Something new and interesting- Jeffrey Goldberg is smearing Stephen Walt for something he didn’t do or say. I hereby declare that all future hate mail I receive is from “Jeffrey Goldberg’s Mailbag.” Because, you know… Why not?
I know it is a crowded field, but Goldberg really does give it the old college try in the contest to see who is the biggest asshole on the internet. He’s lucky Breitbart exists.
ellaesther
Oy.
Honestly, that’s all I got.
Corner Stone
I don’t know why you keep bashing on Goldberg, the guy does good work some of the time. I have a lot of respect for him as a reporter.
licensed to kill time
__
I’d call it “Jeffrey Goldberg’s Mailsack” for the lulz.
Kryptik
Trying to determine who the biggest asshole is, out of the immense, exponentially expanding crowd of candidates and applicants we have, would be a Sisiphean task nearly on par with herding Senate Democrats into passing cloture on something without giving away the farm and a half.
David in NY
“He’s lucky Breitbart exists.” Ooooh. Mean.
Felix Salmon employed a more understated form of mean against McMegan, in his recent piece on why Elizabeth Warren will be appointed head of the new financial consumer protection agency:
McAardle was having trouble doing long division the other day, you may recall.
Paris
He’s lucky Breitbart exists.
and Tucker Carlson.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@Corner Stone: Have you been sleeping the past 10 years? Have you missed DougJ’s posts on why Goldberg is a disgrace?
Alex S.
@Kryptik:
This is a chart Nate Silver has got to make.
Crusty Dem
@Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle:
I think it’s a knock on the other Atlantic bloggers who repeatedly and reflexively defend Goldberg’s horrible behavior. But I could be wrong, we are getting into the meta-meta here..
fasteddie9318
I want desperately to hate Jeffrey Goldberg, but does that make me ipso facto an anti-Semite?
Pancake
Goldberg’s basic point was: (1) Walt is an acknowledged hater of Israel, (2) his blog attracts mostly anti-Semites, likely including more than a few from readers of this blog, and (3) the deluge of e-mails that Goldberg received were almost certainly triggered by Walt’s fan base given that Walt’s name was repeatedly mentioned. Ergo: “Walt’s Mailbag” seems highly appropriate.
jl
I think if the blogger, or politician or political celebrity, or radio host, or other public figure suggests that their audience should go out and buy weapons for use in the coming counter revolution, or that they should turn out into the streets to smash and burn stuff, with preference shown for certain types of people,
then,
it would make sense to hold said public figure for the response of their audience.
If some nutjubs do this because said public figure gets weepy over how some one else is mean to them, not so much.
I will go out on a limb, and incur hatred of firebaggers everwhere forever: for example, if nutjobs listening to Beck send out hate mail because Beck pretended (again) to cry on his show, I would not consider that grounds for indicting Beck for inciting hatred. Too bad Beck does not stick to just pretending (repeatedly) to cry on his show.
Cliff
I declare a positive energy break!:
http://mollymaesden.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-neighbor.html
MikeJ
Didja see #IfAndrewBrietbartEditedIt?
Huckleberry Finn: Affirmative action sends ungrateful black man on river cruise, using lib-approved child labor.
fasteddie9318
1. Walt has never in any forum called for Israel to cease to exist. He may hate many of Israel’s policies, but to accuse him of hating Israel is a bridge too far.
2. Walt’s blog also attracts a number of reflexively pro-Israel supporters who go there to rip every post he makes for anti-Semitism.
3. If some of Walt’s pro-Israel commenters decided to start writing hate mail to Glenn Greenwald, would that be Walt’s fault?
David in NY
@Pancake: It’s a stupid point even when you put it that way. Walt’s just not responsible for what those people say.
JGabriel
@Paris:
… and all three of ’em get down on their knees each morning to thank God for the existence of Dan Riehl, Ew Erickson, Ace, and Jeff Godlstein.
.
