I’m tempted to channel the late Henny Youngman and say, “If you’re going to tell a Jewish joke, at least tell a good one.”
But the weird timing of Obama Administration National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones’ execrable witticism turns the mind immediately to Freud’s classic Jokes and Their Relationship to the Unconscious – a book I would sincerely doubt Jones has read.
The National Security Adviser’s tasteless sense of humor makes him seem like a complete yahoo – and one who is hostile to Jews to a degree he probably doesn’t even realize himself. And all this in the midst of the Obama Administration’s heavy-handed muscling of Israel in an attempt to reignite Middle East negotiations. And in front of the Washington Institute For Near East Policy, no less.
Meanwhile, I wonder what Charles Schumer was thinking when he saw this video, displayed wide for the world to see on Drudge this morning. It was only the other day the Senator spoke out about the Administration and Israel. Now this. I may not agree with a lot Schumer says, but he is an intelligent man, surely aware of the workings of the unconscious. Senator?
This must be another bad day of clean-up for Messrs. Emanuel and Axelrod. Or maybe they are too reified even to be insulted anymore. But imagine a similar joke being told about just about any racial and/or religious group by a National Security Adviser. There would be consternation in the White House.
So what about our President? He sees fit to bring people together over beer for a minor racial dispute (if there was one) between a cop and college professor. This is a key member of his administration involved in crucial foreign policy. What will the President’s reaction be? Or won’t there be any? Will he be sending General Jones off to Jerusalem to remonstrate with the Israelis about housing developments. Maybe he could tell Bibi a few good jokes. (“You hear the one about the traveling salesman who got kidnapped by Hamas?”)
Now I’d just like to say as an aside that I support most people’s right to a nasty sense of humor, including mine and including, most of all at this moment, the guys from South Park. But this is a high government official. If you’re in a position like that and want to make race jokes, resign.
UPDATE: Jones has apologized.
[Thanks to Yid from Lid for bringing this to our attention.]
While of course the underlying anti-semitism from the Obama regime would even make a whore blush, my question is – why were the so called ‘intellectuals’ at the Near Eaast Institute cackling in response?
Are they in agreement with his vile ‘insinuations’, or, are they really too stupid to know any better?
Those without true moral compasses, and those who are infused with emotional contagion, tend to behave like fools and knaves in front of the ever so powerful in their midst. By the way, had I been there I would have given him a look of such contempt that it would have wiped the smirk off of his patrician face.
I appreciate your clarity, Carolyn G has nothing on you…I l..you both
i don’t think it’s antisemitic and actually i like the joke. one might say it’s bad taste, but i have broad shoulders and can take the burden. really it’s not a big deal.
I bet you are liberal, young (27), voted for Obama…desire Obamacare and feel climate change really should be addressed…
Jones is as much a part of toxic “Official Washington” as the man he endorsed for President in 2008: John McCain. It is likely that Jones would’ve worked in a McCain White House, and entirely possible that the man would’ve made the same joke in front of the same crowd then, in which case, Roger Simon would not have made a peep.
Oh, please, Mr. anonymous Northcove, you make me laugh. I am quite pleased to go after Republicans any time. For example, unlike the President and ninety percent or so of Repub officials, I am pro-gay marriage. In my view, they are both wrong on that key issue. Further, I don’t like the position of most Repubs on immigration, although this issue has many permutations. Moreover, I would have gone after Jones for his dumb joke had he been a Zoroastrian monk. As part of any administration, he has to have some sense of what he’s saying. He’s not writing for SNL. If you want to attack me, attack me on something real, not hypothetical. BTW, I am still a registered Democrat, mostly by apathy. At some point, when it’s convenient, I’ll probably go Independent, since political parties don’t mean much to me anymore. My views may track largely as very small “l” libertarian – fiscally conservative, socially liberal (the govt should stay as far as possible from our private lives) and hawkish on defense (history shows the ideals of freedom are very fragile). Of course, I reserve the right to amend and extend all of the above.
