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Esther Kustanowitz For President

16 years ago
24 Comments
by ck
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I was drunk. And maybe I was sort of in awe of McCain’s stupid Vice Presidential pick. I mean, look, Sarah Palin is an impressive woman – but a pro NRA, anti-abortion candidate is not exactly going to be deemed palatable to Hillary supporters no matter how much estrogen she has flowing through her veins. So with Hillary gone and Palin unrealistic, our only chance for a woman in the White House would have to come as the result of a grass roots movement. The name Esther Kustanowitz immediately came to mind as the most Presidential woman I know. I may have mentioned this in a few forums, pointed people to MyUrban Kvetch and JDaters Anonymous, and before you know it, things got out of hand… Sorry Esther. But, I mean… what the heck right? I know she’s pro-Israel, but is generally well balanced and reasonable on all issues. She’d be an awesome President!

I wonder who her Vice Presidential running mate will be?

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

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24 Comments

  • Palin did not support Pat Buchanan, she wore the button out of respect when he visited her town. She backed Forbes in that election. However, Obama worked with a known terrorists (Ayers) and had an anti-Semite pastor for 20 years, yet only denounced him when it was politically useful is completely kosher with Jewish Democrats. How do these Obama connections sit with American Jews?

  • Naahhhh, that’s cool. Don’t worry ’bout it. It is.

  • I wasn’t trying to suggest that your comments were unfair attacks – that was more a reflection on some of the stuff I’ve seen/read elsewhere. Also when comments are held for moderation, it’s an automated process meant to prevent spam from getting through – it’s not an editorial thing on our part AND we don’t always notice right away. Sorry. It’s up though innit?

  • Well, I apologize if it seems like I’m “attacking” Palin in a way that offends you. Most of the criticisms that I’ve heard are directed at McCain for the perceived recklessness of his choice. If that involves an accounting of Palin’s flaws as well as virtues, perhaps it comes off as attack. Honestly, the most personal judgments of her own life choices though have come from everyday women who are unimpressed by her decision to run despite all the family business going on, and not from columnists who are really more interested in gauging McCain’s executive judgments. On top of all that, there is, however, the perception that this is a way to try and belittle Hillary’s run.

    Bush’s non-attendance of the RNC stems from the fact that even Republicans consider his presence to be too toxic to their brand. In my view, that’s really their problem to own up to.

    I’m not sure that McCain had any “good” choices, although I can think of much better choices within his own party for VP – many of them female. Perhaps they would have been much better than the conventional wisdom I’m echoing would have us believe, when it came to the “traditional” options (i.e. drop-outs from the primary, other high-profile contenders, etc.)

    In any event, your not being a U.S. citizen shouldn’t bar your input into all this. I think it’s healthy that people abroad are starting to get, and pay increasing attention to, a bird’s-eye view into the American political process, warts and all.

    Comment #16 wasn’t that problematic, was it? I noticed that even though you’ve responded, that one was still being held for moderation! 😉

    In any event, cheers. Don’t feel at all intimidated about offering an opinion into the American elections. I promise to be just as unrestrained at offering advice into what occurs elsewhere in the world. Should I not? I am an American, after all – that’s what we do. 😉

  • MUL Dude – it just seems sad and unfair. George Bush is not going to attend the RNC. When has it ever happened that a sitting President hasn’t attended his own Party’s nomination event? Choosing Palin was a desperate and short sighted move – what can I say? The Republicans are going to lose. That’s what it looks like now from my perspective. I’m not going to strongly attack Palin unless she merits it and so far she doesn’t.

    Also, did I mention that I’m Canadian? And Israeli? And not at all American?

  • Then you must be more familiar with the “things” “she’s done” then anyone else is, ck. Personally, I don’t take her approval ratings in an unpopulated outpost like Alaska to be indicative of anything more than the ratings she’ll get with the right wing and evangelical no-nothings on cultural issues that they’ll agree with her on, which is exactly what’s happening – as was undoubtedly predicted. As for her being “principled”, that’s fine. But some people tend to look at the principles of keeping the city she was mayor of out of massive debt and not firing her ex-brother-in-law from a government position in a vendetta as principles… especially when she lied about it after the fact! How friggin’ “principled” is that?

