I’ve never tried it before, but I must admit that salmon goes very well with talks about nuclear bombs. I can’t explain it, but it’s a reality. In any case, our Jon goes on with a lot of blah, blah, blah, telling us again and again how great this deal is.
What is the deal exactly? Nobody eating salmon will bother to read 159 pages of the deal. Reading, as every child knows, doesn’t go well with eating. Especially fish.
What’s interesting to note here is that he speaks of this deal more positively than either President Obama or Secretary Kerry have done to date. To them, the deal does have flaws but it was the best that could possibly have been achieved. To Jon, the deal is excellent. No flaws, no issues. Period.
That said, this Jon was of course assigned to speak to these Jews by the White House. And I wonder: Is the White House playing some games here? Who knows! In all likelihood, the White House hasn’t even entertained the idea that journalists might be present at this meeting. If they thought that journalists would be here, they would probably be more careful. As far as I care: I hope they are not going to confiscate my driver’s license.
The salmon is almost gone, and Jon reveals to us that he has more arguments in his arsenal. He tells us, in confidence, that members of the House and Senate will have access to classified documents and other materials that will show and prove how effective, how good and how great the deal is. In other words: there’s more than meets the eye here, and the 159-page document does not stand on its own.
But only lawmakers will get to see the whole package.
As a licensed driver, I have a problem with this. What Jon is basically asking of these Jews here is to blindly follow American leaders to steer them the right way. Would I be willing to drive blindfolded and rely on Mayor Rahm Emanuel giving me instructions from the passenger’s seat? No way. Besides: Is this blind trust part of the democratic principles that this country is so proud of?
I ask a person sitting next to me to explain to me what I see and hear. His answer comes in one word: “Jew.”
Excuse me?
“Jon is Jewish, and this is how Jews work. They supported Hitler in his early days; they financed him. Why do you think that we have gotten rid of our habit?”
Is he right?
I check out our man Jon. Here’s what I read, a little message that Jon tweeted some time ago, speaking of the Jewish lobby, AIPAC: “As a Jew and Survivor son, I’m tired of AIPAC trying 2 play me and push 4 conflict with Iran.”
This is interesting, and it raises some questions. Why would this Jon be selected by the White House to speak to Chicago Jews? Couldn’t the administration designate someone else to speak to Jews? Why a Jew, and why this Jew? Is the administration trying to send the Jews a message: “Stand with us or else?”
• • •
There is more than one element to the Iran deal. For example, the money element.
A few days ago the Daily Beast ran this article about the deal:
Iran has billions in assets frozen by an international sanctions regime led by the United States and other world powers. Should a nuclear agreement be reached, as is expected later this week, these assets would be eventually released to the Iranian government.
“We are of course aware and concerned that, despite the massive domestic spending needs facing Iran, some of the resulting sanctions relief could be used by Iran to fund destabilizing actions,” a State Department official told The Daily Beast.
The amount in question, according to a number of published reports in the American media: $150 billion.
Greece would love to get its hands on this bundle. Greece, knuckling under to the strong European countries who are in the midst of teaching the Greeks proper manners, so to speak, is facing severe austerity measures for some time to come. But Iran will soon be richer than it already is, thanks to the Greece-teaching Europeans who are fully supporting the Iran deal.
I get myself another salmon. The meeting goes on.
Next to speak, via audio conference from Washington, DC, is Ambassador Dennis Ross, currently with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and formerly a special assistant to President Obama, as well as a special advisor to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Dennis, being a diplomat, says that the deal is good but that it needs a few modifications – which is of course impractical because the Iranians won’t renegotiate. This Dennis is a diplomat and as such prefers not to take sides. You never know who the next president will be, and so why should you commit to one side against the other?
The next, and last, speaker is Roey Gilad, consul general of Israel to the Midwest. Here’s a Jew talking to Jews, an Israeli diplomat talking to American Jews. Roey is straight as an arrow with them, which is quite surprising to witness – since he, too, is a diplomat, except this diplomat is willing to take a stand. And he does. A very strong one.
Roey does not speak via electronic communications but is here in the flesh. He is here with the Jews, he looks them straight in the eye, and he asks them to take a stand against their government. It’s actually shocking to witness. And then he adds: “What we are asking you is to stand with us.”
This is a very touching moment: a Jewish diplomat imploring his brethren not to desert him and his fellow countrymen.
Israeli politicians and diplomats have spoken publicly against the Iran deal, and from this perspective there’s nothing new in what’s going on here – but this is not a public event; this is an intimate event, for Jews only. Here we have a Jew, a diplomat who represents the Jewish state, the only Jewish state there is, and he is practically begging these salmon-eating Chicago Jews to stand by him and by their Jewish brethren.
How do they react? They look at him. They stare at him. And they don’t react. These Jews have good manners and they do not show emotions.
Roey doesn’t go for emotions only; he tries to reason with them as well: “It’s the first time that I hear somebody depicting it as an extremely good deal,” he says, referring to Jon’s assessment that they have just heard. “This deal is like a Swiss cheese; it has many holes in it.”
