March 21, 2009

"Did Ezra Klein post anti-Semitic comments to set up Ann Althouse?"

A fair post title?

84 comments:

Joe said...

Nah, that attributes way too much cleverness to Klein.

Fen said...

Ezra Klein should be known as the Al Sharpton of the net, as he has a pattern of playing the race card when scrutinzed. Then, with the same breath, Ezra asks us to ignore his base tactics and insists he is a man of integrity who should be taken at his word when he says there is nothing sinister going on at JList.

a fair post title?

Ezra is a hate-mongerer. As such, everything is in play. He deserves nothing but contempt. And he certainly does not deserve to be treated fairly.

LonewackoDotCom said...

While he slightly redeemed himself at the end after making a series of minor errors, can I suggest that having someone who'd post something like this earlier effort (mentioned by me here) defending one isn't in one's best interests? I hate to say it, but I actually took a look at the earlier thread that Ezra Klein linked to, and pointing out what he appears to have gotten wrong should have been enough.

rcocean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rcocean said...

I would have posted the question:

"Are Ezra Klein's Commentators Child Molesters?"

But that's me.

Michael Haz said...

It is a fair post title, and in that sense must certainly be anti-Semitic because it's about Ezra Klein who is a self-described agnostic.

It's just weird how Klein gets his panties in a knot when he perceives a slight directed at members of a religion he no longer chooses to follow.

It's almost like an atheist getting angry about Bill Maher's insulting Catholicism - amusing, but without credibility.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The Princess Bride By William Goldman

"Whoever is gone is of minimal importance, since whoever has the princess is the whoever we're after. And because we dont know the nature of the trap we might be led into, we need all the arms we have in one band. Clearly this has been planned by contrymen of Guilder and nothing must ever be put past them"

"You think this is a trap then?" the Count asked.

"I allways think everything is a trap until proven otherwise," the Prince answered.

"Which is why I'm still alive."

Jason (the commenter) said...

A fair post title?

No, because the linked-to article is about how the comments weren't antisemitic.

What is clear is that Ezra Klein is a bad journalist, who doesn't check his source information, and makes false accusations he has to write retractions for afterwords.

His original tweet was about me and all the other commenters, so I feel justified in tweeting: "More false reporting by Ezra Klein" and linking to the post. Hope he likes that in Google.

Zachary Sire said...

I love that Maxine is getting so much play out of this. She's a star!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Yes Jason, it maybe unfair.. but its accurate ;)

I say that because if it occurs to Althouse to say it, then it must be true.

rhhardin said...

I never heard of Ezra Klein.

It looks like anagram material, is all.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I love that Maxine is getting so much play out of this. She's a star!

I didn't even know she had a blog.

Trooper York said...

When we came up with the idea for Bewitched show we decided to have Darren work in advertising. You see that is where we could find the most amoral and incompetent fools in the 1960’s. We wanted to use the old stand by of the stupid husband with the beautiful and intelligent wife. We wanted to appeal to women who we thought controlled the channel choices. So we wanted to idealize Elizabeth Montgomery as a beautiful and compelling woman married to a fumbling bumbling moron. Now the man had to be really quite horrible for a “witch” to seem normal and sympathetic. At first we were going to make him a used car salesmen. But then we met a young advertising man named H D House and we realized no one could be a more realistic bumbling moron than this Schmendrick. As my yiddisher mama used to say “Fransn zol esn zayn layb.”
(Sol Sacks, Hey They Switched Darren’s, The E True Hollywood Story of Bewitched)

AmPowerBlog said...

rhhardin said...

"I never heard of Ezra Klein."

Sometimes I wish I hadn't as well.

Trooper York said...

We loved having HD House as our consultant. We never actually told him that we were using his life story to come up with the fantastically stupid things that Darrin would do that his wife the witch would have to help him with and save his sorry ass. So we would just let him ramble on and then use his latest idiocy as a plot for an episode. The only thing we didn’t do is let him talk about politics. He was a hard core leftist who wanted to overthrow the government and seize the means of production for the proletariat. You know the kind of bullshit that Clifford Odetts and Ring Lardner Jr. and Howard Fast were preaching in the forties. Of course I don’t think old HD was really in it for intellectual reasons. I think he was in it for the sex. He went down to Cuba on vacation and got a dirty Sanchez from Fidel Castro. He didn’t clean his upper lip for a month. I mean we really didn’t care that he was gay but the smell started to get to us. Oy what a shmuck.
(Sol Sacks, Hey They Switched Darren’s, The E True Hollywood Story of Bewitched)

Ann Althouse said...

