Tikkun, a/k/a Michael Lerner, has posted a long rambling diatribe on its website called "Why Rabbi Lerner Blew the Whistle on ANSWER's anti-Semitism : The Facts." It's worth a read just to get an idea of who exactly it is that is being denied the "right" to speak at the S.F. pro-appeasement rally tomorrow. Some excerpts:
Of course, the media has tried to use this to hurt the anti-war movement. But we think we've been rather clever in being able to use those media moments to articulate the anti-war message and to make clear why people must demonstrate this weekend. In fact, we've gotten into venues that allow us to get the anti-war message to many people who have never heard it put so clearly. And we have already heard many people tell us that because of our voice they now feel more able to come into the streets this weekend, knowing that their concerns are being expressed and articulated, concerns that otherwise would have kept them from participating even though they too oppose the war. It is precisely because they've heard these concerns validated by us that they can now feel good about being more activist in opposition to the war.
It kind of sounds as if Lerner is suggesting that he and his merry band of lunatic fringers are the last hope of a near comatose anti-war movement. Would that this were true. And, in fact, he later reiterates this point, rather forcefully:
But one thing is certain: the anti-war movement has not yet been successful in finding a way to make its message politically effective, and that is why opportunists like Diane Feinstein and some of the liberals running for President in the Democratic party have been willing to support the war. Rather than push TIKKUN away, or demean the role of Rabbi Lerner, a serious leadership would attempt to include him and us in its decision-making, and, give serious attention to the perspective developed in Tikkun for how to reach out and reframe the issues around Iraq in a way that might build mass support for a peaceful approach.
Look. The sorry fact is that Lerner has been tolerated by the likes of A.N.S.W.E.R. and UPJ for a long time now because he provides some highly visible Jewish color and some plausible deniability against claims of anti-Semitism in their ranks. Once he started making these accusations himself, however, his usefulness sort of came to an abrupt end.
Not that Lerner has just now discovered this taint in his fellow crusaders. His book (it's actually more like a big pamphlet) "The Socialism of Fools: Anti-Semitism on the Left" was published more than ten years ago. I haven't read it, but a reliable source who has tells me that it's well written and "does a good job exposing the double-standard many on the left hold Israel to." Somehow, this understanding didn't restrain Lerner from lending his name and his "title" to countless campaigns and activities over the years in which that double standard was all too prominent.
To get an accurate picture of who Lerner really is, I can't recommend a more disturbing source than Lerner himself. His own rather pathetic autobiography fills in many of the sordid details of his life and leaves one wondering how it is, exactly, that this man manages to inspire a "following," however small and wild-eyed it may be. For a more spirited discussion of Lerner's background, including several references to the ongoing debate over whether and in what sense he's really a "rabbi" at all, you might want to check out this thread from last fall over at LGF.
Diane points out that even Justin Raimondo is bashing Lerner now, and I must say he does a pretty thorough job. (Yes, I managed to find the article and, no, I'm not going to link to it, either.) It's always disconcerting to find myself in agreement with Raimey on anything, no matter how trivial, but in this case I'll have to live with it. I was even tempted to get way down in the dirt and quote him but, . . . nah, that's going too far.
A lousy note to conclude the week, but still better than my reactions to today's "debate" in the U.N. Security Council. I try to refrain from using four letter words on this blog, which leaves me with very little to say on that subject right now.
Shabbat Shalom