His speech is followed by an announcement that another meeting will be called in a few weeks and that the decision will be taken after that meeting. The Jews of Israel will have to wait before they get to know if Chicago Jews are supporting them or not.
• • •
Life’s tough.
Time to move on. I leave Chicago with many questions. This country makes a huge deal out of nine black people murdered by one white man, yet it is peculiarly silent about the thousands upon thousands of black people murdered by other black people.
Yes, I know. The killing in the church is a “hate” crime, unlike the ongoing black-on-black murders. But the truth is, murder is murder is murder, and a loss of life is a loss of life. In addition, the bigger problem here is that talking about black-on-black murders is not politically correct, as it could be interpreted as “racist,” but this bizarre political correctness allows for thousands upon thousands to be murdered year after year after year.
Just in Chicago alone, a police officer tells me, it is estimated that six hundred people will be murdered by the end of the year and that thousands will be shot. Where is the outcry about this senseless slaughter? Where is Andrew, the gatekeeper of justice from Georgetown, to walk the streets of America and shout for justice, peace and humanity?
Before coming to Chicago I had been told that many German descendants live in this city. Maybe they do, but they must be hiding very deep somewhere, or else they have been melted so beautifully that you can’t find them without a magnifying glass. Whatever the case, sorry for missing you.
I’ll miss Chicago. There’s something to this city that’s hard to define. The beautiful architecture interlaced and intertwined with ubiquitous rusty elevated train tracks and the people who say, “Welcome to Chicago, brother,” when they tell you that their politicians are extremely dishonest.
Yes, they do that.
My only question is: Where should I go next?
Gate Seven
Every family should have at least one hundred guns
“GOV. SCOTT WALKER OF WISCONSIN SAID ON MONDAY THAT HE WANTED to eliminate the state’s Government Accountability Board, a nonpartisan agency that oversees elections, ethics, campaign finance and lobbying,” writes the New York Times about the Wisconsin governor.
Does this mean that Wisconsin is even more corrupt than Illinois, or that Milwaukee is rougher than Chicago? I don’t know, but perhaps I should pay Wisconsin a visit. Besides, Wisconsin is Chicago’s neighbor to the north. Easy to get there, and easy does it.
I rent a new car, a white Malibu, and drive. Malibu. I love the way car companies think of their cars. Malibu. Who wouldn’t like to have a “Malibu”? Malibu. What a name!
The Cruze was nice, I must admit, but sometimes I’m into polygamy, and I want more than one. This Malibu is also bigger, a better fit for rounded people like me.
On the way to Milwaukee I stop at Racine. Racine. Nice name, isn’t it? In any case, Racine authorities claim that “Racine County has a proud and long-standing history of grassroots efforts to fight inequity and injustice, as community members work together for the common good,” and I want to see this.
I go to a local eatery and order a burger and a brandy, a “B&B” for short.
Next to my table are two men, both white, and they’re having beer. How do you get along with the blacks around here? I ask them.
I don’t know how much beer they’ve had, but they immediately become sober when they hear this question. They look at me suspiciously, as if I were a police detective about to arrest them, and both tell me that they get along great with all the blacks there are.
I tell them that I don’t buy it. Couldn’t be. I don’t know what made me say this, but I just did.
They hear me, feel more relaxed, and their tune changes. “There are people who prescribe to a culture of getting instead of giving and working. They are not good,” one of them says.
Are you talking about blacks?
“Yes,” both say.
Leah, a lovely second-year college student, sits at my table. “Thanks for coming to Racine,” she says. “I hope you enjoy it.”
I heard, I tell her, that you have a lot of crime here and many gangs. Did I hear this? No, but I’m trying to have an exciting conversation.
“That’s true, sadly. We have a lot of gangs here,” she says. “GD, which is Gangster Disciples. IG, Imperial Gangsters. Latin Kings. There are more, but I don’t know all the names.”
Do you personally know gangsters?
“No. I don’t mess with that.”
Do you know Jews?
“Personally I don’t. I never met a Jew, but I certainly know of them.”
What do you think of them?
“Most Americans don’t like the Jews, but I do.”
Why do you like them?
“I’m Christian, and because I’m Christian I like them. They are the people that the Lord likes and I do too.”
Not many Europeans would say this.
• • •
I eat my burger, drink my brandy, get up and drive. Don’t tell the cops! Once I arrive in Milwaukee I sit down for coffee with a middle-aged blond-haired woman and chat with her. I ask her to tell me a little bit about Wisconsin.
Wisconsin, she tells me, “is 52 percent German American in its Caucasian community.” Caucasian; super-PC lingo. This woman, if I’m judging her right, is more PC than the moon. (I don’t know why I think the moon is PC, but nobody can prove otherwise.)
Anyway, I think I should deal with this Ms. PC more kindly. Is Wisconsin racist? I ask her.
