Democratic Party Israel-Bashing Hits a New Dishonest Low

In another milestone for mainstreaming Israel-bashing, shielded by an incredibly dishonest excuse, we have the following piece from Wonkette. Just parsing the dishonesty requires beginning with the headline.

"John Edwards Expresses Concern Over Israel-Iran War, Loses Nomination"

This is the beginning of Wonkette's sarcastic tantrum. Like the rest of her post, it's completely dishonest. It implies that John Edwards was discussing a conflict between Israel and Iran, when his statement focused on Israel attacking Iran.

It minimizes his statement to "expressing concern." John Edwards did not do something as mild "express concern." He described Israel as the Greatest Threat to World Peace. That is a galaxy away from expressing concern. Describing a country that way suggests you consider it the enemy, or at least the biggest danger at the moment.

"Handsome boy John Edwards blew it by mentioning Israel in a possibly not-100% flattering light at a Hollywood talent agency meet & greet last month."

Of course calling a country the Greatest Threat to World Peace, is a long way from the "not-100% flattering light" Wonkette snidely mentions. Anymore than calling Wonkette the Greatest Idiot in the Blogsphere would be describing her in a not-100% flattering light."

But a typical component of Israel bashing is to claim that dialogue on Israel has been so suppressed that critics are persecuted for the mildest remarks. Then the bashers can argue that any criticism of them is motivated by this vast Jewish conspiracy. What they actually contrive to do, is do to their critics, what they claim their critics are trying to do to them, illegitimately stifle criticism.

This strawman is propped up by absurd posts like Wonkette's.

"But stating anything so obvious requires taking your lips off Israel’s ass for a few seconds, and that’s fatal for any American politician with presidential ambitions."

And so we've already switched over into portraying every politician as a slave of Israel. Especially Presidents. Of course we were already there in the previous paragraph. And once Senator Edwards' remarks are minimized as failing to kowtow to Israel, anyone who objects to them clearly wants every politician to kowtow to Israel. This is the kind of rhetoric you expect from David Duke or Paul Findley, or the extreme right or extreme left. But these days it's becoming mainstreamed in the Democratic party.

The dishonesty of this strawman isn't original, but it's the next paragraph where Wonkette really achieves a new plateau of dishonesty. Since she's just laid out a classic bit that leads up to the Jews controlling Washington, that sort of thing might be a turnoff to the remaining Jews in the Democratic Party who still haven't realized that the party these days, is filled with people who think like Wonkette does.

"This isn’t because Jews get upset or Israel’s feelings will get hurt or anything. It’s because of bats__t insane evangelical American Jesus Freaks who have to love and protect Israel so Jesus will come back and destroy it."

See how this justification works now. Wonkette can't possibly be engaging in a little Anti-semitic tirade about the ZOG, since she's now declaring that Israel and the Jews won't possibly be troubled by a Presidential candidate declaring Israel to be the Greatest Threat to World Peace. It's only the Christians who will object.

Israel-bashers have been using Christians for a while now to prop up their claim that they're not Anti-Jewish, just Anti-Zionist, which includes Christian Zionists. Wonkette, trying to continue playing to a liberal Democrat base, goes one step further by eliminating the Jews from the equation altogether.

Now the only victims of Israel-bashing will somehow be the Christians who don't actually live there, and not the people who do. The bizarrely convoluted nature of this position comes from a Democratic party unwilling to sink into open Israel-bashing just yet, no matter how much it may be simmering under the surface. That requires dishonest excuses like this one.

The question of whether Jewish liberals will be willing to grab onto that pretext will be decided by the measure of their desperation and their unwillingness to break ties with their old comrades. That kind of desperation can breed a denial that will even encompass a justification as baldly false as Wonkette's.

No one can be free, unless they choose it. And no one who chooses to be a slave, can ever be free.