Easterbrook

This is one of the best discussions on the whole matter that i've seen.

Gregg Easterbrook's not an anti-Semite...

It is too long to excerpt and still do it justice. But here are a couple snippets to whet the appetite:


This is because Easterbrook's post was not, as Leon Wieseltier assessed it, "objectively anti-Semitic."

Neither's statement was particularly well-argued or added much to understanding Easterbrook; in this sense, they were about as useful as, say, television pundits. And the interesting thing here is that their value is very much akin to television pundits. Yourish is the screaming hysteric who provides more entertainment than coherence, and Simon is the screenwriter-of-a-Holocaust-movie whom some might think would have something unique or interesting to say, but when stumped, a network executive will rationalize his appearance by saying "it makes good television."

I also liked this point at The Ambler on Postrel's comments:

So Easterbrook’s criticism of certain aspects of quasi-monopoly capitalism equals "hating commerce"—which practically outfits him in an SS uniform. How very interesting that to Postrel Easterbrook’s mortal sin is not his putative hatred of Jews but rather his blasphemy against her jealous god, Capitalism.


On the downside, we have this comment over at Buzzmachine in response to the pro-Easterbrook column by Krauthammer (it is third in the thread)


it's a minor scalp, but at least its a start... and we got the pentagon's chaplain advisor (who just happened to be a radical terrorist supporter)
scalp them all, from easterbrook on up... so he's a friend or a colleague, he helped contribute to the atmosphere that allows widespread attacks and libels against jews, he deserves everything he got
it's time, and I'm a big fan of John Brown and the uncomprising school of dealing with evil. Just as slavery was an unalloyed evil, so is terrorism (in all its guises) and anti-semitism. Let's hope we can soon hang Patty B and Al Sharpton up along Easterbrook on our trophy wall, quickly followed by Chirac, Arafat, et al...
no quarter, no quarter, and no sympathy

Our brave warrior commented anonymously course. But i think that he makes a point that he didn't intend to make. There is no way in the world that the blogosphere or traditional media can get Sharpton or Buchanan in the way they got Easterbrook-- they, unlike him, have no trouble trucking with anti-semites. And there is a political and market niche that supports them that is indifferent to the sort of criticism leveled at Easterbrook. Chirac and Arafat are even more immune. (Remember, Chirac was re-elected as the least anti-semitic candidate in round two).

All of which is to Easterbrook's credit and undercuts the rationale for the full-out assault directed at him.