That Juan Cole has an antagonistic attitdue towards Jews and Israel needs no additional documentation, but I did find this little tidbit today to be worthy of comment:
Israeli’s armed forces chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, unwisely sold off $27,000 in stock when he heard that Hizbullah had captured 2 Israeli soldiers. That wasn’t unwise economically, since when Israel went to war, its stock market fell 12% It is further proof that the war was planned well in advance, and that Halutz knew that the capture would trigger it. But what could he have saved or made from this transaction? A few thousand dollars? It was stupid for him to risk the public perception of impropriety for such a small sum. Unprofessional.
There probably is evidence that this war was planned in advance- I, for one, would be shocked if Israel did not have a plan for fighting Hizbollah and all sorts of contingency plans. I will even go one step farther- there may be evidence that will be uncovered that certain forces within Israel were waiting for the opportunity to launch a military offensive into Lebanon, and the capture was simply the necessary excuse. From my standpoint, both sides of this war have been trying to provoke each other into a military showdown for a long time coming.
But what is sooo delicious about Juan Cole is that he siezes upon a report of someone making a personal financial transaction as ‘proof’ that this war was planned in advance. Because, you know, all Jews care about is money. Clearly, someone making a bank transaction is proof of a conspiracy for war. But this little report fits into Juan’s worldview about Jews, and Israel, and it allows him to snidely push stereotypes about Jews while ‘proving’ what he already thinks.
Juan’s only regret about this report is that it didn’t refer to Lt. Gen. Haluz as ‘money-grubbing jew.’
SomeCallMeTim
Give me a break. You are way overreading that. People make similar arguments all of the time about non-Jewish people. If some Administration official sold all of his stock in a company whose price would go down prior to the war, do you really think people would only mention it if that person were Jewish? I think they’d assume that people of all creeds and colors like to maximize their assets, and take actions to accomplish just that.
See, for example, (IIRC) the SEC’s assumption that Martha Stewart’s fortuitous stock sale was related to inside information she received from the CEO. But maybe the SEC is anti-semitic and assumes that Stewart is Jewish.
I don’t really read Cole, so I can’t really say whether your general description of him reads true.
Darrell
You’ve nailed your other brother Juan to the mat with that observation. As if there was any doubt before:
neil
Apparentely, Darrell, you’re hallucinating again. The word ‘Jew’ does not appear in your quote.
Nicholas Weaver
Both unfair and disengenuous:
Read the whole posting. EG, the paragraph just above what you cite.
It was such a stupid war. It was thick-as-two-blocks-of-wood strategy on all sides. It was moronic for the Israelis to plan it out last year. It was idiotic for Hizbullah to cross over into Israel, kill soldiers, and take two captive. It was brain dead for the Israeli officer corps and politicians to think they could get anything positive out of bombing Lebanon back to the stone age and making a million people homeless. It was dim-witted for Hasan Nasrallah to threaten Israelis with releasing poison gases from Haifa chemical plants on them. It was obtuse for the Israelis to confront a dug-in guerrilla movement with green conventional troops marching in straight lines. It was dull of Hizbullah to fire thousands of katyushas into open fields where they mainly damaged wild grass. The few times when the rockets managed to kill someone, it was often an Arab Israeli civilian. Stupid.
Very much a pox on both their houses attitude. He is no fan of Hezzbullah either.
And the “planned in advance” inference comes from many sources, but most importantly from Seymour Hersh, and Juan Cole seems to make NO inference that this particular bit of insider trading/gross unprofessionalism was indicative of advanced planning, just stupidity.
However, what I would argue with is that Israel should have had this planned in advance. That is the whole point of military planners. But they sohuld have had a much better plan, or just studied up on their WWII to see what bombing campaigns which level neighborhoods can do to civilian resolve.
EG, I’d hope we have plans on how to bomb Iran, and that the planners have also planned for the inevitable Iranian countermoves (nuclear facilities under 100M of rock, an oil supply interdiction on the straights of hormuz, funding and encouragement for a massive shiite rebellion in southern Iraq along US supply lines, a reactivated/sympathetic Hezzbullah action, etc etc etc) and what they would cost us.
Perry Como
It sounds like Juan Cole was making an argument about advanced knowledge of an impending war. Something that Sy Hersh reported about.
neil
Now that I’ve read both of the articles in question, I really think you should take this slime back, John, unless you are really angling for a link from Malkin. Juan is not making any jew-money links; he links to a Reuters article which makes it clear that this stock sale is a controversy in Israel.
The only way one can avoid being an anti-Semite, according to your twisted logic, is to examine everything you say about someone who is Jewish to see whether it resonates with any stereotypes or not. To me, this sounds like what you do if you are trying to hide being an anti-Semite. And I suspect when the Malkins of the world whip out this accusation it’s exactly their intention: attack people who aren’t anti-Semites so that they will begin to write as if they’re _disguising_ anti-Semitism and discredit themselves. Brilliant!
Sirkowski
John Cole, leave the spin to the professionals in DC, you just suck at it.
neil
He’s learning from the pros, Sirkowski. If you don’t like someone, don’t bother engaging with their arguments; just smear them as an anti-Semite. Have you even read a conservative blog in the last few months? That’s all they do.
John S.
I see Darrell has been invited to post on Balloon Juice along with Tom in Texas.
Darrell
That’s one way to look at it.. the other is to note, as John has done, that Juan Cole has a decided bias against Israeli jews. How does one explain away Juan cole’s comment comparing Olmert to Ahmadinejad or the mountain of other anti-Israel hatred coming from him?
neil
Next up on Balloon Juice:
What Glenn Greenwald Had For Breakfast: The Sinister Truth About The Threat To America
Punchy
Gimmie a fucking break. So, if Iran claims to have nukes, and suddenly a bunch of US Generals start selling off stock, that wouldn’t throw the market and country in general into a fucking panic? That wouldn’t signify that we’re about to go to war (again)? It’d be pilloried for what it is–greed–and for what it shows about our pretext for war. Not to mention, serious insider trading.
You’re obsession with hammering Juan Cole here is so ridiculously transparent, and your argument so banal, that it’s laughable. Really, I’m laughing at your post.
Tsulagi
Nah, the general wasn’t looking to make an extra shekel. If he thought the market was going to drop, the money play would have been to buy put options on the market index.
Yeah, no doubt the Israeli military had more than a few plans drawn in advance. If they didn’t, then top brass should be sacked. Somehow, though, I don’t think their plans depended on them being welcomed as liberators.
feral1
I’m actually very disappointed in John. While I disagree with much of his politics, I did think he had a lot more integrity than this. Accusing someone of anti-semitism is a serious charge and the evidence that John cited to state that Juan Cole displays an “antagonistic attitdue towards Jews” is beyond lame.
Pathetic.
Sad.
Steve
There is not a damn thing that is anti-semitic about that item, but how nice of you, John, to get OUTRAGED! on our behalf.
Josh Marshall reported on this yesterday. Is he a self-hating Jew?
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported on it as well, and called for the man’s resignation. Gosh, I guess an Israeli newspaper is exploiting anti-semitic stereotypes for profit. Go figure.
People trade on inside information all the time. It’s wrong, and it’s a big deal when someone powerful gets caught doing it. Being Jewish does not give you some sort of ethnic immunity.
This is a legit story. In the few hours between the abduction of Israeli soldiers and the declaration of war by Israel, the Chief of Staff of the IDF goes to the bank to sell off his investment portfolio. Does that “prove” he knew the war was coming? Gee, I dunno, that’s a tough one. I suppose you might believe that the head of the IDF could have been completely in the dark over what would happen next – if you’re a complete fool.
This is about the most ridiculous charge of anti-semitism I have ever seen. And on behalf of the Jewish community, I’ll thank you not to dilute the significance of the very real anti-semitism that exists in the world by crying wolf just to take a cheap shot at a blogger you don’t like.
John S.
Too bad John hasn’t cited anything that even remotely shows evidence of Juan Cole being biased against Israeli Jews.
Um, they are both leaders of countries and one talks a lot of shit he cannot back up while the other talks a lot of shit that he can (and will likely) back up? Very anti-semitic stuff, there.
Such as? If there is a mountain of evidence, how about tossing us a pebble?
neil
Darrell, if this anecdote is enough to prove that Cole is an Israel-hating anti-Semite, it apparently also proves that Israeli legislators are Israel-hating anti-Semites.
Here’s a thought: You intolerant conservatives have assumed that anyone who opposes Israel’s foreign policy, no matter how much scholarship they back it up with, are anti-Semites, and you’ll pull stuff out of context to ‘prove’ it.
neil
By the way, John, how do you feel about the actual issue at hand? Should Lt. Gen. Haluz have made the stock sale, or not? Was it proper, or not? Why, or why not?
These are important, burning issues and if you don’t believe the right thing then you may be a Nazi. It’s crucial that you answer.
John Cole
Funny- I am getting flamed by the people who see implied or insinuated racism every day from the GOP, yet when Juan Cole uses the personal financial transaction of a Jew as ‘proof’ that Israel planned this war in advance. I am sliming or ‘angling’ for a link from Malkin.
Juan knows what he was doing with his citation of that story- further perpetuating stereotypes about Jews and money. What upsets me is that you all know he is doing it, as well, yet choose to pretend otherwise.
And I missed Sy Hersh citing this Jewish generals banking decisions as proof that the war was preplanned.
What this guy did was manage his personal finances. it wasn’t stupid, or dumb, or indicative of anything other than he has a personal financial portfolio.
John S.
In case anyone cannot tell from the tone of my other posts, I second this notion – as a fellow Jew – wholeheartedly.
John Cole
Neil-
Don;t be stupid. There was nothing imporper with him selling stocks.
feral1
I encourage people to ignore Darrell’s posts in this thread completely. No one cares what he thinks and responding to him will only be a distraction. Instead, the focus should be on John and getting him to issue a retraction. Words are powerful. Balloon Juice has a significant readership. Cumulatively this kind of b.s. can have a real impact Juan Cole’s reputation. In fact it already has.
neil
John, _you_ are the one who’s emphasizing that this was ‘the personal financial transaction of _a Jew_.’ Juan Cole, on the other hand, is emphasizing that this was the personal financial transaction of _an Israeli military planner_. You have to totally ignore the significance of the latter in order to land on the former.
I really think you are the bigot here.
Darrell
It’s telling that you would actually rationalize such ‘insights’ coming from Juan Cole. No problem with Cole’s declaration that Olmert is worse than Ahmadinejad (“Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth”). You also were the one as I recall accusing Israel of “war crimes” in Jenin, were you not John S? Birds of a feather and all
John S.
Bullshit. When Senator Allen calls someone ‘macaca’, that is very REAL racism. What you have presented here in regards to Juan Cole doesn’t even come close.
Pooh
Fixed, even for spelling.
There are about 75 things wrong with this post so let’s clear up the first few
1. If you want to find examples of Juan Cole being anti-Israel, you can certainly do much better. As noted upthread the Israelis don’t think this insider trading was that swift.
2. Apparently, it needs to be said 1 million and 1 times – opposing Israel’s policies or leadership is not the same as being anti-semitic. If he’s calling for Israel to be wiped off the map, well maybe, but show me. And Marty Peretz is not an authority here, because if he gets a speeding ticket, the cop was anti-semitic…
3. You tend to do yourself discredit when you try to blogslap people. Your attempts are both ham-handed and rhetorically unconvincing (see, e.g. Jane Hamshers of the Left).
I think I tend to be one of the more forgiving of your left-leaning commenters, but this is one of your worst posts since I’ve been coming here.
(FWIW, I’m half Jewish, and the overuse of the anti-semite card in American politics just bugs the piss out of me, because it dramatically reduces the stigma against honest to goodness Jew hating. Which still exists as was demonstrated to me by a former boss telling me, and I quote, “those guys are trying to jew me. I’m sorry [Pooh], but you know how they are.” You could conceivably twist evil twin Juan’s words into something analogous, but I don’t see it.)
