Stephen Walt's Reaction

Stephen Walt posted his own reaction to Chas Freeman's withdrawal on his blog. Among other things he took President Obama to task for not standing by Freeman. Honestly I agree 100% with at least that part of his post and as I said over on Swampland I feel like it was a straight up bitch move by the President. I voted for President Obama and I support him, but at some point you have to show some damn loyalty for someone other than Tom Daschle if you expect people in your administration to show love back. Or for that matter if you expect to earn the respect of your detractors. This episode will be seen as a sign of weakness to the political opponents of President Obama and I only hope that he doesn't let that meme fester and grow.

In The Aftermath Of Chas Freeman's Withdrawal

Today the New York Times finally decided to publish an article about Chas Freeman. Its telling that they only did so AFTER the man withdrew his name from consideration for the chair of the NIC. I strongly believe that the mainstream media would have rather totally ignored the story but are now compelled to report on it in light of Freeman's statement yesterday after he withdrew. The Times piece itself was a farce and didn't even do the most superficial amount of investigation to confirm or deny Freeman's accusations in his statement. Instead they just relied on the word of the very people who conspired against the man. Of particular note is this reply from AIPAC.

Joshua Block, a spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group, said Tuesday that his organization had not taken a formal position on Mr. Freeman’s selection and had not lobbied Congress members to oppose it.

Evidently Block's word is enough for the New York Times because there is plenty of information out there to refute Block's statement that strangely didn't make its way into the article. Take for example this statement from Laura Rozen's blog post at ForeignPolicy.com

“Schumer didn’t need anyone to tell him” Freeman was problematic, said one former official at a pro-Israel group. “He’s been in the business a long time, and he’s got good staff. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t call AIPAC for research material.”

That was in response to whether Senator of the United States for New York Charles Schumer had consulted with AIPAC about Freeman's appointment. I wonder what that AIPAC "research material" had to say. Then there is also this email from Daniel Pipes making the rounds since Freeman's withdrawal.

Dear Reader:

As many of you may know, Charles Freeman “has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed.”

What you may not know is that Steven J. Rosen of the Middle East Forum was the person who first brought attention to the problematic nature of Freeman’s appointment, in a February 19 blog titled “Alarming appointment at the CIA.” Within hours, the word was out; and three weeks later Freeman has conceded defeat. Only someone with Steve’s stature and credibility could have made this happen.

That would be the Steven J. Rosen who is a former AIPAC policy director and the same Steven J. Rosen who stands accused of spying on America for Israel. If you haven't noticed yet the pro Israel lobby isn't exactly hiding their role in derailing Freeman's nomination. Yet the New York Times just couldn't seem to find a way to report on these efforts in this article. Hmmmmm I wonder why. Maybe its because they didn't want to be labeled anti-semitic like Stephen Walt or Spencer Ackerman or Joe Klein by the same people who viciously smeared Chas Freeman. Of course thats all speculation, it could be they just suck at journalism now.

On another note Glenzilla gives us a primer on why Schumer's complicity in this ordeal should come as no surprise. Its always nice to take a trip down memory lane and observe the rank hypocrisy of some of our legislators. Especially when that hypocrisy relates to their views on Israel. At some point our politicians are going to have to own up to whether they are more concerned with America or if they are more concerned with Israel. As I stated before I have no problem supporting Israel as an ally of ours but this is not mere support. There isn't another ethnic group that can speak out in support of their home country in the way that Jewish people do with out being called unpatriotic. Think on that for a minute and let it marinate in your mind and see if it doesn't make you feel uneasy.