Joe Klein still fighting
Back in June, Joe Klein found himself on the defensive, after he argued that "the desire of a great many Jewish neoconservatives — people like Joe Lieberman and the crowd over at Commentary" to go to war with Iraq and Iran was raising questions about Jewish loyalties. He went back and forth with Commentary bloggers, including Jennifer Rubin, and exchanged feisty letters (here and here) with the ADL's Abe Foxman. He also was criticized by John McCain.
Well ... we'd like to update you on Round 2.
Klein recently took aim at a column by Rubin in the Jerusalem Post titled "Why more Jews won't be voting Democrat this year."
The Times columnist characterized Rubin as saying that "the most important thing for Jewish Americans to consider about Barack Obama is his policy toward Israel." And then...
"The real problem with Rubin's distorted view is this: the overwhelming majority of American Jews–except, perhaps, for the Commentary crowd – are far more concerned about what the next President has to say about the United States than about Israel. Rubin's description of the interests of American Jews is an embarrassment that plays into the worst antisemitic stereotypes."
Two problems with Klein's slam on Rubin.
First, she never suggested that the bulk of American Jews would end up voting for McCain over Israel-related concerns. In fact, she suggested the opposite:
That does not mean Obama will not carry the majority of the Jewish vote. Jews are overwhelmingly Democratic, and it is certainly the case that for many American Jews the secular liberal agenda takes precedence over everything else in presidential politics.
The second point is that did she say specifically say that Israel is "the most important thing" for Jews to consider when voting for president.
What she did say is that there are some Jews who believe Israel's survival is at stake, and that there is nothing in Obama's record to suggest that he will definitely deliver in a life-or-death crisis.
On the one hand, it's easy to understand why Joe Klein, himself a Jew, takes umbrage with what he feels are the efforts of conservatives to accuse him of anti-Semitism. But, at the same time, last time I checked, Rubin is an American, so maybe he should be a bit more cautious before painting her with the dual-loyalty brush.
His post leaves me wondering: If Klein thought Israel's survival depended on the actions of the U.S. president, and he concluded that a specific candidate could not be counted on to back up Israel, to what degree would that sway his vote?
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People have been getting on me, telling me that my coverage of the presidential race has been one-sided, telling me that I should find something nice to say about Senator Obama. My first thought was HELL NO ! Fox News Claims to be fair and balanced but this ain’t Fox News. This is my little space of the world. But then I began to think about all of those Jewish Liberals, the ones that read Yidwithlid for the Israel coverage. They might want to read something nice about their guy. So for you folks, I thought long and hard, ignored all of his anti-Israel advisers, his promises to the Palestinian Community, his promise of higher taxes, and his desire to capitulate to terrorists and I came up with ten reasons why Jews SHOULD VOTE for Barack Obama. Here they are in no particular order:
TEN REASONS WHY JEWS SHOULD VOTE FOR SENATOR BARACK OBAMA:
1. A Big Group of Jews feel that he is the Messiah (oops sorry thats from the ten reasons why CHRISTIANS should vote for Senator Obama list)
1. Jesse Jackson makes him feel...a bit ..well frankly a bit uncomfortable
2. His wife wears the pants in his family, that makes him almost Jewish in itself
3. The Media LOVES Him...the JEWS control the Media
4. The Senator STILL Calls his Grandma EVERY day (she’s still alive, kicking and under the bus where Obama threw her during his speech on race)
5. He Wants to Make Change...the Jews own the Banks
6. His relatives on his father’s side wont eat Pork either
7. He once said Jerusalem should never be divided (OK So it was for five minutes but he DID say it)
8. He hasn’t been to Iraq in over 914 days...a war zone is no place for a Jewish Boy
9. Pat Buchanan Hates Black People almost as much as he hates Jews
10. Obama went to Harvard Law School. What Jewish Mother doesn’t want her children going to Harvard Law
There you go the ONLY Ten Reasons why any Jew should even CONSIDER voting for Senator Obama
No matter which way you look at it, Joe Klein’s accusation of dual loyalty on the part of some American Jews is despicable, stupid, and cowardly. If questioning Jewish concerns for the survival of Israel as evidence of disloyalty to the US, does not qualify the questioner as antisemitic and/or self-hating, I’d like to know what does. Does Klein think that Christian Zionists are also guilty of dual loyalty? Should those who own oil stocks and are thrilled with the massive price increases despite the effect this price increase is having on so many Americans be accused of dual loyalty?
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Brad A. Greenberg
07/11/08 11:34 AM
Good post, but Klein is a political columnist for Time, not the Times.