Rabbi who filmed Helen Thomas says "she's an anti-Semite," but refuses to say Mel Gibson is...

[celtics23]

Ok, here's the story. The Rabbi who filmed Helen Thomas' comments said today on the radio that Helen Thomas "is an anti-Semite." The same guy has worked in some capacity with Mel Gibson when he made his anti-Semitic rant, and when pressed by the interviewer, he refused to say Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite...the double standard is incredible, since Thomas' comments, while offensive, were nowhere near as extreme as Gibson's, but clearly it's all because they are in bed with each other...maybe even money was exchanged for the "consultation." It seems if Thomas paid him, too, he'd say she wasn't an anti-Semite.

Link is here: http://www.midweekpolitics.com/2010/06/june-30-2010/. This specific interview starts at 34:00 minutes. This is from www.midweekpolitics.com / Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/midweekpolitics

[FrenchieCat]

1. And this puts food on my table to feed the children, how?

:shrug:

[saracat]

4. Interesting,coming from one who regularly snipes at the media.

I would think evidence of entrapement and misapplication and manipulation would be of interest but I guess not. Helen Thomas reporting wasn't important to you so she can be dismissed. Gotcha.

[hlthe2b]

14. well, it is damned important to me...

Helen was "taken down" intentionally, IMO. Her unfortunate comment pales in comparison to what is said regularly by pundits, politicians and others. I should think those who call for the murder of liberals/progressives, certain politicians, including the President, and others would be held to at least the level of account as Helen, but NO.

[bigwillq]

17. ...

:thumbsup:

[devilgrrl]

2. That was a set-up plain and simple

eom

[PCIntern]

7. A set-up?

So if some asshole comes up to a dentist, as a set-up, and asks, "What do you think about universal Dental care for the poor?" And (S)he says, "Fuck 'em - let 'em have pain and suffering." So somehow the dentist is less guilty b/c it's a 'set-up'? I don't think it would be interpreted that way...

[devilgrrl]

9. Everything I've seen of that smells...

:shrug:

[tins0404]

13. 100%

You are 100% on target..."set up" makes no sense. That's like saying Mel Gibson was set up by the cop to make an anti-Jewish rant

[sabrina 1]

31. Except that's not what Helen did, not even by a long shot.

He knew perfectly well what she meant, but chose to promote it with the help of Ari Fleischer and the rest of the rabid rightwing cabal as if she meant something else entirely.

If that Rabbi had asked Helen 'did you mean the illegal Settlers or the WW11 Refugees?' he would have received a clarification from Helen. But he wasn't looking for a clarification, he was looking for a 'gotcha' moment and he chose not to ask as he knew he could manipulate the answer he got.

It didn't work anyhow, the majority of thinking people around the world understood, and anything that has Ari Fleischer driving it, stinks like a rotten fish.

The rabbi needs to attend to his own 'bigotry' as demonstrated in his little act that was supposedly funny regarding another ethnic group.

[qcmadman1]

8. Interestingly enough...

but not surprisingly, the guy denies it completely during the interview. Honestly though, having seen the full 2 minute version, the ONLY thing that would mitigate it would be if he cut out helen thomas saying "everything i'm about to say is a lie starting...NOW" just before the part he did show.

[donthebun]

11. No

How could it be a "set up." If someone doesn't normally think that jews should go back to poland, how could you "set them up" to be tricked into saying it?

[Johonny]

20. I agree

it turned a nasty personal one on one comment into a "national" comment. But that's the danger of the modern electronic society.

[mitchum]

3. That's because the good rabbi is far more of a Zionist than a Jew

And to the Zionist, nothing is more deplorable than any critique of Israel.

[qcmadman1]

5. Who is this guy anyway?

Was this Rabbi anyone before this incident?

[EFerrari]

6. Yikes. What a disgusting person he is. nt

[aliciaabs19]

10. I'm not a huge fan...

but I think Thomas went way off the deep end with her comments, and if she's too old not to say something like that, she's too old to be reporting. Can't have it both ways.

[Raineyb]

12. That rabbi is a fucking racist. But he's he caught Helen Thomas saying something contrary

to the mainstream American political orthodoxy so they didn't look too close. I wonder how many of those jumping to dance on Ms. Thomas' grave care that they threw themselves into the same boat with a raging racist.

Or is bigotry only unacceptable against certain people?

:shrug:

[PCIntern]

15. Oh yeah...

he's a 'racist'...SHE said Jews have to go back to their HOLCAUST LANDS, and HE's a RACIST. :sarcasm: Give me one fucking break.

[devilgrrl]

16. Is that how she stated it? Sounds like you're making shit up.

What she said was stupid - but that's not what she said.

[PCIntern]

19. Did she not say for them to go to Germany and Poland?

Am I hallucinating?

AmI now on a RW Board...I gotta check my browser...

[devilgrrl]

21. Yes, that's what she said - did she say "holocaust lands"????????

????????????????

No. she didn't - you threw that in.

:popcorn:

[PCIntern]

22. give me a break...

WTF...?

OK...what do YOU think happened in Germany and Poland? A quoits championship? Bridge tournament?

