I just didn’t know enough about the guy, nor was I willing to take the time to read all his thoughts to make an informed decision about him one way or the other. I will say that he had all the right enemies, and I would have loved to have seen the freak-out from the right during the Bush years if Mike McConnell had been denied his picks. I imagine the same folks who went after Freeman would have accused anyone who stood in the way of McConnell’s picks as “aiding and abetting terrorism.”
In the end, I guess the thing that surprised me the most is the behind the scenes power of the Tibet lobby. All this time I thought it was just Richard Gere.
Comrade Stuck
All I can figure is wingnut’s were disappointed that Freeman was no Richard Perle.
The Moar You Know
Well known Tibetan sympathizers, Joe Lieberman and Charles Schumer, torpedoed Chas’ nomination (one that, oddly enough, did not need Senate confirmation – just goes to show you how powerful those Tibetans are!) due to alleged knowledge of the Chinese language, having once been an ambassador to China, and other grave offenses.
Dork
"Chas Freeman" sounds like a frat brother from Long Island attending James Madison University on a lacrosse/beer pong scholarship.
The Grand Panjandrum
Democrats and Republicans were angling to put the kibosh on Freeman. Republicans were just more public and vocal about it. Jim Fallows has a few thoughts and he links to his original post on this matter. It, and the original post, are well worth a read.
Freeman was a free thinker and oft expressed his skepticism with regard to some of the most pro-Israel ME policy. He was exactly the sort of voice you need in the room to counterbalance the ardent pro-Israel arguments you generally here from inside the beltway.
But this wasn’t a fight Obama wanted right now from what I’ve read.
The anti-Cuba lobby and the blindly pro-Israel lobby continue to wreak havoc on us all.
schrodinger's cat
Who is Chas Freeman?
The Moar You Know
@schrodinger’s cat: Two good articles up right now over at Pat Lang’s place. He was an interesting guy who crossed the wrong people.
Comrade Stuck
@schrodinger’s cat:
Last Weeks Milchelle Malkin Public Enemy Numero Uno —
Svensker
It seems like a small thing. But to me it means big things. If the Obama administration feels it can’t buck the Israel Lobby on just this one guy, how likely is it that they’ll be able to put much pressure on the Israeli government to do unpopular stuff to get a solution to the I/P conflict? Not much. So, prospects for I/P peace just dimmed considerably.
Freeman in charge of NIEs on the Middle East would have meant a fair chance at a reasonable NIE on Iran. But with all the pressure obvious now, it’s possible that the new NIE on Iran will skew to the Israeli hardliners. Which means that the possibility that Israel will attack Iran and that we won’t do much to stop them just went up considerably.
With smaller chance of I/P peace and higher chance of Israeli attack on Iran, the possibility of terrorist blowback against U.S. goes up considerably. If that occurs, most Americans won’t see it as blowback but just another example of the horrible unreasonable violence of those filthy Muslims — which will lead for calls to go bomb some more Middle Eastern countries.
I hope I’m being overwrought. But this shit has consequences. Freeman’s fall is kind of like this. In the meantime, I’d like to see Schumer and Lieberman…not to mention the traitor Rosen…treated to a round of hot anal pokers.
Sloegin
JC shows his true colors in this post. What an anti-tibetic jerk.
sgwhiteinfla
Glenzilla has quite a bit to say about Chuck Schumer’s opposition to Chas Freeman. I think at this point we can all understand that the "concerns" about China and Saudi Arabia were a farce and his statements on Israel were the REAL problem for the people looking to derail his appointment.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/11/schumer/index.html
DFS
The Beastie Boys draw a lotta water in DC, I guess.
Bill H
That’s assuming they are even inclined to do so, which is I see as being very much in doubt. The strongest word so far is "unhelpful" which came from Clinton, and that was the same phrase used by Bush. Obama himself has not even gone to the courageous extent of calling them "unhelpful."
Paul L.
@sgwhiteinfla:
I can see why Glenn supports Chas Freeman’.
They share the same level of knee-jerk belief and fact-checking.
Observer
I frankly get tired of the latest flavor of "Jews Run The World" conspiracy. Freeman has a history that goes well beyond simply antagonizing some mythical "AIPAC Birther". His track record is shilling for dictators at high rates of pay.
That is not who we want vetting ME NIEs.
