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Candidate's getting raw deal for remark
Thursday, March 23, 2006
By JONATHAN MASLOW,
HERALD NEWS
Editor's Note: This is an occasional opinion column on issues that matter to
Herald News readers.
It's getting harder to be a local in a world of labeling, litmus tests and
loyalty oaths.
Just ask Sami Merhi.
Merhi is the Lebanese-born Totowa businessman tapped by the Passaic County
Democrats last weekend to run for county freeholder in November.
Before the guy had a chance to introduce himself in public and tell us what he
stands for, a whispering campaign labeled Merhi as soft on terrorism because of
a comment he made four years ago that he saw a distinction between "the
cold-blooded murderers" (his words) who attacked the United States on 9/11 and
the Palestinian suicide bombers fighting Israeli occupation. In a Jersey minute,
two Democrats from out of county, Gov. Jon S. Corzine and U.S. Sen. Robert
Menendez, said they wouldn't support Merhi's candidacy for county freeholder.
Without letting Merhi explain his remarks -- or, perish the thought, defending
his right to express an unpopular position -- Menendez sent a letter to Passaic
County Democratic Party Chairman John Currie urging him "to address" the Merhi
problem.
Translation: Dump him.
Passaic County Democrats will meet on Saturday to review Merhi's candidacy.
Merhi's remarks at a fundraiser for Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. in April 2002 were
reported in a New York Times article at a time when President Bush had shrunk
political debate to -- "You are either with us or you are with the terrorists."
As it turned out, "with us" meant three years of war in Iraq based upon phony
intelligence, and "with the terrorists" meant labeling anyone who disagreed with
the Bush administration as unpatriotic.
What does it have to do with Merhi's qualifications to run for Passaic County
Freeholder?
In a word, nothing.
What voters in Passaic County want to know about Sami Merhi is what is he going
to do about making county government run effectively, about providing public
services, educating children, creating good jobs, public health, a good
environment and keeping costs under control?
If the man is a hatemonger, a bigot, an anti-Semite, that will come out in his
campaign. Then the people can decide not to hire him on the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November.
But that's for county voters to decide. The Corzine-Menendez attempts to
blacklist Merhi are an unwelcome intrusion into local politics, which serve only
to divide us along ideological and ethnic lines that have little to do with
local concerns. When fear drives politics, good people are deterred from
standing for local office. The real test for leaders is their skill in uniting
people of different backgrounds and beliefs. Local politics should provide a
refuge from such globaloney. Candidates like Sami Merhi should have the
political space to state their ideas, whether right or wrong, and have the
inalienable right to change their minds.
Only open minds and open debate can shape public opinion in a democracy based on
the consent of the governed.
Otherwise freedom of speech becomes nothing more than the right to agree with
the government.
Reach Jonathan Maslow at (973) 569-7110 or maslow@northjersey.com
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The autumn/winter edition of
Banipal Magazine is dedicated to the
memory of Palestinian poet Mahmoud
Darwish.
Click here for more... 
