Wash Post's Jonathan Capehart Smears Sarah Palin for 'Anti-Semitic Phrase'
MSNBC's Chris Jansing featured the liberal Jonathan Capehart on Wednesday to attack a newly released Sarah Palin video as "anti-Semitic." The Washington Post editorial page writer berated Palin for complaining about the media's attempts to link conservative speech to last week's shooting in Arizona.
In the video, the former Alaska governor rejected this as a "blood libel." Capehart smeared, "...That phrasing, that phrase is incredibly anti-Semitic. And no one is calling Sarah Palin an anti-Semite but for her to use that language a lot of people think she has dug a deep hole even deeper."
However, the National Review's Jim Geraghty pointed to an October 30, 2008 Ann Coulter column: Capehart's Washington Post colleague Eugene Robinson complained about "...The blood libel against black men concerning the defilement of the flower of Caucasian womanhood." Was Mr. Robinson using anti-Semitic language? Should he have been "more careful," as Capehart instructed Palin to be?
(See video below. MP3 audio here.)
Additionally, another MSNBC contributor, Mike Barnicle, used the phrase on October 31, 2006: "The problem for Kerry here is that two years ago, Joe, he did not talk like that when he was undergoing a blood libel by the Swift Boat people." Was he being vaguely anti-Semitic?
Wednesday's Politico asserted:
Palin’s use of the charged phrase "blood libel" — which refers to the anti-Semitic accusation from the Middle Ages that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood to make matzo for Passover — touched off an immediate backlash.
Capehart even asserted that Palin's 2012 presidential chances could now be imperiled. He speculated, " Did she provide words that aided in that healing or did she provide words that only served to inflame the conversation?"
A partial transcript of the January 12 segment, which aired at 11:32am EST, follows:
CHRIS JANSING: I want to bring in Jonathan Capehart, MSNBC contributor and Washington Post editorial writer. And I saw that you wrote about this. She says blood libel insights hatred. Strong language. What do you think about this video, Jonathan?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, overall, I think the video was a nearly eight-minute defense of her actions and of herself. In my piece, I write that she says, "Don't blame me, blame the shooter and then blame the media. All I was trying to do was exercising my right to dissent and any criticism of me doing that is stifling free speech." And, you know, times like this call for statesmen. Calls- It is a time that calls for people to come together and to try to, you know, move everyone along and what Sarah Palin has done is just continuing her defensive crouch. And one other thing, you know, Chris, she used the phrasing blood libel and, you know, all over Twitter, all over journalism circles and you go on the web and instantly people picked up on that because that phrasing, that phrase is incredibly anti-Semitic. And no one is calling Sarah Palin an anti-Semite but for her to use that language a lot of people think she has dug a deep hole even deeper. She should have been more careful.
JANSING: Let me just play another clip. Again, eight minutes of video, but here's another little part of it.
SARAH PALIN: Acts of monstrous criminalities stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state. Not with those who listen to talk radio. Not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle.
JANSING: You know, the argument is being made right now as we look ahead already to 2012 and possible candidates that they will be judged on the way they respond to the most obvious tonight here with President Obama, but do you think people like Sarah Palin and others that this will be remembered. This video will be looked at by voters?
CAPEHART: Yes, it will be. Whether she gets into the race or not for 2012, if she does, people will look at that and critique that for how did Sarah Palin respond during a national crisis, if you will? At a time when people were looking for healing and for solace. Did she provide words that aided in that healing or did she provide words that only served to inflame the conversation? I think Sarah Palin missed an incredible opportunity to go from being someone who hides behind Twitter and Facebook to reach people to being an actual statesperson who, you know, deserves to be talked about as someone who can possibly sit in the oval office. You know, that's what she wants people to think. But a performance like the one in that video today doesn't, it doesn't strike the right tone. They weren't the right words. She did not follow the advice from conservative commentator David Frum, which I thought was excellent. If she wanted someone to follow, you know, the speech that Speaker Boehner gave on the floor today, right tone, right words, a statesman.
— Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
OMG
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 1:36pm.
.
SOL
Submitted by well99 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:50pm.
I guess he is to stupid to understand that it is implying the media is smearing her.Does the BLSM take stupid pills.
Capeheart don't need stupid
Submitted by bassndude on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:16pm.
Capeheart don't need stupid pills! He is a practicing, card carrying idiot...
Save a SeAL, club a liberal/troll!!
I've seen pictures/videos of Palin in her old Governor's office
Submitted by virginia republican on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 1:39pm.
with an Israeli flag on a credenza in the background. To call her anti-Semitic (which is what this fool is doing.....we're not stupid) pegged my Bovine Excrement Meter. Palin is about as pro-Israel as you can get (and rightfully so).
Try telling that to a deranged Leftist
Submitted by JakeMo on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:13pm.
Try telling that to a deranged Leftist. Especially the 9/11 Truthers.
I've tried.
Their response is that Sarah doesn't support the Jewish people, she supports Israel because she believes they will drag the world into a global nuclear conflict. They contend that she feigns support for Israel because "crazy Christians" want to hasten the "end-times," the Rapture, and the return of our Savior.
That some Leftist minds can concoct these vast and complex fantasies and spout them at the slightest prompting is testament to their guile. And borderline psychosis.
I'll Back You Up
Submitted by Gothampc on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:44pm.
The Bible says that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses a thing shall be established.
I remember watching a video of Sarah Palin being interviewed in her office and there definitely was an Israeli flag in the background.
Sarah Palin is definitely not anti-Semitic.
http://mikepiperreport.com/Articles_Archive/AmericanFreePress/AFP2008_07-12/Art/AFP_20081103.p17_Sarah_Palin.525x304.jpeg.jpg
Sheriff Dipstick
Submitted by SnapTie on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 1:54pm.
Sheriff Dipstick in Tucson is taking heat badly in Arizona.His deputies had quite a few contacts with the madman and always let him go. Sheriff Dipstick is trying to deflect blame for not at least some form of follow up.
Again, M.S.S.R. gets it wrong.
Submitted by djwolf12 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 1:54pm.
Jonathan Capehart should pick up his pitchfork and torch and go after Charles Krauthammer.
Or his pink umbrella
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:23pm.
.
It's so touching
Submitted by Marsh on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:01pm.
how concerned the MSM is about Sarah Palin's inability to be a peace maker.
Dialog......
Submitted by almostacowboy on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:42pm.
Sarah Palin: Good morning, Mr. Capehart
Jonathan Capehart: What do you mean by that? Oh, I get it. You mean, "it's a good morning to be white". Well let me tell you.........blah, blah, blah.
Capehart must come from the same shallow gene pool as the Dallas County Commisioner, John Wiley Price, who thinks that "black hole", "devils food cake" and "black sheep" are racist.
The District of Columbia government once forced a Mayor's aide
Submitted by virginia republican on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:05pm.
to resign for using the word "niggardly". Maybe they should invest in a dictionary.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/jan99/district27.htm
Man,,,,,,, I can't stand that
Submitted by Martin2717 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 4:06pm.
Man,,,,,,, I can't stand that fool, Price. He's been the county commissioner here for over 25 years. Time for this clown to go.
Liberals.....
Submitted by tampamom25 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:08pm.
Watching the liberals fall all over themselves while they try to blame something, anything conservative for the shooting in Tucson goes back and forth between amusing and disgusting. Their own vile hate speech far surpasses anything that conservatives have said, but I was told years ago to watch people and see what they "preach" the loudest and longest about, because most likely it will turn out to be the big sin in their own lives. Liberals seem to be busy proving that to be a true statement. They really are out of touch with reality on this one.....well, okay, on most things!
Reminds me..
Submitted by mang on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 4:04pm.
of the age-old question: "Why do the people that know the least know it the loudest?"
It's a lost cause, Sarah.
Submitted by CobraMan on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:20pm.
Ok, I got an idea, why doesn't Sarah change the term "blood libel" to "clan rivalry." Oh, wait, that would be raciest, wouldn't it? After all, Africans still live in clans, right?
Ok, how about "political feuding?" Oh, wait, feuding is a form of combat and we can't have any of that kind of incitement to violence, can we?
Ok, then how about "political sparing?" Oh, wait, that's a boxing term and yet another form of incitement to violence.
Well, I guess she could use "infighting..." Scratch that, it's a violent term too.
Humm.. maybe "character assassination?" Nope, that won't work ether.
"Bullying?" Nope, too violent...
"Harassing?" Nope, to suggestive.
Man, is there ANYTHING Sarah Palin could say that ISN'T some type of Faux Paux? I mean, really, even her silence is considered a Faux Paux by the liberal press!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I read Governor Palin's
Submitted by jdhawk on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:17pm.
I read Governor Palin's Facebook note this morning. I thought it was heart felt and caring. If only she was visiting Arizona instead of duhbama to deliver it . . . .
Meanwhile, you have to laff at the obvious overreach on the part of the lame stream media. This guy, Carp no heart, is deranged. He should mentally evaluated soon before he does somehting nefarious!
Perhaps, we can get Sheffiff Dispstick from Pima County, AZ, to recommend that he be evaluated. Nah, that didn't work with a truly deranged person why would it work with this wanker . . .
the talking points are out
Submitted by dmaley1714 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:21pm.
Sarah Palin used blood libel, watch for the phrase all over the media. capehart on of those journalism sites. Could it be the new journolist. what a joke. Blood libel is a lie told about a killing which is what happened. why are these so called journolist not going after the Sherrif's department that let death threats pass and lied to victims,( shooter was in hands of medicalk profession) because his mother work for the county. Disgusting cronism and favortism due to status. sherrif should be held responsible.
Pardon my ignorance
Submitted by IgnatzJFahrquar on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:23pm.
I've never heard of this term before let alone that it is supposed to be anti-semetic. I guess the fact that Capehart says so, in the context Sarah used it in, then it must be true.
On a related note, from my ethnic background, the name Capehart means "heart veiled by ignorance and stupidity". Don't bother looking it up ... you can trust me on that interpretation.
Well Played
Submitted by sam12663 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:27pm.
Bravo!
lol
Submitted by well99 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:52pm.
That was good.
BLM = MSM = LSM
Submitted by needle on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:23pm.
I read over at another blog somebody suggesting a new name for the Mainstream Media should now be the Blood Libel Media.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
That's even better than Ministry of Statist Misinformation
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 6:23pm.
:-)
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
It just never ends
Submitted by sam12663 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:29pm.
for these people. With all that is going on in the world, we have professional(?) journalists pouring over every word this woman says, all looking for the 'gotcha' moment. It still irks me that if these trogledytes did this much investigative work in 2008, we may not have a complete buffoon as president, but I digress.
The liberal media is such a laughing stock anymore it is beyond pathetic and ridiculous.
Once again Mr Capehart
Submitted by allouchsit on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:35pm.
Once again Mr Capehart demonstrates how little it takes for him to become inflamed. He really ought to see someone about his inablity to control his emotions. He should also have a long talk with his friend Eugene Robinson and castigate him soundly for using the same phrase because it inflames him so easily.
Someone should make a list
Submitted by CobraMan on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:40pm.
Someone should make a list of what words Sarah should avoid using. That way the liberals won't get their panties in a bind every time they feel their cultured sense of linguistic decency has been violated by the latest Palin statement.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
All ready have the list
Submitted by kangaroo on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:51pm.
It's called the Dictionary!
"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on"--Thomas Jefferson
Palin tried that
Submitted by mom_rox on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:08pm.
that's why she typed "refudiate". See how well that worked out for her?
Thanks for proving my point.
Submitted by CobraMan on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 9:32pm.
Thanks for proving my point. Some people will criticize Sarah no matter what she says. It looks like you're one of them.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
CM - ???
Submitted by mom_rox on Thu, 01/13/2011 - 10:44am.
CM - "It looks like you're one of them." ?? You misinterpreted my post.
You wrote: "Someone should make a list of what words Sarah should avoid using" so that liberals will not criticize her.
I think kangaroo's and my comments were noting that liberals will criticize Palin whether she uses words in the dictionary or not in the dictionary. (We've seen in the past few days that PDS is as prevalent as ever.) To demonstrate the media double standard, I've previously posted how Obama was not mocked for saying "inartful", yet we know that Palin did not receive the same treatment for typing "refudiate".
Alan Dershowitz defends Palin's "Blood Libel"
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 2:48pm.
The term “blood libel” has taken on a broad metaphorical meaning in public discourse. Although its historical origins were in theologically based false accusations against the Jews and the Jewish People,its current usage is far broader. I myself have used it to describe false accusations against the State of Israel by the Goldstone Report. There is nothing improper and certainly nothing anti-Semitic in Sarah Palin using the term to characterize what she reasonably believes are false accusations that her words or images may have caused a mentally disturbed individual to kill and maim. The fact that two of the victims are Jewish is utterly irrelevant to the propriety of using this widely used term. [Bold: mine]
Courtesy Big Government.
Does he realize the foolishness of his words?
Submitted by MissMinPhx on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:06pm.
"and what Sarah Palin has done is just continuing her defensive crouch," he said. Ironically, however, she would not need to be defensive if the liberal talkers who are obsessed with Sarah Palin would just give it a rest. Stop analyzing every single word the woman says. The liberal talkers are the ones who keep Sarah Palin in the news, yet they are the very ones complaining about it. I thought Sarah Palin's statement was very well written and spot on, but of course, nothing she does or says will ever satisfy the rabid left.
vroot
Submitted by Hoosier Conservative on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:08pm.
That was sound of this guy falling into Sarah's trap.
blood = Sarah Palin has blood on her hands
libel = telling a malicious lie to hurt someone
The average person on the street doesn't know anything about mideval Jewish fairy tales. Capehart looks like a desperate nitpicker.