Lazier Ken... Zanier Elk...

Trooper York said...

In fact we had a lot of gay people working on the set of Bewitched. Nobody cared about stuff like that. The Darrin’s where both gay. I mean we had fucking Paul Lynde for Christ sake. It was the anything goes sixties. But even for us, the sexual misadventures of HD House were a little over the top. Once I accidentally walked in on the young ad exec having a three way with Mr. Ed and Mr. Sulu from Star Trek. It was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen. Sulu and HD were having a sixty nine while Mr. Ed was dropping a Cleveland Steamer on them. HD was totally out of control. We finally had to let him go when he tried to rape My Mother the Car. He got his pischer stuck in her tailpipe. Which was quite an accomplishment since it was so small. What a freak.
(Sol Sacks, Hey They Switched Darren’s, The E True Hollywood Story of Bewitched)

From Inwood said...

Oy veh

Where's Cedarford when Ezra needs him on this thread....

John Stodder said...

I noticed Klein failed to put an apostrophe where one was needed, on this post:

Ron Chernow has an article this week that might provide an answer. He delves into the story of Ivar Kruegar, a Swedish matchmaker who began with a deviously brilliant scheme to trade countries low-interest loans in return for monopoly access to their match markets.

Based on that, I think Ann is well within her rights to title a blog post, "Is Ezra Klein Illiterate?"

Jason (the commenter) said...

Lazier Ken... Zanier Elk...

I wouldn't go there Anal Nose Hut.

From Inwood said...

Arze was I ere I saw Ezra.

Fen said...

It's just weird how Klein gets his panties in a knot when he perceives a slight directed at members of a religion he no longer chooses to follow.

Its not weird. Ezra Klein doesn't really care about anti-Semitism. He only played that card to distract from criticism of his JList. Anyone with a genuine concern about bigotry would have noted those here who attacked Cedarford.

I must admit, although I think C4 often makes excellent points that are marred by his comments re Jews, I'm more inclined to revisit his points now that I've had to deal with a weasel like Klein.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Lazier Ken..


I like it.

An imperfect duplicate of Superman created by Lex Luthor. ...hoping to use the duplicate in an attack on Superman. Bizarro does not cooperate and instead tries to emulate Superman.

Unfortunately, his attempts to match his original's heroics are clumsy and destructive.

Fen said...

His original tweet was about me and all the other commenters, so I feel justified in tweeting: "More false reporting by Ezra Klein" and linking to the post. Hope he likes that in Google.

You might also add than anything coming from anyone associated with Klein's JList is suspect. Its not their original independent thought, its a collaboration amoung "experts" who would not withstand the light of day.

Peter Hoh said...

Fen, one of the bright bulbs over on Klein's thread has suggested that you are an Althouse sock puppet.

Michael Haz said...

"Jason the commenter" anagrams

Nacho Jester Moment
A Mensch Jotter Omen
Ace Men Torment Josh
John Cremates Me Not

Nothing here as good as Anal Nose Hut, though. Has a nice ring to it.

Fen said...

Fen, one of the bright bulbs over on Klein's thread has suggested that you are an Althouse sock puppet

Yah, I found that funny too. Although I can see that the timing of my return here would be suspicious to some.

But both of us posted on Ezra's blog, so it shouldn't be too hard for him to look at our ISPs. Mine is on the east coast, in Gaithersburg Maryland. Not sure where Ann is these days, I'm assuming Madison and not NYC.

Michael Haz said...

Anagrams for "Maxine Weiss"

Exams Swine I
Exam Wine Sis
Waxen Semi Is
Waxes Mine Is
Awe Sex Minis
Main Wise Sex
Swami See Nix
Axis Seem Win
As Mixes Wine
Wax See Minis
A Ewes Minx Is

Kirk Parker said...

"I think C4 often makes excellent points that are marred by his comments re Jews"

Which is exactly why there's some plausibility to the theory that he's actually some kind of mole or provocateur. It certainly passes the "would such a person act any different than C4 does" test.

From Inwood said...

C4 did A ere A did 4C

Jason (the commenter) said...

Trooper York left the best comment over at Ezra Klein's page.

I'm Full of Soup said...

When did news reporters, etc turn into such pussies? Was it around the time they started calling themselves "journalists"?

Most of them have no fing experience in real jobs outside the media. They may be smart but they are clueless.