I’ve learned to skip over Glenn’s posts on the ME. It’s too much trouble to wipe off his spittle and he’s quite brilliant on other topics.
smiley
I don’t look for the Obama administration to do too much that’s controversial in the area of foreign policy during the first term. Unless events dictate otherwise, of course. I think that’s why they didn’t fight for Freeman.
Svensker
@Paul L.:
Go bugger yourself. Freeman was an ambassador to Saudi, and knew lots of Saudis. Your source checked the kerning on Freeman’s countertops and completely ignores the substance of Freeman’s point — which is that uncritical US support for Israel is a big contributor to anti-American feeling in the Arab street. That’s the fact, jack.
Ash Can
@Svensker:
I agree. But after reading what Grand Panjandrum says above about Obama not wanting to deal with this issue now, I have to wonder if this is the last word on the subject, or if Obama is just postponing something that really would have taken his eye too far off the economy ball (as opposed to the "distractions" that folks such as David Brooks whine about) and intends to revisit it with the attention it deserves further down the road. This is just a flyer on my part, and an optimistic one at that, but I think the latter scenario is plausible.
Paul L.
@Svensker:
Wow, The progressive Aaron Broussard defense for the "swiftboating" of Chas Freeman
"An emotional moment and a misunderstanding".
Does not matter if the story is wrong. The narrative is right.
"Fake but Accurate"
Svensker
@Paul L.:
Whatever. Right now, I’m in Wilfred mode. So just go bugger yourself. Kill a Palestinian if that makes you happy. Drop some white phosphorus on a little kid, that should cheer you up. Or maybe bulldoze somebody’s house and dig up their century old olive grove, that should get you all warm and fuzzy. Just. Bite Me.
The Moar You Know
@Svensker: Paul’s big source of kicks, just so you know, is raping black women. He loves it and thinks it should be legal.
Third Eye Open
@Paul L.:
So what is it like being a contrarian, dude?
When you spoof, at least read, then comprehend the statement you intend to base your argument on. Otherwise, you just sound like a…well…um, You!
BethanyAnne
@Paul L.: Dude, you have a track record. You’ve been a fool on here for years, Mr. PUMA. I don’t care if you have a detail right here or not. The fact that you support dropping Freeman is proof enough that he was a good voice to listen to.
tballou
If Greenwald says this is a problem, that’s good enough for me.
anticontrarian
there was a pretty funny guest post on the washington note by his son offering to punch some of those critics in the nose.
if you like that sort of thing.
LD50
I, for one, welcome our new AIPAC overlords.
liberal
@Observer:
Shorter Observer: no one is allowed to criticize Israel, or point out that our foreign policy has been captured by Israel for the past 4 decades.
liberal
@Ash Can:
Doubtful, given the apptment of Hillary to State, and the apptment of Dennis Ross, etc.
(I’ll admit one reason I supported Obama over Hillary is because he seemed marginally better on Iraq and the M.E.)
Wile E. Quixote
Paul, would you please explain what Israel has ever done for the United States of America? It’s obvious what the USA has done for Israel, we hand them billions of dollars a year in foreign aid and hand Egypt more billions so they won’t attack Israel. What have we gotten in return? Well the Israelis attacked a US ship and killed a bunch of American sailors back in 1967 and got away with it. They spied on the US during the 1980s and then traded the intelligence to the Soviet Union, and largely got away with it, but have they done anything for the United States as opposed to doing things "to" the United States?
LD50
"Paul, would you please explain what Israel has ever done for the United States of America? It’s obvious what the USA has done for Israel, we hand them billions of dollars a year in foreign aid and hand Egypt more billions so they won’t attack Israel. What have we gotten in return? "
Simple. When we support Israel, they, in turn, stand up for us when everyone in the Middle East hates us for, well, supporting Israel.
DrDave
James Fallows had some pretty thoughtful posts on Freeman over on his blog. While I had some concerns about the Freeman nomination, on the whole, I think that we would have been well served by his confirmation to the National Intel Council. Water under the bridge now.
MNPundit
The Tibet thing sucks but over all this just makes things worse. I feel angrier and more hateful than ever towards Marty Peretz and his group because of their fascist ways. And that is going to make future criticism of Israel louder and sharper because that is the only way it will bust through.
In fact, I have such a massive negative opinion of people like TNR’s Peretz that I can’t even express it without using phrasing that I would ban myself for.
scruncher
Fred Kaplan weighs in: http://www.slate.com/id/2213468/
The last paragraph is interesting.