“I feel very uncomfortable to talk about these things,” she answers in a pained voice.
Why do you feel uncomfortable?
“Because I don’t differentiate between colors.”
I didn’t ask you about yourself, I asked about Wisconsin.
“If you push me to answer, I will.”
Please!
“We, and I don’t include myself in this, are racist. Yes. Quite racist.”
Everybody in Wisconsin is bad except for her. Of course.
I finish my coffee and walk around. In a nearby store I read this sign: “Only 2 students at a time in store.” Why only two? I ask.
“They come in groups and they steal,” the owner of the store says.
“They” means blacks. The owner of the store is Sikh.
I keep on walking and I see Shanta, a black man in his midforties who is standing next to his pickup truck. He has written a book, he tells me, and if I want a copy he will be very happy to sell me one.
What’s your story? I ask him.
“I moved to Milwaukee in 1984, when I came to meet my mother. Originally, my mother played in bands, and music, so I thought she’s Diana Ross and I idolized her. I moved to Milwaukee and I learned that my mother was a long-time criminal. She did prostitution, she did drugs, she stole; a lots of kind of crime she did. She went out for a long period of time with her prostitute friends. For a long period of time I was hungry, I was starving, and I was too young to work and I thought it was a brilliant idea to rob a pizza man. I said: I’m gonna get pizza, I’m not gonna be hungry, and I’m gonna get cash because pizza men have cash. I got caught, a juvenile case.”
Did you have a gun on you?
“No. A hammer. I was too young to get a gun. I had a hammer.”
How did you get caught?
“It was in the snow and the police followed my footprints in the snow. They went into the house and I got caught. I went to juvenile jail and when I got out I had a mental illness. I was trying to self-medicate – ”
What kind of mental illness?
“I had posttraumatic distress and bipolar disorder. I didn’t know that – ”
Who told you that you had a mental illness?
“The one who eventually became my wife. I married my psychologist.”
Is she white or black?
“White. She helped me understand myself and I got on medication. Then I started doing drugs again.”
Why?
“Because I was depressed.”
Why were you depressed? The wife was not good enough?
“She was. I didn’t go to jail to leave her!”
Is she beautiful?
“Yes.”
But they are getting divorced. “She’s twenty-four years older than I am. I’m young, I want a lot of sex.”
She doesn’t want sex?
“Not as much.”
How many times do you want to have sex per week and how many times does she want? Let’s talk numbers!
“I want it every day, two, three times.”
And she?
“Three to four times a week.”
This isn’t good enough for you?
“Not good enough.”
Shanta had gotten out of prison in August. He’d robbed someone, this time with a gun.
In your old age you got smarter…?
“I got worse!”
Ok, so you had a gun. Who did you try to rob now, a banker?
“No.”
A pizza man?
“No, not a pizza man!”
Who?
“A businessman.”
What kind of business?
“Well, one of them had a restaurant – ”
Again you were into food?
“That was one.”
How many people have you robbed?
“Several.”
How many?
“Seven.”
And on the seventh time, with the seventh man, you got caught. What mistake did you make to get caught that time?
“The mistake was that I used my car and they [police] got my license plate and I showed my face [during the robbery].”
That’s stupid.
“Very, very stupid!”
In all the robberies you made, all of them combined, how
much money did you make in total?
“Honestly? Probably about $16,000.”
Cash?
“Cash.”
People carry so much money on them?
“Businessmen.”
How did you figure out which people were businessmen?
“I robbed businessmen but also drug dealers. I robbed two drug dealers, and they had lots of money.”
The other people you robbed, the businessmen, how much money did they have on them?
“Not even $1,000!”
Did you shoot any of them? Would you shoot?
“If you give me your money I’m not gonna shoot you.”
And if I don’t?
“I’m gonna hit you. I’m gonna beat you up. And if you hurt me, I’ll shoot.”
Did you ever shoot anybody?
“Not in my robberies. No.”
A van, driven by a white man, pulls up. The driver pulls down his window and asks if I need help. I tell him that everything is all right and there’s no need to worry.
Is he a cop? I ask my new friend.
“No, he ain’t a cop.”
How do you know?
“Believe me: I know cops!”
I can’t believe that I’m standing here, spending my time with an armed robber. I take a little peek inside his truck, just to see what’s inside, and there I see a woman. I ask the lady to come out.
She does, and we talk a bit. Shanta, it turns out, is not exactly the sex machine he pretends to be. This lady wants more sex, but he won’t do it. He’s too old…
• • •
America.
This is not the America I expected to find; it is a different America.
For many years I thought that I knew something about America, but do I? The truth is that I have no clue. I am discovering it, bit by bit, soul by soul, state by state.
Who knows where this, my journey, will lead me.
• • •
Today is National Hot Dog Day, and I am going to a Bike Night to spend quality time with Harley-Davidson owners in Milwaukee, Harley-Davidson’s headquarters.
The Lies They Tell Page 11