They need to understand they have to work to earn our respect.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Nothing here as good as Anal Nose Hut, though. Has a nice ring to it.

You know, I never liked Jason as a name; there seem to be Jasons everywhere. But do I really want to go around like this?

Ben Masel said...

Meta question. Is a tweet the equal of a blog post as cause for offense to be taken?

For a tweet, it's pretty normal to mention an association that pops into your head, while for a post one would want to conduct some research.

Matthew said...

I'm Jewish and I didn't read anything that was offensive in the posts in question. I fear this type of thing could lead to the boy who cried wolf syndrome. When the real anti-Semitic stuff is pointed out people won't bother paying attention to the outrage.


Ann don't let the bastards get to you.

Republican said...

It's like Ann received a government bonus or something.

Klein is now the keeper of the lists. He knows how to use them!

(I mean another list, one you wouldn't want to be on, Jewish or not.)

Penny said...

I am with you 100% Matthew.

Additionally, his argument reminded me of way too many others of some minority group, pick one (race, sex, national origin...etc) who have something happen to them, that frankly happens to all the rest of us in some form, but he puts forth an argument that it happened BECAUSE he was in said minority group, and therefore has been "wronged more than the rest of us"...this time.

This kind of "victim" tune is getting WAY old in the courts and on the internet. The only way it will go away is if we decide to shut these side-shows down by giving them the attention they deserve. NONE

Penny said...

Now that I ran off at the mouth...sorry, Ann, back to your original question, "Did Ezra Klein post anti-Semetic comments to set up Ann Althouse?"

I could only guess, and then try to sound authoratative or better yet, knowledgable. Laughing at myself now.

We all do that so well, BECAUSE WE CAN!

This free speech stuff is very good for the soul, not unlike chicken soup which hopefully both Ezra and Ann would enjoy, if not at the same table tonight.

Unknown said...

Why would Ezra need to post anti-semetic comments, when Cedarford posts them all the time?

Lame post.

Unknown said...

Let's also not forget that the vast vast majority of Ann's commenters are homophobic.

Which is fine, except that they are all too wimpy to admit it when called on it.

Unknown said...

I also count a lot of vehemently anti-gay sites on Ann's blogroll.

1) Volokh Conspiracy - "Gays recruit children"
2) The Anchoress - "Gays are going to burn in hell"
3) Dr. Helen - "Colleges should be forced to teach reparative therapy for gay people"
4) LaShawn Barber - "If a gay person knocks on my door, I will shoot them."
5) Kausfiles - "Even though Brokeback Mountain made $100 million at the box office, it is a box office flop"

And that's off of the top of my head.

Unknown said...

I will add that I have no problem linking to hateful bloggers on a blogroll, nor do I have a problem with letting anti-semetic comments stay in comment section.

That's free speech.

But Ezra Klein is right to be surprised by the anti-semetic comments. He was just wrong about it being from a lot of commenters. It wasn't, it was a handful. And he has since corrected himself.

But the comments he pointed out were DEFINITELY anti-semetic.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Well - excuse me if I sound like my mother... Ezra is just jealous of you, Ann...

Host with the Most said...

dtl,

I also count a lot of vehemently anti-gay sites on Ann's blogroll.

1) Volokh Conspiracy - "Gays recruit children"


Dale Carpenter, one of the regular lawyers who make up the Volokh Conspiracy, is gay.

Oh yeah, he's homophobic alright.

Michael Haz said...

How come all these people who don't like the Althouse blog keep coming back?

They are like moths to the giant blogging light bulb that is Althouse.

Or is this the only blog where they don't feel like they are in an echo chamber?

AllenS said...

"How come all these people who don't like the Althouse blog keep coming back?"

It's called The Turd In The Punchbowl Syndrome.

Unknown said...

And there were Jewish Nazis. That doesn't mean that the Nazi's weren't anti-semetic.

Someone will have to ask Dale Carpenter why he chooses to post on a rabidly anti-gay blog.

Here's the offending post:

http://volokh.com/posts/1124731507.shtml

And Michael - I'm not sure who you are referring to. I am a big fan of Ann's blog.

TMink said...

DTL wrote: "Let's also not forget that the vast vast majority of Ann's commenters are homophobic."

We aren't homophobic, we just despise you as a person. It is personal DTL, because you are such a liar.

Trey

Fen said...

Heh. What Trey said. I was against gay marriage until a few homosexuals on these boards presented enough civil and rational arguments to change my mind.

