Rant #1,355: Where's Obama?

That massive march in Paris celebrating free expression was something to be seen.

Millions of people participated, along with many governmental leaders from around the world.

You even had the leader of Israel and the supposed Palestinian state participating in this demonstration, showing terrorists that the pen is still mightier than the sword.

It was an almost triumphant occasion after a week of horror in Paris, where those working at a satirical magazine were massacred, and people who were in a supermarket catering to French Jews were also slain, in a religious war that is still very hard to contemplate or understand.

So in Paris just a few days ago, humanity came together to show the terrorists that we were still bosses of our own destinies.

One problem here.

Where were our American representatives during this show of solidarity with the people of the world?

And more to the point, where was President Obama?

He wasn't there, that is where he was. He was busy celebrating the San Antonio Spurs' NBA championship last season.

Sure, we sent over a token representative to this mass of humanity, I believe it was our ambassador to France, but as far as any big names, they did not attend.

What is even more hard to believe is that Attorney General Eric Holder was there in Paris, but supposedly there on another mission.

I mean, he was there, why did he not attend?

But again, where was our President?

If this did not illustrate the disconnect that this Administration has shown between the United States and the rest of the world--principally when it has to do, even as almost a footnote, with Jews and Israel--I don't know what does.

Yes, the rally was more about the freedom of the press and overall freedom than it was about Jews, per se, but unfortunately, even if the freedom of Jews to practice their religion was a sidebar to all of this, it was nonetheless an important piece of what unfolded last week in that part of the world.

President Obama has consistently put Israel--our biggest ally in the Middle East, and one of our most important allies, period--at the bottom of his list of priorities, and I am afraid that the American media--who is in love with this trailblazer--has covered up his actions as best they could.

His supposed personal leanings aside--which must also be questioned here--the President is sort of what we used to call a "flat leaver," the friend of Israel and the Jewish people one moment, and a non-entity with these groups the next moment.

He never even visited Israel during his first term in office, an act that still has yet to be explained to the American public.

Not being at this rally, one which was held right after Jews were targeted for annihilation and Jewish blood was spilled, was an atrocious lapse of judgment, but it pretty much follows the path our President has been on since taking office.

Of course, the rally was about free speech, and free speech for all, Jew and non-Jew alike. However, Jews were specifically targeted during one part of this overall incident, and Obama should have been there, period.

But it's kind of odd that when something like this involves the Jewish people, even as an ancillary aspect of the entire situation, Obama is nowhere to be found.

And next I move onto the American public, who generally accept this type of behavior.

We voted in this President not one time, but two, and most Jews in this country voted for him.

God knows why.

I have said it once, I will say it again: often the biggest anti-Semites in the world are the Jews themselves. It pains me to say this, but I simply have to.

We, as Jews, accept this atrocious behavior towards Jews and Israel that our own President--who we helped to elect--metes out.

The media is also to blame for covering up all of this stuff. The riots and other problems that Jews have faced in France and around the world is often covered up by our media, maybe making the back pages of the newspapers at best.

When Israel was being bombed on a daily basis by its enemies, you didn't hear a peep out of the White House until they were almost forced to say something.

And the rise of anti-Semitism in this country ... if the President looks the other way, why shouldn't the public look the other way too? Heck, right on Long Island in heavily Jewish Cedarhurst, swatstikas were found just yesterday at the town's railroad station.

This story was buried in the newspaper today.

The problem is there and it is not going away, because our Commander in Chief hasn't a clue.

Yes, the President took the coward's way out, allowing his spokesman to say that yes, he in fact made a mistake by not attending the rally, or at least for not sending over a higher-ranking official of our country to attend, such as our Vice President.

And of course, the spokesman was quick to say that it was not a decision made by the President, himself, to not attend, trying to deflect the guilt to somewhere else.

It was also said it might have posed logistic challenges if the President had attended, last minute details that could not be worked out.

Baloney. When Nelson Mandela died, Obama attended his funeral, and somehow, they found a way around those logistics challenges that presented themselves as also a "last minute" thing.

Yes, all of it is passing the buck, but I don't think it worked this time.

The non-showing of the President has raised the hackles of Democrat and Republican alike, and he has been criticized by both the left and the right by his actions, or non-actions.

But the incident continues a pattern of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric that we have seen and heard from this Administration, and it should be disturbing to Jews and non-Jews alike, and anyone who holds our freedom at a high value.

I will leave you with this tidbit that perhaps you didn't know: the United States of America does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

That, in itself, says a lot about where the present Administration stands as anything I have said here.