I wonder if Josh Gerstein of Politico had to suppress an involuntary snort of horrified laughter?
Some who have worked with Hagel on foreign policy issues say the attacks are absurd and that his views on the Mideast are mainstream.
“He has never expressed a thought that could be considered even remotely hostile to the people of Israel or the State of Israel. … The charges are simply absurd,” said Henry Siegman of the U.S./Middle East Project, which prepared some of the policy statements that Hagel endorsed. “The charges of anti-Semitism are vicious, really ugly stuff.”
Siegman suggested that many of Hagel’s critics aren’t advocating for Jews or for Israel but for the Likud Party-led government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pro-tip: when you’re trying to defend a man against being an anti-Semite, don’t suggest that the reason for the initial charges is because of an international Jewish conspiracy. It… muddles… the message; or perhaps it does not.
Moe Lane
PS: I hear that the President is really and truly going to pull the trigger on this one. …Thanks for the rallying point, I guess.
Via:
Hagel surrogate in Politico rebuts charge of anti-Israel bias by saying critics are just advocating for Likud. bit.ly/13a5Gc9
— Michael Goldfarb (@thegoldfarb) January 7, 2013
Talk about “unclear on the concept”.
“They claim that he’s biased … but that’s exactly what you’d expect the agents of the International Jewish Conspiracy to say!”
Is it wrong to hope he gets the job just so we can be rid of him in Congress? The buck stops with the president, at least it used to. Is there someone else the president is likely to appoint instead who would be any better or worse at carrying out the president’s policies? Maybe Jim Webb? Wonder why his name hasn’t been floated.
The LiberalLeft has a hard time with irony.