Scapegoating the 'Israel Lobby'

The American Thinker ^ | March 18, 2009 | David Gerstman

[Scanian]

Last week, after the Chas Freeman withdrew his name from consideration to be the next head of the National Intelligence Council, Mickey Kaus summarized the lack of newspaper coverage of the controversy, "You Know This Guy We Haven't Told You About? Well, He's Not Going to Be Important!"

From the time that Freeman was appointed until he withdrew backed out there was precious little coverage of his nomination. Doug Jehl, an editor of the New York Times explained that he considered only the campaign against Freeman to be newsworthy, and so his publication only covered the nomination once the campaign was successful.

The lack of reporting about the appointment led many, including the nominee himself to denounce the supporters of Israel who opposed his nomination. This lack of scrutiny and the boasting of some of Freeman's opponents, such as Senator Schumer, don't prove the case.

There were a number of reasons to oppose Freeman's nomination in addition to his hostility towards Israel. For example, he supported the Chinese government's crackdown against protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989. (Freeman claims that he was only presenting the dominant view at the time. The problem is that in the subsequent paragraph, Freeman wrote , "I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be.")

[sinanju]

I just feel so gosh-darn sorry for poor Marty Peretz of The New Republic. Such bitter disillusionment, to have his golden Messiah show such an ugly reality behind the handsome mask.

[SJackson]

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