GOP critics rap lecturn image
Some offended observers claim they saw Christian crosses in the wood panels of lecterns at the Republican National Convention, but others say the critics are cross-eyed.
The debate intensified Thursday when The New York Times ran a front-page photo of Vice President Dick Cheney standing behind a lectern that had multicolored panels forming an image reminiscent of a Christian cross.
“It looks like a cross to me,” Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe told reporters, adding that religious symbols shouldn’t be used for political purposes, especially if done subliminally.
Republican leaders dismissed the idea, as did Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a Seattle Republican attending the convention.
“The notion that Jews should find the representation of a cross offensive is preposterous,” said Lapin who heads an organization, Toward Tradition, that promotes what it calls Judeo-Christian values.
“Jews are not vampires,” he said.
“This is the frightened squealing of thin-skinned malcontents frantic to find fault with the Republican Party and the president.”