Lebanese International Activism

Should we, The Lebanese Diaspora, support people like Jeanine Pirro?

I have been checking the Lebanese Lobby’s Website for a while.
At first, I had my doubts that it followed an old fashion LBC-esque Maronitism, but it didn’t take me long to realize that, like Annahar, it has a real March-14 essence. It takes pride in both Bashir Jmayyel and Rafic Hariri, and it likes to collect News tidbits about the diversity of the Lebanese people.

But what caught my attention is that they have a “We support Jeanine Pirro” banner. Jeanine Pirro is an American of Lebanese Descent, who is running for the U.S. senate race in 2006.
Now the question is: “Should we support someone who is in a quest for power, merely for the fact that they are of Lebanese Descent?”

The obvious answer is: of course. After all, we keep on complaining about American “unfair” foreign policy that is “directed by the Jewish lobby”. We play the victim’s role instead of being proactive and play the American Game of Power, which is one that is not difficult to enter. Especially with our nature as Lebanese. We’re everywhere, we’re well connected, we’re well educated, we’re rich and we love our motherland. Rumors have it that the Lebanese in Ohio, who decided to vote for George W. Bush, made the little but important margin he needed to beat John Kerry.

But here’s the caveat: Once the Lebanese become powerful, they lose pride in their Lebanese-ness. This exacerbated a fellow Lebanese blogger who wrote extensively on this topic: Why, he asks, do public Lebanese-origin figures like Ziad Doueiry, Gibran Khalil Gibran, Shakira, Salma Hayek and others shy away from their Lebanese origin?. Some honorable exceptions like Carlos Ghosn do exist. But Jeanine Pirro, whom the Lebanese Lobby proudly supports, doesn’t mention anything in her biography that has to do with her Lebanese heritage. In fact, I have to take the Lobby’s word for it. There’s no proof that she’s Lebanese.

Perhaps March-14, after reaching all its conclusions and after the long, slow days of suspense are over, will instill a new sense of pride to the Lebanese Everywhere.

But for now, the question remains: should we support Jeanine Pirro?
Waiting for your input.