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Nose How to say it? Arianna Huffington is to the monied elite a brown nose par excellence. And her site, which purports to be progressive, has got high temperature war fever. Look, for example, at this drivel from one of her bloggers, another synthetic progressive, Bill Maher ("I Love Being on the Side of My President"). She's got plenty of companion blog entries by writers of this ilk. On the flip side, a scorching anti-war screed the other day by Stan Goff disappeared into Arianna's back page maze within hours of posting, though assorted contemporaneous posts by others remained prominently on her front page throughout a normal blog cycle. Clearly a case of censorship. Why do I bother to mention it? Because it's symptomatic of a profound problem that afflicts the left practically to the same degree as it does the mainstream: An inability not only to think critically about Israel but, worse, a total inability to discuss the influence of the Jewish community on American life. Contra Mearsheimer and Walt, it's the latter point, not the former, that is the genuine taboo. What we desperately need is somebody like Mark Twain to shed a sensible, humane perspective on things.

Tom Hayden's recent mea culpa took a baby step in the right direction. And a handful of Jewish writers have (mostly over the internet) courageously and powerfully condemned Israel's reign of terror. Certain very well known leftist Jewish writers have even been circulating, with enthusiastic endorsement, what is—at least for me—the best recent critique of the Lobby that's out there, by the Christisons, for CounterPunch. But all stop short at the invisible line.

I merely point out the can of worms—I have no intention of diving into it, at least not with anything short of an extremely closely argued, minutely written and agonizingly thought through essay, which I may well never write. I will, nevertheless, offer my free counsel: educated, thoughtful non-Jews should brace this problem with honest, straightforward determination but also with compassion for an advanced people who have lost their way.



Home FAQ Contact Archive EP Store EP Alerts © 2012 ElectricPolitics	Royal Lilliputians How to say it? Arianna Huffington is to the monied elite a brown nose par excellence. And her site, which purports to be progressive, has got high temperature war fever. Look, for example, at this drivel from one of her bloggers, another synthetic progressive, Bill Maher ("I Love Being on the Side of My President"). She's got plenty of companion blog entries by writers of this ilk. On the flip side, a scorching anti-war screed the other day by Stan Goff disappeared into Arianna's back page maze within hours of posting, though assorted contemporaneous posts by others remained prominently on her front page throughout a normal blog cycle. Clearly a case of censorship. Why do I bother to mention it? Because it's symptomatic of a profound problem that afflicts the left practically to the same degree as it does the mainstream: An inability not only to think critically about Israel but, worse, a total inability to discuss the influence of the Jewish community on American life. Contra Mearsheimer and Walt, it's the latter point, not the former, that is the genuine taboo. What we desperately need is somebody like Mark Twain to shed a sensible, humane perspective on things. Tom Hayden's recent mea culpa took a baby step in the right direction. And a handful of Jewish writers have (mostly over the internet) courageously and powerfully condemned Israel's reign of terror. Certain very well known leftist Jewish writers have even been circulating, with enthusiastic endorsement, what is—at least for me—the best recent critique of the Lobby that's out there, by the Christisons, for CounterPunch. But all stop short at the invisible line. I merely point out the can of worms—I have no intention of diving into it, at least not with anything short of an extremely closely argued, minutely written and agonizingly thought through essay, which I may well never write. I will, nevertheless, offer my free counsel: educated, thoughtful non-Jews should brace this problem with honest, straightforward determination but also with compassion for an advanced people who have lost their way. Posted by George Kenney on July 23, 2006 12:24 PM « Nary A Drop To Drink \| Main \| Lebanon — The Israeli Game Plan » Share this post: Leave a comment Name Email Address URL Remember personal info? Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

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