good for America. But he is definitely better than Obama, or any Democrat for that matter (considering how liberal and socialist the Democrat party has become)

At this point, it looks like either Perry, Bachmann, Palin, or Romney will be the next President. I hope it's not Romney.

Of course, anyone is better than Obama.

[JJJ]

"of course, anyone is better than Obama",
Remarkably profound statement. I imagine there are some people who you would not want to be President.

[Skepticalyid]

@guest: you spout propaganda right off Faux (fox) News and Limbaugh. Reagan was never demonized the way the Dems are by your preferred pundits. socialist? The dems are socialist? They're funded by wall street just like the republicans. You don't even know what socialism is!

[Skepticalyid]

Ron Paul better then Obama? Ron Paul is the preferred candidate of Stormfront and other White supremacist groups. I never thought the day would come where any Jew would elect a Ron Paul.

[Adam Neira]

President Obama is doing a good job under difficult circumstances in this transition phase for America.

[Uzi Ben Asher]

They're like New Jersey and taxes. Perfect together.

[Dr. Dave]

Wait a minute. Doesn't she get points for Tzniut?

Elbows covered. Check.

Skirt at least to knees. Check.

Collarbones covered. Possibly. Can't see what's going on behind the Rabbi's hand.

Cover her hair and she could be a hot Channie!

[Stan]

Remember in the old days, if someone tried saying something negative about Hillary, they were branded a sexist.
But if you say it against Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, or Clarence Thomas, that's ok.
Double standard.
Posted by: Guest | August 31, 2011 at 08:46 PM

Great point Guest! C-G is clearly a bleeding heart liberal that is deep down very disappointed that she now realizes that her President is a one-termer & a loser. She also likely feels threatened by a strong, attractive, smart woman like Michelle Bachmann. I'll fill in the blank between the C & G: unt Ra. Spell it out & it spells Cunt Rag

[george]

As I am not in the U.S. I will not (currently) comment on the politics, except to say the following. The video of Bachmann is not only doctored, it is anyway sick to make fun of a speech problem. Something like making fun of President Roosevelt for his mobility problem. In fact, wikipedia points out:

> While his illness was well known during his terms as President of the United States, how debilitated he was due to his illness was kept from public view.

Onw wonders if President Roosevelt had been subject to modern day visual publicity (of the kind that video showed) if he would never have been elected.

[shimon baum]

Bachmann and Agudan talk about a meeting of the minds.

[Shmarya]

As I am not in the U.S. I will not (currently) comment on the politics, except to say the following. The video of Bachmann is not only doctored, it is anyway sick to make fun of a speech problem.…

Please.

WTF is wrong with you?

The video Dave linked to isn't making fun of a speech problem.

It's making fun of Bachmann, who on national TV pronounced chutzpa (hoots-pa) as choots-pa.

She didn't do this because she has a speech impediment.

She did it because she had no idea how to correctly pronounce the word.

You're extremely disingenuous, your comments on other posts prove this, and you either stop it now or I'll ban you.

[shmuel]

Meeting with the irrelevant, near criminal group known as "Aguda"? What is she thinking? Shame on her for giving them any publicity.
And how will the Yated deal with these photos? As stated above by Andrew, "Look for coverage of this in the Chareidi press -- they'll likely air-brush her out." The candidate is invisible in all the pix. Could make for funny photos!

[Dovid]

Stan,

The video is "doctored" only to repeat over and over the ignorant moron Michelle Bachmann's mispronunication of the word "chutzpah."

Sounds like you are as stone-cold dumb as she is.

[Dovid]

I mean George, not Stan.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

"think she's hotter than Sarah Palin."
This is the problem with allowing men to vote.

u r rite, c.g. to paraphrase the rabbis saying:
anashim daatam kallah!

:-)

[george]

Dovid

I will state the obvious. The impact of a statement (or mis-pronunciation) grows exponentially with the doctored repetition. In its original form the entire incident flies by practically unnoticed.

But in any case mocking a speech inablity is simply despicable. There is no shortage of embarassing and mockable Obama gaffes, much more serious than a speech inability, but no-one else here fell to that level.

[george]

Shmarya

You are simply wrong. The inability to pronounce a specific sound is not a question of intelligence. It is a skill or capability, like walking and running is a skill or capability. And for whatever reason there is, some people have certain deficiencies.

[Shmarya]

Shmarya

You are simply wrong. The inability to pronounce a specific sound is not a question of intelligence. It is a skill or capability, like walking and running is a skill or capability. And for whatever reason there is, some people have certain deficiencies.

Posted by: george | September 01, 2011 at 01:47 PM

You just bought yourself a ban.

As any honest and normal person – and that eliminates you – knows, the inability to make the "kh" sound is NOT the reason why she mispronounced the word.

Why?

Because linguistically, a person who cannot pronounce "kh" instead pronounces "h" or "k."

People who cannot pronounce "kh" do N-O-T pronounce chutzpah as "chew (as in chew gum)-ts-pa."

But you are right about one thing. Some people do have certain deficiencies.

You, for example can't tell the truth and are limited enough to think the rest of us don't notice.

Game's up buddy.

Your trolling days here have just ended.

[mr. mike]

So Lizard Lady met the Schmuck brothers? Whoopety doo.

