Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Zbigniew Brzezinski is under fire. What better time than the Jewish New Year to discuss it?

It’s The Book brouhaha, take
two (and counting).

… Second degree McCarthyism! Obama didn’t do anything. Brzezinski didn’t do anything. But Walt and Mearsheimer wrote a book the lobby does not like and so Brzezinski must go down for not condemning it. There are two possible explanations for this. One is that Dershowitz has decided to take it upon himself to corroborate part of the Walt-Mearsheimer thesis i.e. that Dershowitz and other de facto lobbyists see it as their role to squelch any opinion on the Middle East that they don’t agree with. The other is that Dershowitz decided to celebrate the Jewish New Year by simply being Dershowitz and, as is his custom, embarrassing millions of Jews who cringe in disgust every time he publicly mouths his paranoid musings about Jews and anti-Semitism. (I mean, we Jews have Scarlett Johannsen, Shawn Green, Jon Stewart, Natalie Portman, Sara Silverman, Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Max Blumenthal, Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Marshall. Why do we have to suffer the humiliation of being “represented” by Alan Dershowitz)? Read the story and weep, or laugh. And hope that Obama does not cave….any more than he already did. Dershowitz Demands Obama Fire Brzezinski!

As for Obama caving on the subject, M.J. Rosenberg could have had this comment in mind: Obama has already distanced himself from the book, with his campaign saying in a statement earlier this week that “the idea that supporters of Israel have somehow distorted U.S. foreign policy, or that they are responsible for the debacle in Iraq, is just wrong. And Obama’s positions on Middle East affairs are, like his main rivals’, within the American political mainstream and firmly in favor of Israeli’s aggressive security policy.”

The background for this manufactured political kerfuffle revolves around the
the book “The
Israel Lobby.” The story about what’s going on depends on your view
of foreign policy, as well as the willingness of some to make problems where
none exist. However, that is not to say that our honest broker status in the Middle East shouldn’t be investigated.

However, Barack Obama is now being criticized for having Zbigniew Brzezinski
on his team. Alan Dershowitz, of O.J. infamy, has gone ballistic and wants Zbig fired.

“It is a tremendous mistake for Barack Obama to select as a foreign policy adviser the one person in public life who has chosen to support a bigoted book,” said Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, one of the most visible critics of the Walt and Mearsheimer volume, titled “The Israel Lobby.” (Dershowitz has contributed to the campaign of Obama’s leading rival, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.) Obama has already distanced himself from the book, with his campaign saying in a statement earlier this week that “the idea that supporters of Israel have somehow distorted U.S. foreign policy, or that they are responsible for the debacle in Iraq, is just wrong. And Obama’s positions on Middle East affairs are, like his main rivals’, within the American political mainstream and firmly in favor of Israeli’s aggressive security policy.” Still, Obama has faced occasional criticism from elements of the pro-Israel community. This spring, for instance, he raised eyebrows by plugging the Middle East conflict into his standard stump speech, and telling an audience at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that “cynicism,” as well as Hamas and Hezbollah, posed a threat to Israel. Obama supporters say there is no reason to question his pro-Israel bona fides. (snip) While “Brzezinski is not viewed very highly among people in the so-called ‘Israel lobby’,” other Obama advisor’s – from the former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross to the veteran congressional staffer Dan Shapiro – are considered staunch allies, he said. … .. Obama adviser worries Israel supporters

The goal in ostracizing Brzezinski is obvious and is a horrendous action
that is representative of how disjointed and unproductive our current Middle
East dialogue is today. Talking about whether Brzezinski is “kosher”
or “non-kosher” is laughable and hardly helps the debate.

The issue is “realism” versus a foreign policy strategy that is not
making Israel or the U.S. safer, or moving us forward in solving the challenges
we face in the Middle East.

When Zbig weighed in on Israel’s war with Lebanon, no doubt Dershowitz got the bends. Let’s just say Zbig’s views aren’t popular with some.

His article in Foreign Policy was consistent with his reputation as a “realist,” a member of a school of political scientists who largely opposed the war in Iraq and President Bush’s dream of remaking the Middle East, and who have lately seen themselves as having been vindicated. Walt and Mearsheimer have “rendered a public service by initiating a much-needed public debate on the role of the ‘Israel lobby’ in the shaping of U.S. foreign policy,” setting their article in the context of other ethnic lobbies, he wrote. Obama adviser worries Israel supporters

Hurray for the realists.

MSNBC’s
Domenico Montanaro, whom I met in Chicago during YearlyKos, chimes in with
his two cents on Zbig.

Obama’s never been a favorite of the Jewish political community and now he may give those folks more reason to shy away from him with the high profile he’s giving Zbigniew Brzezinksi.

Not sure where Mr. Montanaro got his insight, though if I had to guess I’d throw a dart at his derriere.