Whatever your political affiliation, you gotta appreciate a politician who is willing to break the party mold. NPR reports that Koch, a democrat, recently rallied support for now congressman Bob Turner, a republican. Turner unexpectedly beat rival David Weprin last week when he became the first republican congressman of the ninth congressional district since 1920.
During Turner's campaign, Koch provided vocal support in an effort to admonish President Obama for (among other things) his ambivalence, or even hostility, toward Israel, a country that has historically been a close ally of the United States. For years, it was acknowledged that Israel was the only stable democracy in the middle east, and as such, Israel needed our support. After a series of political tussles, Mr. Obama's delivered a speech which expressed his desire to have Israel return to its 1967 borders. Without editorializing too much on this, I'll just adopt what Gene Simmons said.
It's nice to know that despite turmoil in the region, Turkey's repeated acts of hostility toward Israel, and the looming specter of unilateral Palestinian statehood, some politicians have resolved to stick to their guns. Whether this is for altruistic or political reasons, the world may never know. (As Koch put it, "Jews are only 2 percent of the American population but God put them in Florida and Pennsylvania ... where their votes are extremely important.") In either case, I say it's great news to see a politician stop the partisan posturing for just a moment to actually stand up for something he believes in. (NPR interview with Koch, here.)
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