Despite all your attempts to stink up the place, DTL. In fact, there was a time I thought you were a sabateour, deliberately reinforcing all the negative stereotypes of gay queens.

Unknown said...

Gay Queens?

Keep digging Fen. It's obvious to all that you're a raging anti-gay bigot.

Unknown said...

And Fen just referred to gay people as "homosexuals".

Really - that's no different than calling black people "Niggers" or Hispanics "Spics".

Keep digging.

Adjoran said...

Klein's having fits because his little cabal of secret propagandists has been found out. Like his mentor, Herr Goebbels, he creates a straw man to blame and lashes out.

Pay him no mind. Just enjoy watching the little weasel squirm.

Unknown said...

And I don't appreciate being called a liar. You can't find one post of mine where I haven't told the truth.

What you can't handle Fen and Twink - because you are both effeminate wimps - is a gay person having an opinion - and calling you out on your bigotry.

Fen said...

Ha. See what I mean?

Unknown said...

Yup - Fen is fufilling all of the Republican stereotypes.

Fen gay bashes so that we don't realize what an effeminate wimp he is.

Unknown said...

How soon til we get another post from Fen saying that the "homosexual lifestyle" is deadly????

Unknown said...

"I'm betting he's a bottom, a queen. My experience has been that gay male bottoms combine the worst traits of male & female: agressive and petty. Every one that I've run across has been untrustworthy [theiving is rampant, by some odd coincidence] and dishonorable." - Fen ,

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/05/you-have-to-be-jackie-kennedy-today.html

Fen said...

DTL is referring to his habit of "barebacking" [no condom] that he took up after HIV cocktails became available.

Its not unlikley that his hateful rants are the result of AIDS dementia. So be gentle with him.

Unknown said...

The Downtown Lad never forgets.

And never forgives.

Don't fuck with The Downtown Lad.

Unknown said...

Care to find any hateful rants of mine? Just one.

It's not hateful to say that comments of Fen's are homophobic, such as "I'm betting he's a bottom, a queen. My experience has been that gay male bottoms combine the worst traits of male & female: agressive and petty. Every one that I've run across has been untrustworthy [theiving is rampant, by some odd coincidence] and dishonorable."

Care to explain how that's NOT homophobic?

I have no problem with you saying it. Just admit that it's homphobic (which is ok) instead of launching into ad hominem attacks, as you always do.

Fen said...

Oh that comment? Yes, I still stand by it. But note that its not indicative of all homosexuals, just the Bottom Drama Queens like yourself. Like an S&M parade in SanFran, you give gays a bad name.

Fen said...

Care to find any hateful rants of mine? Just one.

Hah.

Care to explain how that's NOT homophobic?

Sure, its DTLphobic. I don't hate gays, just you.

Unknown said...

I give gays a bad name by standing up for myself and pointing out homophobic remarks and homophobic people????

Um - guess what Fen. Homophobes like you do NOT get to decide who gives gays a bad name.

And there's nothing wrong with S&M. Stop trying to regulate people's sexual likes and dislikes.

Unknown said...

"I don't hate gays, just you." - Fen

"Every one [gay person] that I've run across has been untrustworthy [theiving is rampant, by some odd coincidence] and dishonorable." - Fen

Care to reconcile the two statements above?

Fen said...

oh, here's the rest of my quote that you conveniently ommitted:

Maybe someone in the gay community can explain. Because the "non-queens" that I know are completely opposite from dtl - considerate, openminded, honorable, good role models [like Doug on Bravo's "Workout"].

Unknown said...

Fen - You've stated that you HATE effeminate gays and that masculine gays are fine.

That's pretty fucked up if you ask me.

And it shows you're mightily insecure about your own sexuality.

Fen said...

Care to reconcile the two statements above?

Sure. You clipped the sentence. "Everyone" is referring to bottom queens, not all gays. Here it is again:

"I'm betting he's a bottom, a queen. My experience has been that gay male bottoms combine the worst traits of male & female: agressive and petty. Every one that I've run across has been untrustworthy [theiving is rampant, by some odd coincidence] and dishonorable." - Fen ,

Unknown said...

And I've said this before. I have no problem with homophobes.

I just have a problem with homophobes who are not willing to admit that they're homophobes.

Fen said...

Fen - You've stated that you HATE effeminate gays and that masculine gays are fine.

No. I said that I've encountered queens like you and found them to be aggressive, petty, and dishonest.

BTW, quit stereotyping - not all effeminate gays are queens like you.

Unknown said...

