It always seemed odd that MSNBC, the far-left network, employed one of the most fringey, controversial, anti-Semitic figures on the right. But then again, there was probably a good reason for it. The left still wishes all conservatives were as easy to demonize as Pat Buchanan.
But now it seems some powerful, shadowy group of “backlisters” went and drove Buchanan out of MSNBC, after his writing was attacked by liberals as racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic. Buchanan took to the internet today to warn darkly about these blacklisters:
Without a hearing, they smear and stigmatize as racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic any who contradict what George Orwell once called their “smelly little orthodoxies.” They then demand that the heretic recant, grovel, apologize, and pledge to go forth and sin no more.
Defy them, and they will go after the network where you work, the newspapers that carry your column, the conventions that invite you to speak. If all else fails, they go after the advertisers.
I know these blacklisters. They operate behind closed doors, with phone calls, mailed threats and off-the-record meetings. They work in the dark because, as Al Smith said, nothing un-American can live in the sunlight.
Dying to know who these mysterious blacklisters are. If only he would be a bit more specific!
On a related note, Buchanan was one of the few figures on the right who regularly used the term “Israel Firsters” to smear the pro-Israel community. He also used the same Al Smith quote in a Human Events article in which he accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee of torpedoing Chas Freeman’s National Intelligence Council nomination:
Nor did Freeman shrink at naming the source of the noxious campaign of slander against him.
“The tactics of the Israel lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods and an utter disregard for the truth.”
“A lobby,” Steve Rosen confided in an AIPAC internal memo, “is like a night flower; it thrives in the dark and dies in the sun.”
Yes, and long ago, Al Smith addressed the age-old problem of the Rosens within: “The best way to kill anything un-American is to drag it out into the open, because anything un-American cannot live in the sunlight.’”
The pro-Israel lobby didn’t drive Buchanan out of MSNBC, as much as he may wish it did. It was just a matter of time before the MSNBC audience objected to Buchanan’s past offensive statements. The only surprise is that it took so long.
Don't get all worked up Goodman, Buchanan doesn't hate Jews, geez, what hyper-sensitivity. That said, you can't deny many Jews are liberal, very liberal and many Jews are in the news media and of course the entertainment industry, thus they have access to cameras and microphones and thus the public is subjected to their LIBERAL views nearly 24/7/365. n nAm I racist or anti Semitic for saying this? If you say yes, you are part of the circumstance I just described. n nNot every "conservative" is a NeoCon, who is really a liberal Republican, who favors endless, open immigration, worships "diversity", big government, "social justice", etc. And that also doesn't mean one is Nazi or KKK clansman. Get real.
Tell it to Bill Buckley.
Tell it to Jews who support Israel here in the "Israel-firster Israel Likudnik amen corner." n nGive us a break. With Pat, it ain't the liberalism but Zionphobia, and old-style unreconstructed Catholic bugaboos about Judaism, though sure, some Father Coughlin fear of left-wing Jewish millionaires may play a part. n nYou don't go around defending Ivan Demunjiak and questioning Nazi extermination practices because Jews are liberal and yes, your paranoia about the Jewish lock on the media as being responsible for the left-wing drift of this nation, while missing the point of Pat's recent complaints about the Jews, suggests you might find American Conservative more plangent pastures.
*I* will defend Ivan Demunjiak and suggest that things are not always as simple as the seem. n nFirst, the ISRAELI Supreme Court threw out his conviction on the grounds that *they* weren't convinced that they had the right guy. Now Israel may have its versons of Sonys Sodomyer and the rest, or not — I really don't know — but the fact that it is the highest court in the nation of Israel and *they* said this means something to me. THEY are the ones who said this. n nSecond, it does not negate the horror of the Holocaust to say that we are going to be damn careful to get the *right* people before we go hang them. This is why I am not really in favor of the death penalty at all — we have a government that can't really deliver the mail well and we trust them with this? And then you are talking 60 years later — with no objective proof beyond memories — ummm…. n nHow do we not know that he wasn't just some farmer guy who someone didn't like? I want to *know.* I want "proof" — I want *something* to *know* that it really is the right guy. n nThird — and this I am of two minds of — there are things like Deuteronomy 32:35 where God says that vengeance is his. Not ours. What does this mean in this context? n nIt isn't like Acts 22.2 where you are "getting up early in the morning" to kill someone before he kills you — old Ivan probably is wearing diapers. What do these Biblical teachings require us to do? n nFourth, it would have been one thing for the US Army soldiers to simply shoot every German they saw upon liberating a death camp — and that happened in a few instances. It would have been one thing for summary firing squads of anyone in a SS uniform. The problem with the Nuremburg trials was not that the schmucks didn't get what the deserved but the presumption of due process. nThese are ex post facto laws and bills of attainer — which we frown upon. n nIs Ivan worse than George Soros? nOr is he just not as wealthy? n nI don't like defending Ivan Demunjiak, who probably did things so reprehensible that I can't even comprehend them, but this says something about us, not him. n n
Buchanan wants a Caucasian majority country. Newsflash for you, so do the overwhelming majority of Americans. Jews are mostly liberal, mostly trans-nationals. Find a Jew and you'll usually find someone whining about "tolerance" and how the US must, must, must allow any and all to immigrate here. Question: Why doesn't Israel follow that immigration philosophy? Why doesn't Mexico? Japan? And 99% of all other nations in the world. n
Oh well then we can count on Pat's old sidekick Glenn Greenwald to start complaining about how the Jews secretly control the government.
