Terrifying the Jews

In other words, McCain’s latest campaign strategy.

We saw it in Pennsylvania, where prominent Republicans sent out an e-mail to Jewish voters likening the situation in 2008 to the situation in Europe in the 1930s and ’40s (with Obama akin to Neville Chamberlain, an enabler of evil — then the Nazis, now Iran).

And we’re seeing it again in a new McCain ad likely to be aired in Florida (if it hasn’t started airing already).

Via Benen, the ad says this:

Iran. Radical Islamic government. Known sponsors of terrorism. Developing nuclear capabilities to ‘generate power’ but threatening to eliminate Israel.

Obama says Iran is a “tiny” country, “doesn’t pose a serious threat.” Terrorism, destroying Israel, those aren’t “serious threats”?

Obama — dangerously unprepared to be president.

Let’s go to the videotape!

What Obama actually said, back in May, was that Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela are “are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.” (And his point was that the U.S. engaged a superpower like the Soviet Union diplomatically, so why not an enemy like Iran?)

Which, of course, is absolutely true. Cuba isn’t a threat at all, Venezuela has oil, and Iran may or may not have nuclear weapon capability sometime in the future. Last time I checked, these rogue states didn’t have thousands of missiles pointed at the U.S. (or anywhere else, for that matter, including Israel). (As for Iran, Ahmadinejad is mostly bluster aimed at domestic consumption. I don’t like him, and I certainly don’t approve of such anti-Israel sentiment, nor of Iran’s sponsorship of some terrorist organizations, but let’s not exaggerate the threat. It’s not in any way an immediate one.)

But no matter to McCain, whose campaign is all about lying and smearing and deceiving and otherwise trying to scare the hell out of voters, to portray Obama both as a dark and dangerous Other and as an enemy to Israel.

Bloody nonsense on both counts.

(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)