"George Will’s Irrepressible Conflict With Facts" Max Blumenthal

"Nevertheless, a display case in Netanyahu’s office could teach the Obama administration something about this leader. It contains a small signet stone that was part of a ring found near the Western Wall. It is about 2,800 years old — 200 years younger than Jerusalem’s role as the Jewish people’s capital. The ring was the seal of a Jewish official, whose name is inscribed on it: Netanyahu."  Will

What is Bibi Netanyahu’s connection to the ring, and by extension, to the ancient land of Israel? There is none. His father, Benzion, changed his name from Milikovsky to Netanyahu after he emigrated from Lithuania to Palestine. Thus Bibi has  a much closer relation to Sarah Palin, whose Lithuanian maternal grandfather was rumored to be a Jew, than to any late Bronze Age “Jewish official” from the Middle East.

To understand the sheer insanity of Netanyahu’s magical ring story, consider how I would be received if my grandfather, Hymie Blumenthal, changed his name to Hymie Quetzalcoatl, then I asserted a historical mandate to rule over Mexico because Quetzalcoatl was a diety of the inhabitants of the ancient Toltec city of Teotihuacan. I would have a hard time being taken as seriously as David Koresh or the Unabomber."  Max Blumenthal 

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 "Hymie Quetzalcoatl"  I like it.  I suppose that Blumenthal's point is that nationalism, anywhere is largely based on myth-making employing exaggeration or outright falsehood.  pl

http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/08/george-wills-irrepressible-conflict-with-facts/

Comments

[blowback]

George Will's grasp on the truth reminds me of that of Julius Streicher's. In his latest piece, dated 8/22:

The closest precedent for that bombardment was the Nazi rocket attacks on London, which were answered by the destruction of Hamburg, Dresden and other German cities.

The British and Americans demonstrated great prescience here. The first V2 rocket attack occurred on 8 September 1944 (the first V1 was launched at London on 13 June 1944), while Operation Gomorrah started on 24 July 1943 and lasted for eight days.

It is also arguable that the first raids intentionally targeted at civilians after the beginning of the Battle of Britain were carried out by the British in response to some bombs that were accidentally dropped on the east of London by the Luftwaffe, what today would be described as collateral damage.

[Lysander]

"The closest precedent for that bombardment was the Nazi rocket attacks on London, which were answered by the destruction of Hamburg, Dresden and other German cities."

HHHMMM... Will and his ilk might want to take care about WW II analogies with Gaza, Because people might start thinking of a different one.

If the inmates of Dachau managed to lob off a few firecrackers at the outskirts of Munich, few of us would whine about the Germans who had to endure them.

On a happier note, Max Blumenthal is an inspiration to any person of any background who hopes humanity might someday escape the curse of tribalism. Every race, nationality and religion needs as many Max Blumenthals as it can get. Sadly, they are always in such short supply.

[Redhand]

Will's "bad run" isn't limited to his recent Israel trip; he's been roundly criticized for countless errors that WaPo refuses to correct.

IMO the pompous ass has all the gravitas of this guy, to whom he bears a striking resemblance.

[WILL]

thank you for the reference blowback. i did not know. in the future, they will not tell the trio of Hitler, Stalin, or Churchill apart.

""Feuersturm" (firestorm). The tornadic fire created a huge inferno with winds of up to 240 km/h (150 mph)reaching temperatures of 800 °C (1,500 °F) and altitudes in excess of 1,000 feet, incinerating more than eight square miles (21 km²) of the city. Asphalt streets burst into flame"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gomorrah#Battle_of_Hamburg

these firestorms were used to devastating effect against Japan. who needs nukes?

[Allen Thomson]

Will has been on a downward slope for some time now, emitting a variety of fairly bizarre screeds and only occasionally showing flashes of his earlier, better (IMO) self. Kinda sad.

[Cloned Poster]

I was in Dresden 6 years ago, the scars of that attack were evident then/

[Fred]

"In the intifada that began in 2000, Palestinian terrorism killed more than 1,000 Israelis." That would be the Second Intifada, the first began in '87. The Isreali's killed over 1,000 Palestineans in that one, but to George Will and many others the Palestinian dead obviously don't count.

Perhaps after two milenia of not having a homeland people like George will finally let the Palestinians have one?

[BillWade]

Redhand, George Will is no Howdy Doody!

[kao_hsien_chih]

Funny, given the topic of name changes, that Blumenthal should mention David Koresh...since he changed his name to Koresh, or Cyrus (as in Cyrus the Great, the king of Persians) after he had his own religious experience.

