talk about irony.
since assuming office as 'determinator of even the most crypto
anti-semiticism' and being granted the power to view into all mens'
hearts and see the moral rot therein, moderateman has been
unrelenting in sniffing out and denouncing as 'jew haters' anyone who dares
criticize policy implemented by the civil government of israel.
so it is that his most recent screed (featuring introductory actual
anti-semitic quotes attributed to howard dean and senator john
kerry) strongly suggested soon-to-be-former senator joe lieberman's
recent primary defeat was driven by racism rather than lieberman's
unpopular support for the administration's decision to neglect its
proclaimed 'war on terror' while attempting to effect regime change in
iraq. Link
one reader agreed with mm's allegation (reply #7), citing as
evidence an opinion piece published in the washington times ('donkey see, monkey
do' authored by guest commentator, robert goldberg) Link. according
to goldberg, democrats have no room to criticize george allen's deliberate use
of a racial slur to demean a person in his audience. (the incident was
caught on video so anyone who wants to fool themselves into believing it was an
accident after seeing that nasty grin on allen's face is clearly
self-delusional.)
why not?
because, according to goldberg, moveondotorg's forum is filled with
"malicious Jew-baiting of the Moveon crowd" demonstrating "boy do
the Moveon folks hate Jews". quotes from at least 5 of what
goldberg claims to be 'hundreds' of antisemitic posts are provided.
just so there's no misunderstanding, each of those examples
goldberg cites contains one of more disgusting racist
statements. there is no place in american politics nor in american
society for that sorta bigoted hatred and i find it
reprehensible.
altho goldberg correctly identifies moveondotorg as a "political
organization that donates millions to Democratic candidates and uses the Web to
whip up support for its policies", the reader who posted reply #7 isn't
nearly as concerned with accuracy. here's the way his reply
concludes:
I had no idea as to how racist some of the left are. In todays age, one
rarely sees this amount of blatant racism, especially by a well known group.
It amazes me that this type of thing is not
widely reported by the MSM with MoveOn.org being an accepted mainstream
Democratic organization.
On second thought, I suppose it doesn't really
amaze me at all.
in subsequent threads and in two spinoff articles (all of which share
the same inflammatory title as mm's original), it becomes very clear there are
others who seem to confuse moveondotorg with the democratic national committee
or its equivalents in each state.
all of which, taken together, might easily mislead the uninformed and unwary
to go away believing moveondorg is the democratic party the majority
of whom hate jews.
so i decided to bring a lil truth, moderation and an actual voice of
sanity to the table. (a table from which no replies have ever been
deleted nor anyone blacklisted...ever.)
let's start with moveondotorg.
i've not been there since it was first founded and wouldn't
have visited it today but i was appalled by goldberg's claims and
had to see it for myself. it appears some of the other
experts--those who are amazed "this type of thing is not widely reported
by the MSM" or "Two: Moveon claims credit for anti-semitism. Big time
(shall I link?) not to mention mm himself--might have benefited from doing so as
well.
there were 57793 posts available for viewing as of about 930pm pdt
(that would be gmt-8). without doing a lil tweaking to the
url, 5 posts are presented on each page. after about 10
pages i fixed it so i was seeing 100 posts to a page and went all the way to the
beginning of august 8, 2006 (that would be post
3087 for those of yall who are counting).
i hate to break all yall's bubbles but...there are not hundreds or even
dozens of anti-semitic posts as goldberg and his promoters would like you
to believe. i found those mentioned in his article which
pretty much add up to all there is. too many no matter how
you look at it, but...
i did find a lotta posts repudiating or rebuking
those. i also found some repudiating and rebuking those who
posted what was described as anti-semitic remarks on other sites
(including lamont's).
so yeah drguy. please provide me with some links.
before you start, i don't consider criticism of israel's policies
anti-semitic. israel is not sacrosanct nor infallible. far
from it. that may not please those who've criticized ken roth--head
of human rights watch--as rosa brooks recounted in this exerpt
from "Criticize Israel? You're an Anti-Semite!" published 9/1/2006 in
the la times:
"EVER wonder what it's like to be a pariah?
