Glenn Beck and the limits of Soros-bashing
Glenn Beck took aim at George Soros over three days last week, but so far -- at least within the Jewish community -- the barrage appears to be backfiring.
As JTA’s Ron Kampeas reported last week, several Jewish organizational leaders are taking issue with Beck’s comments on Soros’ childhood activities during the Holocaust:
Jewish leaders are expressing outrage that Fox News Channel provocateur Glenn Beck has revived an unfounded claim that billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros as a child in Nazi-collaborating Hungary helped ship Jews to death camps.
Beck is running a series this week on his radio and TV shows portraying Soros as attempting to control the U.S. economy, and on Wednesday he attacked Soros' childhood during World War II.
"And George Soros used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off," Beck said. "And George Soros was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening.
"Here's a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps. And I am certainly not saying that George Soros enjoyed that, even had a choice. I mean, he's 14 years old. He was surviving. So I'm not making a judgment. That's between him and God. As a 14-year-old boy, I don't know what you would do."
In fact Soros, then 13 and living under the protection of a non-Jewish Hungarian, on one occasion joined the older man when he was ordered by Nazis to inventory the estate of a Hungarian Jew who had fled.On another occasion, the local Jewish council had ordered Soros to deliver letters to local lawyers. Soros' father, Tivadar, realized the letters were to Jewish lawyers and meant to expedite their deportation. He told his son to warn the targets to flee and ended the boy's work with the council.
Plenty of liberals pounced on Beck immediately. But so did Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League and Elan Steinberg, the vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors.
Beck fired back at Foxman, claiming that the ADL leader had unfairly accused him of anti-Semitism.
But as far as we can tell, Foxman did no such thing. In the ADL’s Nov. 11 statement, Foxman called Beck’s comments "completely inappropriate, offensive and over the top." No mention of the A-word.
Same goes for his actual quotes to JTA:
"This is the height of ignorance or insensitivity, or both," said Abraham Foxman, the director of the Anti-Defamation League, who noted that as a child, he was protected by non-Jews who had not revealed his background to him.
"As a kid, at 6, I spit at Jews -- does that make me part of the Nazi machine?" Foxman said. "There's an arrogance here for Glenn Beck, a non-Jew, to set the standards of what makes a good Jew."
We’ll be tracking this story and reaching out to Beck’s people for a story that’s in the works.
But in the clearest sign that Beck may have overreached within Jewish circles, Jonathan Tobin of Commentary also took to the blogosphere to slam Beck’s campaign against Soros.
Tobin and Commentary are generally in the camp of those ripping Soros over his harsh criticisms of U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East. Yet, Tobin wrote last week, even Soros-bashing has its limits:
... Even George Soros does not deserve some of the opprobrium heaped upon him by Glenn Beck this week. Beck has devoted much of his TV and radio programs in the past few days to detailing Soros’s sins. But instead of sticking to the issues and rightly flaying him for the stands he has taken and the bad causes he supports, Beck painted him as a teenage Nazi collaborator on his Nov. 10 show. ...
Beck has become a radio and television phenomenon whose ability to tap into people’s fears and suspicions about media and political elites has made him a star. But as the Nov. 10 broadcast in question shows, his willingness to wade into subjects about which he knows little makes him appear both silly and ill-intentioned. When discussing Soros’s father’s belief in Esperanto, a pre-World War II movement that sought to create a worldwide language and universal government (which Beck incorrectly called “Esperanza”), he made it sound like this bunch of ineffectual do-gooder pacifists was a coequal threat to freedom with Communism and the Nazis. Their idea was foolish, but to treat them as if they belonged to an international conspiracy reflects a lack of context and knowledge about the era.
Similarly, when Beck played a recording of Soros speaking of his efforts to undermine various governments, his listeners had to assume that it was part of some leftist conspiracy that he was funding. Beck left out the fact that what Soros was talking about was his Cold War-era funding of movements that sought to support anti-Communist dissidents in countries like Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and the Soviet Union. In other words, while Soros’s current politics is abhorrent, he was one of the good guys when it came to the fight against Soviet Communism.
