The Tender Trap

Some people like to say that a supporter of Israel (read Jew) will brand anyone who criticizes Israel as an anti-semite in order to stifle all critical conversation on the subject. It's like a mantra that gets spewed unthinkingly in a variety of circles. It's a position taken so reflexively, often preemptively, when accusations of anti-semitism have not even been made. It's reminiscent of people saying that Black people always play the race card when something doesn't go their way; when they don't get a job, or there's no room on the elevator, or they get offered a piece of fried chicken. And of course there was speculation by Obama supporters that those uppity coloreds were gonna riot if That One didn't get nominated in Denver because, as we all know, that's what those people do. Or was it going to be the white-guilt ridden Obamabots that were going to do it? Subliminal message: Super delegates vote for Barry, or else who knows what might happen?

Seems I recall a lot of Clinton supporters getting bent out of shape when that happened. It was racist when it was said by the media, and of course it was reverse racism when Camp Pampers did it.

But you know us pesky Jews. As soon as you say "Palestinian" we're branding you a rabid anti-semite, and it's more than okay for people to say that's what we Jews do. But this isn't something that springs out of the ground uncultivated. No, the Leftist Jew Bigot needs a coach to tell them what to think, how to feel, and who the Goliath is so they'll have someone to vilify while steadfastly protecting the perceived David. Alexander Cockburn (clearly this is a humorless fuck because, with a last name like that, the logical thing to do is change your first name to Ihava or Igotta) serves as such a coach.

Cockbird helped edit a piece of crap called "The Politics of Anti-Semitism," (his website also hawks a nice one called "The Case Against Israel"), which simultaneously creates and propagandizes the meme that the Jew will, with few exceptions, throw out the anti-semitism brand in order to crush and censor any conversation that casts Israel in a negative light. With contributors like Cynthia McKinney most people would be aware that this book is a piece of crap (the book contains an essay stating, and I am not making this up, that anti-semitism originated in the 19th century), but not the Leftist who takes any opportunity to shit on Israel. Then again, this is a guy who says that it has not been proven that humans contribute to global warming.

Here's a blurb from a review of The Politics of Anti-semitism:

Less convincing, however, are the essays covering the reasons behind the apparent symbiosis of US and Israeli policies, put forward by Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey Blankfort (former editor of Middle East Labor Bulletin), George Suderland (a pen name for a senior congressional staffer), Kathleen and Bill Christison (both retired CIA officers and authors), and to a lesser degree, Jeffrey St. Clair...

To summarize their views -- not an easy task, even after reading those essays repeatedly -- it looks like American politics is dominated by powerful Jewish interests, the Jewish Lobby or Israel Lobby (AIPAC), the media, Hollywood, rich Jews, and powerful ideologues with dual loyalties that control the executive and legislative branches of the US government. "Jewish money" buys elections; US representatives and senators are "quislings" (p. 126); that is, expressing a "sheer groveling subservience to a foreign power" (p. 119), in Suderland's words. Congress is "Israeli-occupied territory" (p. 128). And on it goes till the reader is left with the distinct impression that, by golly, the nefarious "Jews" are at it again, or at least some of them, in the media, in commerce and industry, in entertainment, and in the corridors of power. Jeez, are those "Jews" powerful or what? It is the kind of rhetoric one would expect to find on Antiwar.com, or Rense.com, or originating with the Buchanan brigades. That's disturbing and from this writer's opinion, reprehensible, or at the least, and to give the benefit of the doubt to these authors, ill-considered rhetoric.

"The Politics of Anti-semitism" is a reflection of a classic Jew bashing strategy; decry anti-semitism while claiming Jews play the card so much that it nullifies its meaning. Then turn around and spread the classic memes that Jews control the Congress, the Department of State, the White House, the media, etc because that won't stir up anti-semitic sentiment or end up on Islamic and Neo-Nazi websites (reportedly, the shit written by these assholes are staples for some of these nutbags). The end-game of this strategy is to follow up with, "Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of Jewish friends," or the always classic, "I played golf with a Jewish man once, and he was very nice."

So let's take a look at what's really happening here. A handful of nutbags who have a Judeophobic axe to grind with Israel convince Leftists that Jews brand anyone who criticizes Israel's "atrocious" policies toward the Palestinians, etc as anti-semites so that you will feel bad and shut up. But what is really happening is the reverse. Judeophobes and critics of Israel, who may or may not hate Jews, use this meme to silence Israel's defenders. Obviously if we are defending Israel we must hate Palestinians, and think that Israel's critics are anti-semites, thus nullifying our arguments in their minds before the conversation even begins. We have no argument other than Israel's critics are anti-semitic (I guess the human rights of Jews and Israelis have no moral basis for defense).

Though my biggest beef with Cockface is that Counterlunch published an article by David Michael Green in which he quotes my thesis verbatim: "Barack Obama is dumber than a bag of hammers." The big difference is this guy actually thinks Pampers' presidency has the potential to be great, whereas I know for a fact that it is going to be as big, if not a bigger piece of shit than The Second Coming of Shrub.

But what can be expected from a bunch of dingdongs that published a book declaring that the all powerful all seeing Israel Lobby controls our foreign policy? I'm still trying to figure that out, as the sum game of American foreign policy chronically fucks Israel over, or have I been misreading the White House's chronic obsessive love affair with the House of Saud?

Oh wait, I'm thinking again instead of letting the publishers of a book make up my mind for me. Whoops!