RIGHT ON!
Submitted by Jayke on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 5:29pm.
... RIGHT ON!
macacca
Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:15pm.
Jonathan Capehart trying to have a macacca moment
God O'Mighty, these people
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:44pm.
God O'Mighty, these people are foolish.
Capehart
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:57pm.
Try to remember, Capehart, that we Christians draw our very moral values from the words of the Jewish bible.
But happy Kwanzaa, anyway!
Little Johnny Capehart
Submitted by Herbster on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 4:00pm.
Does anyone take this limp wristed twit seriously? Are we suffering here from a case of affirmative action tremens? Doesn't he work for the Washedup Post? These people are legends in their own mind.
It would be difficult to find
Submitted by mostlymoderate on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 4:11pm.
It would be difficult to find somebody that loves Israel more than Palin. She is not an anti-semite at all. She is the total opposite of an anti-semite. A leftist nut might call her a "zionist".
Sarah 3, MSM 0
Submitted by Master-of-Disaster on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 5:00pm.
Don't party like it's 1773 = Tea Party MSM FAIL = She meant 1776
I read C.S. Lewis for inspiration + numerous religious essays MSM FAIL = Aren't these childrens books?
Blood Libel = Lie about killing people (yes used to be applied to Jews but then again wasn't everything?) MSM FAIL = inciting violence! Palin! aaawwkkkkkk! Aughhhhh! Booooosh! MMMMMI want pudding:)
Dang I crack me up!
Prominent Jewish attorney Dershowitz bitchslaps Little Jonathan
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 5:25pm.
"Certainly nothing anti-Semitic"
The phrase "blood libel" is
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 5:26pm.
The phrase "blood libel" is "incredibly anti-Semitic"?!? To use one of retired General Russel Honoré's phrases, Capehart and the rest of the uber-libs mentioned in the article are "stuck on stupid."
Grasping at straws
Submitted by Phryj1 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 6:25pm.
I really didn't think their desperate grasping at straws could get any more pitiful and shameless than it already was, but Capehart has proven me wrong. Aside from being a completely illogical accusation of anti-semitism (the original act of blood libel was anti-semitic, usage of the term itself is not; Capehart is actually suggesting the term 'blood libel" is some kind of slur), it's really just another cheap shot.
How low can the leftist media go? I think we just found out.
I hope that I won't be proven wrong again...
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
It has gotten to the point that if Sarah Palin was to say...
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 6:27pm.
...that rain was wet, some government-educated MSM moron like Capehart would tell us that she doesn't know what she is talking about.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
I hope this gerbil whisperer
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 6:47pm.
I hope this gerbil whisperer washed his hands first, as one of his many disgusting habits is the smearing of his own feces on himself whenever he opens his mouth and speaks.
Barack_Must_Go.....
Isn't she identifiying *with* Jewish people?
Submitted by thule on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 7:21pm.
This is so stupid. Isn't Palin doing the exact opposite of what they are saying? Isn't she, by using that term, identifying with Jewish people that were unfairly accused? Isn't that the whole point of her statement? It is not like she is saying that "blood libel" is a good thing. It seems to me that the word "lynching" also needs to be taken out of politics. Maybe that is another reason they hate Judge Thomas.
Blood Libel
Submitted by stratman on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 7:28pm.
I think HoosierConservative, in his post above, is correct in the assumption that most Americans would have no idea where the phrase "blood libel" came from, but would understand the implications of how Glenn Reynolds and others use it in the context of the Tucson killing: Defaming one as having blood on their hands in provoking these murders.
It should be noted that blood libels by Arabs continues to occur, particularly in the context of the so-called Palestinians, especially Hamas supporters. Blood libel is taught to the youngest students using cartoons, readings, religious sessions, plays, and Disneyesque-costumed critters (one, a mouse-like character, which the Palestinians eventually retired after pressure from Disney!).
Blood libel? (1/4/11 - four days before the Tucson murders)
The above list is just from the first page of a Google search for "palestinian blood libel" with many more examples available, and these are just a subset of other examples from the Middle East and around the world.
Given the parochial nature Capehart views language, he needs to renounce using the word "Liberal" for himself and nearly every other in his sphere as today's so-called Liberals have very little in common with yesteryears' Liberals.
------------
According to a 2002 article by Judith Apter Klinghoffer, co-author of International Citizens' Tribunals: Mobilizing Public Opinion to Advance Human Rights (Palgrave: 2002):
Klinghoffer's article is a good read for the history of Blood Libels.
Way to go Sarah
Submitted by shawn. on Thu, 01/13/2011 - 10:57am.
I love the fact she will always stick up for what she believes in and will not be a wimp and apologize for false accusations made by the msm.