You are wrong on Buchanan. He is an anti-semite and so no tears are cried for him. But you miss the point entirely: the Left is blacklisting anyone who doesn't agree with its noxious 'worldview'. I'm in graduate school: when they try and teach their Marxist outlook (in a psychology class, no less!), when I have voiced my opposing views, I was told I would fail the class if I voiced them again. I write for a major online blog. My political views are not wanted there anymore.My children cannot voice their opinions that global warming is farcical. They must read history according to Howard Zinn. What happened to Pat Buchanan should scare you. It's a shame you don't understand what happened to Buchanan: It shows how little you understand what is actually happening –the blacklisting occurring at all levels, by the left, of American life.
I know what you mean, Seth. I was almost mobbed once in a college classroom for disputing a student's assertion that Cleopatrra was black, and that Napoleon shot off the nose of the Sphinx. The suggestion that Socrates and Plato were not black also did not go over too well. n nI am currently encountering another form of left-censorship on the Mondoweiss blog where I comment–this banning of "Nakba Denial" which I mention below. Thus, any suggestion that the Yishuv accepted the partition, that there was a war of aggression waged by the Arabs against the Yishuv the moment after the partition passed, that the overwhelming number of refugees fled the fighting that followed the Arabs’ war of aggression (which they were in fact winning by late March 1948), or that the Yishuv were fighting for their lives, is the equivalent of denying that there was a Holocaust. n n
What a bizarre column by Ms. Goodman. Why is she surprised that Buchanan lasted so long on MSNBC? He and the left both bashed Israel regularly. Birds of a feather. And she seems to harbor some sympathy for him. Good riddance no matter whose efforts helped end his employment at the network. One less virulent enemy of Israel on the air is a good thing under any circumstances.
Sorry, but this column is absurd, and I say that as someone who is no fan of Buchanan's because of his isolationism and 1930s conception of conservatism that yes, does make him anti-Semitic as was properly noted by William F. Buckley. But if you would bother to look past the things Buchanan is guilty of that made him an outcast from the conservative movement, you'd have the common sense to realize that what he's talking about here is MSNBC doubling down on the SOCIAL issues and that what Buchanan is saying is demonization and blacklisting regarding one's stance on conservative social issues, which has never been Buchanan's weak spot as a conservative. I didn't hear Buchanan blame his ousting at MSNBC on an Israel lobby, which given what knee-jerk apologists for Arab terrorists that the network's usual lineup is, is a dubious assumption on your part, so until you have him saying that, this column is revealing more about your inability to look at this issue objectively. And you don't have to be a fan of Buchanan to recognize that.
So you agree that the WWII was a swindle of international finance and Hitler was really a fundamentally decent guy unhinged by Brisith imperialism? Coz Pat, last we heard, believe that. And that poor old anti-Communists are persecuted by Zionists and falsely accused of, I dunno, being death camp guards. And yes, you are wrong, Pat brings up Israel lobby implicitly when asserting that he was falsely accused of anti-Semitism and gosh, that just so inexplicably led to his blacklisting and putting the kabosh on his catch the wave method of promoting exploration of dissent by introducing new voices to the American public like, well, Louis Farrakhan (anti-Semite) and David Duke (anti-Semite). So you are wrong there. And, again, he has associated with known anti-Semitic Holocaust deniers when not apologizing for poor misunderstood Herr Hitler–going so far as to sponsor an anti-Semitic Jew slandering forumentitled "Disinformation, Deception and Other Tricks: Discussion about 'The Holocaust'" (with the Holocaust in scare quotes), until the s hit the f. n nOther than that, right on brother!