Political commentary that reduces every person and every thing to pure black and white may be entertaining, but it is often misleading. There is much to criticize about George Soros’s career, and his current political activities are troubling. But Beck’s denunciation of him is marred by ignorance and offensive innuendo. Instead of providing sharp insight into a shady character, all Beck has done is further muddy the waters and undermine his own credibility as a commentator.
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“ There’s an arrogance here for Glenn Beck, a non-Jew, to set the standards of what makes a good Jew.”
No, he is just acting like an insensitive Mormon. Remember: the Mormons are the ones who have no problem baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims, such as Anne Frank.
I would suggest that anyone wishing to discuss Glenn Beck’s views of George Soros view the three one hour shows himself (you can access them on the web). Don’t rely on comments by others which have been filtered through their own perspective. I did watch all three hours, and I am convinced that the allegations against Soros are accurate. Moreover, I don’t know any opinion commentator on TV who is a greater friend of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. But disregard my comments here. View the shows and make up your own mind.
The ironic question is Beck right? For all intensive purposes Soros is an anti-Semite. So what is the problem? I know, a none Jew dare say what the Jews won’t say. I am ashamed everyday that Soros can claim and misuse the notion that he is a Jew. That Soros wants to destroy Israel and the United States for his own fun, that is true by his own words. It cannot be denied. As Jews, what do you want to call it? Call it what you want; but it is Soros who hates the Unites States and Israel not Beck.
I have nothing positive to say about Soros, personally, or obout his business or political activities. He is no friend of the Jewish people, nor of Israel. In fact, one can count him among Israel’s foes, if you consider the kind of causes he champions and finances,
Leroy, (What sort of name is this for a Jew?) when did Beck set standards for Jews?
It doesn’t happen on his show. He IS baffled about Jewish voting patterns, but so am I.
JTA, Are you speaking to me?
As much as Glenn Beck is pro Israel, that is very nice. His view of Soros is nothing but bias bull turds. He doesn’t know of the mans past. If he thinks that as a 14 year old he was able to fight the Nazis, well Beck you should try to join the military and go fight for this country and learn what SELF PRESERVATION means. What about the Kapos in the camps. It is called SELF PRESERVATION.
What would you have a 14 year old do? Beck what would you do? Hide some place?
Soros is the epitome of the self-hating Jews.. A 14-year old boy is responsibile for his actions in Judaism. In Judaism you are a man at 13! But Soros shows no regret for his actions—he obviously learned much from them. Beck should be congratulated for airing what Jews run away from airing—not bashing him. Soros admits his father was an antisemite. He is obviously an anti-Israel one worlder. Look what happened to poor Kastner in Israel just for negotiating with Eichmann and he was trying to save Jews. How do you think Soros escaped and was not trasnported like many more worthy than himself. He learned his lessons well there. It is you, Foxman, and others who should be ashamed, not Beck. Beck has proved his pro-Israel and Jewish credentials. What are you proving? How did Soros and his father get out of Hungary in such good economic shape. Look also what happened to poor Wallenberg and you defend Soros and condemn Beck? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
PS: I hope you too are not on his contribution list as so many others seem to be. It would be wise to make it clear that you do not receive any support from him or any of the organizations he sponsors, as for instance J-Street—and don’t delete this comment as inappropriate. It is appropriate to know where someone’s support is coming from. You know the reaction in Israel is nothing like you are reporting. I have read all the talkbacks in the Jerusalem Post on similar poor analysis and they run about two-one for Beck, against the JP reporter, and against Soros. His father’s love of Esperanto obviously shows how he was attempting to escape his past—Soros has just continued carrying out the job. But don’t think a fourteen-year old in Judaism working in some unspecified manner with the SS, which he himself admits as one of the most satisfying years of his life, is not something the rest of us should seriously worry about and be concerned with. You are giving him a free pass. Why?
Nice try Semaya, but no cigar. Well, I DO know Soros’ past. In trying to white-wash Soros, you trip over your canoe-sized shoes.
Yes, a fourteen-year old facing periil may be excused, especially one coming from a nominally Jewish home where he had already picked up his antagonism towards Jewish hopes and aspirations. But what has this man been doing for the last sixty years?
