Say It Ain't Jew, Joe

Ever since their diaspora, Jews have been accused of putting something else -- themselves, the dispersed Israelite people, then Israel itself -- ahead of their own country. Jewish citizens of Russia, Germany and America, to pick just a few, have been slandered (and sometimes killed) for allegedly putting their allegiances to the Hebrew nation ahead of their patriotism toward the motherland, the fatherland or the homeland. This is vintage Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

And yet what do we hear today from Orthodox Jew Joe Lieberman?

"In my opinion, the choice could not be more clear: between one candidate, John McCain, who's had experience, been tested in war and tried in peace, another candidate who has not. Between one candidate, John McCain, who has always put the country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate who has not."

And just in case the media failed to notice, the McCain campaign -- whose slogans include "Country First" -- has now sent Lieberman's remarks to the entire political press corps.

What is to be made of this? Does Joe Lieberman not realize that he is using one of the oldest anti-semitic tricks in the book to accuse Obama of being the Islamic candidate?

Follow Marty Kaplan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/martykaplan

Comments

[Guynemer]

Sooo...wha­t's this got to do with Leiberman being a Jew...or Obama being characterized a Muslim? Like everyone else, I'd heard Leiberman's comment, but this never crossed my mind. Rightly or wrongly, I kind of figured it had more to do with a 30 year old John McCain broken and shackled in a Vietnamese jail cell, vs a 30 year old Barack Obama teaching in a prestigious law school.

[Softnsweet]

Give us a break with the McCain service in the war please. Where the heck were you?

[Guynemer]

I spent my thirtieth b-day on bivouac in Osan AB S. Korea.

[mysycophant]

So we should vote for the guy who spent time as a POW rather than the guy who is driven enough and bright enough to teach at one of the best learning facilities in the country. Well, this is America, and everyone has their own parameters in the choice for president.­.. But you sure haven't convinced me.

This attempt to shift the argument away from the subject of the article is pretty weak too. Statements like Lieberman's are pretty generic and really shouldn't mean much in general. I can see where a person might read a nuanced message implying some level of racism, but it was for too subtle in and of itself to really go after. Besides, the only people who still listen to Lieberman probably were not intending to vote for Obama anyway.

[BetterDays]

It will be enjoyable to see Lieberman's actions after the election.

[RumiSouth]

While ironic, this is nothing new or unheralded. In my southern state, the politicians who mimic George Wallace are all African-American.

[diogeron]

How low can you go, Joe?

[birdseye]

Til Israel is the new superpower in the Middle East...

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

Let there be no doubt about it , millions of voters have come to know AIPAC , American Enterprise and other groups who openely put Israel first, and are bent in getting these groups out of U.S. foreign policy decision making.

[jabee]

middleclas­svotingblo­ck

GOD, I HOPE FOR Reading the posters on the Times and Post (whose georgian coverage has been blatantly pro georgia (Israel was arming georgia, and not for democracy.­..) the posters seem to be very much sick of the AIPACers and other groups that put zionists first, as you write....v­ERY.

It's been close to a takeover and is why the world detests us.

[birdseye]

As yet, those politicians "moneyd" by IPAC are still in power...Ev­ery people deserve the pols they voted for. CHANGE!

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

This man and the Neo-cons give Jewish American a bad name and should be disavowed by the Jewish community as often as possible. Most Jewish Americans have a disdain for the policies of the Neo-con just as most non-Jewish Americans.

[TonyWicher]

Exactly right.

[grn1]

Since polls in 2007 said they were when the war had turned to genocide. Before that , not some but all of the media parlayed middle east transition as a right. Most Jews I know/knew did not raise an eyebrow at the illegal pre-emptive wars.

[casengo]

Conneticutt Joe will be just as bad a republican as he was a Democrat. It has nothing to do with his religion because Joe only cares about Joe. If he had been worth a darn as a vice-presidential candidate then Al Gore might be finishing his second term. Good riddance.

[Doots]

After this election the dems better strip him of committe chairs, assignments, etc. He spends more time with McCain than his own wife. Wonder if their stall mates. Liebermann is a one issue senator and unfortunately it has clouded his judgement when it comes to what's best for the country. Come Jan 09 so long Joe!

[TonyWicher]

Unfortuately, Lieberman does not have to run again until 2012

[aspen]

I suspect that Liberman, at times, has put Israeli interests ahead of US interests, such as his ardent support of the Iraq war, which he believed benefited Israel. It certainly has been of no benefit to the US and may not have benefited Israel either in the long run.

[Georgiadude]

I absolutely agree with your hypothesis regarding the lack of benefit for Israel. Joe L is one of the smartest Senators in the Senate right now, that is a fact, whether we like it or not, that doesn't mean he right thou. Israel depends on the USA as Israel's last line of defense, but Joe knows that the USA is not any where near as powerful as it was 10 years ago, due to the waste of resources by Bush, did anyone notice G. Bush giving Putin a bear hub in Beijing while Russia was bombing our ally, Georgia?
Joe believes he is trying to protect Israel, he also knows that he throwing away what is left of his career.
But in the end is Israel really going to better off with an even further weaken USA, it's not like we have a nuclear option, that is off the table, we would all suffer from that type of escalation.
Joe is wrong on this issue, he needs to seek peace and the USA needs to consolidate it's strength and the strength of it's NATO alliance. It's in Israel long term interest that America stay a strong country and a smart county.
The current trend of the dumbing down of America is not in best interest of anybody, but the Republicans want it that way, to keep the cost of labor down, so we can compete with Chinese labor.

