National briefs

By JTA

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Tom Lantos dies

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Tom Lantos, 80, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress, a Democrat from California, died at Bethesda Naval Hospital in suburban Washington, Jewish sources said Feb. 10.

Lantos announced last month that this term would be his last in the U.S. House of Representatives; he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. Lantos was known as a strident defender of human rights. The Democrats’ regaining of Congress in 2006 landed him in one of the most powerful positions in the House, the chairman of its Foreign Affairs Committee.

Savage attacks Lantos

SAN FRANCISCO—Discussing the recent death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), San Francisco-based nationally syndicated, Jewish, conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage (born Michael Alan Weiner) said on his Feb. 11 broadcast, “You’re not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn’t do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I’ll make an exception. I think he was one of the most—he was a scoundrel. And I’ll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life…You can’t have it both ways. You can’t suffer such a horror and then use it as a weapon without people noticing it.”

   
Kucinich denies AIPAC offer of election help

NEW YORK (JTA)—U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich denied an Internet rumor that Jewish officials had offered to help him win re-election if he dropped impeachment efforts against President Bush. The rumor, which has gained traction on left-wing blogs, alleges that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and several representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee offered to “guarantee” Kucinich’s re-election to the House if he dropped his effort to impeach President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. According to the account, Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, threw them out of his office. An official in Kucinich’s office told JTA that the rumors were baseless. “It never happened,” the official said.
   
Lowey recovering

WASHINGTON (JTA)—U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), a senior Jewish congresswoman, is recovering from a “minor coronary incident.” Lowey, who heads the powerful foreign operations subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, collapsed last Feb. 9 after delivering a speech at a White Plains, N.Y., rally for a prominent constituent: presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Lowey, who represents Westchester County, has been released from a hospital and expected to return to work within two weeks, a spokesman told Newsday.

Bush defers on Durban II

WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Bush administration is deferring a decision on U.S. participation in the second U.N. Durban Conference against Racism. “There has been no decision as to future participation because it will be held in 2009,” Gregg Rickman, the top U.S. official dealing with anti-Semitism, said at a hearing of Congress’ Helsinki Commission. Canada formally opted out of the 2009 reconvening of the conference, pointing out that the inaugural conference in 2001 devolved into an anti-Semitic shout fest hijacked by states hostile to Israel, notably Iran.

Paper refuses NCJW ad

NEW YORK (JTA)—The Seattle Times refused to run an ad for a National Council of Jewish Women-sponsored production.The Times said it would not print an ad for the Feb. 24 production of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” unless the accompanying artwork was altered, according to Lauren Simonds, the executive director of the council’s Seattle section. The artwork comes from a poster showing a red valentine with what appears to be a vagina in the middle. “They were very clear with us that they would not run the ad unless we altered the artwork,” Simonds said. “We were just as clear with them that that is not what the National Council of Jewish Women is about. It is not what the ‘Vagina Monologues’ is about.” Mei-Mei Chan, the paper’s vice president of advertising, told the Seattle Weekly that “the artwork was something we didn’t feel was appropriate for our audience.” Simonds said the artwork “is not explicit” and comes from an image in the play itself. Simonds said The Times’ rejection “was not particular to ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ women or Jews.” She noted the paper has reworded ads for penile erection aids, “and they have trouble with ads for bras."

Chicago-area synagogue is greenest

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A Chicago-area synagogue was rated the greenest synagogue in America. A $10 million project earned The Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill., the highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The “platinum” rating was awarded for features such as using recycled concrete, sensor-controlled lighting and a parking space reserved for a hybrid car.

No Dem delegate status for Lieberman

WASHINGTON (JTA)—U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will not get delegate status at the Democratic convention. Lieberman remains a registered Democrat and caucuses with the party in the Senate despite his 2006 reelection as an independent after he lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont. That status might have qualified as a “super delegate,” one of several hundred automatic delegates—among them, Congress members—who are not selected through the primaries and caucus system. However, Connecticut state Democratic officials told The Hartford Courant that Lieberman’s endorsement of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) violates a rule against endorsing a candidate across the aisle.

Obermann slams Dobbs over ADL comment

NEW YORK (JTA)—MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann slammed CNN’s Lou Dobbs for his attack on the Anti-Defamation League. On his television program “Countdown” Feb. 7, Olbermann gave his daily “worst person in the world” award to Dobbs for comments earlier in the week in which the CNN host called the ADL “a joke.” In an exchange on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Feb. 11, Janet Murguia, a Latino civil rights activist, cited ADL research into extremist groups whose representatives Dobbs had featured on his show, and then she described the league as a respected voice. “Not by me,” Dobbs replied, “It’s a joke.”