Dana Milbank Gets Results

The eagle-eyed reporters at the Times did not see a thing, but the WaPo's Dana Milbank blew the whistle on some absurd anti-semitic shenanigans at a recent Democratic event.

Howard Dean has now apologized, although John Conyers would prefer to shoot the messenger.

The NY Times website has the AP coverage of Dean's apology, but if the print edition covers this, I can't find it - oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we go into the tank for Howard Dean.

One wonders how far the Times will go to maintain the Cone of Silence over this.  Possible new motto - Lots of the News That's Fit to Print.

Good job by Steve Antler (but I noticed the Times whitewash without his help!)

The new Public editor of the Times is Byron Calame, aka "Call me".  I am sure he would welcome an opportunity to explain why the DNC chairman is disavowing anti-Semitic pamphlets and remarks from within his own party and the Times is ignoring it.

E-mail -- [email protected]

MORE:  I do find in the Saturday paper, by looking carefully, "regrets" from Sen. Durbin about "his comments  earlier this week comparing American interrogators at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Nazis." 

Comments

[Jor]

You guys need to come up with a cool name for this diversionary tactic. Some random person at a meeting was passing out anti-semitc material -- thats the "real" story. Not the content of the meeting. We need a name, cause this is like your favorite rhetorical move. (By your, I mean the entire right wing).

[Jor]

NExt time something comes out against some democrat -- I will instantly discredit everything teh right is saying by copying and pasting from some post on Little Green Footballs.

[Jor]

Actually, Kevin Drum gets the right tone on all this garbage. Conservatives always complain about liberals being too negative, and not being constructive, so with that, the question from drum

So my question is this: what is the right historical analogy? There are lots of evil regimes past and present to choose from, but I'm not sure which ones are acceptable references when describing the use of torture at Guantanamo. Can I get some conservative feedback on this?

[SteveMG]

Jor:
Three posts in a row?

I've heard it said that the Left is in a echo-chamber cocoon incapable of reforming itself but didn't realize how bad it's gotten.

Is Sybil going to post next?

SMG

[DeputyHeadmistress]

Some 'random person?'
What about the witness the Dems _called_? One "Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst," who trashed Israel, blamed Israel for the war, and basically said Bush was Sharon's gopher.

Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) thanks that 'random person' for his candid reply to Moran's question. This wasn't a random person.

Anti-semitism was part of the official content of the meeting, the rest of it was a fantasy mock impeachment trial. They need to stop doing 'mock' stuff and get down to doing real work. What a waste of time and resources.

[Jor]

SMG, using the same tactic I referred to, to address my remarks, was some good, I hope, intentional, parody.

DH, Have you ever been to a panel discussion that has been opened up to questions from the audience? It's standard practice to deflect stupid questions, and thank the person for his remarks. If you vehmently disagree, you have a high probability of winding up in the unpleasant situation of getting into an argument with the person asking a question, or inciting one or two supporters in the audience to ask a bitch-ass follow up question.

[Cecil Turner]

"DH, Have you ever been to a panel discussion that has been opened up to questions from the audience?"

That might make sense, except Ray McGovern isn't some random nut. He's a long-service ex-CIA type, member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), (who gained prominence through their claims the Administration pressured the CIA on intelligence). He was outspoken in opposition of Bolton's nomination, and much quoted in lefty circles. He's also has a recent piece touting the DSM and praising "truly courageous leaders" like Conyers. I suspect he was an invited guest, and perhaps part of the script.

[BumperStickerist]

re: Drum's Historical Analogy -

Step One: Load the Question -

So my question is this: what is the right historical analogy? There are lots of evil regimes past and present to choose from, but I'm not sure which ones are acceptable references when describing the use of torture at Guantanamo. Can I get some conservative feedback on this?

Well, given the restriction to 'evil regimes' past and present, I'd have to go with 'France' as the general all-purpose reference.

Take your pick, from Charlemagne up through modern France's occupation of Algiers and allegations of torture by the French Foreign Legion ... not to mention the French penal system is a mess that by AI standards would qualify as 'torture' .. 'Devil's Island' springs to mind, but only because I just bought a coconut yesterday, but there are probably good examples in state-run prisons in France as well.

