Mick Hartley

A powerful piece from James Kirchick on the Valerie Plame affair – Forget the hysterics and the apologies: The former CIA agent had the temerity to express an all-too-common view about nefarious Jewish influence over American politics:

Last week, Valerie Plame Wilson got into trouble for retweeting a vile anti-Semitic screed accusing American Jews of being dual loyalist war mongers. The problem wasn’t what she was saying—similar accusations have been made by everyone from Barack Obama on down for years. The problem was how she was saying it: Unlike her allies in the progressive camp, Plame was foolish enough to implicate all Jews in advocating war with Iran, instead of simply identifying a few convenient culprits for calumny.

[…]

Accusations of dual loyalty have trailed Jews for centuries all over the world. But since 9/11 in particular, it has become increasingly acceptable for mainstream figures and institutions, up to and including the President of the United States, to impugn the national allegiance of Jewish American legislators, officials, writers, activists and ordinary citizens. Progressives patting themselves on the back for condemning Plame’s obvious and unvarnished anti-Semitism might reflect upon how they’ve been enabling such rhetoric for the past 16 years.

But read it all.