Maybe we should bomb Iran for their connection to the Branch Davidians?

[Sidney O. Smith III]

Fabulous essay by Max the man Quetzalcoatl -- the courageous soul who gave us “Feeling the hate in Jerusalem”. In this essay, he makes a beautiful association to Bibi’s usurpation of the ring to Wagner and Wotan. Ah, the ring. I was expecting perhaps one more reference, that to JRT, but the essay can stand by itself as hard hitting. And the essay certainly brings out the suggestion that a collective delusion has gripped Bibi.

And Blumenthal certainly has proven that more than just a few Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. Just check out the following for an example of Zionists in Jerusalem embracing E Pluribus Unum Not.

http://tu.tv/videos/feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-on-eve-of

Suppose, just suppose, this video had arisen out of the hinterlands USA. How long would it have taken for the video to hit the msm? How much play time would Chris Mathews have given the video? And yet, Mathews and his msm colleagues sit silent and all the while promote a 60 year campaign of ethnic cleansing, if you believe Pappe, et al. If someone can disprove Pappe, I will reconsider, of course.

[J]

Ah yes, the Netanyahu (oops Milikovsky),Hasbara and Goldberg (former IDF prison guard) types attempting to drown the world in spilled innocent blood and unnecessary wars through their propapganda/lies/deceptions. The Atlantic's Goldbergs' actions fall under the parameters that individuals were executed at Nuremburg for, a.k.a. Propaganda War Crimes. Goldberg, an American citizen who apparently thumbed his nose at our U.S. Military and joined a foreign military instead saluting a foreign flag. And Goldberg has the temerity to come back to U.S. shores and 'assume' his U.S, citizenry 'perks' while he still salutes a foreign flag allthewhile advocating an unnecessary Iran war and his advocating more American Military deaths. Absolutely sickening!

The Israel Lobby Swims The Atlantic by Grant Smith -- Antiwar.com

http://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2010/08/17/the-israel-lobby-swims-the-atlantic/

Declassified Senate Investigation Files Reveal Clandestine Israeli PR Campaign in America

http://irmep.org/ila/AZC/default.asp

[citizen]

From the late 19th century until relatively recently, Eastern European Jews were believed by many to be descendants of converts, with a particular emphasis on the Khazars. Accordingly these Slavo-Turkic converts wouldn't have much of a claim to the Holy Land, any more so than their Christian neighbors.

But dna studies disproved this theory. The paternal lineage of most Eastern European Jews goes back to the Middle East. These Y-chromosome studies, particularly the Cohen study, were trumphed by Israel hardliners. See, here is the proof!

But those same dna studies proved that European Jews are related to Palestinians. Therefore, by proving that they can claim kinship with the Palestinians that gives settlers the right to kick said Palestinians out?

Not to disagree with M. Blumenthal, but a better analogy would be if I could prove that I had Viking ancestors who traveled to the British isles from Norway, and then I used my dna evidence to bolster my claims to some Norwegian guy's house.

[WILL]

too bad archaeology doesn't support the Zionist narrative!

3,000 years indeed!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Copenhagen_School_(theology)

[pc games]

Thanks for such a great post and the review, I am totally impressed! Keep stuff like this coming.

[oofda]

Max Quetzalcoatl has a ring to it, at that.

George Will should stick to trying to explain the Cubs failure to win in over a century.

[kassandra]

Re Netanyahu's mementoes, this came to mind. Recently, when Naomi Campbell, Charles Taylor and Blood Diamonds were in the news, France24 had an AFP reporter as part of a discussion of blood diamonds. This man said that while hanging around Charles Taylor's office waiting to interview him, he noticed a large globe with a Jerusalem skyline. On the base of this memento was the text "With gratitude and thanks, Bibi Netanyahu". Now, what gratitude and thanks could Bibi have to express to Charlie?

[LeaNder]

I realized in my encounters with defenders of the Israeli status quo that they missed one for me important human quality: humor. It seems to be a special trait of ideologues of all stripes. It's a mined terrain on which one encounters many terms each of which would deserve a look at the historical genesis, lately I got very interested in the genesis of national self-determination, the group's, religion's the nation's self-determination versus the enlightenment ideal of the individual's.

I think humor - life versus ideology - is the most important matter Max brings to the debate. And, yes I have to admit I simply admire his seemingly naively polite interrogation techniques, his almost "childish curiosity". Max for me is wit personified, with it he transcends artificial intellectual barriers.