Who’s in the ‘Times’ — and who’s out?

This is how you know we don’t live in a serious country.

The other day the New York Times put the Israel lobbyist/provocateur Michael Goldfarb on the front page in a profile that marveled at Goldfarb’s political achievements as a goodnatured “troublemaker”. These paragraphs capture reporter Jim Rutenberg’s tone: 

An all-around anti-liberal provocateur, Mr. Goldfarb has blazed a trail in the new era of campaign finance, in which loosened restrictions have flooded the political world with cash for a whole new array of organizations that operate outside the traditional bounds of the parties.

Often working with money from major Republican donors, most of whom have preferred anonymity, Mr. Goldfarb has been in the middle of nearly every major partisan dispute of Mr. Obama’s presidency — over Iran, Israel, terrorism policy and now Mr. Hagel and guns.

Etc.

Ali Gharib has taken this piece apart, pointing out that the Times made no real effort to track all the lies that Goldfarb has disseminated in order to push his agenda. 

Meantime, from As’ad Abu Khalil’s blog, Angry Arab, Feb. 20th:

I had a chance to ask John Mearsheimer yesterday at the University of Chicago about his experience since the publication of his article (with Stephen Walt) and later book about the Israeli lobby.  He permitted me to cite on the blog: he told me that he had published 11 op-ed pieces in the New York Times before the appearance of the article on the Israeli lobby.  Two of those were solicited by the Times. He said that after the appearance of the article [in 2006], he has not published one op-ed piece and the ones he sent were rejected.  He said that his speaking engagements went through a steep decline as a result.  But it was refreshing to see him not intimidated by the Israeli lobby that he wrote about.