Marty Peretz turns 70 today and says: Samantha Power said some erroneous things about Israel and then they talked. He explained the national romantic struggle of the Jewish people to her in Irish terms. Guess what: She "truly truly loves" Israel. She's like Maud Gonne (I like that).
Power on Peretz, in A Problem from Hell: "Martin Peretz, whose New Republic had given me a voice during the Bosnia war and given U.S. policy-makers an appropriately difficult time, helped convince Basic Books to publish [this book]." A real debt. Six years old. Who has more power now. I say: Sampo. The lobby always blesses the rising people as a way of keeping its hooks in, as Peretz blessed Obama, and as Dershowitz took credit for kicking Carter down the stairs. Machiavellian.
It's amazing how bald Peretz's lovesong to Israel is. When you're 70 everything else boils off, I guess. I'll be a pure assimilationist by then, mixing the Talmud's rule that you feed your dogs first with my wife's India stuff. Israel Israel Israel; some day we will marvel at this. That one of the most
powerful editors in Washington only cares about Israel. No wonder John
Judis, one of Peretz's employees, said that there is "dual loyalty" all
over the Jewish leadership. It's changing by the minute. Dersh and Peretz are both 70. Norm Finkelstein is 54 and fit.