Perry Como
So discussing the issue of money when it involves a Jewish person is now not allowed? Damn. A friend of mine (Jewish) mentioned to me the other day that he was worried about another friend (also Jewish) that may have gotten in over his head on a mortgage. I guess that makes the first friend a money grubbing jew.
Or maybe the fact that he’s Jewish has nothing to do with fuckall. Best to assume he’s a self-hating Jew.
neil
By the way, in case it isn’t totally obvious, John Cole is also the only one here who is ‘further perpetuating stereotypes about Jews and money.’ Juan Cole wrote nothing about Jews, but John wrote a whole post about Jews and money.
Pooh
By this rationale, a Jew can never be accused of improper financial dealings. Everyone who reported on Jack Abramoff is thus an anti-semite. It’s all clear to me now.
And of course we’re all liars in saying that we don’t see it the same way you do. Why, you and Darrell are the only sane people amongst all the insanos in this thread.
guav
Juan did not use the personal financial transaction of a “Jew” as an example that this war was planned, he used the personal financial transaction of an Israeli as an example that this war was planned—an Israeli who happened to be in a position to know that a war was planned.
It is you, and only you, who is bringing “Jew” into this conversation.
And as many have pointed out already, Cole is merely repeating a “scandal” and thoughts and arguments that have been extensively stated in the Israeli press over the last day or so.
Seriously—this entry was silly.
Steve
John is stuck on stupid or something.
This is probably the most disgusting post I have ever seen at Balloon Juice, and I’m including all the Cindy Sheehan crap, even the hardcore posts from back when John was a “John Kerry shot himself” Republican. I simply don’t have words for how outrageous this charge of anti-semitism is, and how stunned I am that John is continuing to argue that no one could POSSIBLY have an issue with this financial transaction unless they’re anti-semitic.
The head of the IDF sells his investments mere hours before the country declares war, and you seriously see nothing improper about that? Ha’aretz is anti-semitic, Josh Marshall is anti-semitic, apparently I’m anti-semitic too because I see this as a serious issue worthy of investigation.
John, you need to take a deep breath or something and think this through again.
John Cole
The personal financial actrions of an Israeli military planner are immaterial. But when the Israeli military planner is Jewish- why then it is salacious. And Juan knows it, and that is why he is pushing it.
And Joe Lieberman thinks Democrats are wrong about some things. Do you agree with Joe Lieberman simply because he is a Democrat?
I have not said anything about the policy, per se- I even went so far as to say that there may very well be proof that the kidnapping was used simply to launch the war. What I am saying is that Juan Cole is latching on to this simply because the man is Jewish and it wil play into the stereotypes about israel and Jews he likes to peddle.
Jesse
Obviously, when everyone slams Cheney for getting cash from Haliburton, it’s because we’re anti-semetic…not that we thin k the Vice President making money off a war is a bad idea.
Pooh
Damn, beaten to the punch twice in the same thread…
John S.
I didn’t rationalize anything. I read what was written (you should try it some time). What is telling is that you would conjure anti-semitic boogeymen where none exist.
You fucking dolt, time for me to embarrass you AGAIN:
Here is what I said the FIRST time you trotted out Jenin. You didn’t get it the SECOND time, either. As for your accusation, here is what I actually said:
But keep screaming that I just glibly described the situation as a “war crime”. I urge anyone to follow the links and read the exchanges to see just how full of shit Darrell really is.
Darrell
Actually, doesn’t Cheney get a fixed retirement payment from Halliburton irregardless of well or how poorly the company is doing financially? If that’s the case, then yes, you would be a halfwit for screaming about how Cheney is a war-profiteer, wouldn’t you?
feral1
Actually the post isn’t “silly”, it’s vile. I’m willing to believe that John posted without thinking it through, but if continues to defend this slander and does not post a clear retraction, his credibility and integrity will seriously damaged. That really does make me sad.
neil
The personal financial actrions of an Israeli military planner are immaterial. But when the Israeli military planner is Jewish- why then it is salacious.
This divide would seem to lie at the heart of your criticism, and I note that you have _absolutely nothing_ to back it up. Do you have any examples of Juan Cole ignoring the personal financial transactions of _non_-Jewish Israeli military planners? Do you have any proof that he didn’t pay any attention to this until he noticed the guy was Jewish? Or are you just assuming that the general is Jewish because he is Israeli?
neil
Thinking about it a bit more, it’s clear that John was reading the Juan Cole post _with a preconceived notion_ that everything Juan Cole says is anti-Semitic, and this is how he leapt to the totally bizarre conclusion that this statement was a manifestation of same.
It just goes to show that when your mind operates based on crude stereotypes, you will find confirmation of those stereotypes at every turn.
The Other Steve
I think John Cole read Juan Cole right on this one.
Juan has some good insight into the motivations of people over in that region, but he’s a bit of a looney tune when it comes to analyzing Israel.
Darrell
Oh my!
ThymeZone
1. The reports that Israel had the war plan ready for quite a long time came very early in the war. IIRC it was within a few days of the Bush-Blair chewed-food video. I was not aware that this was controversial, I took it as a matter of fact that it was the case.
2. Death and destruction, children with their faces burned off, and an article about whether Juan Cole does something “soooo delicious?”
Another of your famous deliberate and disgusting trolls, John. Really. What complete bullshit. The world could go up in flames, and your contribution would be to carp about the supposed anti-semitism of Juan Cole. You know what? I don’t read much of Juan Cole and I don’t give a rat’s ass about his feelings on judaism. Mainly because they wouldn’t affect mine, and also because unlike a lot of people around here, I don’t confuse the fucked up state and government of Israel with Jews in general.
This is one of those times when your best move would be to take down this thread, and apologize. Of course, you won’t, and you’ll say some shitty thing to me in order to blow it off, I suppose, if history is any guide.
So what else is new? Some things never change.
Steve
If Juan Cole “likes to peddle” stereotypes about Jews, I’m sure you could cite one.
There’s no question that Juan Cole is hard on Israel. If you wanted to argue that he’s too hard on them, I wouldn’t even bother trying to defend him, it’s a matter of opinion. But I can’t recall ever seeing an anti-semitic statement or Jewish stereotype from him, and I’m fairly sensitive to such things.
The story has been reported in Israeli newspapers and in the world press. Members of the Israeli Parliament are calling for the guy’s resignation. Both Jewish and non-Jewish bloggers have reported on it. John, do you realize how silly you look, continuing to claim that there couldn’t possibly be anything remarkable about this man’s “personal financial transactions”?
Perry Como
Wow. That argument just tripped over the stupid crack, fell into a puddle of stupid on Stupid Avenue and was run over by the stupid truck. John, read what you just wrote again. Let it sink in.
Didn’t you hear? If you disagree With Joe Lieberman it means you are an anti-semite.
tzs
John, this is ridiculous. This has been an issue IN ISRAEL. Cole’s piece is a “pox on all your houses”.
And whether it was the general’s personal portfolio or not has no bearing on the matter. The question is how it comes across to the Israeli public. And considering how much ink has been spilt on the matter in the newspapers, it looks like it is something they consider important.
John Cole
I will continure to defend this post. Juan;s history and statements about Jews and Israel speak for themselves- and I am not backing down. Additionally, it is Juan who has the crude stereotypes:
Money-grubbing jew- let on to the game plan about the pre-planned war for just a few shekels. How unprofessional.
Keep defending him, though, guys.
Pooh
Well, I’ve tried to reason with you John, I’ll end my involvement in this thread simply by saying your being an unbelievable douchebag. But you’ve gotten your back up about this, and no one can seriously expect you to back down now, so sit there and wallow in your self-righteous wrongness.
feral1
John, you seem to think that Juan Cole routinely posts or makes anti-semitic comments and that justifies your interpretation of this post as anti-semitic. Please show some (any) evidence of past anti-semitic comments or posts by Juan Cole.
slide
What a disgraceful post John. Really, you have outdone yourself with this piece of crap. I am so sick and tired of any disagreement with Israel or their polices as being framed as anti-semitic.
So if Juan Cole is anti-semitic so must be the Israeli Parliment:
Those anti-semitc Jews.
John S.
I smell a Bill Bennett-esque thread…
Darrell
Case in point. Juan Cole accusing Israel of ETHNIC CLEANSING, intentionally targetting civilians
John S.
This is the dumbest retort I have ever seen John make.
It is so insane, it doesn’t merit a response – only gawking and finger pointing.
John Cole
Slide- from your link:
And Israeli cabinet members, with Olmert’s popularity reaching Bushian levels, would nbever look for a scapegoat, either…
People in Israel may have their own political reasons to flay the General, but I assure you, they are not the same as Cole’s.
slide
John.. perhaps you better stick to cat blogging. At least you don’t make a total ass of yourself then.
HyperIon
i read Informed Comment regularly and i think your accusation of antagonism towards jews is completely unfounded.
yes, juan cole is not a big supporter of Israel. but that is not anti-semitism.
i am extremely disappointed in you, john cole. get a grip.
i agree with steve’s 12:21 post.
feral1
You keep slandering Juan Cole as an ant-semite, but you don’t provide ANY evidence. It should be easy to find if he is such rampant Jew hater.
John S.
Enjoy the John Cole/Darrell show everyone.
Time for me to get back to work. Being a self-hating Jew and apologist for anti-semites everywhere takes a lot of effort.
neil
The reason I call this Malkinesque is because you are trying to shut Cole down, not engage him. It’s not that he’s wrong or mistaken or anything like that. No, his opinions themselves are evil and make him a Person Not Worthy Of Being Listened To. Even — or _especially_ — if they happen to be correct, they are wrongthink and must be shunned by all good people.
Sorry, John, I don’t read blogs to find out what I _shouldn’t be_ thinking about. And I doubt any of the rest of your readers go in for that stuff. If they did they’d be reading on Malkin about how you’re actually a liberal and thus a Person Not Worthy Of Being Listened To.
The Other Steve
I don’t think there is any question here that what Halutz did was the equivalent of insider-trading. What he did was wrong, and the Israeli public has pretty much gotten pissed about it.
What John Cole takes issue with is the line “It is further proof that the war was planned well in advance, and that Halutz knew that the capture would trigger it.” It’s the way the whole thing is written, that this is all Israel’s fault, and those Shylocks were trying to profit from the misfortune of others.
John’s right. I’m quite certain Israel had a plan to invade Lebanon to get Hezbollah. Why wouldn’t they?
AFTER ALL, HEZBOLLAH HAS BEEN TRYING TO PICK A FIGHT WITH ISRAEL FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THEY TRIED THIS KIDNAPPING STUNT JUST LAST NOVEMBER.
So why is Juan Cole trying to imply this is all Israels fault?
Pooh
The accusation is all that matters. When did you stop beating your wife?
Doctor Gonzo
The personal financial actrions of an Israeli military planner are immaterial.
Seriously? Did you even read this after you posted it?
That’s like saying the personal financial actions of a Fortune 500 company’s auditor a few days before a report is due are “immaterial.”
No, it’s very material, because it is called INSIDER KNOWLEDGE. A military planner would have insider knowledge as to whether a military action would escalate or not. Thus, the actions they take, such as selling off a good portion of their investment portfolio, are certainly very material.
I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to agree with most people here and say it was stupid.
Jesse
It must be odd to John. I mean, the fact he’s the least credible poster on his blog. I’m waiting for the inevitable, “I hate the Republicans, but I’m still voting for them in the election because of Cindy Sheehan/Jane Hamsher/Ned Lamont/etc.” post around October 28th.
Ancient Purple
Talk about missing the boat.
You are reading into Juan’s statement. He is mocking the fact that someone – anyone – would capitalize on a war for a paultry few thousand dollars. It is not only unprofessional, it is inexcusable and sick.
