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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Friday, March 05, 2004
Ugly: Adbusters jumps on the "neocon conspiracy" bandwagon
For a great example of the moral and political vacuousness of the modern Left, one need go no further than the latest issue of Adbusters magazine. In an outrageous article entitled "Why won't anyone say they are Jewish?," writer Kalle Lasn becomes the latest person to attempt to uncover who's behind the "neoconservative cabal" running American foreign policy.
Some choice clips from this bile:
-A lot of ink has been spilled chronicling the pro-Israel leanings of American neocons and fact that a the disproportionate percentage of them are Jewish. Some commentators are worried that these individuals – labeled ‘Likudniks’ for their links to Israel’s right wing Likud party – do not distinguish enough between American and Israeli interests. For example, whose interests were they protecting in pushing for war in Iraq?
-The point is simply that the neocons seem to have a special affinity for Israel that influences their political thinking and consequently American foreign policy in the Middle East.
-Here at Adbusters, we decided to tackle the issue head on and came up with a carefully researched list of who appear to be the 50 most influential neocons in the US...And half of the them are Jewish.
(Emphases added)
There are a few disturbing aspects to this piece.
One is that the Jews in their "top 50" neocon list have a black dot beside their names. I look forward to a sea of outrage from leftists appalled at these "McCarthyite" tactics.
Second, this "carefully researched list" is chock full of mistakes. It's the kind of list you know was written by some leftist who really knows nothing about neocons. (You know the type, the ones that call conservatives "neo-liberals" and think they are being smart or witty or funny.) Some examples:
1. Francis Fukuyama isn't considered a neocon. He is a foreign policy realist with Republican sympathies.
2. Richard Mellon Scaife, the wealthy financier of conservative causes, is thought of us as just a plain conservative.
3. Gary Bauer is a Christian/social conservative, but probably gets thrown on Lasn's list because he supports Israel, which seems to the principal criteria here.
4. Owen Harries, the ex-editor of the foreign policy journal The National Interest, which was founded by the original neocon, Irving Kristol. But Harries seems to be anything but a neocon; his work has recently been published in Pat Buchanan's neocon-hating rag The American Conservative. That should be a hint as to where Harries' views lie.
Third, the piece is totally amateurish. In fact, I can't seem to find a single accurate sentence in the entire article. No reporting was done. No effort was made to do any real research. (I mean, at least Michael Lind put some effort in!) And there is no real point to the thing, other than to bring us the Earth-shattering news that some Jews who like foreign policy support Israel.
I was torn about whether to blog about this, because I know it might mean a few more people will read the article and get it more attention. But this is beyond the pale. I've never really read Adbusters before; I just knew that it was a fave mag for the leftie/globaphobe crowd. I now have even more reason to not read it.
[Thanks to JKelly for the tip.]
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:28 AM
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