The Kushner Fallacy

I have to admit, Kushner has the look of a ‘Ken doll’ – the male counterpart to the female ‘Barbie’. They tend to see Jared as the poster child for shallowness and vanity. It doesn’t help his image that he rarely gives interviews. And on those rare occasions where the media might catch him actually saying something he kind of sounds and looks the part.

But looks can be deceiving. Even though I admit to seeing that same image, I don’t think that image is accurate. Because people that have actually dealt with him in congress – even those with polar opposite political views - paint an entirely different picture of him.  That has also been corroborated by facts, not just nice words from political opponents and the mainstream media.

Case in point is the recent passage of a prison reform bill with near unanimous bi-partisan support. Some would say that is near miraculous accomplishment considering the current state of acrimony between the two parties. (Which is unlike anything we have ever seen in my lifetime!) Republicans and Democrats have  never been further apart politically than they are now, it seems. But on the one issue in which Kushner was heavily involved – he  got a wide swath of politically disparate politicians to support it.

But don’t take my world for it. Take it from Dick Durbin, the US senator from Illinois. There are hardly any Democrats more liberal or more critical of the President than he. But in an interview in Mishpacha Magazine last week on prison reform - Durbin credited Kushner for passage of the bill. He worked very closely with Kushner on this project over the past 2 years crafting a bill that ended up with support of such disparate groups as the ACLU and the Fraternal Order of Police. (How often do you see an alliance like that?!)

Durbin added that it was one of the most extraordinary political alliances he had ever seen in all his years in Washington. Noting that Kushner played an invaluable role in winning the President’s support and convincing many conservative organizations to get on board with it.

So much for being a Ken doll.

And yet I’m sure the naysayers will find a way to not give Kushner any credit. They will cite anecdotal evidence of his incompetence from people who knew him from Harvard and have ‘testified’ to his mediocrity as student there. Adding that he was only accepted because of his father’s great wealth. Coupled with his reticence to be on camera it is easy to see why this ‘Ken doll’ image of him is so readily accepted. Makes him too dumb to say anything intelligent. But silence is the wisest of decisions. Why say anything? Actions speak louder than words. Like what he did on prison reform.

There are other indications that Kushner is a lot more intelligent than he is given credit for. Like the credit the media gave him for his part in getting his father in law elected President of the United States.

What about the peace plan between Israelis and Palestinians he was put in charge of? The ridicule extend to that as well.  His lack of any experience on the subject is very clear to his critics. Coupled with the fact that so many have tried and so many have failed, what does that ‘Ken doll’ think he can accomplish? In light if all those experts that tried and failed?

I am not so quick to dismiss them. The fact that he has at his disposal all prior attempts at peace by those very experts and a staff that can help him examine why they failed.  

Will his peace plan be the magic bullet that will end up making peace between Palestinians and Israelis? I doubt it. But not because of his supposed incompetence. As the prison reform deal showed, Kushner is a lot more competent that his critics think.

What about all the talk about Kushner’s part in the campaign with respect to possible collusion with the Russians during the election? Or his part in a possible obstruction of justice? Some people have already found him guilty based on leaks from the Mueller investigation. Which may or may not be accurate. None of which are a ‘smoking gun’.

I have no clue how that will turn out. Kushner may be exonerated from any wrong doing. Or not. We will have to wait and see what will actually happen. And if media reports about the Mueller investigation being about ready to wrap up are accurate, that may be sooner rather than later.