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Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Bark louder, little dog.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Let’s finish the job.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

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Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

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Consistently wrong since 2002

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Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

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Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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You are here: Home / I’m Sorry, Ms. Nasr, It’s Time

I’m Sorry, Ms. Nasr, It’s Time

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Octavia Nasr, who has 20 years of experience reporting on the Middle East at CNN, was canned today over a tweet saying that she “respected” a Hezbollah cleric who died Sunday. Here’s her more-than-140-character explanation:

I used the words “respect” and “sad” because to me as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman’s rights. He called for the abolition of the tribal system of “honor killing.” He called the practice primitive and non-productive. He warned Muslim men that abuse of women was against Islam.

I have no idea whether Nasr was any good, but it’s pretty harsh to fire someone over one tweet without a second chance. People typing a sentence or two on the fly are going to fuck up once in a while. If I worked for CNN, I’d tweet a hell of a lot less after this incident.

On the bright side, when Sarah Palin wins in 2012, her whole SOTU is going to be a couple of tweets and a Facebook status update, and I’ll expect CNN to hold her to the same high standard.

(via)

Reader Interactions

197Comments

  2. 2.

    Jay B.

    When Bill Clinton ballwashed that fuck Nixon at that shitbag’s funeral, I wish he had kept it to 140 characters.

  3. 3.

    Chad S

    Meanwhile, Kurtz and Erickson sneak off from some G-Town party to hold a tea cup between them while they watch Sarah Palin’s speeches playing in a darkened closet.

  4. 4.

    General Stuck

    The wingnuts have the media by the nutsack. Nasr has been with them many years, and when I used to watch CNN, i couldn’t tell that she was ideological in any way. All some tea bagger fool has to do is holler jump and our media cowards salute and ask how far. I am not a big fan of Hezbollah by any means, but when any semblance of nuance concerning their members is verbotten, it is not a free media, it is either ideological, or ideological serving.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    What?

    That’s IT?

    Creamed Deity on Toast. Fired for respecting a humanitarian stand taken by another human being.

    I really shouldn’t regret never having a “career.” Not if one, not even that wrong, move can turn it into ashes.

  8. 8.

    Corner Stone

    I’m confused. She didn’t say “blowjob” and she didn’t dis Reagan.
    Why was she fired?

  9. 9.

    kdaug

    @General Stuck: Seconded. Nasr always struck me as a genuinely caring person trying to tell us how the Persian and Arab cultures view events. Never got a ideological note from her affect at all.

  12. 12.

    R. Porrofatto

    Good to see again that there is no powerful Israel lobby and that they have zero influence on our impartial news organizations.

  13. 13.

    KG

    we’re turning into a ’50s western – white hats and black hats. You’re either a good guy or a bad guy. Bad guys get shot by good guys. There’s no in between anymore, no areas of grey, no complexity whatsoever.

  14. 14.

    Cat Lady

    Now does everyone understand why I don’t watch any news or opinion shows on network or cable? Stop watching them and they’ll die sooner than later. They’re all worthless military industrial propaganda tools of the corporate establishment, and they must be turned off, and then scorned, as the first act of resistance. The media is FAIL, and every day the blogosphere drinks their milkshake. Die motherfuckers, die.

  15. 15.

    MikeJ

    Should have said “Goat fucking child molester.” Then she would have had tenure for life at CNN.

  17. 17.

    El Cid

    I guess Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki also needs to be banned from appearing on CNN.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki paid tribute for late Fadlallah, who provided the “Islamic library” with “tens of books in jurisprudence, interpretation and Islamic culture.”
    __
    “He devoted his life for serving big Islamic causes in the front line during contemporary cultural and political struggle arenas,” said Maliki.
    __
    While acknowledging the big loss in the Islamic world, Maliki said Fadlallah would remain a living example “that we all adhere to.”

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    @Zam:

    Went against Israel, the worst sin of all.

    Damn. That’s like a head slapping revelation of stupid on my part.
    Of course!

  22. 22.

    Jay B.

    @srv:

    Meh. Nixon didn’t gave a shit about the people in this country all that much one way or another. He liked it better when he could slaughter thousands in other ones.

  23. 23.

    matoko_chan

    He was good man.
    Ms. Nasr got sacked because he was in Hizb’.
    Our Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Israel is psycho about Hizb’.
    We can’t afford to push her over the edge right now….as much as we would like to.
    Even Petraeus had to walk it back.
    If she starts thinkin’ we don’t love her anymore, she’s gonna unload on some Iranian nuke sites.

  24. 24.

    Mark S.

    Who the fuck even watches CNN anymore? My only excuse is that it and the even more execrable Headline News is always on at my gym. But seriously, if you’re a wingnut you got Fox and if you’re a hippie you got MSNBC. What do you need a network that thinks sitting twenty idiot pundits at the same table with their laptops like they’re at a fucking Starbucks is aesthetically pleasing or informative? Or having retarded power couple Carville and Matlin babbling about whatever subject they know nothing about?

  26. 26.

    matoko_chan

    Matt Duss

    The punchline here is that Sayyed Fadlallah was the religious guide, or marja’ al-taqlid, to numerous members of Iraq’s ruling Da’wa Party, including Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. This means that they looked to Fadlallah as a source of religious authority on matters relating to correct Islamic life and practice, and committed to following his edicts on those matters. It also meant that, in October 2008, when Fadlallah (along with several other ayatollahs) condemned the U.S.-Iraq security agreement in its then-current form and decreed that any agreement should call for an unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, the agreement had to be re-negotiated.
    As I wrote at the time, the power of these ayatollahs to effectively scuttle an agreement of significant import to the security of the United States throws into stark relief what the Bush administration created in Iraq: a government dominated by Shia religious parties who take their guidance — and derive much of their legitimacy — from the opinions and edicts of a small handful of senior Shia clerics.
    That aside, here’s the neocon logic, as best I can explain: When a reporter acknowledges the passing of a revered, if controversial figure in a way that doesn’t sufficiently convey what a completely evil terrorist neocons think that figure was — that’s unacceptable. But when the United States spends nearly a trillion dollars, loses over four thousand of its own troops and over a hundred thousand Iraqis to establish a new government largely dominated by that same “terrorist’s” avowed acolytes — that’s victory.

    there has been a heated discussion of the future of COIN at Abu Muqawma’s….my conclusion is that the Bush Doctrine and COIN could simply never have worked. Sooner or later that fact is going to be clubbing these retards in the head.

  28. 28.

    kwAwk

    There sure are a lot of people getting ‘fired for bad judgment’ now days.

    In any case given the eloquent explanation of her tweet posted on CNN, its hard to see why Nasr would have gotten fired.

    In this one she certainly comes out looking better than CNN.

  29. 29.

    Corner Stone

    @Nick:

    The media is run by Jews, why does this surprise you?

    I expect fair treatment. I expect the news to be the actual news.
    What exactly are you saying?

  30. 30.

    matoko_chan

    Think about this….

    Bush Doctrine–“the controversial policy of preventive war, which held that the United States should depose foreign regimes that represented a potential or perceived threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat was not immediate; a policy of spreading democracy around the world, especially in the Middle East, as a strategy for combating terrorism; and a willingness to pursue U.S. military interests unilaterally.”

