I saw a San Diego headline today online. "Jewish veterans, local ACLU latest to sue over cross," it read. I immediately thought, "Are these people crazy?"

Wouldn't their organization — and the nation — be better served if they went to synagogues to secure them from attacks such as the one in Seattle and also talked to the congregations about supporting the US military? Do these veterans believe history and wars ended with the creation of the UN and this cross is the place for their energies today?

The Jewish War Veterans website states,

"The cross on Mt. Soledad clearly communicates an inappropriate message of favoritism and endorsement of the majority faith"

Oh, really? The people of a nation reaffirming a  majority faith (in wartime, no less) is such a bad thing? Have you ever seen the cross pattern of the English or Swedish flag. Have you ever seen the Star/Shield of David on the Israeli flag?

Today, August 25th, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that someone has recently filed for a permit to have a "Death to Israel" protest on the street near City Hall when President Bush visits Salt Lake next week. I would suggest that the interests of the Jewish War Veterans be better served by directing their energies and resources to dealing with that protest.

And, frankly, the attitude of the Jewish War Veterans shows a total lack of gratitude for the acceptance of Jews in this 80%+ Christian nation. I say this as a fellow Jew who came to the US as a refugee on a Liberty Ship.

I would further like to direct the attention of the Jewish War Veterans to the website of the Touro Synagogue Foundation in Rhode Island, America's oldest synagogue and a place where George Washington himself addressed the congregation. Congress "proclaimed Touro Synagogue a national historic site" in 1946. In 2001 the synagogue  joined "the collection of the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the first religious building to enter the Trust's collection of 21 distinguished properties".

To use the same faulty logic of the National Jewish War Veterans, then the Touro Synagogue should take down its Star of David fixtures — or lose its designation as a National Historic Site. And there are many people at the ACLU who would agree with that logic.

I would suggest that the Jewish War Veterans look for a role model in Admiral Uriah Levy. Last year I visited Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, in Virginia. I learned that Jefferson went bankrupt (in today's world, he would have large book contracts) and his family sold his home to the Admiral ten years after his death in 1836. The Levy family maintained and restored Monticello's condition, living there for generations. They sold Monticello in 1923 to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, its present owners. You can read the history at the official Monticello website.

Admiral Levy also had time for a causes, but a lot more worthy one than trying to remove a cross from a hilltop monument. It was he who got the US Navy to end the practice of flogging.

I was going to write something erudite involving the famous quote from  Martin Niemöller about "First they came for the Jews" or something about political correctness run amok. But frankly, I prefer a more plain spoken conclusion. The Jewish War Veterans, in joining this lawsuit, are as dumb as a box of rocks. In the immortal words of comedienne Joan Rivers, "Oh, grow up."

Jack Kemp (not the politician)  8 25 06