On eidt: you just can't stand that your Queen of Hearts turned out to be the racist that WE, as Jews, always knew her to be. Sorry for you...too bad. I didn't say it, the Rabbi didn't say it, SHE said it. Just live with it and move on...

[devilgrrl]

23. What happened in Russia - lot of Israelis come from there too... and the USA!

Did the USA and Russia have a holocaust?

She said that many Israelis weren't born there to begin with? It's not nice but it's a fact.

You give me a break.

BTW, isn't she retired over this?

You happy now?

[PCIntern]

25. I didn't ask for her to quit...

I don't see any reason why she should have. She told the truth...as she sees it. There you are...Mike Kinsley's definition of a gaffe...

Look, you're only excited about this b/c it's about Israel. If some asshole somewhere said that the citizens of the USA should go back where they came from and leave North America to the Native Americans, you'd dismiss it out of hand. Just think: all the Arabs and Muslims who stayed in Israel during the War of Independence, who didn't leave and await the 'glorious Arab victory' (which would have involved a second Holocaust, make no mistake about it) wound up living in a society where they had a vote, where their children could go to modern schools, where they could operate their businesses, where their women weren't persecuted for showing an ankle, where they could get state of the art medical care. Terrible...just terrible. :sarcasm:

[devilgrrl]

26. Oh puh-leeze. And for the record. Non-Native Americans should go back to where they came from.

This use to be such a nice country.:sarcasm:

[PCIntern]

32. Puhl-leeze yourself...

as it were...

Fact of the matter is:

Your lady-friend made a horrendous remark which is how she feels
You are trying to blame the victims of her hatred
You seem to forget the fact that it was a celebration involving Jews at the WH that day
You also seem to want to make the cameraman the villain.

It would be funny if it weren't so blatantly racist...

You lost this one...you lost all the Arab-Israeli wars as well...time to move on and accept what is.

[devilgrrl]

33. Your hysterionics a tiresome. Go tell it to Ari Fleischer.

:boring:

[PCIntern]

40. Yeah...that's the ticket...

all of us are just alike.

[devilgrrl]

42. I noticed that you haven't address others who have challenged your assertions.

Good luck with that. :popcorn:

[celtics23]

43. Confirmed

I would also like to see the questions addressed.

[LostinVA]

29. What happened in the US and Canada? Why was Rachel Corrie murdered?

[LostinVA]

28. To leave Palestine, and go back to Canada, the US, etc.

I agree with her -- the Palestinians keep having their land taken away by people immigrating to Israel. They don't have a moral right to do that.

I was quite appalled by how what Helen said was twisted on here, and how she was thrown under the bus in a nanosecond.

[choie]

38. um,

she also said "and the United States and everywhere else" Since when is the U.S. a "holocaust" land (whatever the fuck that means).

[sabrina 1]

41. And the" United States and Canada'' and wherever those

illegal settlers are coming from. Of course they left out 'The United States' as it didn't fit the lie they wanted to spread. I see YOU left it out also.

A Republican rightwing attack on an American journalist because she spoke the truth about their illegal wars and was never a willing puppet as the rest of the disgusting excuse for a news media is.

Shame on YOU for buying these deceptions, especially being that you are posting on a Democratic board.

[LostinVA]

27. She didn't say that at all

She said Jewish folks immigrating to Israel from Canada, the US, Germany, Poland, etc. had no right to inhabit Palestine, and should go back to the countries they came from. I 100% agree with her. I've seen the whole clip, and she did not tell Jews to get out of Israel and go back to "Holocaust Lands."

[Raineyb]

24. Yes he is a racist. Unless you consider mocking Latinos a non racist act. I do not.

So to repeat. Yes he is a racist and you've gotten into bed with that piece of filth so no you don't get a fucking break.

[LostinVA]

30. I hadn't heard about him doing that

And, Gibosn is a disgusting human being. The way he thinks about women and gays is also vile.

[Raineyb]

34. Olbermann had a segment on the rabbi with a clip of the video.

I suppose it can be Googled but I don't need to see anymore of it.

On edit: Changed verb tense HAD a segment. Grr!

[LostinVA]

35. Ugh

[Bluenorthwest]

36. First she did not say that. You did.

Second, is your claim that only one of them can be racist? Because this 'rabbi' is on tape doing a bigoted racist 'comedy routine' or two, you do understand that, don't you?
So, you are defending a racist by making up things. Good work.

[celtics23]

39. Facts

Facts have never stood in the way of racism claims when someone wants to make them.

[celtics23]

37. Yep

My thoughts exactly on that point

[TexasObserver]

18. The rabbi is a horrible racist, whose bigotry is displayed in videos.

He's a world class jackass who made a tape that is clearly racist toward Hispanics.

[tins0404]

44. Hmm

I am Hispanic, went into that video assuming I'd be offended, and it really wasn't anything i'd call "racist." There's edgier, more offensive stuff on cable tv every day.

[TexasObserver]

46. So you say.

I choose not to believe you.

[celtics23]

45. Video

Now updated with video:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKE2LxDbVNM
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlFoazUjDII