Andrew Sullivan's fact free Goldstone defense
Andrew Sullivan goes after fellow Atlantic columnist Jeffrey Goldberg for taking note of this weekend's reports that the exalted Richard Goldstone was an active participant in the South African apartheid regime. Sullivan calls his post "The Smearing of Richard Goldstone." Don't blink or you'll miss it. The hounding continues for anyone who dares criticize the policies of Israel with respect to the blockade and pulverization of Gaza. The personal viciousness of the AIPAC crowd never ceases to amaze.Yes, that's Sullivan's entire post. You didn't really expect him to substantively address facts that don't fir with his narrative, did you?
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:25 PM
3 Comments:
It's not just that it's brief. It's also just plain wrong.
How can it be a "smear" if it's true and relevant?
How is Goldberg the AIPAC crowd? What affiliation or involvement has he ever had with AIPAC. What's funny is that Goldberg once said that Sullivan uses "neocon" to describe any Jew he disagrees with. It appears that "AIPAC crowd" has the same definition.
Plus, bonus points for Sullivan for using that term as a genuine smear.
Zionist, AIPAC, neocon are, of course, variations of the same code: Jews. The latest "innovation" at work is to differentiate "good Jews" ie T. Judt, N Chomsky et al from "bad Jews" ot "new Afrikanners" such as A. Dershowitz et al.
To be honest, I was impressed with Sullivan's slur from the grammatical/writing standpoint. He managed to combine several anti-semetic tropes, defending Goldstone, as well as pulverizing Israel in a short paragraph. Truth be dammed: Orwell would be proud of Andrew Sullivan.
Goldberg is not even in the AIPAC crowd and has been very much in support of Obama, while making fun of Sarah Palin. He's not a neocon, but is obviously a liberal democratic supporter of Obama who's remained that way. Judge Goldstone(PBUH) is a sacred cow of the anti-Israeli left in the US and around the globe. That an Israeli newspaper provided the juicy details on Sir Goldstone's "Afrikanner" past only adds to the sting in the anti-semites eye.
You didn't really think Andrew Sullivan would get into the details of Goldstone's service as an apartheid judge, now did you?
The personal details matter because they call into question his integrity to sit in judgment of Israel. Its the liberal Alan Dershowitz who made the scathing observation that Goldstone "doesn't have any left to sell."
And the attack on Jeffrey Goldberg nowhere addresses the issue of Goldstone's character. We all know what his defense is. What is truly shameful is the sight of so many on the Left seeking to give that defense credibility it doesn't deserve to have.
That as much as anything else, captures well the spirit of the times in which we live today.
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