Seems like since it was in Afghanistan, that the merchant would more often than not have been a Muslim. Or maybe even an African American who took an in country separation from the military, or even a Latino, plain vanilla white guy. If I was telling that joke a Jewish merchant in Afghanistan sure wouldn’t have come to mind.
A thousand pardons, may I most humbly explain for you…
Jones really hates Jews big time, but he is constantly dealing with Jews on every…He can not figure it out and he is telling you his reality…
I hope you do not mind my filling you in…
Duerf, thanks for filling me in. I really didn’t get what Gen Jones was talking about. I will have to admit that you are much better with picking up the innuendos than I am. Join us more often or I’ll have to start putting smiley faces on my comments.
Not sure about Roger’s take on this. Nerves are frayed over decisions of consequence by our heinous president, but going after this joke seems a little trivial and extremely PC… Still, I agree that the joke is wierd coming from such a man, at such a time, with such an administration.
I’m certain that when the veil is lifted and the spell finally breaks, we’ll learn that far more poisonous stuff lurks in this White House. Anyone who attends Wright’s Madrassa of Hatred for 20 years, or utters that they’ve never been proud of America in their adult life is drinking from a deep and tainted well. In public, Obama barely conceals his contempt.
Makes one wonder exactly what kind of self-loathing Jews or whites would feel comfortable working with such racist anti-American scum? Only truly broken craven sorts could endure it.
I tend to agree, far more poisonous stuff lurks beneath the surface, and someday we’ll hear the details. Makes me wonder, what are Axelrod and Emmanuel still doing there? Whatever their personal politics, surely they have a sense that something is amiss.
Jones resign?
Like most of his compatriots in the Obowman Administration, what job outside of government is he qualified for, or has even worked at?
Here’s my take on this:
As you know, the history of Jewish humor includes lots of jokes in which a Jewish figure gets a small measure of comeuppance against his oppressors. (Like the Russian joke in which a guy is kicked out of the bread line because he’s Jewish, but gets the last laugh when it turns out there isn’t any bread.)
That’s the kind of joke Jones was aiming for — a Jewish guy gets a tiny measure of revenge against an acknowledged enemy. It was an attempt to establish rapport with the audience, by telling a joke that Jews might tell each other (even if it could be seen as offensive if told by someone else). And it worked, at least in the moment, because the audience laughed.
What’s really interesting about it is that he chose “the Taliban” as the merchant’s enemy, because when you think about it that was the only safe choice. This particular National Security Advisor couldn’t tell a joke implying that, say, Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria or Iran are enemies of the Jews, or it would cause all kinds of problems with his foreign policy.
So he’s telling a pro-Israel audience, “Look, here’s a common enemy we all can agree on — the Taliban — and since we acknowledge them as America’s enemies too, that proves we’re looking out for Israel’s interests. So ignore any evidence to the contrary.”
Of course, the joke, as well as the message, falls apart upon closer examination, and that’s exactly what’s happening now.
“That’s the kind of joke Jones was aiming for”
How could you know what he was aiming for? In your effort to give a very undeserved benefit of the doubt, you are projecting what you might have meant had it been you. He is not you. It’s the same behavior many who voted for Obama displayed, and it’s dangerously foolish.
My point was based on the joke itself, not on an attempt to read Jones’ mind. As others have pointed out, this particular joke has been around for a while, and it fits in perfectly with a certain form of Jewish humor.
Based on that, it’s clear that what Jones was trying to do was establish rapport with his audience. Was it smart for him — as the representative of an administration viewed with increasing distrust by supporters of Israel — to tell it? Obviously not. But all this shows is the increasing disconnect between the administration’s “we’re all friends here” talk, and the message it’s actually getting across by way of its actions.
Roger, this Jewish joke was not unconscious at all. He has probably run this very “joke” by his friends and got a large chortle every time. And the intellectuals at the Middle East Institute have been financed by the Saudis for years, and live in an entirely anti-semitic world, too. So, as far as they are concerned, what was not to like?
