Obama’s Anti-Semitic Anchors

by Daniel Greenfield

Jews occupy a peculiar position in the Democratic Party: The Jewish vote is part of the Democratic base, but at the same time the party does not represent Jewish interests, either at home or abroad, and of the last three Democratic presidents, two were nakedly hostile to the Jewish state. Now the second of them is running for reelection and is counting on the Jewish vote.

After November 6^th, 2012, Barack Obama will either be a leader with absolute control over foreign policy and nothing to lose or the first Democratic incumbent since Carter to lose the White House. For Obama everything hinges on securing the next four years and that requires him to play up his pro-Israel credentials while trying to convince Jewish voters that the animosity and ugliness of his present term never happened.

But there are two things dragging him down: The Center for American Progress and Media Matters.

Jewish discomfort with the administration has been growing for some time now. While Obama’s growing loss of Jewish support cannot only be put down to Israel, the Jewish state has become shorthand for the administration’s attitude toward the Jewish community. Vocal condemnations by former New York mayor Ed Koch and now by prominent civil rights attorney Alan Dershowitz make it clear that even mainstream Democrats are aware of the problem and that it is not going away.

While Koch’s remarks have been fairly vague, Dershowitz has been much more direct about identifying and attacking the root of the problem. “Media Matters and Center for American Progress are two extremely left-bigoted groups that are so virulently anti-Israel and anti-supporters of Israel that they’ve gone over the line from anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism,” Dershowitz recently affirmed.

“These two organizations have been found to be anti-Semitic by many of the objective monitoring groups. And now they are closely associated with the Democratic Party and I have said very clearly there is no room in this tent for me on the one hand, and for Media Matters and for this other group on the other hand. We can’t be in the same tent. I will not be in a tent with fascists, with supporters of Ahmadinejad, with supporters of Hamas, with supporters of Hezbollah, with anti-Semitic bigots, whether they’re Jewish or not.”

Unlike Koch who did not set up a specific test that Obama needed to pass, Dershowitz has issued a clear call for accountability, and that creates a specific metric that cannot be avoided with vague promises and assurances. It offers Obama a choice between the radical left and the Jewish community. But the radical left is no longer radical; it has become the establishment.

The Center for American Progress is not just another think tank; it is the brain, heart and soul of the administration. It is the interface between the proposals of the left and the policies coming out of Washington D.C. and it is also the interface between the policies of the White House and the media coverage of those policies and the opposition to them.

The Center represents the power of the left over the message, shaping the ideas that reach the White House and then shaping the ideas that leave the White House, blending the power of policymaking with the power of spin to form one of the most powerful arms of the shadow government set up by billionaire criminals like George Soros to control the American political process. But the power and radicalism of the Center is also becoming a liability.

The Center for American Progress and Media Matters are not just radical by American standards; they are extreme even by the standards of the Democratic Party. They are radical even by the standards of those who consider themselves liberal. They are the 1 percent of the party, funded by the actual 1 percent, and in control of the 99 percent. And it is specifically their extremism when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people that have touched off a growing rebellion among Jewish Democrats.

Obama has faked right on Israel in time for the election, but the radicalism of the Center for American Progress and Media Matters exposes the fakery for what it is. Whatever words may scroll over Obama’s teleprompter, the brain trust at the Center for American Progress, whose policies have dominated his administration, shows what the next four years will truly mean for Israel.

The animosity of the Center for American Progress and Media Matters for Israel is completely unsubtle. It can be seen at a glance on their websites. It can be seen on the Twitter accounts of their fellows where anyone opposed to the destruction of the Jewish state is branded an “Israel Firster”. It can be seen in reports which blame American attitudes towards Islam on a Jewish conspiracy. It can be seen in their obsessive campaign to deny Iran’s genocidal nuclear plot to carry out a second holocaust.

There has always been a schizophrenic split between Obama’s moderate image and his radical reality. That split came to the fore with the revelation of racist rants by his mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but while Obama eventually set aside Wright when it was clear that he had become a liability and was unwilling to moderate his tone for the sake of the election, he has an entire gang of Jeremiah Wrights writing up his talking points, massaging his policies and setting the tone for his administration. A gang which operates out of the Center for American Progress.

The Obama Administration has tried to have it both ways, coating a radical interior with a moderate whitewash. Calling for a break with an organization that Time Magazine described as “Obama’s Idea Factory” is a courageous and important step. And it is not a step that Obama is likely to take.

Obama refused to break with Jeremiah Wright, until the latter left him no choice. He will certainly not break with two entire organizations of Jeremiah Wrights funded by a man who makes Wright seem like a saint and a model of tolerance and philosemitism by comparison. And that refusal exposes the lie of moderation, it is a refusal that cannot be disguised or dressed up.

Following an Uncle Howard policy, Obama tried to elevate Soros’ J Street anti-Israel lobby to the status of a major Jewish organization. A status that was completely undeserved and baseless. J Street has failed in its mission and that leaves major Soros funded groups like the Center for American Progress and Media Matters naked in their bigotry.

By demanding accountability, Dershowitz has transformed the Center for American Progress and Media Matters from assets to anchors around the neck of the 2012 Obama campaign.

Daniel Greenfield

Source: http://frontpagemag.com/2012/02/22/obama%E2%80%99s-anti-semitic-anchors/

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