    And COIN is a patch on the Epic Fail of the Bush Doctrine in MENA.
    More democracy in MENA means more Islam. when people can vote they for islam–the clergy ARE the lawmakers in Islam…..they are unseperable.
    thats the short straw.

    the power of these ayatollahs to effectively scuttle an agreement of significant import to the security of the United States throws into stark relief what the Bush administration created in Iraq: a government dominated by Shia religious parties who take their guidance — and derive much of their legitimacy — from the opinions and edicts of a small handful of senior Shia clerics.

    What Bush built is an islamic state generator…..what COIN does is generate more terrorists than it kills because of SNT.
    These guys were stone retards. there is no other explanation.

  31. 31.

    Phil

    Awww, poor John Cole is upset again. Can’t a Hezbollah sympathizer just get an honest job in the mainstream media these days? Sure, Hezbollah is listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization, but who hasn’t dabbled in a little Hezbollah sympathizing every now and then? (well besides the 99.9% of the US population that hasn’t dabbled in Hezbollah sympathizing I mean)

    See here’s the problem for you John. When you “left the Right”, which frankly I would normally not give two shits about, you decided to do so in large part because you decided to follow whackjobs like Andrew Sullivan. I mean seriously, I know it’s fashionable on the Internets to imply your political opponents are crazy, but Andrew Sullivan REALLY IS FUCKING CRAZY.

    http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2010/07/andy-sullivan-levi-apology-proves-trig-isnt-palins-child.html

    In response to Levi Johnson acknowledging he had lied about the Palins, Sullivan takes this as proof that…yep you guessed it…Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy. Or something. Or well, who the fuck knows? ANDREW SULLIVAN IS FUCKING CRAZY.

    That’s a very good question. So is the question of how Palin finally put the screws on Levi. In Palinland, no one knows what’s really going on. But I wonder if this is a somewhat panicked response to the recent blip upwards in web interest in the Trig question. With all these family members able to speak to the public and McGinniss digging deeper, Todd and Sarah may have felt the need to crack down and use Levi’s access to Tripp and Bristol as their latest weapon. Mercede has this to say about Levi’s latest statement, which reads like a man who has a metaphorical gun to his head:

    First off, what the fuck is “the Trig question”? And is there really any increase in “web interest” of it, or ONLY IN ANDREW SULLIVAN’S AIDS INDUCED DEMENTIA CRAZY MIND?

    I pick on you a lot John. And it’s because there was a time and a place when you knew better. Or at least I thought you did. But you decided to follow this crazy fucking idiot to the fucking edge of political irrelevancy (into Trig Trutherism, anti-Semitism, and sympathy for journalists who desire the destruction of Israel (Helen Thomas) and now journalists who sympathize with Hezbollah.

    So I really don’t give a shit that you’re going to be irrelevant John. I warned you repeatedly. You didn’t listen. So now you can kindly go fuck yourself and you enjoy your irrelevancy in a little less than four months. Don’t say you weren’t warned. You could have changed course but instead decided to follow ANDREW FUCKING SULLIVAN to some crazy fucking place. At one point, I would have felt for you. But now, I honestly don’t give a shit. You deserve it John.

  32. 32.

    wengler

    If CNN were run by competent people, Ms. Nasr would be called by her superiors and asked to clarify her statement.

    You only need to watch the damn channel for 5 minutes to know that “competence” and “CNN” are two words that should never appear in the same sentence.

  33. 33.

    srv

    @Jay B.: Huh. I wonder why Chomsky would say that about him then, maybe they both had a soft spot for the Khmer. OSHA, EPA, CPSC, Federal Affirmative Action, Clean Air Act, SALT treaty and then that Health Care plan that Ted Kennedy and crew finally watered down enough and got around to passing 35 years later. Maybe if he had hated us all just a little bit more.

    And that doubling down, “appropriate interval” stuff in SEA. Not like anyone we know is copying that playbook in Afghanistan.

  34. 34.

    jwb

    @General Stuck: Well, since the cable news demographic these days is roughly identical to the teabaggers, you can see why this happens. Of course, because this happens, the cable news demographic will remain roughly identical to the teabaggers since no one else has any reason to watch.

  35. 35.

    Hunter Gathers

    Ms. Nasr was shit-canned for:

    A – not having a penis
    B – not being caucasian
    C – inadvertenly pissing off America’s Abusive Spouse, AKA Israel
    D – the MSM is populated by gutless swine

  39. 39.

    Phil

    @Honus:

    Honus, “this insane Phil person” doesn’t repeatedly link to a guy who constantly brings up “the Trig question”, which seems to suggest Sarah Palin faked her own pregnancy in order to….

    to….

    to….

    Yeah, I stopped reading that crazy person many years ago. But this site’s founder links to him regularly and highly respects his opinion.

    I guess that makes John “non-insane”. If so, I’m happily in the other camp thanks very much.

  42. 42.

    Hunter Gathers

    Are there new words that trip up the moderation filter, or have I been a bad boy?

  44. 44.

    Phil

    @Mark S.:

    Someone who doesn’t repeatedly link conspiracy theorists (and ESPECIALLY those who create their own conspiracy theories that not a single other person is even in on).

    Which makes me a bit different from the host of this site apparently.

  45. 45.

    Kyle

    @AhabTRuler:

    Blitzer is the Queen bee of them all.
    My favorite is when he says “I don’t want to speculate…”

    But it would be irresponsible not to — Magic Dolphin

  47. 47.

    Phil

    The funny thing is, no one is attempting to deny Sullivan is A) crazy, B) a conspiracy theorist and C) repeatedly linked to by this very blog.

    They’re more concerned with my language. Conspiracy theorists, Hezbollah supports and Jew haters like Helen Thomas are perfectly acceptable here, but I guess naughty words are going too far.

    We will have decorum!

  48. 48.

    Alex

    PEOPLE ARE INCONSISTENT! I CAN’T HANDLE THE FACT THAT NOT ALL PUBLIC FIGURES ARE PRINCIPLED! I THINK THIS RELATIVELY MINOR INCIDENT MERITS A SELF-RIGHTEOUS GREENWALDIAN RANT RAR!!!

    P.S. It’s possible to communicate an English sentence without using snark or the word wingnut. You might not have been able to glean this if all you read is the incompetents who author this blog or Matthew Yglesias. Do yourself a favor and stop tongue-punching each other’s dirt stars on these comment threads and branch out. Much love.

  49. 49.

    Mark S.

    @Phil:

    When has Cole or anyone here for that matter linked approvingly to one of Sully’s Trig speculations? I think everyone here thinks Sully is an idiot when it comes to that, and it’s pretty rare for this group to agree on anything.

  50. 50.

    Phil

    @Mark S.:

    If a person repeatedly suggested Nancy Pelosi birthed an alien baby and is keeping it secret, I wouldn’t give a shit what that person had to say about Israel for instance. Especially when the discussion about Israel starts to devolve into support for people who want Israel to be wiped off the face of the map.

    I don’t know what it is about conspiracy theorists but it always seems to come back to the Jews.

