Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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When everything seems to be coming apart, it is good to remember that the hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone.
For everyone under 50, please forgive the reference and summon Google for a better understanding. I admit that sometimes it is frustrating to have to explain what should already be known but is no longer taught in school. I don’t blame the young folks for what they don’t know — although many of the decidedly incurious among them share some blame in this latest information deficit phenomenon — because we, my generation and the one that followed, are responsible for this glaring failure to educate.
I thought about the skeleton song as I watched — along with relatively few Americans — the Republican debate this past Wednesday night. Given that the star of the GOP presidential show was a no-show, again, there was little reason to tune in to NBC to watch the also-rans running for second place.
Except.
Except that what I saw and heard for the first time in a very long time of watching Republican debates was substance. Yep, I said it. The debate, while still full of characteristic name-calling and talking over — make that shouting over — each other, included some opportunity for real policy discussion.
Specifically, given the state of our current events, the war in the Middle East between Israel and the Iran-supported terrorists of Hamas was front and center for the Republican presidential hopefuls who did show up to debate.
Those who would be commander-in-chief of the United States military forces, through the office of president, were steadfast and resolute in their support for Israel as it fights to eradicate the existential threat of terrorists in its midst.
Yes, there was no equivocation in the voices and words of specifically Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, or former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. They were clear and to the point — Hamas is bad news, the worst kind, and must be destroyed.
Even businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rightly jumped in on the side of truth and justice, although one could argue they did it with an unnecessarily distracting rhetorical flourish!
I was focused on the substance of the GOP position — the moral clarity with which it was presented — in contrast to what is happening on the Democratic side of the ledger.
With the essential and unequivocal exception of President Joe Biden — who has been steadfast of purpose and an outstanding example of friendship and leadership in the face of adversity — there has been little on the Democratic side of the aisle to compare.
If it is true that thigh bones and knee bones and, especially, backbones are all interconnected and won’t work unless they work together, then it is equally true that the rampant antisemitism that has been unleashed on our streets and on our college campuses, if left unchecked and allowed to grow, will destroy the ideals of our country as well as the idea of an America in which everyone has value and is valued.
And that is where I believe the Democrats are losing touch with themselves and their fellow Americans.
Most of our countrymen, while they hate to see the death and destruction in Gaza on their TV sets, hated much more to see the carnage and the pure evil and inhumanity of the terrorists as they burned children, beheaded babies and raped and pillaged their way through Israeli communities on Oct. 7.
As we would not tolerate such an attack on our fellow citizens, we do not tolerate it when it happens to our friends.
Biden understands that and has earned himself a place among the righteous — if not in his Democratic Party then certainly in the United States and without a doubt in the hearts of every Israeli — and it remains to be seen whether the rest of the Democratic Party will join the president in this quest for moral clarity.
And that brings me back to the GOP debate. Whether for political points or just because they believe what they are saying, the Republican hopefuls — minus the elephant who was not in the room — were unequivocal in their support for Israel and their understanding that Jews in America should not have to be fearful in their homes, their places of worship, on their college campuses and in their workplaces.
And, yet, Jews are fearful, more than they have ever been in this country.
And, so far, the Democrats have been found wanting when it comes to speaking out against this existential hate that is gripping the world right now. They can’t, for example, even declare on the floor of the House of Representatives that lies and slander and words designed to endanger every Jewish person in the country, uttered by a member of their own House, will not be tolerated.
The only Democrat in the Nevada congressional delegation to speak out against this scourge of hateful and life-threatening rhetoric was Rep. Susie Lee. Good for her.
It is fair to ask “ where were the others” when it came time for moral clarity?
Since everything these days is political, and everything, as we know from the skeleton song, is connected one to the other, it is not a reach to think that what we heard among the also-rans in the GOP debate should also be heard among the Democrats when it is their turn to speak. And to act.
There are far too many Americans who are scared to death of their neighbors because good people are doing nothing when we all should be doing something.
Israelis have no choice but to risk it all so they can find a way to live in peace in a dangerous neighborhood — some day.
Americans do have a choice. We can follow President Biden’s example of stalwart, moral leadership or we can cower in the background, afraid to make a decision.
One way gives hope for a better future; the other leads only to days on end of fear about our tomorrows.
Which will it be?
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun
