Moran's rush to the bottom

Colbert King:

What is it with Jim Moran? The nine-term Democratic congressman from Northern Virginia can't seem to keep his head on straight when it comes to talking about Iraq and the reasons we have ended up over there.

In the run-up to the March 2003 invasion, during an event at a Reston church sponsored by a peace coalition, Moran said: "If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this." Not stopping there, he added, "The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should."

Those remarks earned Moran swift condemnation by his congressional colleagues, political leaders in Northern Virginia, Jewish organizations and several prominent local rabbis. I wrote a column that criticized the parish priest and the audience of about 120 people for not speaking up after hearing Moran's offensive comments [" Uncomfortable Silence," March 15, 2003]. Issuing mea culpas like mad, Moran weathered that storm.

Now he's at it again.

In an interview published in the September-October issue of Tikkun magazine, Moran said that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) "has pushed this war from the beginning . . . They are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful -- most of them are quite wealthy -- they have been able to exert power."

That drew a sharp retort from the National Jewish Democratic Council, which called on Moran to retract his comments.

Ira Forman, the council's executive director, said in a Sept. 7 news release: "It is never easy nor pleasant to criticize a fellow Democrat, but sometimes it is necessary. While there is nothing wrong with criticizing AIPAC -- or for that matter any organization with which you disagree -- spreading false statements is clearly irresponsible."

...

Where AIPAC stands vis-?-vis the Jewish community is not a question that keeps me awake at night. As far as taking America to war goes, I think top honors belong to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice -- Gentiles all -- with a lot of help from Congress.

...

There is much more. Moran has always been an antiwar puke who has earned that titled by his unreasoned paranoid reaction to the war. Blaming Jews is just another part of that paranoid bent. But, he is clearly out of touch with the Jewish community on this issue, because it si about as split on the issue as the rest of the country and certainly has provided contributions to those who oppose the war, i.e. Democrats in a disproportionate amount. So I guess it is a little ironic that someone who supports the war would come to their defense, but Moran has become just another maroon rushing into his bigotry.

Perhaps it is because I have seen his unfair statements about the war that it is easy for me to see his unfair statements about Jews. This guy is just not very smart and voters in his district would be wise to replace him, but they might elect a smart anti war puke which will make winning the war even more difficult. Put me down as another Gentile who wants to win the war. I am sure maroon Moran will have trouble getting his small mind around that concept.