Chalk this post up to the “Worst of the Worst at Balloon Juice.”
Nikki
John, Democrat is not a race. There is no shame in being an anti-democrat. There is plenty of shame in being an anti-semite.
You posted this simply to stir up a hornet’s nest, didn’t you? Because your defense is even weaker than your argument.
slide
somebody remind me, what was John Cole’s postion on Bill Bennett saying,
Did Cole get crazy when people suggested that Bennett was a racist for saying that? Hmmmm… interesting ain’t it?
Cyrus
This isn’t your dumbest or most offensive post like some people are saying, but why DO you think he’s taking heat inside Israel? It’s just ridiculous to say that Juan Cole is anti-Semitic for having the same opinion for the same reasons as significant parts of Israeli leadership. I mean, help me out here. If you think that Israelis are being principled in their attacks on Halutz — or that they aren’t being principled, but are attacking him for an understandable reason — what evidence do you have that Cole is attacking him for a different reason than them?
Cyrus
This isn’t your dumbest or most offensive post like some people are saying, but why DO you think he’s taking heat inside Israel? It’s just ridiculous to say that Juan Cole is anti-Semitic for having the same opinion for the same reasons as significant parts of Israeli leadership. I mean, help me out here. If you think that Israelis are being principled in their attacks on Halutz — or that they aren’t being principled, but are attacking him for an understandable reason — what evidence do you have that Cole is attacking him for a different reason than them?
Steve
You can tell John senses he’s blown it by his ridiculously overblown and defensive responses.
Members of the Israeli Parliament, from all the major parties, have called for the man’s resignation? Uh… they must be the Israeli equivalent of Joe Lieberman or something!
The Israeli press has reported on it, and written editorials calling for his resignation? “Obviously,” they must just be looking for a scapegoat!
Josh Marshall, a well-known Jewish blogger, also reported on the story? Inconvenient fact. Mustn’t respond.
And the accusations continue to fly that Juan Cole routinely makes anti-semitic statements, yet no one can produce a single example. All anyone can say is that he’s highly critical of Israel’s foreign policy.
Doctor Gonzo
Here’s a hypothetical question to see if Juan Cole is being anti-Semitic or not. What if, instead of selling off this portfolio, this military planner sent his family out of the country for their safety shortly before the war?
1. Would the “personal family actions” taking by this person still be immaterial?
2. Would reporting this be anti-Semitic because it’s not fulfilling the “money-loving Jew” stereotype?
neil
So why is Juan Cole trying to imply this is all Israels fault?
I believe that in this case, he was trying to imply that the war was planned in advance — not exactly an accusation of criminality — and that this war planner was ‘cashing in’ on it, or at least cutting his losses.
I shouldn’t have let John off the hook so easily about whether he thinks this is OK. Does he think insider trading is OK as a general matter? Does he think that public officials shouldn’t have to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in their financial affairs (even though bloggers _should_ avoid even the appearance of trafficking in Jewish stereotypes)? Or does he think this wasn’t an example of insider trading?
Inquiring minds want to know. Let’s not make this about the non-issue of the alleged subtext of Juan Cole’s dark rumblings.
VidaLoca
John,
Late to the party, but I’m pretty much in agreement with everyone upthread except Darrell. Juan Cole is being tough on Israel, and specifically on its political and military leadership, not on Jews. And you’re missing the distinction.
If you want to make the counter argument you’re going to have to bring more evidence to the table.
In that case would you also call what Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling did “managing personal finances”?
Nikki
A while back, I asked you how you could possibly formulate the critical thinking skills of your students when your own seem to be lacking. This post reaffirms that impression.
The Other Steve
Yet that’s not what he said.
He said this was evidence of a great conspiracy to start this war. That Israel had planned this long in advance and was hoping for something to trigger it, as if Hezbollah had no part in starting this conflict.
I think you mean… Worst of Juan Cole.
slide
Nikki… I tend to agree with you. John has lost all interest in politics since his wonderful war in Iraq has lost its appeal and the guy he voted for twice has turned out to be such a miserable incompetent failure. So.. we get beer blogging… cat blogging… steeler blogging…wine blogging… with 15 comments or so per post. Gotta get the numbers up.. hey… advertising dollars at stake here…ok.. what to do? Simple.. lets call a respected professor an anti-semite because he doesn’t sing the praises of Israel at everything they do…. That’ll get the numbers up. Pathetic and very sad John.
jaime
Oh I know, like the time he said the thing about the thing at the place. Remember, THE thing? About Jews. Remember.
You’re all crazy anti-Semites if you don’t know exactly what the “Darrel’s of the John Cole Right” are talking about.
Cyrus
Sorry about the double post, but I hit the “Submit” button again after it took a while for the page to load. Can’t image why…
John S.
He excoriated everyone for reading racism into his “You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down”. Curiously, he reads racism in far murkier statements by Juan Cole, and anyone who thinks otherwise is stupid/dishonest/etc.
Bottom line: John Cole is about as much of a blowhard hypocrite as they come. He deserves the Republican party, and they deserve him. I hope he never votes or thinks any other way.
Darrell
Yeah, Juan Cole’s accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing”, intentionally targetting civilians, then claiming Olmert is far worse than Ahmadinejad… yeah, that’s nothing more than mere harsh ‘criticism’ of Israeli foreign policy, right?
Perry Como
TOS, did you actually read Juan Cole’s post?
Looks like he is putting all the blame on Israel to me…
feral1
Still waiting for some evidence that Juan Cole is anti-semitic.
Andrew
Cole is a wanker.
neil
Yet that’s not what he said.
He said this was evidence of a great conspiracy to start this war. That Israel had planned this long in advance and was hoping for something to trigger it, as if Hezbollah had no part in starting this conflict.
That’s most definitely not what he said. The quote was pulled out of the middle of a rant about how every aspect of the war has been stupidly mismanaged. The political fallout from this Lt. General’s stunt would seem to fall squarely inside that category.
Other than that, Juan’s sin seems to be claiming that this operation was planned in advance. I don’t think that this is scandalous at all. But I suppose anything that Juan Cole says is scandalous because he only says it because he hates Jews!
Krista
That seems to be how you’re interpreting it, anyway. I haven’t read enough of Juan Cole to determine if he has an anti-Jewish bias or not. But if people here are asking you for more evidence of that, I think it would be a good idea to provide it, rather than becoming mulish and insisting that you’re right in this. If you want to stand by your statement, fine. But if you’re not willing to provide tangible evidence as to why you think Juan Cole, and his statements, are anti-semitic, then you’re just going to look like you’re letting your personal beef with someone paint you into a corner.
nyrev
No. We agree with Joe Lieberman because if we didn’t, the John Coles of the Right* would accuse us of antisemitism.
*The John Coles of the Right may or may not actually include anyone actually named John Cole.
jaime
John or Juan?
Ancient Purple
Here is what Juan Cole wrote:
The Other Steve
Which I guess makes me the only one consistent, as I think they’re all examples of bad thinking.
Steve
No, what he said is “It is further proof that the war was planned well in advance, and that Halutz knew that the capture would trigger it.”
Which part of this sentence do you think is in dispute?
Look, maybe Israel really was spoiling for any excuse to go after Hezbollah. I wouldn’t blame them if they were. It’s a matter of opinion, no different from saying the Bush Administratino was spoiling for any excuse to go after Saddam.
There’s nothing even remotely anti-semitic about it. And there’s no conceivable way you can read Juan Cole’s post to suggest that the reason Israel went to war was to make a few thousand dollars for the IDF Chief of Staff.
Darrell
Let’s spell it out exactly where Juan Cole is coming from. Cole makes excuses for and defends the murder of a US Navy officer who was murdered because he “looked jewish”, and blames Israel for it all:
If someone is murdered in cold blood for looking Jewish, it’s Israel’s fault.. no mention of the arab govts. stirring up jew hatred. All. Israel’s. Fault. But Cole is just giving some ‘honest’ criticism to Israel’s foreign policy, right?
The Other Steve
Interesting that you decided to cherry pick the Juan Cole quote and leave out the incriminating portion.
Ancient Purple
Sorry. Hit “submit” too soon.
Continuing on…
It says nothing about the General being anything other than someone who is risking the perception of impropriety. It seems that just about everyone in Israel thinks the same thing right now.
How does that make Juan Cole anti-semitic?
The Other Steve
I don’t know if it’s anti-semitic or not, nor care.
What I find offense with is Juan Cole whitewashing Hezbollah’s part in all of this and blaming everything on Israel.
neil
Ancient Purple, it doesn’t _make_ Juan Cole anti-Semitic. But the fact remains that he is, and when he says this, it is anti-Semitic and therefore we must all believe the opposite or else be Nazis ourselves. Remember, there but for the grace of god go we.
I think this is the idea behind those Malkin hate sites, anyway.
Nikki
Neil,
Bingo.
91 posts in under 2 hours. Good job, John!
jaime
Darrell, born without conscience, accuracy, or honesty. Here’s Cole’s very next paragraph.
Perry Como
Yes.
Steve
I think others have sufficiently debunked the “Juan Cole blames everything on Israel” strawman. He has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of war crimes and decried their actions throughout this conflict.
But the point is, John Cole writes a post accusing Juan Cole of anti-semitism, you chime in with a statement that “I think John Cole read Juan Cole right on this one,” and now you’re saying that you don’t know or care if the post was anti-semitic?
Anti-semitism is a serious charge. I’m glad you’ve backed away from endorsing John’s ridiculous allegations.
The Other Steve
I wish Juan Cole wasn’t such a fruitcake with regards to Israel, and would stop whitewashing the countries enemies. He has good knowledge of the region and offers insight on current events and news. His anti-Israel bias just spoils much of it. :-(
Anyway, I gotta go do something useful.
Darrell
jaime, that ‘next’ paragraph does not mitigate or change in the least Juan Cole’s excusing and defending the murder of a US naval officer because he ‘looked jewish’, placing the blame entirely on Israel.
jaime
TOS POOPED:
JUAN COLE WROTE:
Yes. A complete whitewash of Hezbollah. I imagine you read the above critcisms about Hezbollah, took a fork, jammed it up your nose, lobotomized yourself and posted, KNOWING that Cole criticzed Hezbollah several times in what you just read.
slide
What fucking bullshit. Here is Juan Cole on Hezbollah:
some whitewashing.
Andrew
Indeed.
neil
jaime, don’t you realize that Juan Cole is an anti-Semite? Of course he defended Hezbollah. Sure, those words might not seem to form a defense of Hezbollah, but if you are reading them then you’re already missing the point. Juan Cole is an anti-Semite and anti-Semites defend Hezbollah.
John Cole
Heh. That made me laugh.
Darrell
No more serious than charging someone with being a racist.. something your side does without basis quite often
feral1
Still waiting for the evidence of Juan Coles anti-semitism.
neil
So Darrell is telling us now that two wrongs make a right. That explains a lot.
The Other Steve
Ahh, finally found a few instances like this.
Even so, on balance… the 100 to 1 imbalance does lend credibility to John Cole’s argument that Juan Cole is biased against Israel and this blinds his viewpoints.
srv
The John Coles of the Right trot out the standard refrains. They are the true defenders of Judiasm. It is sad that anti-semite isn’t going to mean anything once y’all are done with it. What courage.
This is really just more evidence that he is Darrell.
The Other Steve
You have to admit, they are rather hard to find on his site. I had to do some specialized google searches, because the primary content of juancole.com is to accuse Israel of war crimes at every opportune.
jaime
OK, Darrell, lets examine thoroughly this statement you cherry picked.
He didn’t call the guy hero or freedom fighter, but a killer brought to justice. Yeah, I see the Jew hate right there. Let’s move on you dishonest prick.
Nothing jew-hatey there. It sounds pretty bad, you’d think the “Mel Gibson of the left” would want to flower up the killing a bit.