    We must be talking about different sorts of principles when you admire her love for toeing the line on right-wing wedge-issues, whereas her ability to conform to basic non-partisan ethical standards would have been much more impressive to me – and to many others.

    The Pat Buchanan issue is undoubtedly bound to become a non-issue when people are so far apart from seeing eye-to-eye on such basic distinctions as these. I won’t even mention the hypocrisy of her belief in abstinence-only education when her own daughter proves, by example, that it doesn’t work. As with almost every election, we are back to drawing epistemological lines in the sand between people who like acknowledging reality and those who don’t – regardless of how much more comfortable they are with the political left, right, center, etc.

  • MUL: I wasn’t talking about her basketball accomplishments or her stint as a beauty queen! Politically she has approval ratings in Alaska that are through the roof. Look up her record – she’s done things that were pretty decent. I like that she’s human and imperfect, that she has a pregnant teenage daughter and that she’s pretty principled. Her decision not to abort her downs syndrome baby is brave and admirable. I totally do not agree with many of her political positions, Pat Buchanan, NRA yadda yadda yadda… but that doesn’t blind me to the fact that she is not a complete tool. I do think she was a bad Vice Presidential choice for many reasons, but I won’t gleefully and self righteously crucify her.

  • Wow, Adam. That’s about the dumbest response I could imagine anyone coming up with. Nevermind that it’s not a response to anything. But if that’s the kind of fantasy football moment that McCain requires to bolster his support, then you’re entitled to your delusions.

    Question to Adam Hyman: If Pat Buchanan (who is hostile to Israel’s existence) was running against King Abdullah of Jordan (who is heir to a father who ultimately wasn’t), then who would you vote for?

    Don’t let jingoism and bigotry get in the way of answering that question honestly, if you can help it.

  • Esther– as a supporter of Israel you’d be uncomfortable with this, but if you pick me, I’ll be glad to inform Israeli officials they’ll just have to get used to the Iranian bomb in a Kustanowitz administration!

  • ck, I’m wondering if your enthusiasm for female candidates isn’t giving you tunnel vision when it comes to Palin. I’m not sure what’s all that impressive about her. Since you didn’t mention actual political accomplishments, I’m assuming that you’re speaking generally about her spunky, spirited demeanor – which is actually quite the norm in pioneer settings. (Not that I would try to obscure the imminent geostrategic importance of Alaska’s proximity to Russia or anything).

    In any event, the elephant in the room on any Jewish website is Palin’s likely past support for Pat Buchanan. Tom tried to get me to drink the McCain campaign kool aid denying the importance of Buchanan’s enthusiasm for his former supporter (at least, for some odd reason, that’s how he remembers her), but given the lack of any serious vetting of Palin by Team McCain, I’m going to have to assume that their statement was an impulsive, not very credible and over-reactive defense of the CYA variety, at least until such time as more credible documentation becomes available.

    The video itself is funny. The first version I saw of it was one I saw last night posted by a blogger who wore an afro while she stares at a globe-sized disco ball resting comfortably in her hands. Good times.

  • Thanks for your kind nomination, CK. But I have to decline, because President is not a job for a nice Jewish girl. Besides, how can the US Presidency compare to the glamour of being a blogger and freelance writer?

    But if themiddle wants to run as President, I’d consider the VP slot.

  • I can’t decide if I’m more surprised that you fell for it, or that you admit to falling for it!

    Yow-za!!!

  • Oh Adam. I saw this on another site and was completely fooled until the very last frame. But I put this on Jewlicious for two reasons:

    1. To give mad props to Esther
    2. To creatively and respectfully critique McCain’s VP choice

    Don’t get me wrong, I think Palin is a remarkable woman and her record in office has been quite impressive on many levels. But if she was chosen in order to attract Hilary voters, that decision was a poor one – and I say that without passing judgment on anyone’s platform.

    That having been said Adam, you are a Jewlicious Festival alum and a long time commentator. If there’s some other content you’d like to see on Jewlicious, just ask!

  • Is this how lame Jewlicious.com has become?

    Wow ck. You went to a website, typed in a name and it made a video.

    L-A-M-E.