We could also consider using the U.N. as an example for Evil. While the UN is based in the US, there seem to be precious few United States citizens involved in the actual administration and running of that organization.

Here's a link to a story regarding UN actions -- it's from WND, but I'm guessing that they're accurate in their identification of nationality ---
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42088

The Belgians in the UN seem particularly vicious in that they allegedly roasted a boy, and forced another to eat pork, drink salt water, and eat his own vomit ... that 'vomit' part may or may not be in the 'Guantanomo Cookbook', my copy hasn't arrived, but I think roasting a boy/having another eat pork and vomit- might rise to the level of "Gitmo Atrocities"

Not to Kevin Drum, of course. I'm sure that Gitmo is the worst thing ever. Worse because it's the US, worse because Andersonville was, like, a while ago.

I'm quite certain that Kevin can tut-tut his concern about that while expressing his outrage that a guy was cold and soiled himself ... not to the point of lying in his own filth, developing decubitis ulcers that reached his bone and developing frostbite which caused gangrene ...

But any mess that needs more than a couple of paper towels and a shower is obviously torture ... I have no doubt that the towels were thin and scratchy as well, which further enhanced the torture experience.

But to answer your question, please feel free to use 'France' as your basis of comparision to our activities at Gitmo.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

I guess we'd have to think real hard to come up with an 'evil regime' synonomous with air conditioning.

[SteveMG]

Hmm, air conditioning, baked chicken, free Korans, religious counselors. . .

Yep, quite a hellhole.

Well, I guess if the A.C. is too high, one could compare it to a Siberian camp. Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Lief of Ivan Denisovitch" had a section on the cold weather.

If it's too low, we can talk about Buchenwald. Those ovens must've been uncomfortable.

The insane left has no limits. This is the legacy of 40 years of indoctrination by the likes of Chomsky and Zinn and other sick puppies.

And their litter is now all grown up.

SMG

[Jor]

Some reasons for war in Iraq

1.) WMD
2.) 9/11 Connection
3.) Saddam
4.) Oil
5.) Democracy
6.) Dominoe Theory of Democracy
7.) Israel's security
8.) Domestic Political Considerations

1,2, and 5 are all gone. So, that moves Israel and Domest Polistical Considerations into the top 5 reasons. Maybe I'm missing some things, but if this is called being "anti-semetic", anti-semetic has no meaning.

[ed]

Hmmmm.

I'd like to congratulate all the jewish people out there who continue to vote for Democrats. Considering the incredible anti-semeticism in the Democratic Party, that sort of loyalty deserves a pat on the back.

[kb]

It's interesting. This is the second unhappy CIA analyst to come out against Israel, or at least our relationship with Israel. Or at least that I've heard of. Michael Scheuer, the 'anonymous' author of Imperial Hubris ended up doing the same thing.
What's up in the CIA?

[TM]

There are lots of evil regimes past and present to choose from...

In an earlier comments section I had suggested the British (Northern Ireland), France (Algeria), or the Chicago police. Of course, they may not be evil enough...

I'll go on a limb here and guess that Drum does not really want an answer. Otherwise, he could not have overlooked the piece to which everyone is linking which makes (at length) the Northern Ireland comparison.

Of course, I have forgotten where it is.

[Lurking Observer]

I personally didn't support the war in Iraq on democratic grounds (I supported it for other reasons).

But I'm curious by what lights Jor blithely removes it from the list.

Similarly, just b/c WMD aren't there does not mean that it was not a reason then for going to war. This is like claiming that, b/c a search warrant didn't turn up lost jewels means that Jeffrey Dahmer wasn't guilty of other crimes. (BTW, he'd still be arrested even if the original warrant were for some other piece of evidence, or even for some other crime.)

Finally, as the DSM memoes (and others) have indicated, it wasn't 9-11, but Saddam's support of terrorism that was in question. And of that, there's little doubt.

[DelphiGuy]

"which ones are acceptable references when describing the use of torture at Guantanamo."

Perhaps when there is some torture at Gitmo, we'll have a frame of reference to compare against.