"Gedolim" Dictating Politics and Contribute to Global Economic Meltdown

Sound crazy? Well, it's not. It's not that the fummie vote necessarily had any impact on how the elections went in 2000 and in 2004, though, perhaps, had the "Gedolim" NOT intervened, perhaps more frummies would have voted for Gore in 2000 in FL or for Kerry in 2004 in Ohio.

Case in point: In 2000, my (now) ex rabbi, Rabbi S in LA (and those of you who know me quite likely know of whom I speak) asked me to ask his rosh yeshiva (mine, then, as well, has since passed on) for whom he (Rabbi S) should vote. You see, Rabbi S was VERY excited about the Gore-Lieberman ticket. He was ecstatic that not only a Jew, but an ORTHODOX Jew, was on the ticket for the second highest office in the land.

His hopes were crushed. When I asked the Rosh Yeshiva, he said he would NOT vote for Gore-Lieberman. when I directly asked for whom he WOULD vote, he stated he would vote for Bush. I imagine this scenario played itself out in many places all over the country.

Well, election day came. It so happens I did NOT vote that year because my absentee ballot never showed up at my NY yeshiva.

The next day, I asked Rabbi S, "So, for whom did you vote?"

Rabbi S replied, "You know, I went into the voting booth, and I REALLY wanted to punch the hole for Gore-Lieberman. But then, I closed my eyes, and recited [translated from Hebrew]: 'In the name of the mitzvah of having Emunas Tzadikim [faith in the righteous]' and punched the hole for Bush-Cheney. It was difficult, but my rebbi told me to do so, so I did."

I imagine this scenario, as well, played out across the country. Perhaps for some it was more difficult than for others, but that day, thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of frummie sheep converted themselves to the complete antithesis of what it means to be a Jew, and certainly the antithesis of what it means to be a Torah observant, supposedly Orthodox Jew (though, as I've stated many times, Chareidi/yeshivish people are no more Torah observant than Reform Jews; they just don't observe in different ways). They converted to Republicanism. And it's sick.

And look what it's done. Once again so many "gedolim" and "chachamim" ("wise" people) once again forgot what it means to be a "chacham," a wise person: They did NOT anticipate what might happen if the Republicans took over.

And look what it's gotten us. An illegal war in Iraq. An economy in complete shambles. A United States deeply hated (or at least very much DISliked) by much of the global world. Outsourcing at astonishing rates. Job losses. A recession, possibly even a DEPression. To name but a few.

So much for seeing the "nolad" - for seeing around the corner and anticipating the outcome of such influence. Because they failed. Miserably.

If this is the type of leadership the Chareidi "gedolim" have to offer, well, they can go to hell. They're not "gedolim." They're a bunch of hooligans who strong-arm their followers into doing their bidding for their own twisted purposes.

And fools like Rabbi S in the Pico/Robertson area of Los Angeles, and so many more like him, played right into their own leaders' hands.

Again, as I stated before, these people voting for the opposite of the country's best interests quite likely did not have much, if any impact (except MAYBE Florida in 2000) on the outcome. But this mass conversion sickens me to the core, because being a Republican and voting for a people who think only of themselves and of no one else is so completely the antithesis of being a Jew, and deep in his own core, I think Rabbi S KNEW this, which is why he really had to convince himself that this Rosh Yeshiva was correct.

And boy, were they BOTH completely and utterly wrong.