Taking my "Democratic" Congressman out behind the woodshed

Don't roll your eyes.

This isn't just ANOTHER diary of mine complaining about Congressman Eliot Engel's involvement with Rev. John Hagee's Doomsday cult known as Christian's United for Israel. This is a blog about how I'm making Congressman Engel's life tough, and how I'm reminding him that his obligation to the Democratic Party and his constituents far outweigh any quid pro quo agreement he may have in speaking at this conference of war-mongering, anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic nutjobs.

I was frustrated yesterday morning. I had blogged about Engel's involvement with Rev. Hagee on The Albany Project and on my blog Left of the Hudson.

The blogs netted some results. A few local politicians quietly contacted Engel and asked him to drop his speaking engagement and a small group of his constituents complained to his office. Still, Engel was resolute-he was attending Rev. Hagee's conference in June.

Frustrated by a lack of results, I turned up the heat. Yesterday, I wrote a letter (quoted below) to my fellow Rockland County Committee members saying that I would not be carrying ballot petitions for Engel this summer. A large group of committee members are joining me. Then I sent my e-mail to Bronx and Westchester Democratic Committee Members and once again, many of these good Democrats have my back, one has even complained to Engel's fellow New York Congress member, Nita Lowey, who at least acted upset when she heard the news.

Since, traffic on my blog has taken off and my e-mail inbox is plump. But this is not as left self-serving as it sounds-it's not like I make any money from Google ads. The blog was set up last month solely because so many people in my area don't get enough local political news.

I just thought that I'd point out here that while blogs are effective, there's few things more powerful and viral than an e-mail chain. I'm thinking that the Congressman will have his phones off the hook today.

Here's my letter:

Dear Democratic Committee Members:
I will not be carrying a petition for Congressman Eliot Engel this week.

My action-or my lack of action-is my steadfast objection to Congressman Engel's unwavering support for Reverend John Hagee and his cult-like group, Christians United for Israel (CUFI).

This may also be viewed as an act of party disloyalty by some. But I maintain that my refusal to carry these petitions is a righteous protest, in the true spirit of the Democratic Party. I am protesting against Congressman Engel and argue that he has harmed the very morals and principles that guide this party and define us as Democrats.

On Tuesday July 22, Congressman Engel will be attending and speaking at the Christians United for Israel's Washington-Israel Summit, as he has done the previous two years. He will be giving the "Middle East Briefing" along with conservative and anti-choice activist Gary Bauer, noted Republican Party stenographer William Kristol, and warmongering and theocratic Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana). At other times during the conference, the dais will be graced by Democratic turncoat and Iraq War supporter, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Rev. Hagee himself, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Has Been), and Clifford D. May, the president of the neo-conservative Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the Chairman of a hyper-neurotic organization known as the Committee on the Present Danger. There are no other Democrats attending this conference.

More than a week ago, Engel's office was contacted by concerned constituents and members of the media who read about his attendance at the conference. Engel's press secretary promised a response last Thursday, but no response came. Congressman Engel is ignoring this issue, hoping that we'll forget about it and the local Democrats will let the whole matter slide.

So, why should you be so upset by this? First of all, Rev. Hagee is the same clergy member that has said, at various times, that Hitler was "doing God's will" by hunting the Jews and sending them back to Israel, that "gay sin" was the cause of Hurricane Katrina, and that the Roman Catholic Church is "The Great Whore" and the mother of prostitutes that was revealed in the book of Revelation.

Recently, an audiotape of one of Hagee's sermons surfaced where he claimed that the current "the Antichrist" is half-Jewish-as he claims Hitler was-and a "fierce" homosexual. This statement is obvious hate language that reveals contempt for non-Christians and the gay community. I find his words to be disgusting; I would never associate with anyone that would say such things about his fellow man.

Now, what about Christians United for Israel? As revealed by Max Blumenthal, in a revealing video last year (which you can access from The Huffington Post, YouTube and from some of the links I provided below), CUFI is a group that uniformly lobbies the government to attack Iran because it plays to the group's eschaton beliefs. Yes, CUFI is nothing more but a fatalistic Doomsday cult that believes a theoretical State of Israel is a necessary condition for the "War of Armageddon" and for like-minded Christians to experience "The Rapture." This group cares nothing about Jews or Israel, they only seek to put all the gears in motion and set ahead their Doomsday clock and watch this scenario to play out into a bloody war, a war which the group predicts will kill a third of the humans on Earth.

Members of the group are on the record in Mr. Blumenthal's video as stating that their support of Israel is based solely upon this Armageddon scenario. So why should we believe otherwise and why won't Congressman Engel? And now, the group sees Iran as an imminent threat to Israel and a possible and fortunate trigger to their end-of-the-world scenario. Therefore CUFI is currently lobbying the United States government to destroy Iran without questioning the validity and morality of such a war.

I find it totally unacceptable that a member of the Democratic Party-and our supposedly progressive Congressman nonetheless-continues to support, acquiesce to, and appease groups like CUFI. Without a doubt, CUFI is a dangerous group of maniacal war-mongering theocrats and dominionists. They do not represent even a negligible percent of Congressman Engel's constituency. So why does Eliot Engel, who we support with our signs, petitions, and donations, continue to support CUFI? That's one question I would like to see answered by the Congressman.

In the meantime, we have got to convince Congressman Engel to stop his continuing support of the CUFI cult and Rev. John Hagee. This is not just an unfortunate alliance, it is outright treason to our beliefs and to our party.

I sincerely believe that we are obligated as Democrats to stand up for the fundamental principles of this party and for the shared vision we see for this country. Our loyalties to individual politicians should be tempered by how well they adhere to these principles.

Therefore, anyone's choice not to carry Congressman Engel's ballot is not an act of party disloyalty, but a true patriotic act of believers in democracy, peace, and freedom. Please forward this e-mail to other committee members and colleagues if you are so inclined.

Since I wrote the letter, I have gotten many responses from other Democrats, including Democrats in the Bronx and Westchester County.

I also e-mailed the local newspapers, specifically targeting Riverdale, the heart of Engel's support base. Later, I noticed that one site accessed my blog several times (the original letter had links embedded in the text) and it was The Riverdale Press.

Yeserday, they published an article about Engel-Hagee.

As I'm not a resident of the Bronx, viral e-mail and Rockland County blog items were not mentioned but my blog that I posted on DailyKos was; they even borrowed heavily from the text and its major themes. I feel that I'm getting somewhere.

I also sent the e-mail to NY Democratic Assembly Members whose districts are in Engel's Congressional District. My purpose was so these elected officials know of Engel's stance and perhaps one brave member could stand for a resolution condemning the Congressman's actions (it's not like they never introduce or even pass such resolutions).

I got some nice responses, but Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Assembly member from the 81st district sent me this terse and dubious response, "Please do not send political e-mails to the taxpayer-paid assembly web site."

Wrong answer Assemblyman! There is absolutely nothing wrong with a NY State taxpayer contacting a politician about such matters. I wish Dinowitz should have been less of a weasel and more upfront with me; the real reason that he didn't like the e-mail is that he's the three time president of the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, an organization of which Engel is the titular head.

Anyway, blogs are really good tools for getting your message out there into the community, but I don't think anything beats the viral e-mail. We've got several surprises in store for Congressman Engel, so stay tuned folks.