The Forward ties Abramoff to attacks on Kerry

[whometense]

Holy crap. This guy's like a spider. The poisonous kind.

http://www.forward.com/articles/3070

Lobbyist's Tie to Mahathir Raising Jewish Eyebrows

By E.J. KESSLER
April 22, 2005

Reports of business dealings between embattled Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the government of a Malaysian leader known for antisemitic speeches are drawing flak from Democrats and raising eyebrows among Jewish communal officials.

According to press reports, Abramoff once worked for the government of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, after the Southeast Asian leader accused "the Jews" in 1997 of conspiring to drive down his country's currency. Abramoff, a longtime conservative activist and Orthodox Jewish philanthropist who supports right-wing Israeli causes, was paid indirectly in 2001 by Mahathir's government, at a time when the premier was seeking to improve Malaysia's image in America, according to reports in The Washington Post and Time magazine.

- snip -

The reports that Abramoff had lobbied for the Mahathir regime and that DeLay had dined with Mahathir at a "fancy dinner" in Kuala Lumpur in 2001 provided an opportunity for Democrats to attack them for political hypocrisy. Republicans had used Mahathir in attacks on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry that were aimed at the Jewish community. Late in the 2004 campaign, the Republican parties of Florida and Ohio mailed Jewish households a flyer with a picture of Kerry positioned between the Malaysian premier and Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader. "Two infamous foreign leaders have stepped forward from the shadows to endorse John Kerry," the flyer read.

"Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff's web of corruption doesn't even seem to know any international boundaries," said David Wade, campaign adviser for Kerry 2004. "It looks like it's less than six degrees of separation from one of the most vicious smears in presidential campaign history."

[blueheeler]

1. Holy shiiiit!

One day these will amount to something. These stories keep coming and the general, apathetic population never hears it. This is some crazy stuff.......this and the Neil Bush Pope connection.......New World Order or bust for these guys.

[blm]

2. Most of the public has no idea what the Bushies are directly connected to.

If they knew about the 4 decades of alliance with RevMoon, they would be appalled. If they knew about Bushes, Bin Ladens, BCCI, 9-11, they would be furious.

[hector459]

3. What's "anti-semtic" about accusing Jews of conspiring to drive down

currency? Aren't we accusing China of the same thing? Is that anti-sinoism?

[union_maid]

4. China is a country

If we accuse "China" of something, we're accusing the government of that nation of it. "The Jews" is an imaginary conspiracy which has caused more than a little trouble in the history of the world. There is no "The Jews". There are Jewish people all over the world. Many of them are not acquainted with one another. There is he Israeli government, which is the government of a Jewish state, but despite the default citizenship of all people who can prove the prover Jewish lineage, the Israeli government is not "The Jews".

[hector459]

5. So Malaysia is not a country. And we can't say "Americans" are this or

that, when in fact, we do and so do people across the globe. Yet they are not called anti-American just because they refer to Americans. I guess I just don't get it. I have even seen posts here locked for saying something negative about Israel so I don't think it really matters. A lot of times that's a ruse to shut down legitimate discussion and criticism of Israel. You know, if you want to discredit a good argument or debate, just label it "hate speech."

[whometense]

6. Just a small problem here.

Israel does not equal "the Jews". There's a hideously long history of how the world has treated "the Jews".

union_maid has it exactly right. I have no problem whatsoever if people criticize the government of Israel - but if I hear someone generalizing about "the Jews" my hackles go up.