All the President’s Guests
By Daniel Treiman
Who is President Bush bringing with him to Israel? The White House has released the names of the “U.S. Honorary Delegation to attend celebrations in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel on May 14-15, 2008 in Jerusalem, Israel.”
The list seems to lean pretty decidedly to the right, with a hefty representation of prominent Jewish Republicans, as well as quite a few figures from the business and Jewish organizational worlds.
It’s an almost exclusively Jewish list — of the 79 individuals listed, the only one I have reason to suspect isn’t Jewish is Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. (It’s just a hunch…)
Along with liberals and gentiles, there’s also a relative dearth of elected officials. The only four are Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, California Insurance Commissioner Steve L. Poizner, Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro — all Republicans — and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a Democrat who broke with his party to endorse the White House run of fellow Arizonan John McCain.
Hollywood, meanwhile, is represented in the person of actor Ron Silver, who spoke in support of President Bush at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Here is the White House release:
January 4, 2008, 4:00pm
The Country So Nice That Bush Wants To Visit Twice?
By Daniel Treiman
About to make the first visit of his presidency to Israel, Presdient Bush reportedly is already planning a second trip to the Jewish state.
Ha’aretz reports that Bush plans to visit again in May for a convention Israeli President Shimon Peres will hold to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state.
Advertisements
Advertisements