You don’t know?
He’s been spending a fortune - billions! - undermining America AND Israel. Surely, you know that, don’t you? How would you describe this devotion and generocity to our enemies’ causes? They’re not your enemies, you say?
Give me Glenn Beck any day.
Leroy and Ike, don’t just take my word for it:
SOROS SPENT BILLIONS TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY
by: Mark Hemingway
Commentary Staff Writer
November 14, 2010 Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros is sometimes caricatured by his opponents as a left-wing Bond villain, but cut through the hyperbole and there are good reasons why Soros truly is far more threatening than just another wealthy liberal.
Soros isn’t merely content with spending money to work within the system to elect Democrats, promote liberal policies, and otherwise shape the public debate.
He has spent millions of dollars to change the very machinery of our democracy. In a center-right country, it’s very hard to elect liberal leaders and enact left-wing policies. So Soros wants less democracy and in some cases wants to do away with elections altogether.
According to an American Justice Partnership report, Soros’ Open Society Institute has “funneled at least $45.4 million into a highly coordinated campaign to reshape the judiciary and fundamentally change the way judges are chosen in many American states.”
Soros’ millions are funding Justice at Stake, whose explicit goal is to do away with the election of state judges. JAS wants a “merit system” that would empower “nonpartisan” panels selected by state officials to make judicial appointments.
These panels would likely be dominated by the state’s bar association and legal interests. A similar system for appointing judges is already in place in Missouri, where the judicial selection panel consists of the state Supreme Court’s chief justice, three lawyers chosen by the Missouri Bar and three gubernatorial appointees.
Soros’ OSI argues such a system is necessary because “in recent years big money and special interest political pressure have become a staple of judicial campaigns, raising questions about the integrity of U.S. courts.”
The newly funded Soros program “seeks to counter the influence of political and special interest groups.”
Of course, if you’re worried about special interests dominating judicial elections, the OSI/JAS alternative is even worse. That’s because state bar associations and legal groups are dominated by trial lawyers. Lawyers and law firms are the seventh biggest political donors of “all time,” according to Opensecrets.org, and dominate state politics in parts of the country.
The judicial system should maintain a necessary degree of impartiality, but America’s founders certainly didn’t intend for judges to be unmoored from democracy. About 95 percent of America’s civil disputes end up in state courts. That’s an enormous amount of power, which needs checks and balances. There’s a reason why 87 percent of America’s judges are elected.
There are many signs that Americans are increasingly wary of activist judges imposing liberal policies against the public will. On Nov. 2, voters in Iowa for the first time ever ousted three sitting state Supreme Court judges. All three had voted to legalize gay marriage. And Nevada voters rejected a statewide initiative to implement a judicial selection system like that sought by Soros’ JAS.
It also turns out Missouri’s vaunted “merit system,” which was the template for the OSI’s initiative, actually increases politicization. For 70 years, the Show Me State’s judicial selection process was conducted behind closed doors.
The result? A 2009 Missouri Law Review article found 87 percent of judicial nominees in Missouri had donated money primarily to Democrats, in a state where the electorate is near evenly divided between the two parties.
After a grass-roots backlash, Missouri changed the rules in October. Residents can now observe the state panel’s interviews of prospective judges, nominate potential candidates and determine the panel’s votes.
Soros is lobbying to preserve the courts as an avenue for enacting liberal policies that won’t be supported by popular will. If Soros really cared about corrupt judicial elections, he would lobby for more transparency and more democracy, not less.
Mark Hemingway is an editorial page staff writer for The Examiner. He can be reached at
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Soros-uses-his-billions-to-undermine-democracy-1564707-108011199.html#ixzz15ODpQ6B8
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Vlad Observer
11/15/10 06:53 PM
Apart from Beck controversial remarks we should remember that billioner Soros has never been pro Israel or supported Jewish causes.
It was Soror who said European anti-Semitism is the result of the policies of Israel and the United States.
Soros also said that he has personally contributed to anti-Semitism. Soros believes that Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohammad, was referring to people like Soros when he said, “Jews rule the world by proxy.”