The killer’s point of view. Nowhere could you possibly read that Cole believes that.
slide
John Cole in September 2005 commenting on the Bill Bennett affair:
John Cole today:
.uh huh
neil
Actually, TOS, John says that Juan Cole is biased against _Jews_. Not Israel.
Darrell
I think Juan cole’s blaming Israel for the murder of a US naval officer because he looked Jewish comes awfully close. It certainly qualifies him as an unhinged asshole. Anti-semite? he’s teetering on the border, if not an outright anti-semite.
neil
So even Darrell doesn’t believe that Juan Cole hates Jews. That would seem to leave John and Michelle Malkin as the only two people who can see into people’s souls. We ignore them at our peril, I’m telling you!
Perry Como
slide Says:
You forget to add a comment, slide.
Steve
This from the guy who doesn’t think there was anything racist about the Willie Horton ad. Yeah, a real authority on what constitutes an unfounded charge, that’s what you are.
slide
even if one was to accept this propostion (which I don’t) does that in and of itself make him anti-semitic? Can one disagree with the policies of a government without being accused of hating the religion of the people of that country? Is Bush anti-Muslim because he thinks Iran is a crazy motherfucker country?
Perry Como
That’s because they are a bunch of stupid macaques.
The Other Steve
Interesting tone. Juan Cole is disappointed in this because he’s undermining their great cause against the zionists.
jaime
Hey, that’s the ratio of Lebanese dead to Israeli dead. I guess I must hate Jews for noticing.
John Cole
feral1- try http://www.google.com
And I am not wading into the Bill Bennett crap again, but anyone who thinks his argument ab asurdum was a racist statement is simply a total idiot. And I hate Bill Bennett, but calling what he said racist is just plain absurd.
Pretty clearly, since the sale of his stocks is proof that a wider war was coming, his not doing anything to save his family is proof that he cares more about his money than he does his family.
Darrell
No? How honest of you to omit the incriminating quote from Juan Cole. Here it is
No blame for the arab governments which has stirred up so much jew hatred. Not a word. Clearly, all the blame is on Israel according to Cole.
You can be completely sure that is someone was murdered for “looking arab”, and a conservative defended and excused that murder blaming it on the fact that arabs attacked us on 9/11.. you can be certain that dishonest pieces of shit like jaime would be singing a very different tune.
The Other Steve
I think if you claim the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world, chances are you are anti-semitic.
neil
Did you know that we never landed on the Moon? It’s true. Just go to http://www.google.com and read up on it.
John Cole
Juan Cole, in this instance, is not taking a stand against the policies of Israel- he is stating that a man’s personal financial transaction is proof that Israel was planning a war, a charge that resonates in the crowd Juan runs in because they have numerous stereotypes about Jews (who, btw, tend to inhabit Israel), one of which centers around money.
I even allowed that there may be very real evidence out there that the government did plan the war in advance and used the capture of the soldiers as an excuse/reason to launch it. That seems to me to be very probably. It also may be that this could have been the final straw, etc. But what pisses me off is that Juan Cole knows what he was doing- playing to stereotypes, as ‘proof’ that the war was planned.
This man’s financial transaction proves nothing, other than that you can still play up Jewish stereotypes if you are really clever and/or have a cadre of loud supporters who can act indignant on command.
The Other Steve
I hate to agree with Darrell, but he is right on that one.
What Juan Cole said in that paragraph was inexcusable.
Punchy
NOW it’s clear you’re spoofing us on purpose. No General sells their entire portfolio the morning of war actions without it being called a lot more than “stupid or dumb”. It’s probably illegal, let alone unethical.
You’re not dumb, just intentionally obtuse. Purposefully myopic. This dithyramb was just to piss us off…and congrats on the phony attempt at sincerity.
Matt
John,
This post seems to be projection on your part.
It’s crap and you know it.
The Other Steve
Well said.
Juan Cole could have made an informed comment without letting his petty biases shine through.
skip
There is some telling background to this:
The search committee at Yale recently wanted to offer Juan Cole a chair in Middle East affairs. If you don’t imagine they examined even the tiniest intimation of anti-semitism you know nothing about how things work at the Ivies. No anti-semitism found, period, over a deliberation that lasted many months.
Ah, but soon thereafter Walt and Miersheimer’s famed lobby got to work on the issue of Cole too easy on the arabs. In a very unusual step, some major donors forced the withdrawl of the position offer, much to the fury of the ME studies people. Much to the delight of Daniel Pipes.
The NYT and other papers reported that Juan Cole was axed because some wealthy alumni would have penalized Yale if Cole had been hired ( No doubt these irate donors were of no fixed ethnicity (required disclaimer for this blog).
In the meantime, OUR Professor Cole, late to the battlefield, is busy shooting the wounded. He accusses the recently rejected Juan Cole of antisemitism, going the donors one better. Now a few others here are accusing Juan Cole of having a record of antisemitism that the Yale search committee somehow missed over their long vetting process.
John, the Cindy Sheehan rants were high discourse compared to this. Even the whisper of such a charge can and has ruined a number of academic and political careers. There can be no excuse for it, short of unimpeachable evidence. Show me— and send it along to Yale when you find it.
A geopolitical litmus test for an academic chair! One might expect such ignrorant calumny from the Niebelungs at LGF, but from a University Professor like you there is no excuse.
neil
I don’t see how Bill Bennett making an obvious reference to the stereotype of blacks as criminals isn’t a racist, while Juan Cole making any reference to anything involving a Jew and money is obviously anti-Semitic.
But then again, I’m a liberal and according to Michelle Malkin I myself am anti-Semitic, so that’s probably why I don’t see it. Oh also, I’m the real racist and I believe that I also want the terrorists to win.
Darrell
Steve, I’m still waiting for you to provide that list of names, or even 1 name, of a white criminal released in the Mass. furlough program who raped or murdered someone in the same general time frame as Willie Horton. Can’t do it? Well then, you certainly have a ‘solid’ point there in your accusations of racism. You hurl unsubstantiated accusations of racism, yet scream like a little bitch when someone makes a far more substantiated claim of anti-semitism.
Dug Jay
What a wonderful blog you have created, John. As has been pointed out on other blogs, Balloon Juice Comment Threads are now considered among the premier locations of choice by anti-Semites across the blogosphere. What’s especially amazing is that a significant number of the regular anti-Semitic posters assert that they themselves are Jewish. How pitifully pathetic can that lie be.
neil
This man’s financial transaction proves nothing, other than that you can still play up Jewish stereotypes if you are really clever and/or have a cadre of loud supporters who can act indignant on command.
I’m confused. Then why is the Israeli public interested in this stories? Is Juan Cole _just that clever_? Very sinister, very sinister indeed.
John Cole
Bill bennett didn;t mention any stereotypes, you maroon. He used crime statistics that show that African-Americans are a disproportionate portion of the incarcerated population. That may be for a number of reasons, including lack of economic opportunity, drug abuse, broken homes, racism in the courts, racistm among law enforcement, lack of opportunity to receive adequate counsel, etc. His argument is firm. Your memory of the debate- not so much.
Pooh
No, I think we’ve established the basis for calling you racist on quite a few occassions. Personally, I’m on record as saying the charges of homophobia are far stronger…
slide
I agree. And so is your suggestion that Cole’s pointing out a financial impropriety is somehow anti-semtic “Because, you know, all Jews care about is money” Thanks for making my point Einstein.
slide
ok, now that you have demonstrated Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite can we get back to Juan Cole?
jaime
You best be posting from Baghdad with all that bullshit bluster of yours. It’s easy to be hardcore if front of a keyboard with your belly obscuring your toes.
The statement at the very end of his piece saying that hating all Jews for the policies of a few righty hawks is the epitome of Jew hate
slide
The only Cole that mentioned sterotypes was JOHN Cole.
Darrell
Based on my prior posts in which I point out that it’s not so ‘crazy’ for parents to be concerned about letting letting their boys go camping with an openly homosexual scout leader? Because other than that one topic, I don’t believe I’ve ever discussed any other topic on BJ relating to homosexuality. That’s the only one to my recollection.. unless you have someone more.
So then, is that your basis for calling me a homophobe? If so, then I guess most parents in the US are also ‘homophobes’ by that standard.. wouldn’t you agree?
neil
John, you have totally baffled me at this point. It’s OK for Bennett to invoke a stereotype because his point can be defended with general statistics, but it is NOT OK for Juan Cole to invoke a _specific incident in context_ because that incident, when the context is discarded and it is viewed in a certain light, invokes a broad stereotype?
You’ve totally gone off the deep end here. Maybe you should take some more time off.
jaime
You know you are arguing that the furlough program was successful right? If the program was so successful that only one person committed a violent crime on leave , why criticize it at all?
slide
I just don’t get this line of argument, there are PLENTY of JEWS in ISRAEL that are bringing up this man’s financial transactions. It must prove SOMETHING if it is a matter of debate in Israel. so… its ok for Jews to bring up the issue but if Juan Cole brings it up it is because he is playing on Jewish sterotypes? my my my.. .Professor you are indeed in rare form today.
neil
I should repeat, for emphasis, that Juan Cole (like Bennett) did not mention any stereotypes, and that YOU, John, have been the only one repeating ugly slanders against the Jewish people.
Andrew
You are all a bunch of macacas.
John Cole
WTF is a macaca?
Darrell
Oooh jaime, you gonna do your cyber tough-guy act again? Feeling angry because I make you feel stupid? Well, one of these days it will dawn on you that you really are stupid.
neil
slide, I believe I already did that one to death. We’ve established that it’s not anti-Semitic to say what Juan Cole said. It’s only anti-Semitic _to be Juan Cole while saying it_.
Bombadil
I suspect that Cole’s under orders from his owners at Pajamas Media to get more traffic to his site. This sounds like he’s doing his damnedest to get called Wanker of the Day again over at Eschaton, just to drive more views to the page.
This post was one of the most odious pieces of shit I’ve seen here, and that includes everything Darrell has written. Absolutely disgusting, Cole. Almost pornographic in its lack of any redeeming social value.
Steve
Absolutely dumb-as-a-brick stupid.
Are you DENYING that Israel had plans drawn up for this war well in advance, knowing that Hezbollah would surely continue to engage in acts of terrorism against Israel?
Are you DENYING that the Chief of Staff of the IDF surely knew, at the time he sold his investments, that the latest Hezbollah kidnapping was going to result in those war plans being carried out?
Are you DENYING that it’s improper for a high government official to engage in financial transactions based on his knowledge of what the government is about to do?
There’s not even a basis to reasonably dispute any of these things, let alone allege that anti-semitism is involved in bringing them up.
John, think of the weakest, most laughable allegation of racism that you’ve ever heard – maybe the guy who lost his job for saying “niggardly,” or whatever. Well, that’s what this post is.
Darrell
I think it’s spanish slang for “my crap”
Krista
Are you saying that porn has no social value? What about the stress release it provides to so many frustrated folks, reducing their blood pressure, and possibly helping them become much more pleasant, relaxed individuals?
Or something like that…
Darrell
Speaking of dumb-as-a-brick stupid, John Cole wrote:
Perry Como
John Cole Says:
A nickname for someone with a mohawk.
slide
Some more anti-Semites and their vicious use of sterotypes to smear a good man:
.
Andrew
If you’re of French-Algerian descent, it’s a really, really racist slang term for dark skinned Africans. Almost as bad as being obsessed with the values of the Confederacy when you’re from California and hanging a noose in your office.
Ancient Purple
You have GOT to be kidding.
Bombadil
Wonderful. Cole is being defended by Beavis and Butthead.
Andrew
OR it mean “mohawk” and it’s purely conincidental that it’s also a really, really racist slang term for dark skinned Africans.
Steve
By the way, it’s not really the profiteering that’s the scandal here, since (as Juan Cole pointed out) the amount of money involved is fairly small.
