Gary Hart was right ...

... about one thing, at least.

Hart was criticized last week for this statement on the grounds that it was a veiled anti-Semitic jibe at Jewish Americans who support the U.S.-Israel relationship

We must not let our role in the world be dictated by ... Americans who too often find it hard to distinguish their loyalties to their original homelands from their loyalties to America and its national interests.

I disagree with the allegation that the statement was either anti-Semitic or even targeted at Jewish Americans. But I did find a perfect example of what Hart was talking about.

In a story in today's San Francisco Chronicle about yesterday's Saddam-friendly "peace" riot, headlined "Bay Area anti-war coalition building the beginnings of a rainbow Anti-war movement galvanizing minorities" we learn what motivated some of the immigrants who took to the streets:

In the 400,000-strong Filipino community, many have friends or family members working in the Middle East as maids and construction workers, said Rhonda Ramiro, a San Francisco resident. An estimated 1.5 million Filipinos are employed in such jobs there.
..."And the older people lived through martial law (in the Philippines) or think that a war will bring more American military presence in the Philippines."

Somebody should read these people the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 17, 2003 07:59 AM