Publish something sharply critical of Israeli government policies and
you'll find out. If you're lucky, you'll merely discover that you've been
uninvited to some dinner parties. If you're less lucky, you'll be the subject of
an all-out attack by neoconservative pundits and accused of rabid anti-Semitism.
This, at least, is what happened to Ken Roth. Roth - whose father fled
Nazi Germany - is executive director of Human Rights Watch, America's largest
and most respected human rights organization. (Disclosure: I have worked in the
past as a paid consultant for the group.) In July, after the Israeli offensive
in Lebanon began, Human Rights Watch did the same thing it has done in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Congo, Uganda and
countless other conflict zones around the globe: It sent researchers to monitor
the conflict and report on any abuses committed by either side.
It found plenty. On July 18, Human Rights Watch condemned Hezbollah
rocket strikes on civilian areas within Israel, calling the strikes "serious
violations of international humanitarian law and probable war crimes." So far,
so good. You can't lose when you criticize a terrorist organization.
But Roth and Human Rights Watch didn't stop there. As the conflict's
death toll spiraled - with most of the casualties Lebanese civilians - Human
Rights Watch also criticized Israel for indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
Roth noted that the Israeli military appeared to be "treating southern Lebanon
as a free-fire zone," and he observed that the failure to take appropriate
measures to distinguish between civilians and combatants constitutes a war
crime.
The backlash was prompt. Roth and Human Rights Watch soon found
themselves accused of unethical behavior, giving aid and comfort to terrorists
and anti-Semitism. The conservative New York Sun attacked Roth (who is Jewish)
for having a "clear pro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel bias" and accused him of
engaging in "the de-legitimization of Judaism, the basis of much anti-Semitism."
Neocon commentator David Horowitz called Roth a "reflexive Israel-basher &
who, in his zest to pillory Israel at every turn, is little more than an ally of
the barbarians." The New Republic piled on, as did Alan Dershowitz, who claimed
Human Rights Watch "cooks the books" to make Israel look bad. And writing in the
Jewish Exponent, Jonathan Rosenblum accused Roth of resorting to a "slur about
primitive Jewish bloodlust."
Anyone familiar with Human Rights Watch - or with Roth - knows this to be
lunacy. Human Rights Watch is nonpartisan - it doesn't "take sides" in
conflicts. And the notion that Roth is anti-Semitic verges on the insane.
But what's most troubling about the vitriol directed at Roth and his
organization isn't that it's savage, unfounded and fantastical. What's most
troubling is that it's typical. Typical, that is, of what anyone rash enough to
criticize Israel can expect to encounter. In the United States today, it just
isn't possible to have a civil debate about Israel, because any serious
criticism of its policies is instantly countered with charges of
anti-Semitism"
getting back to the allegations against moveondotorg,
i just have three additional things to say.
1. if you're going to condemn a person or organization on the basis of
alleged statements, you're much less likely to wind up looking foolish and
feeling shamed (an emotion which, if you're capable of it, those of you who
jumped on the bandwagon should be feeling now) if you make an effort to find the
actual statement in its original form rather than blindly accepting the
opinion of a 2nd party commentator.
2. if you're gonna persist in claiming moveondotorg to be the voice
of the democratic party, it's only fair you also represent
littlegreenfootballsdotcom and freerepublicdotcom to be voices of the republican
party. while they may be more coherent voices than that of the current
president, there's no shortage of bigotry, extremism and anti/un-american views
regularly expressed at one or both.
3. if you're gonna cite the washington times as a source for anything, keep
in mind i'm well aware its publisher and chief financial backer is sun myung
moon--a lying convicted felon and would-be dictator of the world who claims to
be the reincarnation of jesus and who rejects anyone but koreans as being the
chosen people. the times is quite clearly a tool he uses to advance his
personal ambitions. i mean, you can cite world weekly news too but...don't
expect me to buy into that bullshit just cuz you do.
"