The real scandal is that, during a time of national crisis, during the few hours between the Hezbollah kidnapping and the declaration of war by Israel, when everyone in the Israeli government was busy making plans and dealing with the crisis, the head of the IDF makes time to go down to the bank and sell off some investments.
Imagine if, on the morning of 9/11, with the country in a panic, you found out that Cheney or Rumsfeld had taken 15 minutes to get on the phone with their broker and do some stock trades. You’d think that was pretty outrageous, at a time when they should have been managing the crisis, wouldn’t you?
That’s the real scandal as far as Israelis are concerned. Yes, there’s a lot of unhappiness with this same guy about how the war was carried out in general, and surely some people want him to resign for that reason alone. But the fact that in the middle of a national crisis, the guy who is supposed to be running your armed forces is down at the bank selling investments just to avoid a relatively minor loss, that’s a disgusting sign of misplaced priorities.
Andrew
OR it means “mohawk” and it’s purely coincidental that it’s also a really, really racist slang term for dark skinned Africans that your mother taught you.
John Cole
Ok. What did I do wrong now?
Andrew
Whoops. Double post. I really stepped in a big pile of macaca, there.
ThymeZone
Interesting? Only if you think that flexible standards are not the rule in the world of blahlapalooza.
This thread is really worthwhile, if you think that the supposed anti-semitism of a blogger is the important thing to be talking about WRT a part of the world that seems bent on sucking all the rest of us into world war in order for them … the fanatics and the crazies and the sociopathic lying motherfuckers … to prove some kind of fucking point. And doing it, and killing lots of other people while doing it, while brooking no criticism ….. no, no challenge of any kind …. while doing it.
God for-fucking-bid that you dare criticize any of these insane sociopathic fucks — Jews, Arabs, or anybody else — without the permission of the snark police.
feral1
It is simply despicable to accuse someone in this way and be unwilling to support your accusation with evidence. You place a suprisingly low value on your integrity and credibility.
jaime
Yes…just like the time I wrote that Democrats are anti-Semitic and was linked to a boycott led by Democrats of the anti-Semite Maliki’s address to Congress. I really looked foolish when I asked why people like Chuck Schumer were’nt boycotting. Man, I felt stupid when I found out he did.
Or the time I got caught lying when I said I never wrote that Al Gore specifically mentioned Willie Horton.
Oh wait…that wasn’t me, that was you. Darrell, the people on this blog eat glass than engage you in any meaningful way. You are the pathetic 33% that would support Bush if he ate a kitten. You and your ilk have run this country into the ground and we’re onto you and your cowardly blowhard ways.
I’m sorry everyone knows you’re a chickenhwak coward blowhard cheerleader. I’m sorry that everyone knows you’re a ridiculous characature. I’m sorry that you’re too fat to see your penis, let alone your feet unless you looked in a mirror. Maybe that’s why you couldn’t fight in your glorious war in Iraq. Nah, you wouldn’t fight if you could. You test your bravery on blogsites and Halo.
slide
like I said, better stick to cat blogging for a while
John Cole
Or maybe, he did like I did every time I thought I might have to leave on military orders, and take care of all of his financial matters so they would not be a distraction.
This guy may have run the war crappily, but he is getting unfair press on this stuff.
Bombadil
As should we all.
neil
Slide, I was not actually kidding, just being a little snide. The issue is not with what Juan Cole said; the issue is that Juan Cole should not be allowed to say things like that. Make no mistake, this Malkin harassment campaign, of which John is an eager participant, is about nothing other than getting Juan Cole to shut up.
Why they want him to shut up is probably a quite rich and interesting topic.
ThymeZone
Punchy, can you send me an email? My addy is in plain view in the first user text you see at my url.
thx.
Darrell
Because EVERYBODY knows/knew what a macaca is, right whackjob? I recall President Bush mentioning the proliferation of macaca in his state of the union address, which was followed up later with a CBS primetime special on macacas, which spun into an HBO series- “Macaca, friend or foe?”.. oh, wait
HyperIon
The Other Steve wrote:
TOS: I can’t tell what point you are trying to make with the link. Below is a paragraph excerpted from it.
did you provide this link to show that uCole (not to be confused with oCole) does sometimes criticize Hizbullah? if so, an affirmative statement to that effect would lessen my confusion. it’s hard these days to tell the sincere from the sarcastic…and i mean that sincerely!
the thing i like most about uCole’s site is his summary of articles published in the foreign press and specifically the arab language press. his knowledge of middle eastern culture and languages serves him well in this task.
when i peruse the NYT and WaPo and see very little about “what happened today in iraq”, i often find at uCole’s site many short mentions of “according to w, x people died in y due to z”. he is a scholar. he gathers facts. he sometimes opines on the meaning or implication of those facts. his analysis sometimes bores me but i respect his intellect. of course, he may in future write something that causes me to question this respect. sort of like this post is causing me to question the respect i had for oCole’s intellect.
Krista
Um, you appeared to ask what a “macaca” is, in all seriousness, when the news has been completely abuzz with the fact that George Allen called an American (of Indian descent) one during a stump speech. Actually, there was quite a bit of discussion about it on your own blog, but I forget which thread it was.
Steve
That’s what makes this post so fucking ridiculous. John is flying off the handle, accusing Juan Cole of anti-semitism for making statements that John himself agrees with.
Of course I don’t expect John to deny a single one of the statements that I asked him whether he was denying. That’s the whole point. They’re virtually incontestable, and yet if you bring them up, somehow it must be because you’re pandering to anti-semitic stereotypes.
Anyway, I’m not sure the IDF is even necessary any more, what with all the right-wingers in the blogosphere who will go to the mat to defend Israel and its people from the barest perceived slight. Truly, I’m honored to have friends like Darrell and John Cole, and I’m sure Israel is too.
neil
Or maybe, he did like I did every time I thought I might have to leave on military orders, and take care of all of his financial matters so they would not be a distraction.
Talk about tacking into the wind! So you’re saying that he did make this financial transaction based on his insider knowledge, and that _it was the right thing to do_?
By the way, selling off your portfolio cannot rationally be described as “taking care of all of your financial matters.” It’s not like cashing your paycheck.
John Cole
No, feral1- I place your opinion of my integrity as very low. What you want me to do is to list all of the copious amounts of press out there regarding Juan Cole’s antagonism towards JEws and Israel, and then spend five days debating each citation ad nauseum. It is a debating tactic I am quite familiar with from people here, and I have better things to do.
We might as well argue my punctuation, because you won’t accept any evidence- each piece will be touted by you as having plausible deniability, and even though there are a hundred such cases of plausible deniability, none of it will add up to one bit of damning evidence against Cole in your mind. So why waste my time.
Go to http://www.google.com, and argue with all of those people.
Andrew
If an Indian has a mullet, and a Native American has a mohawk, can they combine their hair styles and form a macaca? Like Voltron.
Ancient Purple
Sorry, John. I am just shocked. The “macaca” incident has only been in the news (net, papers, cable, etc.) for the past 36 hours. It has even been parodied on The Daily Show.
Here is the latest.
ThymeZone
Right. The massive civilian casualties, the complete lack of any accomplished military objective, the aggrandizement of Hezbollah influence and power, the colossal fuckups, the daily and continuous lies from Israel’s leadership … all of these entitle the man to at least a nice puff piece about his musical preferences and his favorite color.
slide
yeah.. actually I do think it is important to talk about. Anyone that seems to criticize Israel or neocons now gets labeled as an anti-Semite. It is an effort to intimidate people into silence. And when a moron like John Cole wants to play this disgusting little game he has to get called out on it.
jaime
Do you know what “come mierda” means? If I told you “come mierda” it isn’t an insult because not EVERYBODY knows what it means, right?
John Cole
I heard Allen said something stupid, but missed what he actually said (macaca is a new one to me). I guess I missed the comments, too. As to george Allen, he is an idiot, and nothing he says will change my mind about that. I have had enough President’s who enjoy giving cute nicknames to people for one lifetime.
John S.
So has anyone provided a link to an example of Juan Cole’s mountain of anti-semitism?
Besides John Cole’s laughable link to Google.
ThymeZone
Those are two distinctly different things.
Can you provide citations which point to the former?
neil
Did everybody catch that up there? John doesn’t have to back it up when he accuses prominent writers of being bigots, and if you don’t accept his accusation at face value, then you might as well be _challenging his punctuation_.
Truly, truth has no meaning in the new Malkin era of journalism.
Punchy
You run a blog about politics and you have no idea what the Macaca controversy is????? Hooooooly shit……..
Steve
Unless I’m mistaken and you were a five-star general or something, John, your time was your own while you were waiting for a deployment order to come down. You weren’t expected to be in the war room making plans together with the leaders of the country.
The analogy of Rumsfeld making calls to his stockbroker on the morning of 9/11 is far more apt than the analogy of John Cole thinking he might get deployed soon. This was a crisis that unfolded in a matter of hours, and we’re talking about the head of the country’s armed forces here. It’s not too much for the people of Israel to expect him to have other priorities than making sure his investments don’t drop.
John S.
How about ONE solid example of antagonism towards Jews? You know, to bolster your claim that he is an anti-semite.
Or does the burden of proof when making an argument magically not fall upon you, John?
Paul
142 posts, all but 2 of the posters taking you apart for a ridiculous and offensive misreading of a serious comment. Call it a day, stop digging yourself in deeper, withdraw the smear.
On the day Israel decides to go to war, its chief of staff takes time out to go to the bank, use his inside knowledge to – let’s be charitable – avoid loss by dumping his stock on some civilian sucker who does not know what he knows, and then stroll back to the office to get back to organising what turns out to be a fiasco that costs more than a thousand lives, including, what, 140 or so of his compatriots.
If you can’t see what is wrong with this picture – whether the general is Israeli, Chinese, or Zulu – you need to take a deep breath and then get out more.
Halutz was set for a political career in a country that worships the military. His defeat won’t have helped, but the tag of General Enron is going to sink this guy’s chances of any public office. He has disgraced himself, and it was all for peanuts.
Would you cut this much slack for a US chief of staff in the same circumstances?
slide
Maybe, but the vast amount of “unfair press” is being written in Israel by Jews. So to then attack Juan Cole for being anti-Semtic for saying the same thing is quite remarkable won’t you say?
jaime
John, you haven’t provided ONE. I can see if BJ documented Juan Cole’s alleged Jew-Hate on a regular basis. But that’s not the case.
Tsulagi
Wow, a food fight. I can’t speak to Juan Cole’s archives, but now reading his entire post in question, I don’t see anything anti-semitic in it. On balance, I thought the entire post was a fairly decent analysis.
Regarding the general’s stock selling, his false conclusion is that that is somehow proof of an indictment that Israel had plans drawn in advance. That’s what countries all over the world do so they’re not caught flat-footed if shit hits the fan. No doubt Israel already has plans on the shelf for Syria, Iran, Jordan and others in the region. When Hizbollah crossed the border attacking an Israeli unit killing some and kidnapping two, there was going to be a response.
Olmert was likely presented a number of stock plans already sitting on the shelf that had varying levels of response. He chose plan X and they updated. Personally, I think Israel way overreacted and they will be the net loser down the road.
ThymeZone
It lends credence to the rumor that John is writing Darrell’s part here.
Darrell
Well, if you consider accusations like Israel engaging in “ethnic cleansing” in Lebanon as the ‘barest of perceived slights’.. well then, there’s nothing much more to argue then, is there?
I’m not your friend Steve. Are you suggesting that only liberal Jews like you have a right to discuss matters involving Israel? Kind of like how black leaders tell us how only blacks are qualified to discuss racism? Are the opinions of liberal jews the only ones which should count when discussing Israel? Just curious as to how far out there you really are..
Paul
I’m typing too slow – 191 comments now – but don’t worry, Darell agrees with you.
