Politico to go: Washington Post columnist speaks, and it’s a shanda

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank likes to write about subjects for which he has a very strong opinion, but very little knowledge. Milbank’s June 17th column, “Joe Lieberman joining Glenn Beck: a shanda” proves Milbank would not know a shanda if one jumped up, kissed him on the lips and wished him a Gut Shabbos.

The column’s purpose was to criticize Senator Lieberman’s commitment to “Restoring Courage,” Beck’s upcoming August rally in Jerusalem.

“I’d love to participate,” Lieberman confirmed when The Post’s Felicia Sonmez found him in a Capitol hallway. “It’s just going to be a rally to support Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“This nearly caused me to plotz.

“Joe Lieberman, first Jew on a presidential ticket, was embracing Beck, the leading purveyor of anti-Semitic memes in the mass media. One of the most visible Jews in America was making common cause with a man who invoked apocalyptic Christian theology in promoting his rally in Israel.

I admire Lieberman, and I’ve defended him over the years when he defied party and faction. But if he shares a stage with this creature, he will surrender the decency that has defined his public life.”

Milbank uses Yiddish to establish his Jewish “street cred,” but calls Beck the leading purveyor of anti-Semitic memes. If Milbank truly wants to prove his Jewishness he should learn the concept of “motzi shem ra,” the spreading of malicious lies.

With his false charges of Jew hatred, Milbank is spreading the George Soros/Media Matters slander of branding Beck an anti-Semite solely to destroy his career (see Four Hundred Rabbis, lashon hora and Glenn Beck Feb 3. Jewish Star)

The rationale behind Beck’s rally is simple. Israel is in the most precarious position she has faced since the 1967 war. Palestinian terrorists are on three of its borders. Syria, facing collapse, is trying to divert attention from the fact that it’s killing Syrians, to those evil Zionists. Most of the parties with potential to win the next election in Egypt are promising to tear up the Camp David treaty. And Iran, close to developing the capability to send a nuclear warhead into Tel Aviv threatens to wipe the Jewish State off the map.

All this is happening during the term of a U.S. President whose policies are the most anti-Israel in the history of the Jewish State.

The purpose of Beck’s rally in Jerusalem is to prove to the world that good people of all faiths from across the world are standing with Israel.
Based on his writing Milbank knows very little about Judaism, and also feels Beck’s religion should eliminate him from leading such a rally:

“It’s nice that Beck wants to defend Israel before the United Nations attempts in September to create a Palestinian state. But this support comes with an asterisk. Beck’s descriptions of his event as a gathering and a restoration echo his Mormon faith’s theology: there will be a “Gathering of Scattered Israel” in which Jews return to the Holy Land and are converted to Christianity as part of ‘the restoration of all things’ and the Second Coming.”

Jewish theology says something very similar; the tenth blessing of the Amidah prayer, which Jews recite every day is called, Kibbutz Galuyot, the ingathering of exiles.

Is Milbank saying that all Christians in Israel should be banned from practicing their faith, or just Mormons? Maybe he believes Judaism should be banned also, because later in the article he criticizes Beck for quoting the Jewish prophet, Ezekiel.

Beck is not Milbank’s only Israel-related target. Another target of the progressive WaPo writer is Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. After Obama’s controversial Middle East speech earlier this month, Milbank criticized the President, not for what he said but because criticizing Israel will generate more support for Netanyahu.

“Obama bungled his Middle East speech. He unwittingly strengthened Israeli hawks such as Netanyahu and made the already remote prospect of peace that much more distant.”

Milbank goes on to describe the reaction to Bibi’s Congressional speech, displayed by his Israeli au pair Inna, who he describes as a moderate who was suspicious of the uncompromising Netanyahu, the episode turned her into a supporter.

Milbank is only upset that Inna has become a Bibi fan, he does not argue against the President’s plan, only Inna’s reaction. He wrote about the negative Palestinian reaction to Netanyahu’s speech but ignored that the Palestinians refuse to accept Israel as a Jewish State and Obama refuses to push them toward that acceptance.

So what is a shanda? The fact that Senator Joe Liberman or any American (Jew or not) joins Glenn Beck in Jerusalem is not a shanda. A Washington Post columnist trying to establish his Jewish “street cred” by using Yiddish is a shanda.

Jeff Dunetz is the Editor/Publisher of the political blog “The Lid." Jeff contributes to some of the largest political sites on the internet including American Thinker, Big Government, Big Journalism, NewsReal and Pajamas Media. Jeff lives on Long Island.