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May 17, 2013
Lieberman is driven by faith
Woulda, coulda, shoulda been first Jewish vice-president.
PAT JOHNSON
From the time he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, Joseph Lieberman was known for his determination to keep Shabbat, even when it made serving in public life a challenge. In 2000, when Al Gore tapped him to be his vice-presidential running mate, Lieberman became probably the most high-profile observant Jew in American public life.
Among Lieberman’s several books is The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath, written with David Klinghoffer, which explores the importance of Shabbat. These reflections will form part of Lieberman’s presentation when he speaks on Sunday, June 2, in an event to mark the 10th anniversary at Congregation Schara Tzedeck of Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt and Dr. Cirelle Rosenblatt.
“My religious observance and my faith have really been the foundation of my life so, in a real sense, it’s been the base from which I have been able to do everything else I’ve been able to do, including public service,” Lieberman told the Independent in a telephone interview last week. “It gives me perspective and context and hopefully some good values to guide me as I go along, but, in a broader sense, my experience as an observant Jew in American politics … makes the point of how wonderfully – not just tolerant, but accepting – the American people are.”
Lieberman said he has never experienced antisemitism in his political career. There was a sprinkling of antisemitic commentary on the Internet, he said, just after his nomination for vice-president, but his experience on the campaign trail was quite the opposite.
“If anything, the surprise was how warmly I was greeted,” said Lieberman, who retired from the Senate last January. “There was a secret service agent assigned to my campaign and he had worked other national campaigns and for other candidates over the years and he said, ‘You know, I’ve never heard as many people say, “God bless you,” to a candidate as say it to you, and I assume most of these people are not Jewish, and I think what they’re saying is that they respect your religious observance and they feel a connection to you, even though most of them are not Jewish and probably Christian.’ I think that was a very accurate and really inspiring insight.”
About such reactions, Lieberman added, “I always say to young people that I talk to, Jewish or not Jewish, that you’re lucky to be growing up in America – and I would say it’s true of Canada, from all that I know of Canada, too – at a time when, whatever your religion, you will not have to choose between observance of your religion and your secular career goals. Obviously, that has not always been the case,” he said. “As a matter of fact, for most of history it has not been the case. So, we’re a very lucky, and I might say blessed, generation.”
Lieberman explained how his religiosity impacted his work in a country with a firm yet amorphous dedication to separation of religion and state.
“I don’t call my rabbi to ask him how I should vote on something,” he said. “But when a person in elective office makes decisions, either on how to vote or on policies in different parts of the world, including the Middle East, it’s the result of many factors. Some of it has to do in my case with my own longtime reading of history and some of it has to do, of course, with the experiences I’ve had in life that are great teachers. But some of it does have to do with the values that I learned from my religion and, in some sense, the values and lessons that come out of the narrative of the Bible.”
The 2000 presidential victory by George W. Bush was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ended the ballot counting in Florida that would have put Gore and Lieberman in the White House. Lieberman is sanguine about those events, but admitted some delight at recent comments by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor that the Supreme Court should not have taken up and decided the case.
“That was very cathartic for me,” Lieberman said. “I was fascinated with her statement … but neither her comments, nor my feelings are going to change what happened at the end of the 2000 election.
“By my nature, and also by lessons I learned from my parents that life is not about yesterday, but about today and tomorrow, I went on and, thank God, I’ve had a very productive and happy 12 or 13 years since then. But, I will always feel grateful for the opportunity that Al Gore gave me to run for vice-president, grateful to the American people for the way they accepted my candidacy, and just very upset by the way it ended, with the Supreme Court decision of five-to-four, as opposed to actually counting the votes that were cast in Florida,” he said, adding with a laugh: “So in that sense, Justice O’Connor’s comments were, I guess, somewhat pleasing.”
Returning to the Senate, Lieberman was an early and strong proponent of the war in Iraq, a position that helped cost him the Democratic nomination for re-election as senator from Connecticut in 2006. He contested the general election as an independent and won, serving a final term before announcing that he would not run again in 2012. He remains firm in his views on Iraq, while admitting failures in the war’s execution.
“I believe still, as I look back, that we were right to go into Iraq, the U.S. was right to go into Iraq and that the region, the country, the world are better off without Saddam Hussein,” he said. “Some really serious mistakes were made after Saddam Hussein was thrown out of office, out of the presidency, which ended up costing America and Iraq dearly in loss of life and, in our case, expenditure of a lot of money. But, ultimately, I also feel that it would have had terrible effects on the country – that is, Iraq – and on our credibility as the leader of the world, for us to have left in defeat. So, I’m glad that we hung in there, that the surge was adopted by President Bush, implemented largely by Gen. [David] Petraeus. Frankly, I wish we had still left some more troops there, a small number, as a message to inhibit some of the people right now, led by al-Qaeda in Iraq, that are trying to create terrible sectarian strife and civil war in that country. Bottom line: our intentions were good, some of our implementation, operations, were bad but, ultimately, I think we had to stay until we could leave without suffering a terrible defeat.”
As the senator for Connecticut, Lieberman felt particularly keenly the pain of the families who lost loved ones in the Newtown school shooting that killed 20 children, seven adults plus the murderer, in December. And he has harsh words for his congressional colleagues on the issue of gun control.
“The U.S. has a lot to learn from Canada and a lot of other countries on this subject,” he said. “I think, so far, Congress has performed in a way that was, really, more than disappointing for me, it was both really both offensive and embarrassing. Usually in political debates, I try to understand the arguments of people on the other side from me, and very often I can understand them, although I disagree with them.”
In this case, he said, he cannot understand how anyone could oppose the extension of background checks that already apply to purchases through federally licensed firearms dealers to purchases of firearms at gun shows or via the Internet.
“Part of it is the NRA [National Rifle Association], which organizes, and some of the other gun rights advocacy groups,” Lieberman said. “Part of it is that a lot of members of Congress feel that it’s not just the NRA, but they feel there are a lot of people in their states or districts who really care about their right to own guns. And I understand that, and I’ve felt that, even here in Connecticut.”
However, he said, political leaders need to show courage. None of the proposals – from the failed attempt to ban the sale of automatic military assault weapons to the similarly failed efforts to extend the background check requirements for gun purchasers – would limit the constitutionally protected right to own guns.
“You have to have the courage to stand up,” he said. “Congress has the ability to draw lines. None of these will at all affect your right to continue to own the guns that you own, so it’s been a very disappointing reaction to Newtown at the federal level, Congress. I hope that a compromise is going to come soon, that people of both parties can support. I know that some of my former colleagues in the Senate are working on that. I hope they’re successful.”
Lieberman has never been to Vancouver, but will not see much of it, having to return home quickly after the event to see his 14-year-old granddaughter graduate from middle school. He said he is particularly pleased to join Schara Tzedeck in marking the 10th anniversary of the rabbi and his family.
“This Congregation Schara Tzedeck has a very impressive and proud history and I’m honored to be asked to be there on this special occasion,” said Lieberman.
Pat Johnson is a Vancouver writer and principal in PRsuasiveMedia.com.
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