Be a mensch, retract.
ThymeZone
Not sure we should be using “Malkin” and “journalism” in the same sentence …..
Steve
OT, Matt Yglesias points us to this NYT story:
It’s a mystery, isn’t it, why some Iraqis might feel less than thrilled with America? Even a foreign policy “visionary” like George Bush can’t figure it out.
ThymeZone
Oh heavens no. Clearly, only pinbrained Republican kool-aid guzzlers who are confirmed bigots and homophobes should be allowed to have such opinions.
Darrell
I feel confident in saying that at least 40% of the country, if not 70%, would understand clearly what ‘come mierda’ means. That has nothing to do with knowing what some obscure word or jibberish like ‘macaca’ means, which I will assure you, few had ever heard of before this latest flap.
ThymeZone
Well, I think he’ll come to realize that they just hate us for our freedom.
ThymeZone
I thought “come mierda” meant “Darrell?”
neil
Wow, Darrell, those are some pretty good statistics you came up with!
Tulkinghorn
The dishonesty of the false dichotomy between pro-Israel and anti-Semite is the problem here.
I don’t know if Juan Cole is an anti-semite – he certainly is anti-Israeli, a position that seems to be rooted in a leftist oppostion to all forms of settler colonialism. If that fairly garden-variety socialist position is being applied consistently (eg. to South Africa, Northern Ireland, Tibet) then there would be no reason suspect anti-semitism as the motive behind his non-racist criticisms of Israel.
In short, we need to see some qualitatively different evidence about Juan C. before tarring him with the anti-semite brush.
Pb
The Not So Subtle John Cole. *sigh*
What was it, John, were your overlords at Pajamas Media clamoring for more ad revenue, or did you just fall out of the stupid side of the bed again this morning? Seriously, man, this is embarrassing. Incidentally, your rabid hatred of American Hispanics is showing. </snark>
feral1
Holy crap.
How dare I ask you to support your position with evidence. I wasn’t aware that this is really an an underhanded “debating tactic.”
Actually John, I don’t want you to list the “copious amounts of press” out there about Juan Cole’s anti-semitism. I’m quite sure it abounds in the wingnut-o-sphere.
What I would like is for you to post Juan Cole’s actual words that you consider anti-semitic. Your refusal to do so speaks volumes.
slide
John keeps changing the subject. Whether it was proper or not for the Chief of Staff to be selling off her portfolio on the eve of war is an issue that can be debated but, to suggest that Juan Cole’s mentioning of this scandal is somehow anti-Semitic because it plays into the hands of Jewish stereotypes is truly disgusting. By the same logic one could NEVER discuss any financial transactions of anyone that is Jewish out of fear of being politically incorrect. I though John was against all that silliness? I guess when it works for him its just fine and dandy to smear someone without any evidence whatsoever.
One word John, disgraceful
ThymeZone
I’m writing an article for Kool Aid Monthly.
Who did you say your “friends” here were, again?
Andrew
Maybe if Halutz had just married his sister, like new BJ blogger TominTX suggests is a reasonable idea, we wouldn’t have such trouble.
Steve
Oh, absolutely not. Right-wingers have an absolute right to label liberal Jews as anti-semitic or self-hating for being insufficiently militant in the defense of Israel. Right-wingers have an absolute right to ask liberal Jews if they’re “really” Jewish, as Paul L. did on another thread, or to question whether they’re lying about being Jews in the first place, as “Dug Jay” (Par R.) did on this very thread. You have the absolute right to your opinions.
Perry Como
And I bet if my mother was a French immigrant that lived in North Africa I would know what “macaque” meant.
Darrell
It is, really, when you consider the Shiite’s conditions under Saddam – the rape rooms, the childrens prisons, the mass murder and oppression, the lack of basic freedoms.. the good old days, right Steve?
Sirkowski
John Cole: Anti-semite!
Commenters: Evidence?
John Cole: Penis! Penis! Penis!
Keith
I think we can do without yet another person claiming to know the explicit, hateful thoughts that are in another person’s head. You’ve got enough actual quotes from Cole without having to O’Reilly it up with projections on his innermost thoughts.
neil
God, how many times do I have to say it? It doesn’t matter if anyone else says these things. The only person who’s not allowed to say them is Juan Cole, because when he says them, he makes people think about crude Jewish stereotypes. As proof we can see that when John read Juan’s post, he thought about crude Jewish stereotypes.
Juan Cole is a very dangerous person.
jaime
You’re so obtuse Darrell. George Allen knew what Macaca meant. And 70% of Americans would know what come mierda means? Bullshit.
I guess in Darrell’s mind, it’s a shame that a person fluent in French with a North African background has to apologize for calling someone the French North African equivalent of “Ni***r”. PC liberal fake outrage, I tells ya.
The Other Steve
Ok, why after 200 or so messages are there still people claiming that the controversy is over the claim that Halutz sold his stock, and not the sentence in Juan Cole’s post that claimed this was proof of a broader conspiracy?
Are you just fucking stupid, purposefully obtuse, what? Are we going to start playing games of “Nyah nyah nyah, I can’t hear you” like I did with my brother when I was six years old?
Perry Como
Also “in fact stupid and naive to the extreme.”
Steve
See, here’s what I mean. Darrell and George Bush, two peas in a pod, both unable to understand why Iraqis can’t realize the simple truth that we made their lives better and they should be grateful for it. It’s a complete mystery to them.
It’s similar to the mystery of why Hezbollah has gained, rather than lost, popularity in Lebanon as a result of provoking the devastating conflict with Israel. Very odd. Darrell and George, they could think about it all day and they still wouldn’t understand.
Darrell
Who are these imaginary “right-wingers” going around labeling liberal jews as anti-semitic or self-hating, for merely being “insufficiently militant” in the the defense of Israel? You’re a joke Steve.
The Other Steve
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14308339/
Nikki
And this is truly the nut of the argument.
Nikki
And this is truly the meat of the argument.
jaime
Did your batteries run out of your AM radio?
Nikki
Sorry for the double post. I wanted to change a word, but posted before I made the edit.
ThymeZone
You need to take a little time off as receptionist at the sperm bank, and get out and see the world more, Darrell.
Steve
Probably because there was no sentence that claimed this was proof of a broader conspiracy. The sentence was: “It is further proof that the war was planned well in advance, and that Halutz knew that the capture would trigger it.”
If you’re going to have a problem with that sentence, you have to explain why you disagree that the war was planned well in advance, or why you disagree that Halutz knew the capture would trigger it.
Everyone seems to concede that OF COURSE the war was planned well in advance – why wouldn’t you have plans to fight a terrorist group that’s right across the border, after all? – and yet somehow it’s bad for Juan Cole to make that very same claim.
Darrell
Is George Allen really fluent in French? That in and of itself should disqualify him. Kidding.. Is ‘macaca’ a French word?
Steve
Oh my God. You are seriously in denial.
jaime
Sleeeeeep….Sleeeeeep.
John Cole
Look- I am really sorry some of you think this is vile, or reprehensible, or I am smearing Juan Cole unfairly. But I have read Cole since his blog started, and he is, to an issue, antagonistic to Israel.
And what is weirdest about Juan Cole is that I don’t think he hates Jews because they are Jewish- I think he has such a seething hatred for all things Israel that he allows himself to say and do things he would never otherwise do. Again, I am not going to document every thing he has done, because I don’t want this debate to go on forever, and because I recognize cheap debating tactics when I see them. Regardless, with Juan, everytime a person is Jewish, they are accused of being a member of the Likud party, everytime a Jewish person is involed in a story, Juan will predictably take the opposing side, and any time Israel is mentioned, they are of course the provocateur and have done something wrong. The meremention that someone is Jewish will start the por-Israel conspiracy theories flying from Juan.
Additionally, Juan Cole is a very bright guy, and he was right about a number of things about Iraw that I was wrong about and flaming him for. And being bright, he knows the circles he travels in are inhabited with people who are rabidly anti-Semitic and Anti-Israel, he knows where his comments will get the most play and where they will be repeated, and he knew damned well that his discussing this story would provide more fodder for those who peddle anti-Jewish stereotypes. Like I said- he is very bright, but he isn’t subtle.
In many ways, I see what Juan is doing as akin to what many southern politicians did regarding the phrase “States Rights.” People would accuse them of using code for racism, and folks like me would innocently defend those southern pols, because I legitamately am a fan of states rights. But it became clear to me that the people making the charges were correct- when southern pols said states rights, they were not speaking of the same thing I was. They did mean racist policies, and the people who supported them knew it and wallowed in it.
I think Juan is doing very much the same thing. You may think I am vile or awful for stating it, but those are my honest opinions, and attacking me or telling me I have no critical thinking skills is not going to be very persuasive.
I think this guys transaction proves nothing, and I additionally think that because there is a furor in some circles in Israel means nothing, as those launchignthe criticisms hjave their own angles to push (the war has been awful, politicians are nervous, etc.).
So that is where I stand. If you disagree with me, I am capable of simply stating we will have to agree to disagree. But I do not think I have ben unfair to Juan- I think my view of what he wrote is dead on.
One last thing- any attempts to bring the Bill Bennett discussion into this will be ignored. Bill Bennett is an ass, a hypocrite, a panderer, and, in many regards, a total fraud. But his statement was not racist, and people pretending it was will get no quarter from me.
neil
What ‘broader conspiracy,’ TOS? I don’t think it’s particularly far-fetched to presume that the _chief of the Israeli armed forces_ would have advance knowledge of Israeli military actions, without being part of any ‘conspiracy.’ I mean, unless you consider every military action to be a conspiracy. Juan Cole, along with a fairly broad swath of the Israeli government, seems to believe that this was an instance of trading stock based on privileged information, or ‘insider trading.’ Since Lt. Gen. Halutz is an insider and since he engaged in trading, it seems to be pretty open-and-shut.
Also, the topic of John Cole’s post is the stock sale since this is the alleged Jewish stereotype in which Juan is trafficking. So that’s what we’re talking about.
Darrell
I do believe there is a level of ingratitude, given their situation of Iraq under Saddam. I wasn’t aware there was much honest doubt that things were much worse for the Shia under Saddam.. guess I don’t subscribe to the ‘reality based’ mindset
Nikki
Actually, TOS, the controversy is about not one bit of what you said. The controversy is over John C. accusing Juan C. of being an anti-Semite.
Darrell
Yeah Steve, great examples.. because no one would ever lie about who they are on internet forums like these, right?
Nikki
No one is asking for everything. We just want at least 2 examples to back up your claim. That’s what is needed for cogent debate. You’ve yet to provide even 1 example to support your argument.
Anderson
Who is posting this nonsense under John Cole’s name?
Cut it out, whoever you are.
(1) There’s plenty of evidence the war was planned in advance–go to Billmon’s site & start reading.
(2) Selling stock the day before a war that you, but not the public, know is going to start, is a pretty obviously insider kinda thing to do. Nothing “Jewish” about it.
(3) Whatever evidence there is of Juan Cole’s anti-Israel bias (which I don’t doubt, being a grown-up who can read a biased source & allow for same), John Cole hasn’t found it yet.
(4) Blowing the Juan Cole into an allegation of Jewish money-grubbing is just stupid. It’s a blogging-while-drunk kind of thing. It’s the kind of b.s. I would expect to hear from Joe Lieberman the day after he lost his primary.
John Cole
And I just read my last comment, and I think, if it is possible, my typing has deteroriated in the past few months.
jaime
John you haven’t documented a SINGLE thing. And asking for you to put your money where your mouth is is not a cheap debating tactic.
Calling someone a Jew-hater and backing out of the thread unwilling and unable to document supposed evidence of Jew-Hate is a cheap debating tactic perfected by people like Darrell.