  51. 51.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Phil: I was going to write some long thing about how the world is more complex than you seem to grasp, but I’m going to shorten it for you: Grow the fuck up.

  53. 53.

    cleek

    I wouldn’t give a shit what that person had to say about Israel for instance.

    i’m not sure anybody here gives a shit what you have to say about anything. for instance.

    and yet you persist.

  54. 54.

    asiangrrlMN

    How very sad that it has come to this. Ironic, too, that the very people decrying the PC thought police are the ones all in a twitter over, well, Twitter. I haven’t seen her work, but her explanation was complex, thoughtful, and well-written. No way she should have been fired over this.

  56. 56.

    srv

    @Phil:

    The funny thing is, no one is attempting

    They’re all gay anti-semites Phil. Every single one. Except me, I’m a PUMA waxing philosophical about Milhous this week.

  57. 57.

    Phil

    @cleek:

    And voters won’t give a shit what any of the regulars here have to say come November.

    So there’s that.

  58. 58.

    El Cid

    Is there any other figure in the major news media who has expressed kind words for a person who praised actions which murdered innocent civilians? That is the central charge in this case. Surely there aren’t.

  59. 59.

    asiangrrlMN

    @cleek: Thank you for your pie filter, cleek. I use the Chrome version, but it works like a charm. Life is so much sweeter with a little pie.

    @srv: Aaaaand you made me snort out loud. Thank you for that. This is one reason I keep reading BJ–the snark of the commentariat.

    @El Cid: I have a hunch you are making one of your barbs, but I am not sure to which example you are pointing.

  60. 60.

    El Cid

    @Phil: No, voters won’t give a shit what people say on this blog, mainly because it’s a fucking blog, one named “Balloon-Juice”, and people make blog comments because they feel like it. Dumbass.

  64. 64.

    RareSanity

    @Mark S.:

    Who the fuck even watches CNN anymore? My only excuse is that it and the even more execrable Headline News is always on at my gym.

    My only excuse, Robin Meade.

    She has a black-belt in hawt…

  65. 65.

    West of the Cascades

    Don’t feed the trolls, don’t feed the trolls, don’t feed the trolls, don’t feed the trolls.

  66. 66.

    Hunter Gathers

    @Phil:

    And voters won’t give a shit what any of the regulars here have to say come November.

    Holy crap, a blog can move votes? You learn something new everyday. Screw grassroots organizing, we can blog our way out of our problems! I knew my over-sized calculator was good for something beside porn.

  67. 67.

    Nick

    @El Cid:

    Is there any other figure in the major news media who has expressed kind words for a person who praised actions which murdered innocent civilians?

    Pick anyone who has ever said kind words about any US President since Teddy Roosevelt.

  68. 68.

    Hunter Gathers

    @Nick:

    Pick anyone who has ever said kind words about any US President since Teddy Roosevelt.

    Damn, that’s brutal. And very true.

  69. 69.

    MattR

    @Phil: You do realize that your first post had a link to Dan Riehl who believes that ACORN was part of some major conspiracy, right? So according to your own criteria, shouldn’t we be discounting what you have to say?

    (Of course your mischaracterization of people’s opinions about Israel show that you are not interested in honest dialogue)

  70. 70.

    Citizen_X

    @Phil:

    no one is attempting to deny

    Say Phil, do you have a cell phone? Great! Perhaps you should take it out and CALL SOMEBODY WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK, because they’re ain’t nobody like that here.

  71. 71.

    fucen tarmal

    not that anyone gives a shit, or should, but i noticed that me too moulitsas was saying that he in fact was weigeled as well. banned from msnbc because, get this, he said mean things about, …, no joe Scarborough.

    now we know he won’t be on the ko show, until there is some sort of mutual masturbatory reach out and around….but how would that have gotten him banned due to pressure from chokin joe in the morning, who nobody watches on purpose.

    but he wants to play victim, when truthfully, i think the ko show was the only one that used him…

  72. 72.

    eemom

    @Corner Stone:

    That’s actually a very good response to a very disturbing comment.

    WTF DO you mean by that, Nick? I usually agree with you but “The media is run by Jews”?? Shit, there was a time when even Jane Hamsher wouldn’t let someone say that on her blog.

  74. 74.

    General Stuck

    @eemom: I don’t think there is a full moon out tonight, otherwise this has been some weird ass blogging this evening. Too fucking much stereotyping and borderline hate speech. jeebus. time for a movie. maybe a comedy.

  75. 75.

    Phil

    @Citizen_X:

    Clearly you give a shit or you and John wouldn’t be whining about how “no one listens to Krugman” anymore.

    I’ve got some news: get used to it. And stop fucking whining.

  76. 76.

    AxelFoley

    @cleek:

    i’m not sure anybody here gives a shit what you have to say about anything. for instance.
    and yet you persist.

    Pwn’d!

  77. 77.

    eemom

    @General Stuck:

    And STILL no one listens when I beg for an All Doggies Kitties and Babies, All The Time format.

    Birdies and butterflies are welcome too, of course. All of the animal kingdom. I’ll even throw in John’s tomatoes.

    Just keep it to INNOCENT creatures, is all I ask.

  79. 79.

    fucen tarmal

    @asiangrrlMN:

    “PC” is their own special sauce, the original recipe crafted by artisanal reagan fluffers, it cannot be paired at any time, for any reason, to reflect they hypersensitive and opportunistic proclivities of conservatives.

  80. 80.

    handy

    On the bright side, when Sarah Palin wins in 2012, her whole SOTU is going to be a couple of tweets and a Facebook status update, and I’ll expect CNN to hold her to the same high standard.

    And she won’t even need a TelePrompter!

  82. 82.

    Kyle

    I think the post misses the point. Even if her comment were a well thought out, multi-page dissertation that had the same message, she shouldn’t have been fired for expressing her sadness that another person died. I mean, I wouldn’t expect her to be fired even if she voiced sympathy for Dick Cheney. I would question her wisdom, but I can’t stop all the idiots in the world. BTW, this is not a comment hoping for Mr. Cheney’s death. It’s my dream that he lives long enough to be put in jail, so I’d never wish for his death.

  83. 83.

    Nick

    @eemom: Why is it so disturbing to point out the obvious…Jewish Americans by and large dominate ownership of the media, and like all media outlet owners, they mold their outlet to fit their political point of view.

    Hence Jewish owners = pro-Israel bias.

  84. 84.

    Ranjit Suresh

    Actually, Fadlallah no longer had any formal ties to Hezbollah whatever. Moreover, his break with them was in part due precisely to the sorts of progressive positions Nasr was praising.

    Basically, then, the message here is that to mildly compliment any major Islamic cleric is to be beyond the pale for CNN.

  87. 87.

    Mike E

    Hey sport, you still got a little brown on your lip, right there–no, there…a little further to the right.

    I’m kinda curious though, what’s the matter with BoB?

  89. 89.

    YankeeApologist

    Man, I haven’t commented here in awhile. Is it always so infested with trolls dropping Sully hate speech on random posts?