David in NY
And look. The thickness of Jeffrey Goldberg’s skin is simply not the measure of what people may say about Israeli policies, Israel itself, or even Jews in general.
I think it will turn out to be thought that the reflexive tendency of American Jews to support any and all Israeli policies, even though they are criticized by many within Israel, will some day come to be seen as having been a big mistake. And so Goldberg probably thinks I’m an anti-Semite. Fuck him.
Mark S.
Hey, what about Andy McCarthy? He’s a pretty big asshole too.
(I couldn’t find the exact Corner piece I wanted where he describes basically all Muslims as terrorists, but this gives a flavor.)
Corner Stone
@Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle: I’m sorry. I’m trying to recalibrate my snark0meter after I recently overclocked it for a whole thread.
Still needs some work.
Yes, that was a shot at the beloved TNC and his part in the Atlantic circle-jerk.
Crusty Dem
@fasteddie9318:
Yeah, I probably wouldn’t try to have a nuanced discussion with a troll who chose his moniker to make fun of a murdered peace activist.
Chyron HR
@Pancake:
Is “Pancake” code for “Americans who refuse to submit to Israeli hegemony must be gruesomely killed”? I forget.
fasteddie9318
@Crusty Dem:
Damn, you got me there. I seriously paid no attention to its handle. Good catch.
El Tiburon
Goldberg is obviously having a nervous breakdown. And it’s a thing of beauty.
fasteddie9318
@El Tiburon:
If you’re enjoying this, wait until he kicks off the opinion media’s “WE MUST GO TO WAR WITH IRAN” campaign later this year.
El Cid
To oppose Israeli militarist policies and to argue that there are funded groups lobbying for such militarist policies isn’t to “hate Israel” — only if “Israel” is no more than hatred of Palestinians and Arabs and imperial policies to intensify the illegal occupation.
JCT
@David in NY:
You know, “American Jews” are not exactly a monolith. Not even close. This mythical support of Israel by all American Jews is what Bibi and his pals always bank on. It’s a myth.
Ahasuerus
@JCT:
Bingo.
Mike B
Clearly it is time to bomb Iran.
wilfred
@Chyron HR:
Yes. Remember it was Charles Johnson who first called Rachel Corrie ‘Saint Pancake’.
Ha-Ha.
wilfred
Juan Cole was also Breitbarted, along with Ben Wedeman. Wedeman was always suspect because he speaks a bit of Arabic.
http://www.juancole.com/
Bruuuuce
Jeffrey Goldberg is an asshole, but he’s not even the biggest asshole named J. Goldberg out there.
emrventures
Bloggers who don’t allow comments shouldn’t criticize the comments of those who do.
Josh
Corner Stone:
Ta-Nehisi, is that you? I loved your articles on Cosby.
Sgt. Jrod and his Howling Commandos
@Pancake: “Acknowledged hater of Israel” == “refuses to call for the extermination of the arab cockroaches”
“anti-semites” == “doesn’t find American girls being gruesomely crushed by Israeli tanks to be the height of hilarity”
“highly appropriate” == “collective punishment against the untermenchen”
“pancake” == “Dave” == ban plz
RSA
If Goldberg were aware of all Internet traditions, he’d realize that he’s performing a variation on nutpicking.
Bill Murray
@wilfred: I think this pancake says it’s about IF Stone, not Rachel Corrie; but then I have trouble telling the different trolls apart
Fred Fnord
He’s lucky? In what way? He’s clearly trying really hard to win that competition, but Brietbart seems to have a lot of natural advantages. Goldberg really has to work at being suck a complete dickhead. It takes effort!
Poor guy. I know what it’s like to try your damndest and then to have some guy with all the natural advantages just waltz right past you.
rachel
They’re not even Jews, according to some of the Rabbinate.
Mike Schilling
Goldberg is not even close to the biggest asshole. He at least understands that the settlements have to go, which is enough to get him labeled “self-hating” by the Commentary crowd.
CJ
“Jeffrey Goldberg’s Mailbag” sounds like a new tag to me.