August 25, 2007: On Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," Barack Obama's foreign policy vision gets a boost from former National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski:
I think there is the need for a fundamental rethinking of how we conduct world affairs, and Obama seems to me to have both the guts and the intelligence to address that issue, and to change the nature of America's relationship with the world.
Sep 11, 2007: Clinton supporter Alan Dershowitz attempts to reverse the momentum of Brzezinski's pseudo-endorsement by reminding everyone that the former Carter diplomat has praised arguments raised in the book, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" (co-written by his Harvard colleague, Stephen Walt):
It is a tremendous mistake for Barack Obama to select as a foreign policy adviser the one person in public life who has chosen to support a bigoted book.
Confronted with the fact that Obama and Brzezinski actually disagree on the book's merits--the campaign having issued a statement describing arguments in the book as "just wrong"--Dershowitz then raises the bar:
I'm glad he's done that, but now he has to dissociate himself from Brzezinski.
Jan 15, 2008: Op-Ed columnist Richard Cohen introduces an unsettling line of connection between Obama's church and veteran anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan:
In 1982, [Trinity United Church] launched Trumpet Newsmagazine...Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness." That man is Louis Farrakhan.
Maybe for Wright and some others, Farrakhan "epitomized greatness." For most Americans, though, Farrakhan epitomizes bigotry, particularly in the form of anti-Semitism. Over the years, he has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, even denigrating the Holocaust by falsely attributing it to Jewish cooperation with Hitler -- "They helped him get the Third Reich on the road." His history is a rancid stew of lies.
Jan 21, 2008: Able to distinguish between the two men and their respective politics, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomes Obama's strong statement of condemnation of Farrakhan.
Jan 23, 2008: Hoping still to earn a hit amidst the dubious spray of associations, fringe right-wingers like "American Thinker" Ed Lasky hop on the anti-Israel bandwagon:
Several advisors [sic] have evidenced a history of suspicion and worse toward Israel. One of his advisors in particular, Robert Malley, clearly warrants attention, as does the reasoning that led him to being chosen by Barack Obama.
That "reasoning" likely included Malley's extensive list of diplomatic bone-fides (Special Assistant to the President for Arab-Israeli Affairs, Director for Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council...). However, Lasky is more compelled by the fact that Malley's father was a Syrian nationalist:
Malley has seemingly followed in his father's footsteps: he represents the next generation of anti-Israel activism. Through his writings he has served as a willing propagandist, bending the truth (and more) to serve an agenda that is marked by anti-Israel bias; he heads a group of Middle East policy advisers for a think-tank funded (in part) by anti-Israel billionaire activist George Soros; and now is on the foreign policy staff of a leading Presidential contender. Each step up the ladder seems to be a step closer towards his goal of empowering radicals and weakening the ties between American and our ally Israel.
Feb 25, 2008: The Tennessee Republican Party issues a press release entitled "Anti-Semites for Obama":
The Tennessee Republican Party today joins a growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States.
emphasis mine
Feb 26, 2008: In their nationally televised debate, Hillary Clinton suggests that Barack Obama has not in fact dissociated himself sufficiently from Louis Farrakhan:
I would not be associated with people who said such inflammatory and untrue charges against either Israel or Jewish people in our country.
In response, Obama:
If the word 'reject' Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word 'denounce,' then I'm happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce.
March 26, 2008: Having wasted precious time on the Jeremiah Wright fiasco, wingnuts return to insinuating that top Obama advisers are radical anti-Semites. Matt Brooks, executive director of something called the Republican Jewish Coalition, lobbies:
By choosing to have a military adviser and national campaign co-chairman like General McPeak, serious questions and doubts are once again being raised about Senator Obama's positions and judgment on Middle East issues.
You may remember Merrill A. McPeak as the Silver Star winning Vietnam veteran who went on to be Air Force Chief of Staff during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, but Brooks took the General's remarks on the political challenge of conceding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza as signs of something far more sinister in his nature:
Rather than putting the blame where it belongs - on the Palestinian leadership and their continued reliance on terror - General McPeak finds it more convenient to blame American Jewry and their perceived influence.
We call on Senator Obama to immediately remove McPeak from his campaign leadership role and as a key adviser.
April 10, 2008: Friends of Rashid Khalidi bid the Palestinian scholar farewell as he prepares to depart Chicago for an appointment at Columbia University. Barack Obama attends, despite the outrage of Sean Hannity.
May 30, 2008: Unsatisfied by (or maybe just unaware of) Obama's condemnation, rejection and denunciation of Louis Farrakhan, Hannity "asks" a guest on his Fox News show:
Would you go to a church that honors a lifetime achievement award with Louis Farrakhan, a guy that we showed earlier says 'he's my brother and that we're friends and that he's a lover of truth?'
It's OK to be friends with a Father that praises an anti-Semite and racist Louis Farrakhan? It's OK to be friends with Rev. Wright? All these things - none of this bothers you, none of this at all... Don't you have a moral obligation to stand against anti-Semitism and racism?
May 31, 2008: In his ironically titled series, "The Real Barack Obama," Hannity continues the guilt-by-association ploy, but mistakes himself for "Jewish voters":
As Barack Obama continues to grapple with his foreign policy vision, Jewish voters...are clearly concerned about the Presidential candidate's growing list of anti-Israeli supporters like Hamas and their influence on Obama's middle east policy.
Calling in for back-up, Hannity welcomes guest Daniel Pipes to provide insight into Obama's Mideast policy. Pipes' virulent opposition to Palestinian statehood doesn't surface in the report, which instead focuses mainly on Obama's familiarity with Rashid Khalidi. Their proximity on the boards of Arab American charitable foundations is apparently damning:
I think the financial relationship between Khalidi and Obama is important because it points to the relationship not just being social/intellectual, but having a deeper base-that they are people who are working together towards the same end.
Now that might actually be the scariest thing I've heard all election season--people working together towards the same end... |
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