    Anyhow, it’s a huge shame that it has to be either “kill the camel jockey terrorists and turn the Middle East into a parking lot”, or “you’re a Hezbollah sympathizer for acknowledging the finer qualities of someone you disagree with overall”.

    Doesn’t good journalism involve examining all sides of a person or event?

    Maybe if we didn’t bring the “All hail Jesus, pussy, and gunpowder” mentality to all things Middle East and approached the problems at hand with a view towards their feelings and needs, we’d get a lot more done.

  90. 90.

    Nick

    @jwb: Don’t Care…I’ve worked in the media for over a decade. I’ve seen how it works. I don’t care that there’s pro-Israel bias in the media. Why wouldn’t one expect Jewish people to defend their own country? and use every asset to their advantage? But I’m sick and tired of hearing progressives BITCH that there so much pro-Israel bias in the media and in our society and pretend to be ignorant as to why. There are a lot of Jews in America and they are powerful people…of course there’s gonna be a pro-Israel bias here.

  91. 91.

    eemom

    @Nick:

    well, to state just one of many excruciatingly obvious facts, and one which has often been pointed out on this very blog: not all Jewish Americans have a “pro Israel bias.”

    Indeed, I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say that many Jewish Americans would rightfully take offense at that assumption.

  92. 92.

    Nick

    @eemom:

    not all Jewish Americans have a “pro Israel bias.”

    The vast majority do. I have yet to meet one who doesn’t…and the ones in the media DEFINITELY do, they’re not even coy about it.

    Indeed, I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say that many Jewish Americans would rightfully take offense at that assumption.

    Actually, living and working in a heavily Jewish part of Brooklyn, yeah, i think you are going out on a limb there. Israeli flags outnumber American flags there.

    and I’m totally cool with it, but let’s stop kidding ourselves.

  93. 93.

    AxelFoley

    @Citizen_X:

    Say Phil, do you have a cell phone? Great! Perhaps you should take it out and CALL SOMEBODY WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK, because they’re ain’t nobody like that here.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking when I read this or my keyboard and screen would be all fucked up.

  94. 94.

    amorphous

    @Nick:

    There are a lot of Jews in America and they are powerful people

    This atheist would argue that there are more Christians (and Christian-like creatures) in more powerful positions (number of and degree), but oooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy.

  95. 95.

    Josh

    If the media’s gonna be run by Jews, why can’t Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Judith Butler, and Tony Kushner be in charge? And Rachel Swirsky from Alasablog?

  97. 97.

    JoshA

    Nick,

    What era are you commenting from? The strongest support for Israel in the US today comes from Christian evangelical rightwingers.

    There’s probably a lot more Jews both reading and working at the New York Times than at Fox News. But if you want balls-to-the-wall “its OK because Israel did it” coverage, you’d definitely want to turn to FNC, not the NYT.

    But maybe you can get Fred Malek to check the numbers if you disagree.

  98. 98.

    Citizen_X

    @Nick: Le Sigh. Must I point out that “heavily Jewish part of Brooklyn” =/ “the vast majority” of American Jews?

  99. 99.

    Josh

    Okay, I see that Nick lives in the most Zionist place in the U.S. and thinks it’s representative. Me, I live in Philadelphia and think it’s obviously black Americans who run things everywhere.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    Now I know for sure that Phil is a spoof troll. Only a spoof troll could come here and claim that Dan Riehl, the guy who claimed that a suicide victim must have been a child molester because shut up, that’s why, is less paranoid than Andrew Sullivan.

  102. 102.

    Sheila

    Sara Palin will win nothing in 2012. Only the most obtuse Americans will vote for a woman who looks like she is straining to pounce on something whenever she is onscreen. Of course, I never believed Americans would vote en masse for someone with Texas chainsaw massacre eyes and an unknowing smirk and someone who looked like he had been dipped in parafifn, so what do I know?

  103. 103.

    Nick

    @Citizen_X:

    Must I point out that “heavily Jewish part of Brooklyn” =/ “the vast majority” of American Jews?

    it does however = vast majority of Jews in the media.

    and, yeah, I believe when it comes to choosing between Israel and Palestine, it does = the vast majority of Jews. Brooklyn isn’t the only place I’ve lived amongst them…grew up in South Jersey and lived in Florida and Massachusetts…have yet to meet a Jew who isn’t biased toward Israel. I’ve noticed they’re far more open about it here in Brooklyn.

  105. 105.

    Mike E

    Nick, it would be so cool if you were Jewish, making this sweeping pronouncement about your people, like a black comedian saying, “N****r” this and, “N****r that, but I’ll go out on a limb and assume that you’re not a Jew–please shut up.

    There’s a thousand Jewish comedians out of work, and your rehashing Lenny Bruce here. Badly. Stop it. That is all.

  106. 106.

    Josh

    Yo, Citizen_X, jinx! But Nick’s pretty deep into the Israel=The Israeli Right=Jews=!Americans thing. Look at that “Why wouldn’t one expect Jewish people to defend their own country?” as if a) Defending Israel requires agreeing with Bibi and b) Jewish Americans’ country is not the United States.

    This here Jew is a goddam American, schmuck.

  107. 107.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Actually, living and working in a heavily Jewish part of Brooklyn, yeah, i think you are going out on a limb there. Israeli flags outnumber American flags there.

    I live and work in a heavily Armenian part of Los Angeles, so clearly the Armenians are running the government. Why else would Congress be willing to piss off Turkey by passing anti-genocide resolutions? They’ve even gotten the president to do their bidding.

  108. 108.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    it does however = vast majority of Jews in the media.

    The vast majority of Jews in the media live in your Brooklyn neighborhood? Really? Silly me, I thought we might have a few out here in Los Angeles or something, but apparently they all live within the confines of a single neighborhood in Brooklyn and just pretend to work in Hollywood.

  110. 110.

    Nick

    @Josh:

    Defending Israel requires agreeing with Bibi

    No, defending Israel appears to require not calling Bibi out and screaming down people who question Bibi’s government with “you don’t understand” or “Israel has a right to defend itself!”, even if you yourself don’t support it.

    Jewish Americans’ country is not the United States

    The Jewish State is Israel, even if you don’t live there and hold citizenship in another country. I think you know what I meant by that.

  112. 112.

    Chad N Freude

    @Nick: Permit me to introduce myself. I detest the policies of the Netanyahu government. I detest the irresponsibility of the Haredi in their refusal to participate in Israeli life while being supported by the state in which they refuse to participate. I detest the strangulation of the entire population of Gaze.

    I also believe that the Jewish people have a right to a state just as Muslims do, and that there is a historical connection of the Jews to the land that is currently the state of Israel. I also believe that there should be Palestinian state — that forswears attacks on the state of Israel.

    Where do I fit on your scale of

    “pro Israel bias” ?

    PS. I don’t fly either the American or the Israeli flag. What does that indicate about my biases?

  113. 113.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne: That’s not what I said and you know it. I said they hold the same views not that they all live in Brooklyn.

    But since you brought it up, you might find many of those LA media Jews you speak of came from or descended from…Brooklyn.

  115. 115.