Steve
Well, you obviously would be in a better position to know than the Iraqis themselves. What they need is more right-wing bloggers to remind them that they’re better off – for some reason, they’re just not getting it. Frustrating, I know.
ThymeZone
Could you possibly try any harder to blur the line between “Jews” and “Israel” here?
Sorry, until I see a bright line there, and positive proof of some actual hostility to Jews, as opposed to Israel, I am not buying any of this. Not from you, or anyone else, actually. I think the blurred line I am talking about is extremely important. That line is sharp, and clear, and should be treated as such by everyone. Including you, and Juan Cole.
Nikki
John, anti-Israel does not equal anti-Semite and you know it.
neil
It’s pretty funny, John, that you would bring that up about your believe that Cole makes cryptic anti-Jewish references to make his fans happy, while retaining a shroud of plausible deniability to placate the mainstream. That’s _exactly_ the argument about Bennett and I’m sure that’s why people brought the example up (because it was, in fact, pretty obvious that that was where you were coming from in the beginning).
Steve
It’s easier for right-wingers to believe that people like me, Pooh, and John S. would lie about being Jewish, than to believe that we actually see nothing anti-semitic about what Juan Cole said. And if someone makes a legal argument, hey, maybe they’re lying about being a lawyer! Far easier to lob cheap shots like that than to address the substance.
jaime
Yes…unemployment up to 80%. The jobs they could be doing are taken up by the kind folks of Blackwater and Haliburton. No electricity for 18 hours a day. No clean water. Military lockdown on a daily basis. Getting pulled off busses and shot. Getting kidnapped and beheaded. Being blown up 100 at a time on a daily basis.
Why the Iraqi’s are ingrateful, I’ll never know.
neil
Juan Cole is a very bright guy, and he was right about a number of things about Iraw that I was wrong about and flaming him for.
Now that was truly unforgivable of him. No wonder you have to slander him now.
John Cole
And being an anti-Semite and peddling anti-Semitic themes to advance your anti-Israel stance are not the same thing, and you know it.
Nikki
I think this post is a very real display of how the right motivates itself. Logical thinking people know disliking the tactics Israel uses doesn’t mean hating Jews. But, for some reason, right wingers HAVE to conflate it as such.
Do you dislike Saddam? Then you have to hate Iraqis.
Dislike the Iranian goverment; hate all Iranians.
Dislike Jesse Jackson; hate all blacks.
The right seems incapable of separating the practice of politics from the people. That’s how this person is able to justify the murder of children. I mean, hey, they’ll only grow up to terrorists anyway.
John Cole
Neil- Do you have anything to add to this conversation? Isee you writing an awful lot, but not saying much.
John S.
Let’s look at John Cole’s scoreboard.
Accusations: 1
Evidence: 0
You’re doing a heckuva job, Colie.
Nikki
Example of Juan Cole doing this? That’s all we were asking. Back up your argument with examples.
feral1
Lots of words and still no evidence to support your accusation. You did manage smear Juan Cole further and to label calls for evidence to support these smears a “cheap debating tactic.”
Bravo.
Steve
Well, I think that’s pretty much true. I know a few people who are antagonistic to France, are they racists too? I still can’t think of a single derogatory statement he’s made towards Jews, nor can I think of any evidence to back up your claim that whenever a Jewish person is involved in an argument, Juan Cole takes the other side.
There is no “code” here, John. Your Jewish readers are telling you so, and they’re right. And what’s doubly ironic is that you don’t even doubt the truth of Juan Cole’s factual assertions – you just claim that you can detect the underlying “code” beneath it all.
I accept that you stand by your claims. I stand by mine as well. Your worst post ever.
Evilbeard
I find Yale to have slightly more credibility than John Cole and especially more than Darrel.
Criticizing or even loathing the government of a nation does not make one anti-semitic anymore than me criticizing the actions of our current administration make me anti-American.
jaime
That’s because their not Jewish enough or self-hating.
John S.
What’s that Ann Coulter line?
Oh yeah, I claim to be a Jew merely for the purposes of stifling debate on all matters relevant to Judaism!
Mr Furious
Whoa. 250 comments? I’m NOT going to start reading them now. I’ll just add that Juan Cole’s conclusion that this transaction “proves” the war was planned in advance is spurious, at best. All it proves is that Lt. Gen. Haluz took advantage of the situation and did a little insider trading. His ass is on the line in Israel as a result.
Darrell
The substance has been addressed, and quite thoroughly. For you to characterize it all as “cheap shots” speaks to your fucking dishonesty. Just like you trying to silence conservative opinions just because we’re not liberal jews.
jaime
*they’re*
Sheesh. I always have problems with that.
Pb
Look- I am really sorry some of you think this is vile, or reprehensible, or I am smearing John Cole unfairly. But I have read Cole since his blog started, and he is, to an issue, antagonistic to Liberals.
And what is weirdest about John Cole is that I don’t think he hates Liberal Americans because they are Liberals- I think he has such a seething hatred for all things Liberal American that he allows himself to say and do things he would never otherwise do. Again, I am not going to document every thing he has done, because I don’t want this debate to go on forever, and because I recognize cheap debating tactics when I see them. Regardless, with John, everytime a person is Liberal, they are accused of being a member of the Communist party, everytime a Liberal person is involved in a story, John will predictably take the opposing side, and any time France is mentioned, they are of course the provocateur and have done something wrong. The mere mention that someone is Liberal will start the pro-France conspiracy theories flying from John.
Additionally, John Cole is a very bright guy, and he was right about a number of things about Cindy Sheehan that I was wrong about and flaming him for. And being bright, he knows the circles he travels in are inhabited with people who are rabidly anti-Liberal and Anti-France, he knows where his comments will get the most play and where they will be repeated, and he knew damned well that his discussing this story would provide more fodder for those who peddle anti-Liberal stereotypes. Like I said- he is very bright, but he isn’t subtle.
In many ways, I see what John is doing as akin to what many southern politicians did regarding the phrase “States Rights.” People would accuse them of using code for racism, and folks like me would innocently defend those southern pols, because I legitamately am a fan of states rights. But it became clear to me that the people making the charges were correct- when southern pols said states rights, they were not speaking of the same thing I was. They did mean racist policies, and the people who supported them knew it and wallowed in it.
I think John is doing very much the same thing. You may think I am vile or awful for stating it, but those are my honest opinions, and attacking me or telling me I have no critical thinking skills is not going to be very persuasive.
So that is where I stand. If you disagree with me, I am capable of simply stating we will have to agree to disagree. But I do not think I have ben unfair to John- I think my view of what he wrote is dead on.
One last thing- any attempts to bring the Darrell discussion into this will be ignored. Darrell is an ass, a hypocrite, a panderer, and, in many regards, a total fraud. But his statements about gay scoutmasters was not discriminatory, and people pretending it was will get no quarter from me.
Punchy
neil
Neil- Do you have anything to add to this conversation? Isee you writing an awful lot, but not saying much.
We can’t all be Darrell here. And actually, I think I got your number pretty well in this thread, which might actually explain why you don’t think I’ve written anything. Probably in your mind it’s just all ‘Neil says: Oh and by the way, I also hate the filthy Malaysians!’
slide
We’ve heard a lot of bullshit from John telling us what Juan Cole believes. Why don’t we read Juan Cole’s words and make up our own minds. Here is a bit of Juan Cole discussing the Mel Gibson incident. You really should read the whole thing but for brevity sake:
yeah.. he really sounds like a raving anit-Semite to me
Nikki
John,
Did or did not the general sell stock prior to the war breaking out? If the answer to this is yes, then show how stating this fact translates into an example of anti-Semitism. It is not enough that you bring your bias into the discussion. Even you must agree that a non-Jew questioning a hinky financial transaction conducted by a Jew is not enough basis to accuse someone of anti-Semitism. Show your work! Give us evidence of the non-Jew’s anti-Semitism.
And once again, anti-Israel =! anti-Semitism.
Punchy
Submitted that too soon…
QUIT CONFLATING ANTI-ISRAEL WITH ANTI-JEWISH. Wow, I have NEVER seen such a dishonest argument.
John Cole
And 265 comments before I found this in the moderation bin and approved it.
BTW- Is mensch code for macaca, by any chance?
Darrell
That’s because liberal jews play the “jew card” to try to silence other opinions regarding Israel, like here
Do you see what aholes you are? seriously
Perry Como
I think it’s code for “one who has a mullet.”
Steve
Oh, right… accusing me of “trying to silence conservative opinions” is just so honest.
jaime
Examples? Or are you just pulling out the poor put upon conservative victim shtick? Does your mangina hurt?
Pb
Juan’s only regret about this is that Mel Gibson didn’t refer to Lt. Gen. Haluz as a ‘money-grubbing jew.’
Darrell
Except for those issues in which you liberals agree with him.. then, suddenly, he’s “one of the few honest conservatives”
Steve
That’s an awesome example of me “trying to silence” you… seriously.
jaime
Your offering of proof of Juan Cole not being a jew hater is a cheap debating tactic.
Darrell
Can there be any doubt that Michael Savage was right? Liberalism really is a mental disorder. Behold.
neil
The point here, I’ll say one last time, is that there is nothing permissible for Juan Cole to do except for just shut up, and the conservative truth squad is doing its best to make sure that he does that. An absolute refusal to engage his opinions is a great way to start. And note how consistent John has been through these comments — it doesn’t matter at all _what_ Juan says, whether it’s accurate. The only thing that matters is that there is evil in his heart when he says it; that’s enough to discount him entirely.
I’ll say again one last time, this is a Malkin game and John’s readers don’t have much overlap with Michelle’s. We don’t like having our intelligence insulted with this shit. If you can’t engage with what Juan Cole says, then don’t engage with him at all — but don’t make dishonest claims about the things that he says.
Since nobody has noted the irony yet, I’ll just do it. Remember when John complained yesterday about people ‘parsing his posts to the atomic level of meaning?’
Yeah, me too.
Nikki
Don’t you people ever get outside your comfort zone?
Mensch is a yiddish word; definition “A person having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose.”
jaime
What? When he said that a gay caller who referenced his OWN gay hippie past, should get Aids and die?
Ancient Purple
I do think that John is an honest conservative. On this issue, he is wrong, however. That doesn’t mean he is dishonest; it just means he is wrong.
Steve
“States’ rights” wasn’t used as code for racism… and the Willie Horton ad wasn’t racist… hope you all are taking notes, cause Darrell can teach you a lot.
skip
Our John Cole is really . . . Larry Summers. Because Juan Cole’s criticizing Israel is “antisemitic in effect if not in intent.”
jaime
Darrell, based on your expert opinion, what percentage of Americans would know what mensch means? 40 – 70?
Pb
Nikki,
You people?! “You people” who, exactly? Don’t respond, I know what you meant to say! Man, this place is just swarming with racists! </John Cole>
Nikki
Since John has yet to mount a credible defense of his post, guess it can filed under “just making shit up.”
slide
According to John Cole, the man that said this:
Meant this:
hmmmm… pretty good there John on reading his mind as to what he was “snidely pushing”. but why would this anti-Semite that hates everything that Jews stand for say this:
wow…. that Juan Cole is a crafty son of a bitch. Hides his anti-Semitism very very cleverly. Glad we have John to explain it to us.
Darrell
Fair enough. I was responding to this comment:
How can he be, on occassion (often?), in agreement with you libs on some issues, while at that the same time antagonistic to liberals on every single issue?
Nikki
PB,
When I fall over choking on laughter, I will have you to blame.
jaime,
And I’m BLACK! Heh.
Pooh
Very weak sauce John. You are the one making accusations, support them.
Perry Como
Sorry, I’m a goy.
Tom in Texas
Best Yiddish innocuous sounding yet really offensive word? Schmuck. Technical Definition?
The foreskin of a penis removed during a bris.
Nikki
And John?
You are a college professor, so I assume you have at least a Bachelor’s degree.
