March 22, 2017
NO ONE HATES JUST MEXICANS:
Sebastian Gorka, Uphold Your Oath To The America People (Jane Eisner, March 21, 2017, The Forward)
http://forward.com/news/national/366689/sebastian-gorka-uphold-your-oath/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=news
Remember, in the end, Gorka doesn't work for Trump, or for his patron, chief strategist Steven Bannon. He works for me. And for you. [...]On March 21, the Forward again asked the White House whether Gorka has high level security clearance and whether that clearance is necessary for his position on the new Strategic Initiatives Group, which Daily Beast National Security reporter Kimberly Dozier describes as "an internal White House think tank" created by Bannon and Trump adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.The administration's answer to our question spoke volumes: "No comment."
The public, and the press, have a right to receive a definitive answer as to whether Gorka joined Vitézi Rend; three separate leaders told the Forward on the record that Gorka swore allegiance to the group. He also signs his name with Vitézi Rend special "v," and he wore the group's medal to one of Trump's inaugural balls. [...]We also have a right to question Gorka's credentials. He presents himself as an expert on radical jihadist ideology, but does not speak Arabic, has spent no time in the Middle East, has never published in peer-reviewed journals, and holds views about Islam that are outside the mainstream of both Democratic and Republican thought.And that is why the refusal of Klein and others on the Jewish right to insist on answers to these important questions is so disturbing. Gorka's belief that the West is engaged in a war with global jihadists, and that a virulent ideology sweeping through the Islamic world must be forcefully repulsed, so neatly dovetails with their worldview that they are willing to dismiss all these other reasonable concerns. Concerns that ought to worry us as Jews. Concerns that ought to worry us as Americans.Some organizations, including the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, have called for Gorka's resignation from the administration. Others like the Anti-Defamation League have called on him to disavow his past ties.We have a simple request that we repeat again: Answer the questions we have a right to ask.
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 22, 2017 6:36 AM