    Mike E

    @Nick: I’m Jewish, and I think I speak for everybody here (except for that shit-flecked troll upthread) when I say, “Go fuck yourself.” ‘Night!
    h/t Jon Stewart

  116. 116.

    Chad N Freude

    @Mnemosyne:

    suicide victim

    He was attacked by a suicide? What is a “suicide victim”? How is someone victimized by suicide? My inner English teacher demands to know.

  117. 117.

    Nick

    @Chad N Freude: and if you owned a media outlet, would you seek to prevent reporting about Israeli atrocities, while highlighting Palestinian atrocities on a regular basis? Yeah, I’ve seen this happen. I’ve seen Reuters reports of obvious Israeli war crimes come in and producers pull the stories from airing.

    Would you fire a reporter because she expressed respect for a former terrorists over something completely unrelated to terrorism?

    Would you be willing to call out anyone who does? Or are you just going to ignore it and claim you’re unbiased on a blog?

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    That’s not what I said and you know it. I said they hold the same views not that they all live in Brooklyn.

    All Jews hold the same view on Israel? Did they get those views from, I don’t know, some Elders they might have?

    But since you brought it up, you might find many of those LA media Jews you speak of came from or descended from…Brooklyn.

    The call is coming from inside the house!

    Baruch Goldstein was from Brooklyn. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, that says more about the kind of Jews you encounter in Brooklyn than about all Jews everywhere in the entire United States?

  121. 121.

    Nick

    @Mike E: alright fine. But I will call out everyone and anyone I hear bitch that the Democratic Party is too “pro-Israel” or isn’t doing enough for the plight of the Palestinains because i simply pointed out why our government is forced to be biased toward Israel and was told to go fuck myself.

    Whenever this damn topic comes up, and a Democratic President is forced back to the wall and being accused of selling out Israel or not doing enough to support them, the first people to run and hide are the so-called ‘unbiased” Jews.

  122. 122.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne:

    Do you think that maybe, just maybe, that says more about the kind of Jews you encounter in Brooklyn than about all Jews everywhere in the entire United States?

    That they’re more radical here…yes. But everyone here isn’t Goldstein, but no one here thinks negatively of him, at least not that I can find. Like I said, people here are just more honest about their bias.

    Also, I have yet to find any Jew who would call Goldstein a terrorist. In fact, I once got shouted down as a Nazi in a room of Democrats in College (in Florida) for suggesting such a thing, even as the Israeli Army bulldozed a shrine at his gravesite that very year.

  123. 123.

    Chad N Freude

    @Nick: If I owned a media outlet (from your lips to the FSM’s ear) I would probably ask the tweeter WTF she meant. She would then explain, and I would say “OK, go tweet that, say tweets lack nuance and definition, point out that the US is supporting a disciple of the evil cleric in the Iraqi government, and go on Maddow’s show (because heaven knows we don’t have an appropriate venue)”.

  125. 125.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Whenever this damn topic comes up, and a Democratic President is forced back to the wall and being accused of selling out Israel or not doing enough to support them, the first people to run and hide are the so-called ‘unbiased” Jews.

    Well, at least we’ve figured out which media outlet Nick works for.

  126. 126.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne: and yet, like radicals with pro-Israel biases, there you go calling me a Nazi.

    Jeez, can any of you have a frank, open, discussion about the influence of pro-Israel voting blocs in American politics and media and how it effects our standing in the Middle East without resorting to calling people Nazis?

  128. 128.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne: Do I really?

    Jews rallied behind Israel and approved of Israel’s military action by a 3 to 1 margin, 59 percent still felt that the military action had no impact on Israel’s security (41 percent) or made Israel less secure (18 percent), while only 41 percent felt it made Israel more secure.

  129. 129.

    Chad N Freude

    @Mnemosyne:

    The results . . . demonstrate an understanding that difficult compromises will have to be made by both sides in order to bring true peace and security to Israel, the Palestinians, and the entire region.

    OK, I’ll be your love slave. What’s your gender? (Not that it matters.)

  130. 130.

    Chad N Freude

    @Nick: Thanks for the link, which enables us to check out the context of your quote. Oh, wait . . .

  131. 131.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Jeez, can any of you have a frank, open, discussion about the influence of pro-Israel voting blocs in American politics and media and how it effects our standing in the Middle East without resorting to calling people Nazis?

    Can you have one without you insisting against all of the facts that you totally know that all American Jews think exactly the same way that your neighbors do?

    Oh, wait, that poll is from Glenn Greenwald, so we probably should ignore it. After all, he’s one of … them, you know.

  132. 132.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Aww, cherrypicking the single result from that poll when every other result disagreed with you! How adorable!

  133. 133.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Nick: We actually have a Jewish person on this very blog who blogs about her distaste for much of the Israeli government’s policies. ellaesther. Read her blog. Very informative. And, how about some links with facts to back up your assertion that all media is owned by the Jews? Rupert Murdoch isn’t Jewish, is he?

  136. 136.

    Mnemosyne

    @Chad N Freude:

    OK, I’ll be your love slave. What’s your gender? (Not that it matters.)

    Female, but happily married. Sorry. :-)

    Plus I’m a shiksa, so your mother would hate me.

  137. 137.

    Chad N Freude

    @Nick: Yes, but only with people who don’t say things like

    Jewish Americans by and large dominate ownership of the media, and like all media outlet owners, they mold their outlet to fit their political point of view.

  138. 138.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne: No, every other poll didn’t disagree with me. My one and only point was that American Jews do not break with Israel…and they don’t…they support military action in Gaza that many would say is counterproductive to their ultimate cause of peace.

    The Jews around me support a Palestinian State and peace, but they don’t think it’s possible because Palestinians are terrorists who just want to destroy Israel, which is the overwhelming opinions of Jews I’ve met in my life.

  142. 142.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    My one and only point was that American Jews do not break with Israel…and they don’t…they support military action in Gaza that many would say is counterproductive to their ultimate cause of peace.

    No, your one and only point was that the Jews control the media, and now you’re trying to weasel out of it.

    You probably shouldn’t drink and post. It always ends badly for you.

  143. 143.

    Nick

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Rupert Murdoch isn’t Jewish, is he?

    yes. he is. His mother is Jewish. He was raised in both Judiasm and Roman Catholicism.

  144. 144.

    Chad N Freude

    @Nick: When are your going to publish the enormous amount of documentation you have for this? Please don’t put it behind a paywall.

    BTW, how do you fit Rupert Murdoch into your narrative?

  145. 145.

    James in WA

    @Phil: Jesus, dude. You really ought to see someone about uping the dosage on those anti-psychotics.

  146. 146.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne:

    No, your one and only point was that the Jews control the media, and now you’re trying to weasel out of it.

    No I’m not, you wish I was. I stand by what I said.

  148. 148.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Have we now reached the point where you’ve forgotten what you posted, or is this more weaseling from you? Here’s exactly what you said at #25:

    The media is run by Jews, why does this surprise you?

    Please explain how that differs from my saying that you think that Jews control the media.

  150. 150.

    Nick

    @Chad N Freude: @jwb: @Mike E: @Mnemosyne:

    BTW i’ve noticed the lot of you didn’t show up here until after I made my assertion. None one of you said anything about Ms. Nasr and her firing…very telling.