I have an Associate’s degree. And even I know the basics of supporting one’s arguments.
When will you show us how it’s done?
ed
The Condom Juice/Darrell blog has officially jumped the shark. Cole gave up blogging about a year ago – the death throws are not pretty.
John Cole
that is really all you can shoot for- we disagree.
Nikki- How about the things I posted earlier- which you can look up for yourself. The mere mention of anyone Jwish is a sign they are a member of the right-wing Likud- even if they are not Israeli. Start with that.
Then find some other stuff on your own. You can do it- I have feith!
nyrev
I’m a shiksa, myself. And let me tell you, I don’t have time to look up all these farkatke words.
Pb
Darrell,
I had a point there, and you obviously didn’t get it at all–quit while you’re behind, and be thankful I defended you on that ‘gay scoutmaster’ bit there, besides, for what it’s worth.
Nikki
I read everything you posted and found it to be nothing but your opinion. Opinions do not a support argument make.
Others have gone to Cole’s blog and found items disproving your theory. You have yet to find anything to support it.
You would fail your students for this type of effort. Try harder.
jaime
Im sure you’re full of shiks-appeal.
feral1
Juan Cole writes many words about Jews, yet not one mention of them all being a part of the right wing Likud party. How can that be?
Who am I kidding. He might as well have a swastika tattooed on his forehead.
Pooh
So you understand the distinction…AND STILL CHOOSE TO IGNORE IT.
I’m willing to posit that evil twin Juan does not like Israel very much (based on what of his stuff I’ve read, that’s a fair and supportable charge), but you need to do better to support the contention that plays up Jewish stereotypes. Him calling someone “Likudnik” is as anti-semitic as me calling you a wingnut – he’s describing a policy position, not an ethnicity. If you are alleging a pattern and practice, the onus is on you to demonstrate (or at least link to someone who as) said pattern.
The leap from calling out this general’s monetary impropriety to it being Jew-baiting is immense, especially since it’s just as easy to take the incident as evidence against the stereotype. As has been pointed out, for a clever-with-money Jew, this wasn’t all that clever.
neil
John, what I really want to know now is whether there is any way that a Middle East commentator who is not pro-Israel could address this story without being an anti-Semite. Juan Cole has been writing about this war every day since it started, but apparently he cannot mention the story without crudely playing to anti-Jewish stereotypes. We’ve been trying to determine whether there is anything special about Juan Cole that makes this true, but if there is anything, you have steadfastly refused to say it. The only hint you’ve given us is that it’s because he’s not pro-Israel.
This is why I keep calling it a Malkin play. The only thing you’re trying to do here is marginalize Juan and the opinions he represents. And as I’ve been harping on, you won’t do it by engaging the opinion, you only do it by dishonest slander, a barely veiled threat that anyone in Juan Cole’s position should shut up if they don’t want to wake up one day to find their name slimed.
Can you explain, please, whether or not this is what you’re doing?
ThymeZone
Darrell himself, on his assholiest day, couldn’t have written that better.
Thread closed, everybody. This is a big spoof. John doesn’t take any of this seriously.
Can you produce an “anti-semitic theme” from Juan Cole?
Three hundred posts and you are now acting like we are doofuses for asking the question. Fuck you.
guav
Juan Cole was especially whitewashing Hezbollah and slandering Israel when he wrote:
And more:
Clearly is is anti-Semitic and pro-Hezbollah.
guav
STAY THE COURSE JOHN!
DON’T CUT AND RUN!
Stick to your guns, even when all evidence is to the contrary.
Tsulagi
Damn ingrates! When every morning begins with the sweet smell of cordite. Taking a stroll to work strewn with countless Improvised Explosive Opportunities full of flying shards of freedom. The endless chances for the children to be untidy collateral damage in the building of Disneyland ME.
Yeah, Georgie, you’ve got a heckuva vision that is just so underappreciated, but Iran loves you. The big O too.
ThymeZone
the problem, of course, is that the bullshit and dishonest wail of “anti-semite” whenever anybody critizes Israel has produced a long list of world-threatening bad effects.
One, it creates the impression that criticism of Israel’s insane policies and actions are beyond challenge. This is not healthy for Israel, and especially not for the US.
Two, it exacerbates the huge disconnect between Israeli and American interests in the Middle East, in the eyes of Arabs. I don’t know many Arabs, but I’d wager that they think it’s just nuts the way Israel and the US enter into this bubble of self-referential hogwash and stonewall all criticism.
Three, it pours flammable liquid on the most inflamed part of the world, and keeps millions of people tied to old paradigms of hatred, resentment, fear and loathing which are at the root of sixty years of modern Arab-Israeli war, and hundreds or thousands of years of it in non-modern historical terms. Pours it on, I say, for nothing. For nothing. You tell me .. what possible value does the article at the top of this thread have to anyone, anywhere?
Fucking bullshit.
neil
No no, ppgaz, you did that all wrong.
-I don’t know many Arabs, but I’d wager that they think…-
I feel confident in saying that at least 40%, if not 70% of Arabs think…
MattM
John, if he truly is using “code” in the same way that the “states’ rights” crowd was, there should be more examples of Juan characterizing Jews as “money grubbing,” as I think we can agree that it is the most commonly used negative Jewish stereotype (not that I necessarily agree that this one does that). If you could produce even ONE other one, that would go a looooong way towards validating your argument here. As it is, you’re pretty far out on a limb.
And, no, characterizing a person’s views as “Likud” doesn’t count.
guav
ThymeZone, why do you hate America?
John Cole
Why do you keep changing your name, PPGAZ?
HyperIon
Mr. NameChanger,
you really annoy me when you do your bulldog imitation. but you’ve pretty much hit the nail squarely with this:
ThymeZone
“Keep changing it?” Twice in 18 months.
And, it’s not a name. It’s a posting handle. I don’t post with my name. Most people here don’t
My name, my email addy and my url have not changed.
So, what’s the beef?
ThymeZone
I don’t. I just hate Darrell’s America.
skip
Joe Sobran got canned at Buckley’s rag for saying, “an antisemite used to be someone who didn’t like Jews. Now it is often just a person Jews don’t like.”
And the latter is: a critic of Israel.
Footnote: Buckley was rewarded for his purge by being marginalized in his own magazine. He now opposed the Iraq war.
feral1
John are you going to bother to respond to Juan Cole’s incredibly positive commments about Jews posted above. It would be great see how this fits into your Juan Cole is a crypto-antisemite theory.
ThymeZone
Well said.
ThymeZone
Arf.
neil
It’s so easy, feral1. Obviously that was just bluster to conceal his true feelings. You’re new at this, aren’t you?
John Cole
I don’t have a problem with it, I just asked why you keep changing. Remember who you are dealing with- I still don’t like the designated hitter in baseball.
mrmobi
ThymeZone:
Exactly. As I’ve said before, if we had a real President, he or she would be personally speaking with all parties in this dreadfull ongoing slaughter. But we’re not lucky enough to have that. Instead we have Condi making ghoulish statements about not wanting a cease fire until it’s the right kind of cease fire. It’s fucking disgusting that someone that obviously bright is so lacking in any kind of human compassion. It doesn’t help that the President’s response to most problems is to go on vacation.
John, I think you’re dead wrong about Juan Cole. He has become a target because he’s willing to tell the truth about our supposed middle east policy. I’ve been reading his blog for a while, and he slams both sides on a regular basis. He is also very unpopular with the warring class because he tells the truth, on a daily basis, about Iraq. Seriously, all you’ve done is lend your support to Malkin/LGF types who want to “stay the course” in both our middle east policy and in Iraq.
I guess you think our foreign policy is going well, eh?
New yiddish word for the day “momzer” which, I believe, means “bastard.”
Let’s see… momzer Darrell. I LIKE IT!
Steve
I don’t know about momzer, but he couldn’t be any more meshuggenah if he tried.
Krista
But he does it so well.
Pooh
Who actually likes the DH in baseball? I tolerate it (though that probably has more to do with David Americo Ortiz than anything else…)
mrmobi
Steve, I think we have a winner.
meshuggenah momzer. ding ding ding ding ding ding!
Steve
I don’t pay my money to see some useless pitcher try and hit the ball. It’s like requiring every football team to give the placekicker one rushing attempt per quarter. It’s like making the trainer shoot a technical foul.
Oh, but the intricate strategy decisions! Should I pinch-hit for the pitcher or leave him in another inning?!? Should we use the double-switch?!? Give me a fucking break. This stuff isn’t rocket science.
ThymeZone
Don’t make fun of baseball. It’s where George Bush established his credentials as a leader.
HyperIon
uCole’s site has a google site search facility. here’s something i found upon entering “anti-semitic”. it’s from an Informed Comment post on Friday, November 01, 2002
uCole blog is named Informed Comment; what’s quoted seems…informed, no?
oCole blog is called Balloon Juice; the post we’re commenting on is (as previously noted)
Bruce Moomaw
Well, it’s certainly an interesting coicidence in timing.
DougJ
I’m glad John has the guts to take on the powerful Juan Cole. For years, Juan has been the biggest obstacle to peace in Israel and Lebanon.
VividU
That “someone” only being the chief of the IDF.
chopper
worst. thread. ever.
John S.
How embarassing for John Cole to do his most fervent Darrell impression…
Cole: Juan Cole hates Jews.
Everyone: Why do you say that?
Cole: I can feel it. I looked into his heart. I read his mind.
Everyone: Perhaps you could show us an example?
Cole: Do your own research. If you can’t see what I see, you’re stupid and acting in bad faith.
Everyone: But the evidence seems to point to the contrary.
Cole: I’m right. You’re all wrong. I refuse to back down.
Yup. Worst. Thread. Ever.
chopper
you make a very adulterous point, john s.
ThymeZone
Old John Cole was a Merry Old Soul,
A Merry Old Soul was he.
Vlad
I think you’re over-reading this, John. To me, it seems like the Israeli equivalent of people being upset about Cheney having stock in Halliburton.
Andrei
This blog entry is easily the most idiotic thing ever written by John Cole on Balloon-Juice. It’s posts like this that give all of us insight into how he possibly vote for George Bush twice.
Abram
Shorter John Cole:
1. Juan Cole is a raging anti-semite
2. Thus, when Juan Cole writes about the selling of stock by a general, he is doing it to propetuate stereotypes about Jews.
3. Therefore, Juan Cole is a raging anti-semite
See the fallacy?
gus
Just plain bullshit. I had to read to the end of John Cole’s post to see what he was getting at. Ridiculous and disappointing from a blogger I like.
Paul
Gus is right. John can do better than this.
If he wants to accuse Juan Cole of anti semitism, he should back it up. The quote he’s using proves no such thing. Either make the argument with something better than “Juan Cole says X but I know he really means Y because, er, um, I just know it and I don’t need no stinking evidence”, or else retract.
BTW, I’m English, and not Jewish, but used mensch in an earlier post in the sense in which I’d understood it in the past, as a synonym for decent bloke, stand up guy, you choose your term of approbation for a person of admirable character and worth – the sort of bloke I had, apparently mistakenly, taken John Cole to be.
skip
The fact that this thread has not attracted the usual suffocating posts from the Megaphone-downloaders (free Iraeli software used to overwhelm open discussion) is the measure of how inane John’s original post was. The firsters can’t even be bothered to shut us up.
But it was really worse than that. A university professor making career-threatening allegations against another.
Tax Analyst
An apropos ‘mea culpa’ – sometimes that’s the best one can do; at least acknowledging when we have fallen victim to our lesser angels. The best of it, though, is that in recognizing you were off-base and high-lighting it for all to see it is clear you gained some valuable self-perspective. This was clearly a painful lesson to absorb, but unlike many other blogger’s you did not delete and “dis-invent” your intemperate remarks. Instead you owned up to them and acknowledged that you were wrong. I have a lot of respect for that.