Earlier today we landed on Jeffrey Goldberg’s saying that people who think the Israel lobby is important also believe that Jews have horns. Well here’s more: MJ Rosenberg has teed off on the piece at his site.
Check this out. It’s just a little piece by uber-neocon and Israel Firster Jeffrey Goldberg about sharing a moment with blogger Spencer Ackerman. These two don’t agree on much but, on Israel, they are one.
The little joke here is the two mocking the very idea that the Lobby exists or, perhaps, the idea that some of us think we can somehow control it. So funny, belly laughs all around.
Why is this important? It is important because the social element insiderness demonstrated here tends to keep would-be critics of Israeli policies (like Ackerman) in line — that and the fear that the lobby will block their careers. That is, of course, a legitimate fear. AIPAC has voluminous files and if, say, Spencer Ackerman, starts speaking out of turn, it won’t be good for his career, to put it mildly.
Career protection is the big reason pundits and commentators tend to avoid the lobby issue like the plague. (Note how Netanyahu’s attack on Obama was not news on MSNBC).
But don’t overlook the social element. Remember Judge Goldstone and his report on the Gaza war. He actually retracted it because his pals started dissing him.
So who will tell the truth about this issue? Tom Friedman does. He openly despises the lobby but no one can touch him and all his Pulitzers (I still give him credit. He is the most famous “dissident” and that can’t be fun all the time.) Joe Klein is big and can get away with it. Nick Kristof is good. Bill Moyers, a few others. The jury is out on Peter Beinart (the AIPAC crowd may get him in the end).
In any case, note the little Ackerman/Goldberg exchange. Multiply it by a few thousand and you might have some idea how the lobby works.
But remember, if you talk about it, you are a conspiracy nut or (if you are Jewish) a self-hating Jew or (if you are not Jewish) an ANTI-SEMITE. So be careful. This stuff is NSFW. Or NSF (keeping your) W.
I’m always amused by people like Goldberg.
Do he really think that it’s doable year 2012 to seriously try to pretend the Israel lobby doesn’t exist.
Even mainstream papers like the NYT openly write about AIPAC as ‘a powerful pro-Israel lobby’.
i adore you M.J. Rosenberg. you’re such a straight talker.
I can only imagine what its like for people in the Media, our Colleges and Universities and especially for Politicians when the reality is that the LOBBY AIPAC and its miriad of satalite groups are even busy shutting down discussions on everyday site forums accross the net. I’ve taken note of this on many a site but its most obvious on right leaning sites like WND, all it takes is one phrase containing criticism of Israel, or about the connection between the NEO CON groups and AIPAC or their membership consisting of a lot of dual US/Israeli Citizens. Recently I was made well acquainted with a member RLD on the gay athletic site REALJOCK who was removed by LIL’AIPAC’ers who complained even though his critical quotes regarding Israel were coming mostly from Mondoweiss, Haaretz News and the Jewish Daily Forward.
There is you know an Israeli Propaganda ministry that puts out information for their LIL’AIPAC’s to plant on sites all over the internet. There is also a grant system to recruite college aged students to forward propaganda at our Universities. A simple Google search will bear me out on this.
Its time we in the US have a very blunt conversation about rooting these factions out of our media, politics and anywhere else they exist and are so ready with the anti this, that and the other charge, everytime the facts about Israel and the damage done to our country by being subservient to Israeli Firster rhetoric. We are Americans after all and it should be to Americas interests we are forwarding, not to any other country’s interests.
It is our patriotic duty after all to be against those who would influence and lead us to such wars as the NEO CON Dual US/Israeli citizens did as in Iraq and all the other misadventures in the Middle East.
Career protection is the big reason pundits and commentators tend to avoid the lobby issue like the plague.
Just listen to the ‘humner, humner, humners’ on Morning Joe. Except for Joe Klein.
@MJ: prost!