    Like I said, you’re all so quick to try to convince us you’re really not biased, but when someone falls victim to AIPAC pressyre, you’re no where to be found.

  151. 151.

    James in WA

    @Nick: Um.. your first post tonight was:

    The media is run by Jews, why does this surprise you?

    That sure sounds like you’re saying that “Jews control the media.”

    I’m really curious to see where you go next. I’m as distrustful of AIPAC as the next guy, but it’s hard to not be branded as an anti-semite when you say something as declarative and succinct as that.

  153. 153.

    Chad N Freude

    @Mnemosyne: Give it up. Nick is impervious to rational discourse. Go to bed with your incredibly fortunate husband.

  155. 155.

    Chad N Freude

    @Nick: Right. But two questions:
    (1) What is your authoritative source?
    (2) Why do you misspell “antisemitic”?

  156. 156.

    Nick

    @James in WA:

    it’s hard to not be branded as an anti-semite when you say something as declarative and succinct as that.

    of course it is, which is why you only see our leaders parse their words and not take stands, because of knee-jerk reactions.

    A woman lost her job for twittering an opinion on a man who was part of a terrorist group. Her opinion had NOTHING TO DO with his ties to terrorism. She was immediately fired. Why? She upset her bosses and she risked CNN’s reputation with a subset of viewers. Everybody’s thinking it, I came out and said it.

    And the ironic thing is the reason she respected the man was actually because he did something to fight oppression in the Islamic world. In this madness, THAT got lost.

  157. 157.

    Chad N Freude

    I have to go now, but please don’t stop; I’ll check this thread in the morning.

  158. 158.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Here’s the thing, Nick:

    Only anti-Semitic websites claim that Murdoch’s mother was Jewish, presumably because her maiden name was Greene. There is no other source for this claim, and Wikipedia says her father was Anglo-Irish (aka Protestant).

    This is what makes your a paranoid anti-Semitic fucktard: you take your “facts” from anti-Semitic websites and then insist that you’re the only one who knows the real truth if those “facts” don’t show up anywhere else. If every other source says that Rupert Murdoch’s great-grandfather was Irish but you have an anti-Semitic website that claims he was Jewish, you go with the anti-Semitic website.

  159. 159.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne:

    This is what makes your a paranoid anti-Semitic fucktard: you take your “facts” from anti-Semitic websites and then insist that you’re the only one who knows the real truth if those “facts” don’t show up anywhere else. If every other source says that Rupert Murdoch’s great-grandfather was Irish but you have an anti-Semitic website that claims he was Jewish, you go with the anti-Semitic website.

    Until Chad pointed it out, I had never seen that website, or any other anti-Semetic website. Do NOT imply that I did and do NOT EVER imply I am “anti-Semetic fucktard.” I never spoke negatively of Jews or wished them harm. I even said that I didn’t have an issue with pro-Israel bias from Jews, because I’d expect it. Just that it exists and it exists in the media because of who owns them (I’d much rather Jews control the media that people like Glenn Beck)

    In the meantime, do you have anything to ad about the topic of this entire thread, Octavia Nasr, because, like I said, your silence on this is really telling considering you’re “not biased”

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Why? She upset her bosses and she risked CNN’s reputation with a subset of viewers.

    And that subset of viewers is, for the most part, conservative Christian, not Jewish. You know, the same subset of viewers that CNN is always trying to placate.

    But put Israel into the picture and all of a sudden it’s not that CNN is trying to placate the conservative Christians who support Israel even more strongly than American Jews do like they do 20 times a day. Nope, in this case, they must be trying to placate the all-powerful Jews because shut up, that’s why.

  161. 161.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Nick: I totally got your point and admire the lengths you’re willing to go to in order to pre-absolve Obama of any future perfidy. These other Obots could learn a lot from you.

  162. 162.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Until Chad pointed it out, I had never seen that website, or any other anti-Semetic website.

    So where did your “Rupert Murdoch is Jewish” claim come from? Where did you hear it? Because not only is it not true, the only people who make that claim are anti-Semites.

    In the meantime, do you have anything to ad about the topic of this entire thread, Octavia Nasr, because, like I said, your silence on this is really telling considering you’re “not biased”

    Trying to change the subject away from your insanity again, Nick? I didn’t feel much of a need to post specifically about Nasr because I agree with the vast majority of people here that her firing was ridiculous.

    The difference between you and me is that I think she was fired to placate conservatives and teabaggers, not Jews, because frankly I don’t think Jews have nearly as much power or think as monolithically as you seem to believe. I do sure as hell know that conservatives have a huge amount of power over the media and that they do think monolithically, so they seem like much more likely culprits in this case than those scary Jews who control all the media. Unless, of course, you suffer from paranoid fantasies about the Jews controlling everything.

  163. 163.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne: If you’re going to make that statement, try not linking a poll that shows 75% of American Jews agree the US should support Israel over the Palestinians, higher than any other religious group.

  164. 164.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne: Of course no where did I say the term “Scary Jews”

    See that’s the problem, because I made a statement saying Jews are by and large the heads of media outlets, it must mean I’m scared of them.

    They’re my bosses Mnemosyne. I’ve worked with them for a decade. I respect them. I learned a lot from them.

    But they’re all ridiculously pro-Israel and they have always molded their outlets to play to that message.

    No, I’m not “scared” of Jews controlling everything. As a matter of fact, I’ve repeadidly VOTED for Jews to control everything (from Corzine to Bloomberg)

  166. 166.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    See that’s the problem, because I made a statement saying Jews are by and large the heads of media outlets, it must mean I’m scared of them.

    And yet that’s not what you said. You said that the media is “run by Jews.” Not quite the same thing.

    You further asserted that the sole reason for the pro-Israel bias in the news is because the media is run by Jews and not because, oh, conservative Christians have been climbing aboard the Rapture bandwagon for a couple of decades now and have been working the refs that whole time to get the news to reflect what they want to.

    You have a big blind spot here, and it’s kind of scary. I’m still wondering where the heck that whole “Rupert Murdoch is Jewish” assertion came from since it’s so easily debunked.

  167. 167.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne:

    So where did your “Rupert Murdoch is Jewish” claim come from?

    Always thought it was common knowledge. Dunno when I was first heard it, but if it’s some sort of rumor perpetrated by anti-semites, then I’ve worked with a lot of self-hating Jews.

  168. 168.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Why is it okay to blame Christians for the MSM’s obviously pro-Israel bias and not Jews?

  170. 170.

    Nick

    @Mnemosyne:

    You further asserted that the sole reason for the pro-Israel bias in the news is because the media is run by Jews and not because, oh, conservative Christians have been climbing aboard the Rapture bandwagon for a couple of decades now and have been working the refs that whole time to get the news to reflect what they want to.

    Conservative Christians couldn’t care less about Israel until after 9/11, and, frankly, they don’t care much now except in their minds, Israel is anti-Muslim, so it works fine.