You are obviously incapable of reading what I wrote since at the top of my post, I said I was no fan of Buchanan's isolationism and that I AGREED with what William F. Buckley characterized as anti-Semitism. It's too bad you have to lie in order to challenge my point, which was to note that Buchanan's real problems are not the issue as to why MSNBC fired him, and until you're man enough to recognize that, I can dismiss your reply for the intellectual dishonesty it represents.
Buchanan is in good company. Apparently there is a lot of this going around lately. On the left-leaning Mondoweiss blog where I comment, journalist and regul;ar commenter Jeffrey Balnkfort, who had been arguning there recently that Zionists (or Zionism) had provoked the Nazis' persecution of the Jews, was banned from there. The editor's have instituted a new policy that bans any comments touching upon Holocaust denial or that Jews were responsible for their own persecution and genocide–a no brainer to most. n nBut they have also complemented this policy with a ban on what is called "Nakba Denial," which denies that the Jews of Palestine just woke up one fine day and decided to expel and ethnically cleanse some 600-700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes to create a “Greater Israel.” n nSome might consider this to be a form of denial in its own right.
Hopefully your "no brainer" refers to banning Holocaust denial and not the proposition that the Jews had it coming and provoked and, indeed, helped prepare it.
In the column, Buchanan does not seem to blame the Israel Lobby so much as left-wing social issue groups (race/gender/sex) for his departure.
Buchanan should have run for the GOP presidential nomination, he probably could have beaten Romney. This ain't Reagan's GOP anymore.
I read Buchanan's column before I read this one, and I have to say I'm perplexed. I didn't hear him blaming the Jews at all. (and Alana: is it really cricket to mention that Pat has used the term "Israel Lobby" in the past, in the hopes that your readers will get confused and think that some shadowy Jewish cabal brought him down?) n nI've always found Pat Buchanan refreshing in at least one way: he says exactly what he thinks. there's no spin with Pat. but these other commenters are right. Buchanan wasn't banned because of Jewish anger, he was banned because he transgressed against the Liberal Left. n njust another example of the "tolerant" Left and their idea of "freedom of speech."
I think Pat was brought down by the conga circle drummers he used to complain about–there he was a nice all American caucasoid jock fresh from beating up some four-eyed freak going down to get chocolate sundaes with his buddies in Dupont Circle with their sweethearts and there were these…people….playing…if you could believe it…conga drums. Un effing believable. But true!!!!!!! And those people.are.still,there. Playing those damn drums. What happened to Kate Smith and those nice singers with rhythm who knew their manners on the Lawrence Welk show. This whole country has gone to pot! Pot? Don't even get us started. The problem with America today is that it has too many Americans and that's a fact. They shoulda stopped letting people in after the Irish Potato famine ended.
Where will Jews go when they get what they want? A Latino, Asian, Arab/Muslim and Black coalition majority in the USA? Ha, ha, ha…….Good luck with that .
So many experts on what “The Jews” agenda really is. It is beyond baloney being placed here at Commentary blogspot, the home of the minority Jewish American perspective. One which I deeply respect. Can you not appreciate the obvious diversity in The Jewish outlook.
We are not afraid of Pat and welcome the opportunity to debate him in a civil manner anytime and any place whatever his beliefs are.
The reason Demjanjuk was not found guilty in Israel was because 99% guilty was not good enough for their high standards. Wait, that runs counter to the standard anti -Israel invective. Their standard of justice overrode their desire to convict a nazi war criminal. Quite impressive from that standpoint. Glad the nazi cold blooded murderer is on the hot seat, for good. Let the German’s take care of the mess.
Too bad the fakestinians did not accept the ’48 un partition plan or Barak’s offer(let alone make a counter proposal in lieu of starting a shooting war) or Olmert’s offer. They do care about a Palestinian State because prior to 1948 the ones who were referred to as “Palestinians” were The Jews. They refused to accept the offers because they refuse to live alongside Israel, no matter what the borders are, even if Israel withdrew down to Tel Aviv. The land for peace paradigm is as dead as The Mitchell Plan or The Zinni Plan. Oh by the way since Egypt has made it clear they are just waiting for the first moment to abrogate their peace treaty with Israel and go back to the confrontational days of Nasser or likely worse, Oslo was predicated upon Isr-Egt treaty being kept in good faith, so did Begin’s pledge to make good on autonomy for the residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza…The PA Hamas unity gov’t also renegs on Oslo..so no more Israeli concessions in return fore terrorist attacks. They could have has a state, in peace with Israel, but…that was and is out of the question. Case closed.