What is really interesting is that today’s anti semitism is a direct descendant of Nazi ideas. Interesting, eh?? (intellectually speaking, of course. As an aside, I despise ivy league intellectuals.)
Just a warning to all Jewish Americans (including “Yossi” who I would bet is Jewish): do not underestimate the spread and thickness of today’s anti semitism.
“…do not underestimate the spread and thickness of today’s anti semitism.”
I’m reading Robert Wistrich’s massive and detailed book “A Lethal Obsession”. That book gives real meaning to heathermc’s statement about anti-semitism. It’s alive and well and has changed very little since the days of the Third Reich.
AD has it exactly right. If this numbnuts resigns and can’t get another job with the government he’ll have to get work as a security guard or a greeter at Wal-Mart.
This joke was told at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, except for AIPAC a more pro Israel venue is hard to find. In fact the organization was founded by AIPAC president Larry Weinberg, his wife and AIPAC vice president Barbi Weinburg, and AIPAC deputy director of research Martin Indyk. So the loud and sustained laughter at the end of the joke suggests it was well received and this belies the feigned outrage manufactured here.
There are many reasons to be against Obama’s foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel, this isn’t one of them.
A thousand pardons, may I most humbly disagree and explain for you…
Senior level members of the executive branch speaking publically are always only speaking in ”diplomatic” language. So by definition every nuance of what “they” say is a significant insight into the mindset and policies of the administration. That someone laughs on first blush does not “mean” it is funny or that significant information can not be understood from the utterance…especially when taken in the overall context of this administrations views.
I hope I do not back you in a corner and you will be able to see in an enlightened light…
Perhaps I’m just too naive to understand the nuances of my betters but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and this just sounds like a clumsy joke that was laughed at loudly by a very pro Israel audience.
I don’t have too much to add to this fascinating discussion, but as one who has written comedy for a living, I will say that it is risky to judge the reaction of the audience by the size of one laugh. Or to surmise what they thought about it all ten minutes later.
OK Roger I bow to your greater experience in the subtleties of comedy and audience reactions, but all this is beginning to take on the complexity of Kremlin watching. I know, further proof that the administration is a bunch of commie fascists. You all win, now can we get back to attacking the administration for it’s policies instead of the hidden meanings behind off hand comments and bad jokes?
I think there is cliché about “looks are deceiving”…and have you ever heard of a cigar that looks like a cigar, but it explodes when lit…
Martin Indyk is pro-Israel? Could’a fooled me. Maybe in his dreams. Google his recent advice to Israel.
Jones did not make up this joke. I heard it at least a year ago. Jones merely altered and embellished it a bit. The original joke is almost ocertainly of Jewish origin intended to be told among jews.
I don’t like Jones. He’s an arrogant and not overly competent SOB hostile to the Jewish state. Nonetheless, I don’t believe his intention–concious or otherwise–was antisemitic in this instance. My suspicion is he was trying to be familiar and ingratiatiting. The effort fell flat but like I say, competent this soldier-diplomat aint.
We’re cry foul when Obama grotesquely inflates an inoccuous comment by an Israeli Bureaucrat about housing in Jerusalem into an international incident. We shouldn’t inflate Jones’s clumsy diplomacy into something he never intended.
The important thing is to discern out of which side of his mouth the joke came.
Given the blatherings of Clinton, for example, speaking out of the right side for AIPAC and then the left side for Bibi are we going to be so quick to accept integrity on Mr Jones’ part?
Substitute the name “Condi Rice” for “James Jones”, and I wonder how the MSM would cover this.
Actually, the reason for the beer summit was worse than that- it wasn’t about settling a racial dispute; it was only held because Barry put his foot in his mouth again and implied that the cop was racist. Same idea behind the “Lincoln-esque” speech on race during the campaign- to provide him CYA when the Wright videos were discovered, and when he made his racist comments about typical gun clingers. Apologies are only needed if he feels his poll numbers are hurt, and when he is prevented from getting what he wants.
jones is uncomfortable around jews because he probably doesn’t socialize with any, so he told this stupid “rapport” joke, which is funny if you happen to be jew amongst jews. i am reminded of the time my roommate of decades ago, a jewish girl, was assigned to go to the park avenue apartment of a society wasp to help her put together a charity ball.
in an effort to make my roommate “comfortable”, she had cook prepare a special lunch:
a lox sandwich.
The joke is an old joke and, let’s be honest, quite funny. It is not necessarily viciously anti-Jew, and it could be told about any other set of people and still be as funny (or unfunny, depending on your view point).
What really troubles me, though, is why any non-Jew would contemplate for a moment telling a Jewish joke at the beginning of a speech to a Jewish audience (or any audience, but that’s for another day). It has to be a lose-lose proposition. More than offensive, this really speaks to the man’s incredibly poor judgement and propensity for unnecessary risk (he’s not a good joke teller, the audience may have heard it before, it might offend some, it could bomb and make him look like a fool, etc.), which is not a characteristic I would look for in a senior policy advisor.
One other point, if we are really looking to hang the guy. He introduces the story by saying: “…a story that I think is true, that happened recently…” Does he really think it’s true? Does he think by saying he thinks it’s true that it adds to the humour? Surely anybody who would think such an obviously untrue tale is true, must be blinded by prejudice. What else does he think is true? Israeli’s harvesting Haitian organs?
Those — especially Jews — who refuse to see that this was clearly an anti-semitic act — this type of joke in a public forum — are in denial.
The joke, to Jews, is about the little weak guy getting the better of the big nasty threatening guy — a la Charlie Chaplin’s little tramp.
The joke to anti-semites is about the scheming, nasty, crafty, powerful, rich, greedy Jew taking advantage of a poor innocent who desperately needed something as cheap and plentiful as water, but was tricked out of his money via deception. Money over humanity. Money over everything.
This administration — as the Muslims and Europeans — is of the opinion that the Israelis (“untrustworthy, greedy” Jews) cleverly use craftiness, tricks, word play and deception for the sole purpose of “profit” — by using their wiles and manipulative skills to create the “false” impression that Palestinians have no desire for “peace,” and will destroy Israel and murder the Jews if they had half a chance.
It’s the exact metaphor of the joke.
To some anti-semites, the nastiness of Jews, especially regarding greed and trickery, is a given, an axiom — so much so that they will easily make viciously anti-semitic remarks expecting that everyone naturally agrees — even Jews — because they see it as the simple, obvious truth.
Yes, they reach that level of non-self-and other awareness. How could it be otherwise.
It’s indeed horrendous, among other things, that a man lacking in such basic judgment plays a major role in our National Security. But then, alas, no more so than that a man like Obama has the immense powers of the POTUS.
The “joke” Jones should have told, as a “true” story …
A sweet, peaceful, cuddly, but poor (due to victimization),”Taliban,” who is tired and very thirsty, walks into a shop, sees the owner is a Jew, and cuts his head off.
Not so trendy or cute, but …
#14 – shades of Lenny Bruce’s “How to Relax Your Colored Friends at Parties”.
“As the National
Security Adviser, General James Jones is not known as a friend of the
Jewish State. It was Jones who put together the team of Brent Scowcroft
and Zbigniew Brzezinski to meet with the President and advise him to
impose a solution on Israel.”
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/04/obama-nsa-advisers-vile-antisemetic-jokes-to-dc-audience.html
If nothing else, this is the billionth example of the double standard syndrome. Any Republican making any remark in which anyone can imagine the slightest infeence of racial/ethnic undertones can and will have a “macaca moment,” as the media and the howling hypocrites of the Left gleefully pile on the “See? We told you they were all bigotsa” BS. But just about anyone connected with the Democrats gets a complete pass.
