Dear Jews: Stop the Obama Paranoia

I can't tell you how many e-mails I've received in the past two weeks that attempt to revive all of the absurd fears about Barack Obama, mainly of the sort that suggest he's a Manchurian Candidate who has been groomed his entire life by some Middle Eastern version of KAOS to seize the White House and immediately annihilate Israel. It's craziness of this sort:

Oh, and by the way, remember the college roommates that where born in Pakistan?  They are in charge of all those "small" Internet campaign contribution for Obama.  Where is that money coming from?  The poor and middle class in this country?  Or could it be from the Middle East?

And of this sort:

Now, we have Obama running for President.  Valerie Jarrett was Michele Obama's boss.  She is now Obama's chief advisor and he does not make any major decisions without talking to her first.  Where was Jarrett born? Ready for this? Shiraz, Iran!  Do we see a pattern here?

I'm torn by my desire to destroy these ridiculous smears (Valerie Jarrett was born to American parents working in Iran!) and ignore them. When conspiracy-theorists direct their malevolent energies at Jews, I usually try to ignore the particulars of their arguments, simply to avoid crediting them in any way.  So let me do the opposite: Instead of debunking, I'll bunk:
Barack Obama has called Israel America's strongest ally in the Middle East; he wants to stop Iran from getting the bomb; he is a stalwart enemy of Hamas and Hezbollah; he is the darling of Chicago Jewry; he is the protege of Sen. Dick Durbin, whose election was aided immeasurably by AIPAC; he himself is close to AIPAC; his advisers include Dennis Ross, Jim Steinberg and Richard Clarke; and on and on and on.

So, all you rumor-mongering, fever-headed Jewish conspiracists: Support McCain, if you want, and there are credible reasons for doing so, but stop smearing Obama in the face of overwhelming evidence that the man is a great friend of Jews and of Israel. After a point, it becomes obvious that what you fear is not Israel's destruction, but the presence of an African-American in the White House. And that's disgusting.

And on that note, to all my MOTs, have an easy fast. This blog most definitely does not roll on Yom Kippur.