    Yes, I will continue to assert the sole reason for pro-Israel bias in the news is because the media is by and large run by Jews. I’ve worked with exec producers and publishers who are a part of AIPAC and I’ve witnessed them spinning pro-Israel biases into their broadcasts and papers.

    you don’t have to believe me, that’s fine, but at the very least understand that I don’t really have an issue with it and that I don’t have an issue with Jews or Israel…except when I do have an issue with the actions of the later, I have to keep it quiet at work.

    I’m just trying to get across the point that Nasr was fired because of it.

  171. 171.

    James in WA

    @Nick: Okay, so I wrote:

    it’s hard to not be branded as an anti-semite when you say something as declarative and succinct as that.

    to which you responded:

    of course it is, which is why you only see our leaders parse their words and not take stands, because of knee-jerk reactions.

    Um. WTF? You say that “the media is run by jews.” I caution you that saying things like that makes you sound crazy. You respond by saying “no it doesn’t, our politicians act like politicians.”

    What is with the level of crazy on BJ tonight?

    Oh, and Nick, your further comment about some woman being fired is completely beside the point. You stated that “the media is run by Jews.” Back that up. And once you’ve backed it up, tell me why that’s a bad thing. (Helpful hint: you’re going to have to show some kind of major, global, all-encompassing non-crazy conspiracy theories to do that, and that’s going to be a Hard Sell.)

    Free advice, my friend: don’t blog-comment when you’re drunk. You’re just going to wake up tomorrow, bolt upright, and say to yourself “FUCK! FUCKFUCKFUCK!”

  172. 172.

    Mnemosyne

    @Nick:

    Conservative Christians couldn’t care less about Israel until after 9/11, and, frankly, they don’t care much now except in their minds, Israel is anti-Muslim, so it works fine.

    Actually, they care a lot. 9/11 may have pushed conservative Christians and conservative Jews into each others’ arms, but they’ve been fervidly embracing each other ever since. You are vastly, vastly underestimating how much blind support for Israel was folded into almost every foreign policy of the Bush administration and how deeply it has infiltrated into the conservative movement as a whole.

    Yes, I will continue to assert the sole reason for pro-Israel bias in the news is because the media is by and large run by Jews.

    And you will continue to be wrong in that assertion. Again, the fact that you work with Jews who may be doing that doesn’t automatically make it the sole reason Nasr was fired. In fact, I would argue that it’s not even the most important reason. If conservatives didn’t throw a hissy fit at the merest hint of criticism of Israel, your pals would get slapped down immediately because — guess what? — corporate profit is more important, and inserting that bias without a large part of your audience wanting it would cut into profits.

    I’m just trying to get across the point that Nasr was fired because of it.

    Nasr was fired because conservatives and teabaggers have decided that they luuurve Israel. When the Daily Caller and the Weekly Standard are calling for her firing, that’s not the power of the Jewish cabal flexing its muscles.

  173. 173.

    eemom

    It is very late, and still very hot, here on the heat-crazed east coast — but I will just wearily whimper, before I go to bed, that Nick here exemplifies what I was trying to say on all those flotilla threads, about how just because a lot of right-wing assholes bastardize the concept of “anti-Semitism,” doesn’t mean there is not real anti-Semitism alive and well in this country…….and that there IS some real anti-Semitism, behind SOME of the criticisms of Israel.

    Because if anyone here would argue that Nick’s comments on this thread are not anti-Semitic, I can’t imagine what their definition of anti-Semitism* is.

    *for anyone who wants to quibble about who’s a “Semite,” just substitute “anti-Jew.”

  174. 174.

    James in WA

    @Nick:

    I’ve worked with exec producers and publishers who are a part of AIPAC and I’ve witnessed them spinning pro-Israel biases into their broadcasts and papers.

    Ah, yes, anecdotal evidence. It’s pretty compelling, isn’t it?

    I can state definitively that I’ve worked with producers and publishers who are part of AIPAC and who actively spun anti-Israel stories in a positive sense, in their broadcasts and their papers.

    There, I said it. I just refuted your entire argument. Am I lying? Maybe. Are you? Maybe. Do either one of our lies represent reality? Almost certainly not.

  175. 175.

    eemom

    oh, and Nick? You make me sick. I do hope I’m mistaken about you being a fellow Greek.

  176. 176.

    James in WA

    @eemom:

    if anyone here would argue that Nick’s comments on this thread are not anti-Semitic, I can’t imagine what their definition of anti-Semitism* is.

    Yes, this.

    It’s one thing to question the motives of a country and to dislike the lobbying of AIPAC. It’s another to say something like “the media is controlled by Jews.” Are there people in the media sympathetic to Israel and its interests? Sure. Are “most” journalists around the world beholden to the interests of Israel? Um, no. That’s crazy talk. And saying shit like that just raises a red flag and clues in everyone that you’re sitting around under a bare bulb and writing manifestos, just like the crazies saying that the “blacks” or the “socialists” or the “mexicans” or whatever racist identification yanks your cord are the ones pushing the buttons behind the scenes.

    Come on, Nick, let’s at least mix it up a bit. Blame the swedes for something, already.

  177. 177.

    Hypnos

    The support for the Gaza action is pretty bad, tho (referring to J-Street poll of American Jews).

    I mean, it’s one thing to say you support a two state solution and negotiating with Hamas, but supporting even more strongly the slaughter of a thousand Palestinians because some nut shot firecrackers in the Israeli desert speaks volumes about what you really think about the whole situation.

    A true solution of the conflict can only come about if Israel unilaterally withdraws from Gaza and the West Bank, forcefully evicts all settlers, and removes all the check-points across the West Bank which are currently strangling any hint of economic activity.

    Without that, any statement about compromise and a two state solution is a cruel joke on the Palestinians. How can you pretend you want to give a state to the Palestinians when the land where that state should be created is being assimilated day after day by Israel?

    Israeli settlers already control the vast majority of the water resources – there are three acquifers in the West Bank. Two supply water exclusively to Israel. The third supplies 40 million cubic liters to Israeli settlers – 300k people – and 60 million cubic liters to the Palestinians – 2.5 million people. See some disparity here?

  180. 180.

    Sly

    @Nick:

    Pick anyone who has ever said kind words about any US President since Teddy Roosevelt.

    More like any President other than William Henry Harrison, the one who died a month after taking the oath of office. He did get his slaughter on during the War of 1812 however, but I don’t know if that counts.

  181. 181.

    Nick

    @James in WA:

    And once you’ve backed it up, tell me why that’s a bad thing.

    I never said it’s a bad thing. I’ve actually said the opposite. That’s it’s not a bad thing, it’s reality.

    Anti-Semetism would be “Jews run the media and need to be stopped,” not “Jews run the media and it’s ok”

    @eemom:

    Because if anyone here would argue that Nick’s comments on this thread are not anti-Semitic, I can’t imagine what their definition of anti-Semitism* is.

    I’ll help you out;

    Anti-semetism is prejudice against or hostility towards Jews, often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture, and/or religion. In its extreme form, it “attributes to the Jews an exceptional position among all other civilizations, defames them as an inferior group and denies their being part of the nation[s]” in which they reside.

    No where did I express hostility toward or hatred for Jews.

  182. 182.

    El Cid

    Although the ethno-political identity of some major media figures plays a role — i.e., a set of Jewish pundits and media owners who share a fairly common, especially post-1967 hawkishness and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim vehemence — I think overall the comparison of why all the establishment news media take a harshly pro-militarist line on Israel and against Palestinians (and every other regional government and population) is like that of how the media treated people opposed to the Iraq war at the very height of pro-invasion hype and the early invasion “shockanawe” stages.

    FWIW, I think I had heard that Rupert Murdoch was Jewish, but I had neither reason to believe nor disbelieve this, since it wouldn’t really be surprising nor a crucial factor either way.

    Either way, he’d still be an absolutely malicious, destructive right winger as far as the ‘news’ part of his business.

  183. 183.

    Hugin & Munin

    Anyone who didn’t know that Nick is a moron who is in love with his own perceptions hasn’t been paying attention.

    That said, anyone interested in an academic and reasoned analysis of the role that the Israel Lobby plays in determining US foreign policy should read Walt & Mearsheimer, although I caution that they completely fail to engage in simplistic canards like ‘Jews control the media.’

    And Nick, your statement is classically antisemitic because it ascribes an unreasonable (even farsical) degree of power to ‘teh Joohs.’

  184. 184.

    Svensker

    Ms. Nasr to the Re-education Camp!

    Meanwhile, Graham, Lieberman and McCain are in Israel telling the folks there that if Israel doesn’t bomb Iran, the U.S. will. They, oddly, won’t be fired.

  185. 185.

    matoko_chan

    @Ranjit Suresh: while its true that Fadlallah no longer had ACTUAL ties to Hizb’, the merest whiff of PLO or Hizb’ association is forver-tar.
    The unwashed twodigit hillbilly masses would just get that one word out of the message.
    So yes, Nasr was canned because of Fadlallah’s past association with Hizb’.
    He was a forever-terrorist by association, and so this has less to do with Israel than with 9/11 and being a Real Patriotic Murrican.

    I predict the right will become increasingly hysterical and shrill and 120-db loud about the evulls of Islam(stoning, fgm, no school for girls) as it becomes increasingly obvious that the Bush Doctrine and COIN were abject fails in Iraq, and that Gen. Petraeus is right now folding our tents in Afghanistan.
    The Bush doctrine creates islamic states, and COIN generates more terrorists than it kills. check this FT article if you are subscribed.
    this is hilarious–

    Today 30,000 Taliban are fighting 140,000 Nato troops and an uneven mix of 200,000-plus Afghan military and police, while much of the government sits on the sidelines. This must change. Mr Karzai, in particular, must take ownership of battles that will inevitably cause civilian losses.

    Exum is all excited about Gen. Barno joining the CNAS team, but me, not so much. Barno just said 30,000 Talis are pwning the nearly 400,000 american coalition and afghani forces…..how much more manpower is the “light footprint” going to need?

  186. 186.

    Emma

    Phil; Sweetie, the nurse says it's time for your meds. Be a good boy and get back to the room, ok?

    And on the general topic, I am one of those who never watches American news or reads American newspapers anymore. Well, the McClatchy feed doesn’t count, does it?

  189. 189.

    twiffer

    this firing is ridiculous. that much is clear. however, what seems to be going on is interesting, in a way. twitter and facebook are the current darlings of social media and traditional media have been rushing to embrace them. yet, when their employees start using these tools the way they are intended (that is, sharing one’s actual and often casual thoughts), we start getting into these seemingly uncalled for firings.

    now, if what was spit out on twitter is the only reason for firing these people, it is ridiculous. however, i cannot believe it is. it’s an excuse. like firing someone for violating the company’s “business use only” internet policy. you just don’t fire someone for minor transgressions unless you’ve already decided to fire them and are looking for reasons beyond “just cause”, in case of a lawsuit.

    as far as the lords of twitter are concerned, this is bad for business.

    frankly, one of the reasons i don’t tell anyone online who my corporate overlords are is they search for their name and have a policy on use of social media, even when not at work.

  191. 191.

    Corner Stone

    @Nick: What’s really odd here is that you copied the definition of Anti-Semitism straight from Wikipedia ~ yet somehow still managed to misspell the word as “anti-semetism” which does not appear that way in the Wikipedia entry.
    What’s even weirder is that if you force Google to search for “anti-semetism” it will return web hits with that header but all the definitions in those pages have the word spelled correctly.
    Chad N Freude asked why that keeps happening and this makes it blindingly obvious that it’s on purpose for some reason.

  192. 192.

    Corner Stone

    @Nick:

    The Jews around me support a Palestinian State and peace, but they don’t think it’s possible because Palestinians are terrorists who just want to destroy Israel, which is the overwhelming opinions of Jews I’ve met in my life.

    So these Jews tell you they want peace and believe in the two state solution at the same exact time they tell you the other state is filled with terrorists?
    These are some interesting ideas you’ve floated here.

  194. 194.

    Catsy

    @Nick:

    No where did I express hostility toward or hatred for Jews.

    Oh, no you don’t, bigot. Let’s drag this right out into the sunlight where it belongs, because that little dance you did is the same dance all bigots do when they make a counterfactual generalization about a class of person and get called on their bigotry.

    What you said is this:

    The media is run by Jews, why does this surprise you?

    So, breaking this down:

    1. CNN wrongly fires someone for tweeting an opinion about something (tangentially) related to Israel.
    2. People express dismay over that fact in this thread.
    3. In response to their dismay, you claim “the media” is run by Jews and ask why–in light of this “fact”–CNN’s actions surprise you.

    So you believe that either the media or Jews are monolithic enough that the latter runs the former. That’s idiotic enough, and already puts you in Pat Buchanan/Stormfront territory. But you didn’t stop there–you went on to assert that the facts (and I use the term loosely here) in your nutbar claims means that CNN’s wrongful actions are unsurprising.

    You’re a bigot, a whacko conspiracy theorist, and an anti-Semite. I’ve got no compunctions about calling you out for what you’ve clearly demonstrated yourself to be. I don’t know if it’s how you were raised, if it’s stupidity you gained on the way to adulthood, or if you’re just trolling for lulz. Regardless, here’s some friendly advice for keeping your bigotry in the closet: when you make sweeping generalizations about how a vast and diverse industry is controlled by Jews–or any other ethnic or religious group–nobody fucking buys it when you turn around and try to claim you weren’t saying anything bad. You only think it’s an effective dodge because you’re the kind of nutjob who thinks that sweeping generalization is actually true, and that it being true means you can escape condemnation for your bigotry by claiming you were just stating a fact rather than casting aspersions.

    I repeat: nobody fucking buys it.

    Now go away, bigot.

  195. 195.

    Judas Escargot

    @Phil:

    So now you can kindly go fuck yourself and you enjoy your irrelevancy in a little less than four months.

    …you certainly sound like you’re enjoying yours.

  196. 196.

    stonetools

    Ya know, free speech is free speech is free speech is free speech. Its not politically correct speech. Far as I’m concerned, Ms Nasr could have said she liked to eat puppies for breakfast and CNN should have been OK with that.
    When are we going to finally realize that the so called liberal media is really a lot more like the neocon media?

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