TO THE RIGHT

Speaking of Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills, north Oakland, parts of Livingston and Ingham counties), earlier this month the right-wing website Washington Free Beacon (backed by a billionaire conservative activist) attempted to throw shade at her – especially with Jewish voters in her district – by questioning differences in two different resumes she has – one of which is on LinkedIn, where everyone posts their most in-depth and accurate accounts of their work history. The Free Beacon stated that two of her resumes offer different accounts of an early point in her career, “raising questions about which version is most accurate...The discrepancy is also drawing some criticism from pro-Israel quarters.” It stated that in 2012, when she was applying for assistant secretary of state, she claimed that in 2000-2001 she had been a grant writer for the Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education (FUCAE), an education-oriented professional body representing Palestinians in Israel. Her current LinkedIn profile doesn’t include that, stating she worked in Israel for a grassroots feminist organization as a grant writer. An orthodox rabbi quoted in the Free Beacon said of Slotkin, who is Jewish, “It comes across as advocating for education of Palestinians.” Why should it matter? Transparency and honesty, the rabbi and website said. Slotkin, who did three tours of duty in Iraq as a CIA analyst, isn’t deigning to dignify the report from a news outlet labeled by one national critic as “decadent and unethical.” Instead, she has joined the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, equally comprised of Democrats and Republicans in the House, “to collaborate on practical, pragmatic solutions to improve people’s lives,” such as the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.