From the Chicago Sun-Times, 2 weeks back, "Feds Quietly OK Ticketmaster, Live Nation merger", the real news is buried deep in the story:
Widely considered to be the first major test of the Obama administration’s stance on antitrust issues, the Justice Department’s ruling is similar to many issued during the Clinton and Bush years, including the settlement of the Microsoft case. The government is trusting an ever-expanding big business to police itself and act in consumers’ interests.
For followers of politics as practiced in Chicago, it is hard not to suspect some successful influence peddling. In addition to employing the most high-powered Democratic lobbyists in Washington, Live Nation’s board members include Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff and former North Side congressman, while Ticketmaster’s board of directors included the president’s Harvard classmate and transition team leader Julius Genachowski, until he resigned to become chairman of the FCC.
Do I dare to raise the religious/sociological issue? Yes I can! Julius is an old friend of mine back when we were starting our rise (or his rise!), a wonderful outgoing guy, and just as Jewish as me. I met him when he was at Columbia. I wonder where he is on the Israel question–his parents are Holocaust survivors, his wife is doing a Holocaust movie. I know where Rahm is ($/2012). Don’t know about his brother, but I could guess. As Bob Feldman (whose penetrating mind exposed Columbia University’s ties to the defense industry/establishment during Vietnam era) explains to me: "Live Nation is the music industry monopoly that apparently has been arranging concert appearances in Israel for entertainers like Madonna and U2, despite the BDS/cultural campaign. Coincidentally, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ari Emanuel, apparently sits on the Live Nation corporate board that will both benefit from the recent Justice Department decision in this anti-trust case and from the profits earned from concerts in Israel." (Oh and yes Feldman is also Jewish; which shows the varieties of Jewish identity.)
Feldman:
