The move to censure and/or banish Senator Joe Lieberman from the Democratic Party is well underway. The latest rhetorical outrage comes from Ken Dixon of the Connecticut Post, who begins his indictment with this:
Joe Lieberman is a politician without a state. The long-time Democrat, now a party of one who is accused of crimes against the Democratic State Central Committee, thinks he transcends state lines. In reality, he’s now the senator from John McCain — and Israel.
Lieberman’s Communications Director Marshall Wittmann writes in response that the bolded comment
was an outrageous anti-Semitic slur unworthy of being published in any honorable newspaper. Disagreeing about policies is part of a healthy democratic debate, but playing the old anti-Semitic canard of dual loyalty and attacking someone because of their Jewish religion is absolutely disgraceful. From the Dreyfus Case in France in the 1890s to purges of Jews in the Soviet Union, the dual loyalty charge has been used by anti-Semitic bigots to try to oppress and intimidate the Jewish Community. It was terrible to see your paper join this ignoble tradition, and for it your newspaper owes an apology to Senator Lieberman, to the Jewish community, and to all fair-minded citizens of Connecticut.
But, as we have come to see, this is increasingly standard fare for blogosphere and for MSM outlets that wade through the swamp of such rhetoric.
This does raise an interesting question. If Barack Obama prevails on Election Day, rejects the “J Street” agenda and employs obvious proponents of a a robust alliance with Israel (e.g. Dennis Ross) to continue essentially the same approach of the second Bush term, what then? (Obama does, after all, have a habit of hanging his frenzied netroot base out to dry –on Iran sanctions, on Georgia’s admission to NATO, etc.) Where will the anger and bile go?
Tim Geithner?
That post above was my contribution to Nerds and Stimulus!
If Pelosi not fast enough to do her math, there will be social unrest twice.
People will have zero confidence with this government. It is time for impeachment.
Cut Nancy some slack. She misspoke. She meant to say 500 thousand. It happens to Republicans too, remember when the Democrats couldn’t stop chortling over McCain’s mistaking Iran for Iraq? They attributed it to senility. Let’s not be this petty.
#4,”Let’s not be this petty.”
Diane, give the Contensionsistas some slack. Pettyness is their only resource at the moment.
The first part of the post about Pelosi’s comment is silly – obviously she misspoke. There is so much to damn her for that it makes no sense to focus on that.
But the second part is dead on.
The speed she wanted to pass the bill was because the more people found out about the bill, the less they liked it and the harder it would be to pass.
“The first part of the post about Pelosi’s comment is silly – obviously she misspoke. There is so much to damn her for that it makes no sense to focus on that.”
She has said that TWICE before. Both times misspeaking. TWICE. TWO TIMES. TWICE. LOOK IT UP.
agreed – the Pelosi slip is trivial, possibly revelatory if one has Freudian inclinations – and shouldn’t one? – but probably not worth the space and position Mr Podhoretz gives it: As the comments already show, it’s a distraction that may undercut his larger point.
Might I suggest commenters consider reading the entirety of the piece? It does acknowledge the slip of the tongue.
Wow, talk about grasping at straws. Did you, as even a minimally competent journalist would, call Pelosi’s office to confirm that she had intended to say “500 million”? Or are you so pathetically desperate for something to criticize that you decided a dishonest argument was better than no argument at all? The truth is, you have no regard for the truth.
Wouldn’t this space be better utilized talking about the robust and broad support for Obama’s stimulus bill among Republican governors — and how they feel that their GOP leadership in Congress, like the rightwing punditocracy, is out of touch?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/us/politics/17repubs.html?_r=1&hp
Of course if GWB had this “slip” or mentioned “57 States he campaigned in with 2 left to go”,
it would be purely because of his stupidity. Id McCain did that it would be because of his senility.
I think that Pelosi is senile and Obama is demented.
As someone else mentioned, Pelosi is so foolish she actually used that incorrect figure not just once, but TWICE! Either she has the short term memory of an ant, or she is doing it deliberately for some strange reason..
Reminds me of the number of homeless that their advocates used to throw out there. She very well might have mispoke, however, I wouldn’t put it past her to have been trying to stoke the fires by using the number because it sounds impressive and to some people it might increase their internal sense of we must do something. Sorry to be so cynical, but she is one scary person.
I thought Pelosi was just letting slip how many illegal aliens there really are in America.
humm, I wonder how much longer – 10 days perhaps – before this magazine and its hapless band of bloggers will start to call for Obama’s impeachment.
Wow, someone told me that this was a bizarre magazine, chock full of angry conservos, desperate to vent, but I had no idea…
#10 -It is up to Pelosi to issue the Misspoke 7 correct it to the correct number. She has press Secs surely.
if i say something entirely stupid on commentary ,the eds dont email me to confirm -they just assume i am stupid.