Mirabile dictu, Jake Tapper of ABC has, in a quiet and "How's the water?" tone, broached the obvious questions about Rahm Emanuel– noting Emanuel's service to the Israeli army and his extremist paternity (Emanuel's father was a member of a terrorist organization and has lately made racist comments about Arabs and assured Israelis that his son will take care of Israel in the White House). Tapper fearfully puts these questions off on the "Arab world" and Arab-Americans like Ali Abunimah. This is actually a symptom of the corruption in our society. It is not just Arab groups. It is non-Zionists, Arabists, progressive Zionists, the folks at the mom and pop store down at the corner whose boy is off marching in the gay parade down Main Street, and smart journalists, too–why it's Americans like you and me. Nope: swarthy Arabs.
Tapper does another journalistic service. He clears up some of the mystification surrounding Emanuel's dual loyalty, stating that Emanuel's service in the Gulf War, when he ran off to serve Israel in '91, not the U.S., was working at a military base as a civilian volunteer, fixing military vehicles.
How will Rahm Emanuel squelch this one? Or more to the point: Will he need to? Can't wait till Jeffrey Goldberg jumps on this story.
