May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will leave the world a little better for your having been here. -- Ronald Reagan

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Helen Thomas, The Left, The Media and Anti-Semitism

Helen Thomas' now infamous antisemitic remarks have gotten massive coverage.


The Left, while not entirely embracing antisemitism, is supportive of it. The Left were apologists for the horrors of the Soviet Union and Communism, were supportive of Italy's fascism, and has supported fascism since its inception. The support is nice, and friendly, the 'we just want to get along' kind of thing. In Nazi Germany, the fuel that led to genocide of Jews, is the same acceptance of antisemitism we see now on the Left. Nazism is not right wing as Leftists keep teaching, and repeating; it was a socialist party, Statist through and through. I responded recently on Facebook to someone that gave moral equivalence to Hamas, PLO, Palestinians, and that whole group, stating the US is just as bad if not worse. How horrible is it that American Citizens see no distinction between their country and terrorist states that slaughter people because they are Jews, or are supporters, or even sympathetic to Jews?

Below are some examples of the support given to antisemitism, that were in response to Thomas' antisemitic remarks.

The vile Keith Olbermann of MSNBC gave Thomas a pass in his 'Worst Person' segment for her remarks, and instead named Rabbi David Nessenoff, the man that exposed Thomas. Nessenoff received 25,000 hate emails for posting the vid. Leftists, not Conservatives, or Evangelical Christians, sent these. Not endorsing antisemitism, but being an apologist for it, and accepting it.

From the Leftist Daily Kos: "This diary is mostly about the smear campaign aimed at Helen Thomas and how right wing propaganda easily mixes with Israeli propaganda. It is a story that people would label me as crazy if I didn't have the facts to back it up. How could such a good natured woman have so many people denounce her without even knowing the effort that went into it? How could so many people turn their backs on her even though she served her country in a way that most civilians never could?" Not endorsing antisemitism, but making excuses for it. Accepting it.

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert: "Jesus Christ on a matzo cracker, Helen. What were you thinking?" "You don't just blurt out racially charged comments on camera." As he was accepting of her antisemitic comments, he also charged Conservative radio talk show hosts for saying the same kinds of things on their radio shows. A blatant lie. They wouldn't have shows if they did. Leftists have to say those things to distract from their own antisemitism.

Still not certain if the statement made by Thomas was sufficiently antisemitic? The statement has been praised by Hezbollah MP Hussein Moussawi: "Respected American journalist Helen Thomas's answer shows ... a courageous, bold, honest and free opinion which expresses what people across the globe believe: that Israel is a racist state of murderers and thugs."

This isn't the first time Thomas has made remarks reflecting her antisemitism, and has always been give a pass. In 2002, she asked White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer, "Does the president think that the Palestinians have a right to resist 35 years of brutal military occupation and suppression?" Mark Rabin, a freelance cameraman working for CNN at the time, said Thomas had said to him "thank God for Hezbollah" [for driving Israel out of Lebanon] and "Israel is the cause for 99 percent of all this terrorism."

Salon.com also gives a pass to antisemitism. It blames the firing (resignation) of Thomas, not on antisemitic remarks, but on ageism and sexism. They again repeated the lie that Conservative talk show hosts say worse things and get away with it. The obvious problem is that this is a diversion as well as a lie, and if it were true, and that talk show hosts were getting away with it, does pointing out the wrongs of another justify? Anna Clark: "Now, I'm afraid that this is the legacy Thomas will be left with: Because she wasn't perfect, she was terrible." "In fact, of course, Thomas is neither perfect nor terrible. What she represents is that uncomfortable reminder that our heroes are not infallible. They are not everything we want them to be, no matter how much we pretend otherwise. Our heroes will disappoint, sometimes egregiously." No Anna, Helen Thomas is a terrible person, and antisemitic, and you're supporting antisemitism by supporting her.

Andrea Mitchell and Savannah Guthrie of MSNBC are apologists for antisemitism. Mitchell said Thomas just had “passionate views”. Guthrie: “It doesn’t mitigate what she said, but she’s also 89-years-old." Antisemitism justified by ageism?

Jonathan Alter of Newsweek and MSNBC : "But she`s Lebanese. She`s a Lebanese American. And you do have to understand, you know, some of the history of the region and the feelings in the region, and not necessarily judge somebody who thinks of Israel as an occupying power as by definition an anti-Semite because they think Israel is occup-" (crosstalk cut off) He also used ageism to justify. So if you're old and of Lebanese descent, it's okay to be antisemitic?

Joe Scarborough, MSNBC host and commentator that has moved from being a RINO to a full blown Leftist, made excuses for her. Huffington Post made excuses for her.

What we have here is the Leftist Media supporting antisemitism by giving it a pass, by not speaking out against it. That, anyway, would be tough for them to do, because, they, like the Democrat Party, and our President, support Palestine and Hamas, and not Jews and Israel.

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