M.J. Rosenberg's True Colors

For a while, TPM has had M.J. Rosenberg as the de-facto official voice of American Jewish opinion about Israel. I've long felt that MJR is a complete tool and a self-hater. Finally here's some clear proof that he's not a friend of ours:

Well, here's one that is decidedly NOT good for the Jews. Franken and Coleman, both Jewish, come together in support of Israel's Gaza war.

They hate each other. They agree on nothing. One is a Mideast hawk. One is a dove.

But when it comes to Israel and its Gaza war, they join hands and sing Kumbaya, I mean Hava Nagila.

It's breathtaking how he has full confidence that the Gaza War is so evil that it's just 'crazy' to support it, and his full knowledge of Judaism is properly summed up by an invocation of 'Hava Na-Frickin-Gila.'

For a decent response, here's some dude on the Volkh Conspiracy.

Pic from here. Backpost finished 2009-12-06.

A New Fish to Fry

Who, pray tell, would think of writing this sentence in defense of Mormons:

Still, even among those who respect Mormons personally, it is still common to hear Mormonism’s tenets dismissed as ridiculous. This attitude is logically indefensible insofar as Mormonism is being compared with other world religions. There is nothing inherently less plausible about God’s revealing himself to an upstate New York farmer in the early years of the Republic than to the pharaoh’s changeling grandson in ancient Egypt. But what is driving the tendency to discount Joseph Smith’s revelations is not that they seem less reasonable than those of Moses; it is that the book containing them is so new.

Who would decide that Judaism should be ridiculous to those who think Mormons are ridiculous? An atheist? Yes, but say better. A Jewish atheist? Yes, but more. A Jewish atheist who hates Judaism and will try to convince as many people as possible that Judaism should be mocked? Yup. Noah Feldman.

I really really feel sad for his mom.

An Important Paper from AJC

About left-wing academics (Jews) helping anti-Semtism:

"Progressive" Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism by Alvin H. Rosenfeld

Backpost finished 2009-11-29. Another one totally done by stamped date. Historical note - I actually was assigned this essay in one of my graduate classes.

Guttman Follow-Up

The Augean Stables is a good pro-Israel academic blog (which has one of the best blog names this side of the Styx).

Here's his rather detailed take on the hack, President of Penn (and Good Witch) Amy Guttman.

P.S. Guttman seems to suffer from Martha Stewart syndrome - if you make too many enemies on the way up, they won't help you on the way down.

Guttman Follow Up

Michael Freund, a fellow Princetonian and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post, follows up on the Gutmann photo (as detailed below).

I found the story linked from my man Martin Peretz at the New Republic.

Amy Gutmann watch

Amy Gutmann was an overblown professor at Princeton when my brother and I were there. My brother took her class - and it was low-grade leftist philosophy posing as high thought. And she was a vindictive grader - it was either her way or wrong (a wonderful attitude in political philosophy, right out of the Socrates playbook... no, not the Socratic Method or the Search for Truth but the squelching of contrary thought with Hemlock).

She was quickly promoted through the ranks - typical given her emphasis on playing the academic-politics game rather than concentrate on good thought/scholarship. Eventually she left Princeton to be the President of the University of Pennsylvania. Thank you Peter Principle!

So it does not shock me at all that her bad judgment is still on display: The Appletonian: What's wrong with this picture?