Most gay people are like me Fen. They don't like being discriminated against and they're pretty pissed off about it.

Granted - you wouldn't know that because most gay people are banned from commenting on right-wing blogs. And you have no gay friends.

But if you went to ANY mainstream gay blog, I'd be considered a moderate.

Fen said...

And there's nothing wrong with S&M.

Of course not. But if you're going to put on a freak show in the streets of SanFran, don't complain when society associates it with the gay community.

You already know that your behavior on these boards is an embarassment to our gay commenters. I'm going to stop feeding you now, because you can't help but swallow.

KCFleming said...

The Journo list is an Alinsky tactic. This is no mere smear, it is more sinister than you think.

Unknown said...

Yes - and you had to add yet another ad hominem attack.

You just proved my point Fen - that you're a hater.

I think it's quite obvious that you're a closet case too.

hdhouse said...

Hey Trooper...tomorrow when you get out of bed, make "peeing" the first thing you do cause when you write first thing you really suck at it.

KCFleming said...

Au contraire, hd, 'twas both beamish and frabjous.

TMink said...

Fine DTL, I will give you proof of being a liar. The rest of us already accept that.

In this thread you posted: "3) Dr. Helen - "Colleges should be forced to teach reparative therapy for gay people"

That is a complete lie. I frequently post over there and recall the topic you are using to libel the good Dr. In that thread, she and I both said that neither of us practice nor really believe in reparitave therapy. We further said that if someone WANTED that approach, they should be ALLOWED to seek it instead of letting the APA outlaw it.

She never said that it should be taught. You lied about it then, and you are lying about it now.

A huge lie. Because you are hysterical. Because you are personality disordered. And you call me a twink like it is an insult. That is because you are self hating.

We don't hate homosexuals (a technical term, no wonder you confuse it) you hate homosexuals. I suggest that you ask God for forgiveness and Jesus to save you. He will not have tired of you.

We have.

Trey - who would be a bear if he were gay 8)

TMink said...

"Most gay people are like me Fen."

Another lie. Thank God. If most gay people were like you I would be homophobic.

With good reason.

Trey

AlphaLiberal said...

Okay, Ann. You can stop holding your breath now.

BJM said...

Holy shit, I take a day off the computer to unpack my household crap and all hell breaks loose.

Lazier Ken. *snorfle* Klein is fighting outside his weight class.

ZPS I love that Maxine is getting so much play out of this. She's a star!

In a galaxy of anti-Semites she may indeed be a pile o' smeg.

Trooper York said...

Hey hd of course I will pee first thing. I don’t have the luxury of just going in my Depends like you do.

And thanks for the advice but taking advice from you on writing is like letting Charley Rangel help me with my taxes.

Bruce Hayden said...

I also count a lot of vehemently anti-gay sites on Ann's blogroll.

1) Volokh Conspiracy - "Gays recruit children"


Obviously does not read Volokh.com, or he would know that this is inaccurate. Last I knew, Eugene was mildly pro-SSM, and Dale Carpenter strongly so. About the time that Eugene was moving from supporting civil unions to SSM, he convinced me to support the former (I have moved to the fence on the later).

The one place where you will get a lot of consensus with the Volokh conspirators in relation to Gays, is when the later manage to utilize power (for example, through a college administration) to limit opposing speech. But this opposition has nothing to do with the sexual orientation involved, and everything to do with free speech and academic freedom. They oppose it just as strongly if it is at the behest of feminists, or even Christianists.

Of course, the blog commenters are often not as disciplined as the actual bloggers (as we found with Klein accusing Ann Althouse, formerly married to a Jew, of being anti-Semitic based on her commenters).

Notably, some of Ann's commenters are anti-Gay. And, others, not so. But I have always wondered if at least some of the former are in reaction to some of the later, knowing their hot buttons, and finding it entertaining to punch them.

From Inwood said...

Say, is it me or has this thread been hijacked?

Ez can now post something about Prof A being a "fag hag", with all due respect, of course.

Hey, thread hijackers, I'm not, um, espousing the term, just pre-empting ol' Ez, or some other cheap critic here.

Maxine Weiss said...

(From the Klein Kid's own Blog)


______________________________


Maxine Weiss really got under Ezra's skin didn't he? Maxine posted that a year ago. What a long memory Ezra has.

We usually ignore Maxine's rants but Ezra seems to care.

Was her comment too close to the truth -or is Ezra just a wuss who can dish it out but not take it?

Posted by: Orwell | March 22, 2009 12:41 PM

____________________________