JustASC

In the “is nothing sacred?” category: Hillel Halkin criticizes Obama on the CONTENTS OF HIS PRAYERS.

Writing about Ma’ariv’s publication of the filched prayer note Obama stuck in the Western Wall, Halkin complains:

Frankly, I’d feel a bit better about Mr. Obama if his prayer had simply said, “Lord, help me to be president.” It’s perhaps churlish of me, but the suspicion lurks that that’s what he would have written had he felt sure it would not have ended up in the newspapers.

Churlish is a nice way of putting it. But how can a presidential candidate, especially one as scrutinized as Obama, ever trust that so private an action would not become public?

Frankly, I’d feel a bit better about Mr. Halkin if he had a little rachmones for a guy surrounded by an army of bloggers and pundits ready to pounce on his slightest misstep in Israel. 

Besides, what kind of creep stands humbled at the base of a holy site and writes “Lord, get me that promotion” or “Lord, help me win this law suit”? Wouldn’t the average person be more likely to be inspired to, I don’t know, elevate his language? “Dear Lord, in your infinite wisdom, may you give me the strength to live up to my potential, and others the wisdom to appreciate my gifts”, that sort of thing? It’s the Kotel, for God’s sake, not a Ouija board.

Meanwhile, other bloggers are trying to make hay of Ma’ariv’s response that Obama’s note was “approved for publication in the international media even before he put in the Kotel.” Obama’s people deny this, however.

And then there’s this weird statement from the Ma’ariv spokesman, in response to a lawyer’s charge that the newspaper had violated Obama’s privacy:

“In any case, since Obama is not a Jew, publishing the note does not constitute an infringement on his right to privacy.”

I am so proud.  

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm and is filed under JustASC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.