[nobody]

There shmarya goes again with his authoritarian banning of people who disagree with him. No wonder he is such a fan of the tyrant Obama.

[J.A. Miller]

Bachmann is an idiot. She's dangerously uninformed. Hostile to science and facts. If the frum community gets behind her like they got behind the equally ignorant George W. Bush, it will be a major mistake.

[C-G]

Stan- thank you for proving my original point. When it comes to how women are viewed, loud and pretty is frequently and catastrophically mistaken for "strong" and "smart". Meanwhile, a woman who is polite and intelligent- and thinks or says something with which you (might) disagree (I didn't actually give any indication that I'm a liberal, or even a democrat- you and "guest" filled all that in in your own minds)- is called a disgusting obscenity. It's easy to see who's the person that *really* feels threatened by a strong, attractive, smart woman. Hint: it's not me.

A strong, intelligent woman wouldn't promise $2/gallon gas. A strong, intelligent woman wouldn't spout religious rhetoric about science when the US is in danger of losing ground to other countries in important research and development. She wouldn't base her campaign on dumbed-down issues, name-calling and jumping into the ring when Perry's looking the other way to whack him in the back of the head with a folding chair (Oh, wait- sorry. that's pro wrestling. It's easy to mix these things up, isn't it?)

A strong, intelligent woman would talk about issues. She's have ideas about the economy, about jobs creation. Talk about eliminating the EPA would never cross her lips because as a mother, she'd know how important it is to have safe, food, air and water for our children. She'd put a hold on fracking until it's proven safe, because the idea of poisoning anyone's drinking water for someone else's economic gain wold make her sick. She'd fight for health coverage for all- because her foster kids might've had less access to necessary medical care if they'd ended up in foster families with less economic means. She'd stop going on and on about her Christian values because she'd be sensitive enough to realize that she's offending large numbers of non-Christian Americans and she'd be smart enough to know that she'd be galvanizing a pro-Christian theocracy contingency. I'm going to stop there; either you hear what I'm saying or you don't.

In the meantime, stan, please watch your language. On the internet, I have no idea if you're a 15 year old bochur or a freshman US Representative from the mid-west. In either case, please tone it down a bit. Because strong, intelligent woman hate disgusting name-calling.

[Uzi Ben Asher]

What's wrong with $2 gas?

There are two things going which very well might bring back $2 gas in the near future, and Michele Bachmann ain't one of them:

1. The demise of Khaddafi (he's a dead man walking right now but we'll have to wait for his corpse, preferably headless, to be shown on CNN before Libya starts drilling for the 100 or so billion barrels of high-quality oil Khaddafi never looked for.

2. The demise of Hugo Chavez, along with his so-called "Bolivarian Revolution." Despite reserves of half a trillion barrels, Venezuelan oil production has declined since Chavez assumed power. About 10 years ago, Chavez was briefly overthrown. Oil prices dropped about $10 a barrel until he was returned to power several days later. (This was when oil prices were about half what they are now.) Let us all pray that Chavez' tumors be fruitful and multiply.

While the two previously-mentioned things are enough, let me add:

3. Increased exploration in the USA. We have 2 trillion barrels of shale, and Canada has even more shale than we do.

So while a Bachmann (or Perry or Palin) presidency would be a disaster, there's nothing wrong with $2 gas, although I'd make it $2.25 gas and use the extra quarter to put lots of people to work to rebuild and improve our roads and bridges, which badly need it.

As for your comment about watching your language, one of America's strongest and most intelligent women, and the one who's #2 on my most-admired list, cusses like a sailor.

[C-G]

Absolutely nothing is wrong with $2/gallon gas- except that it's not $1.50/gallon gas ;-). P Pandering to ignorance by making it a key campaign promise, however, is a big problem. Did you happen to notice that in the parsha read on Shabbos, there are instructions for how to recognize a fake Navi? It's easy: if their predictions don't come true, don't pay them any attention. Yeremiahu later says that a real Navi is one who delivers an unpopular message that's difficult for them to get across and that the people don't want to accept. An "inconvenient truth," in other words. Forget about divining earthquakes and hurricanes for God's opinion about the state of things. It's all clearly spelled out in Shoftim (I can't believe I've suddenly gone literalist, but the relevance is rather striking).

A couple of concerns about theories for how to get $2 gas-

1. Not clear how Qadaffi's leave and a resulting power vacuum will affect things. It's increasingly looking like while Qadaffi may have been an sob, he was our sob. Things could easily get worse there and we'll long for the good old days of $4 gas.

2. Again, too soon to predict, other than succession will likely be chaotic.

3. If (and a really big if) there really is that much shale gas and it can be mined efficiently, economically and safely, great. But it's beginning to look as though predictions were overplayed at least semi-vastly. (See: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/us/26gas.html?_r=1&sq=marcellus&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=12&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1315141218-h1WZGq5p9HOx8V+YdbaPsQ) And even if predictions turn out to be true beyond our wildest expectations, how would that bring down gasoline prices (especially if the economic feasibility of fracking depends on higher natural gas prices)?

Re: your comment about my comment about watching language, cussing like a sailor can be colorful, interesting, effective- and lots of fun! However, posting disgusting female-derogatory slander about someone whose back story you've invented in your head is creepy and vile. There's a line, and it was crossed.