Liberal Firsters

Have you been keeping up with the Media Matters saga?   No?  Can't blame you.  Its head David Brock has struck me as a passing strange and pathetic fugure ever since he famously moved from the Right to the Left in the mid-90s. 

Anyway, to make matters worse (hey, I just punned without meaning to), it seems they've got Harvard Law Professor and fellow uber-liberal Alan Dershowitz on their back as well, and quite publicly so.  For him, the charge against the organization is one of anti-Semitism for among other reasons the group's use of the term "Israel Firster" to describe and discredit American Jews whose primary loyalty they think is to...well, you get it.

Alana Goodman over at conservative Commentary apparently thinks that as a result there may well be some political hay to be made for our side:

A vocal campaign against Media Matters, especially if it includes other prominent Democrats in the Jewish community, could cause major problems for Media Matters and increase pressure on Obama to distance himself from the group. 

But it will also be a test of whether Democrats are willing to call out anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing within their own ranks. After former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block criticized Media Matters staffers for making anti-Semitic comments late last year, the Truman Institute cuts its association with him, claiming Block was trying to shut down “honest debate.” Will Democratic Party institutions side with Dershowitz on this issue? Or will they continue to stay silent on the uncomfortable but very real Israel problem at Media Matters?

My guess is they'll do both and neither.

I recall many years ago watching Dershowitz on a split-screen with the late Jerry Fallwell.  They were debating either the verdict in the O.J. trial or the verdict came up and Fallwell said something like, "That jury would have acquitted O.J. even if the murder charge had been made by Mother Teresa herself and the entire crime captured on video-tape."  Before he could even finish the sentence, Dershowitz was yelling, "That's racist!  That's racist!"  Like so many Lefties, Dershowitz is a bully and reflexively reaches for his weapon of choice, one always kept very close at hand, i.e., charges of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, etc.  Hence, when someone, when anyone, even an ideological ally, criticizes something dear to him, in this case Israel itself, he just starts swinging.  He'll think about it later.   And when he does,...?

While I enjoy as much as any conservative these episodic family feuds among liberal, I wouldn't count on them having much effect.  The Democrat Party's support for Israel has been soft since the Carter Adminstration at least, while the GOP's support for the country has remained steadfast for even longer.  Does anyone honestly think that, as a result, Alan Dershowitz of all people will ever vote anything other than "Democrat" in an election?
 
Liberal ideologues, whether they be Jew or gentile, are liberals first and last.  Fidelity to their ideology supercedes, and easily so, all other ties that bind.