Joe Klein Still Talking About "Jewish Dual Loyalty"

Joe Klein-Mr. "Anonymous"



Time Magazine's famous "Anonymous" author and current writer of Swampland (Time's blog), has once again questioned the loyalty of America's Jews in the face of the diplomatic riff between the US and Israel. Here it is:

"I'll be overseas when it happens, but I'll be very interested to see what sort of reception the patriots at the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) give Netanyahu when he comes to speak at their annual conference at the end of this month. The appropriate response would be stone silence. (Actually, the appropriate reaction would be to withdraw the invitation to speak.) A standing ovation for Bibi--the reflexive response granted Israel's leader on these occasions--would send a controversial message here: it would give the impression that these Israelophiles approve of foreign leaders who insult the American Vice President (and, by extension, the President).

I'd hope that all American Jews, on both sides of the two-state issue, would agree that an insult directed at the Obama Administration is an insult directed at us all...and that AIPAC members, who I'm sure see themselves as Americans first, will behave accordingly."


Here is what Klein, who is Jewish, wrote in Swampland about "Jewish neo-cons" on June 24, 2008:

"The notion that we could just waltz in and inject democracy into an extremely complicated, devout and ancient culture smacked—still smacks—of neocolonialist legerdemain. The fact that a great many Jewish neoconservatives—people like Joe Lieberman and the crowd over at Commentary—plumped for this war, and now for an even more foolish assault on Iran, raised the question of divided loyalties: using U.S. military power, U.S. lives and money, to make the world safe for Israel. And then there is the question—made manifest by the no-bid contracts offered U.S. oil companies by the Iraqis—of two oil executives, Bush and Cheney, securing a new source of business for their Texas buddies."

Later that day, Klein added this response:

"You want evidence of divided loyalties? How about the “benign domino theory” that so many Jewish neoconservatives talked to me about—off the record, of course—in the runup to the Iraq war, the idea that Israel’s security could be won by taking out Saddam, which would set off a cascade of disaster for Israel’s enemies in the region? As my grandmother would say, feh! Do you actually deny that the casus belli that dare not speak its name wasn’t, as I wrote in February 2003, a desire to make the world safe for Israel? Why the rush now to bomb Iran, a country that poses some threat to Israel but none—for the moment—to the United States…"

Klein, of course, is the guy who wrote a book called "Primary Colors" and signed it as "Anonymous", lied about the fact that he was the author, then eventually fessed up. So his credibility with me doesn't go very far, to put it mildly.

I don't know why Klein, who I believe is Jewish, has this thing about the loyalty of American Jews. Yes, most probably do have an emotional investment in seeing Israel survive, but I don't see that as an impediment to being a loyal American citizen (Johnathan Pollard excepted).

I too am critical of the way the administration is blowing this Jerusalem apartment business into a full-blown diplomatic crisis when it could have been handled much more effectively behind closed doors. Does Klein question my patriotism? (He'd better not.)

Ofc ourse, this is the same sort of disdain that Klein has shown toward tea-partiers and anyone else who opposes Obama. He thinks we are somehow disloyal. The truth is that Klein, at least in his TV appearnces and writings, comes off as an arrogant jerk.

But I've said that before, haven't I?