[theplaintrutho1]

All of that is true, but He's banking on an invasion of Iran, which looks like it's in the works, with this naval buildup off their shores.
Joe like Mac scares the hell out of me.

[LeoMarvin]

I've never been more wrong than when I defended Lieberman during his last campaign. I didn't support him, but I believed and argued it was unfair to label him a Republican.

Mea culpa.

[MissKaren]

You are forgiven, my child. Go and sin no more.

I am increasingly disgusted by Lieberman. I wish he were not Jewish and that's a big problem for me. I don't want him to be one of my kind.

[Malacandra]

Jesse Jackson once said "Clarence Thomas is my color, but he's not my kind."

That's how this Jew feels about Joe Lieberman.

[AlexChaihorsky]

I do not think Liberman is "Israel first". I think he is "Israeli industrial-military complex first". Regular Israelis are not the receivers of billions of US foreign and military help, they are as much victims of its country aggressive occupation policy as their "adversary". The problem is that the Israeli government artfully manipulated Israeli rednecks into believing of being a Master race with special privileges. These are the people Joe works for, not some abstract "Israel".

[Ergon]

Regular Israelis would be better off if they made peace with the Arabs. So would Arabs be better off. Just don't take away more land and water.

[chaszz]

I don't think there's much left of either land or water to take away

[lizr]

thanks for that excellent clarification!

[sambolicioussssss]

Joe Lieberman is an embarassment to clear thinking Jews everywhere. Is practicing hypocrisy the 11th commandment? His threats to censor the media (recording industry) a few years ago revealed his true colors. If he cared as much about the United States as he does about his carrer this country would be in great shape.

[srtjsrtj]

The Media must Stop Calling Joe Lieberman "An Independent Democratic" that a Bunch of BULL. Liberman does that to throw off voters.

Liberman is an "INDEPENDENT" Now if you want to add Independent Republican to that, than the Shoe fits.

Liberman is trying to keep support from the Republicans and Democrats by Providing his Label but mostly to MISLEAD Democrats.

Liberman has proven he's just another Republican

[DinkSinger]

One of the great privileges of residing in Connecticut is getting to vote against Joe Lieberman, but we need to keep him as an independent caucusing with the Democrats at least until next January. If we don't the Republicans regain control of the Senate.

[indyleftist]

I just want to point out that Israel and "jews" are not the same thing unlike many of the comments I've read.

People need to understand that there are more jewish people in New York then there are in Israel. And just like in the muslim religion while some believe God promised them real estate, most do not

When Joe lobbies on behalf of the government of Israel he in no way is representing jewish people and of course by definition is not representing America

[stepintothelight]

Then why don't they speak out in mass against him??? Seems to me this is a mistake the "masses" have made before in history. Silence at the possibility of benefit maybe???

[drzoon]

YES! i want to know that too!

[Crowhaul]

The country needs to understand and really focus on this very telling aspect of both Lieberman and McCain: they both still believe in their heart of hearts that invading Iraq was 'a good thing'. If that's not enough to scare all of us away, I don't know what is....

[mexicanamerican1948]

Invading Iraq was a good thing. The thug, Saddam, who killed over a million people in last 30 years is dead. No apologies. There many so called good peopled who turned an eye when millions of Jews, Roma, homosexuals were killed in Nazi Germany .The same type of people who turned an eye with Saddam." Yeah, Kurds don't matter, its not my fight, Jews, not my concern". Per Saddam own writings, he thought Hitler was a hero, and he would sent $25,000 to the family of every homicide bomber's family in Israel after killing Jews. For me no regrets Iraq was invaded, good job!!

[drzoon]

iraq did not invade us. did not attack us. that fight needed to be taken to afganistan.

the war is immoral. and there was no way he was going to attack Israel. that is just flat out paranoia, which is what got us in this trouble in the first place!

if Iraq or any other country were to attack, we should melt it into the ground, but not until then.

[clipper291]

Saddam sure did kill millions of people, especially with our support of weapons, chemicals, and intelligence, better read your history.

[Manchurian]

If getting rid of Saddam was the only thing that mattered to the Bush administration, it seems they could've just sent in a team of our own highly trained CIA assassins to take him out (if you believe murder is a justifiable means to solving problems; personally, I don't).

Instead, Bush, Cheney and the neocons pulling their strings launched an illegal, immoral war against an essentially defenseless, sovereign nation that posed no threat to the United States. McCain and Lieberman both supported this massacre and, like all others who did, will have to live the rest of their lives with the blood of tens of thousands of innocent victims on their hands.

[foxfan]

I read the quote yet again. I still don't see the words "Islamic" or "Muslim" anywhere. I think you need to lay off the Kool-Aid for a while.

[mexicanamerican1948]

You should read the Koran, The Bible, the Hadith, afterward I will consider drink your kool aid if you still think the same. These writing will surprise you. Compare and contrast. you will learn.

[Puller58]

Dude, give it up. You've lost.

[truthbrigade]

While Joseph Lieberman falsely accuses Barack Obama for being the Islamic candidate; we also know for a fact that Lieberman IS the Jewish Senator from Connecticut. We also know that he is an orthodox Jew, the son of a Jew, who is the son of another Jew. We know that he comes from a long line of Jews; it's in his DNA.

The sad part about this is that it doesn’t bother Barack that Joe is a Jew; however, it bathers Joe that Barack maybe a Muslim.