Doesn’t seem like much a difference between the New Anti-semitism and the old anti-semitism.
"The reason Demjanjuk was not found guilty in Israel was because 99% guilty was not good enough for their high standards." n nI genuinely did not know that — is this true for only capitol cases, or for all crimes? We couldn't convict OJ Simpson and we all know he did it — and that was the "reasonable doubt" standard. Nor did I know that they actually (essentially) commuted his sentence — which is not what was in the mainstream press. And thus this essentially is like he Mumia Al Jamal case, right? n n"Wait, that runs counter to the standard anti -Israel invective" nThe fact that this reasonably well educated, reasonably intelligent and quite pro-Israel American didn't know this is Israel's fault. Yes there is CAMERA (I actually have used some of their research on the Petra in years back, and was *very* glad to have it) but where is the basic equivalent to the "Voice of America?" n nWhere is the equivalent of John Stossell going through Ivan's claims and tearing them apart one by one like Stossell did with the Mumia case? Where is the public relations of Israel in general? n n4/5 of Americans probably couldn't find Israel on a map — 4/5 of Americans probably couldn't find the US on a map either, but the vast majority of Americans aren't anti-Israel but don't know a damn thing *about* Israel. Those who are Christian don't even know their *own* religion (and never forget that 3/4 of the Christian Bible is Jewish scripture). To give an example of how bad it is, I once convinced some college juniors — one year away from being K-6 teachers, that "Easter" celebrates the fact that President Abraham Lincoln rose from the dead after being shot and then Reconstructed the South, and that Andrew Johnson was impeached because of the Vietnam War. (The latter is a fair miss — Andrew was Lincoln;s VP, Lyndon Johnson was JFK's, Andrew *was* impeached.) n nAnd if you think this is bad, there was an actual textbook in the '80s == published and sold to schools — that said that Franklin Roosevelt ended the Korean War by dropping the Atomic Bomb. Wrong President, wrong war, wrong decade, and wrong part of the world (although Japan isn't that far from Korea). n n"Their standard of justice overrode their desire to convict a nazi war criminal. Quite impressive from that standpoint." n nYes — and frankly they are damn fools for not shouting this from the highest rooftops. In a situation where there are a lot of people who know nothing, and the other side is very good at getting its message out, Israel is, frankly, stupid in not doing likewise. Pat Buchanan's comments make a lot of sense if you don't know about the 99% rule — and how do you know about things you never thought even existed? n nIsrael's reputation will not be defended just by getting information to the American Jewish community, or even to them and the Conservative Christians — someone needs to get the "Reader's Digest" version out to Joe Sixpack, who is a lot fairer minded (and a lot less well educated) than you can possibly imagine. n n"Glad the nazi cold blooded murderer is on the hot seat, for good." n nIf it is really him. n nHe was an autoworker, living openly for what – 40 years – in a part of the country where there are lots of Holocaust survivors and no one ever saw/recognized him? He is living out in the open and nothing happens, then suddenly out of the blue everyone points him out as guilty. That seems suspicious. nI've been the victim of mistaken identity — it is a terrifying thing — and how do we KNOW? n nAnd the other thing — what does, say, Israeli law say about prosecuting children? I know what the British Common Law says — you don't. And when someone becomes an old senile coot — if that is what he is — at what point do you not prosecute because it would be like executing a 3 year old — he would have no idea what is going on or why. n nThese are not easy questions, not if you think about it for a while.
Let me put this more bluntly. If Adolph Hitler was found to be alive, but to have the mind of a 3-year-old — you were absolutely sure it was Hitler and you were absolutely sure he had the mental ability of a 3 year old — what would you do? n nThe guy has no teeth, wears diapers and has to have Sesame Street explained to him while he is spoon-fed in the nursing home. The man he once was deserves to be executed. But the three-year-old is not going to have any idea what is happening to him or why — only that others are hurting him. — for reasons he clearly does not understand, does not have the ability to understand. n nI don't claim to have answers to this — and fortunately Hitler took the coward's way out. I only suggest that this is something worth thinking about — the sort of thing for which there is no right answer, only a defensible less-bad one….