This is the kind of joke that really isn’t told much anymore, at least in public. Its punch line is a simple, ugly old stereotype. It might be funny if there were some ironic twist making fun of stereotyping. But this is an old, ugly white guy joke (white guy making the accusation here) that had no nuance, no warmth, no redeeming characteristics. I often am frustrated by everyone rush to be offended by everything. But as Roger points out, given this administration’s naked contempt for Israel and Jews, this was totally appropriate. And….I can imagine Obama and his pals chortling over this one in private.
Full agreement with your assessment.
There must be a whole lot of anti-semites at the AIPAC founded Washington Institute for Near East Policy. If you all fast forward to the end of the video you will hear the sustained laughter and applause which suggests approval. You all should be as critical of those folks as you are with General Jones. Let us at least appear to be even handed or is that too much to ask?
and Eden, there ARE a lot of Jew-hating Jews. Where have you been hiding for the past few decades.
Not at the AIPAC founded Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
I’m sure you have been in an audience where many, and maybe you, laughed at a joke that perhaps wasn’t all that funny, just because it seems like the “right” thing to do under the circumstances. I know I have. I have also kind of enjoyed certain movies that, immediately upon leaving the theater, I realized had an appalling premise and/or exposition, and was kind of upset with myself that I didn’t realize it during the movie. Like “American Beauty.”
Maybe the audience was full of anti-Semites, and maybe not. Maybe many of them thought about the joke later and revised their opinion. In any case, none of the audience members was our National Security Advisor.
Doesn’t follow, I know, but I want to see Meetings with Remarkable Men again, which I first saw in 1979. It was filmed in Afghanistan.
That’s for sure!
Roger: will PJM do something official to support and promote the “Everyone Draw Muhammad Day” – I hear the poor girl who started it is getting cold feet…
“Oh, please, Mr. anonymous Northcove…”
Funny how you criticize an anonymous poster, but ask all of your posters to leave their e-mail addresses without publicly displaying your own.
“For example, unlike the President and ninety percent or so of Repub officials, I am pro-gay marriage.”
So? You didn’t weigh in on the ballot initiative in Maine, and you have said absolutely nothing about the current debate over “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Have you written your congresspeople? Marched? Tried to sway your fellow PJM bloggers?
I know you love to say that the current president is against gay marriage, but I don’t remember you saying anything when the last president came out for an actual constitutional amendment banning it.
“Moreover, I would have gone after Jones for his dumb joke had he been a Zoroastrian monk.”
This is untrue. When McCain spent a year seeking the endorsement of a far-right evangelist who thinks the Holocaust was “God’s work,” you said nothing, instead treating the current president as J. Wright’s puppet, without really stopping to ask if the president is, in fact, devout. Why hasn’t Obama come out for cutting off all aid to Israel, Rog? Why did he support the (entirely justified) intervention against Lebanon?
The fact is that an “Evangelical Left” barely exists in this country, and that Wright is considered by most of its members as short on policy proposals (not three weeks ago, the tool was mocked from the podium of the Riverside Church, home to the most left-leaning congregation in the country). He was never in a position to influence national policy, whereas the Hagee/Falwell types got a running start when they realized Jimmy Carter would not play ball with them. You probably know all this, but actually admitting it wouldn’t help your cred as a right-leaning activist, would it?
I’m not going to deny Wright’s vile relationship with Farrakhan, but philosophically, the UCC contradicts Farrkhan’s corrupt, incoherent version of Islam (as does every Christian denomination, and Islam itself), so the two men are not the same. Political power-brokers in that part of the city? Yes. Heck, in 2000, Joe Lieberman courted Farrakhan with the Gore campaign. I see you didn’t ask for an apology during your interview with the Jr. Senator from CT. All this said, I never thought the current president would be any less of an occasionally dirty politician than McCain or any other. I just read the “change” bit as the promise of an organic campaign that relied on more repeat, small-dollar donors than a typical campaign and was quicker than the Republicans to use new technology to its advantage. Further, I supported Obama’s positions on Pakistan (unusual for the Dems in the field at the time) and health care.
Finally, there’s this: “Now I’d just like to say as an aside that I support most people’s right to a nasty sense of humor, including mine and including, most of all at this moment, the guys from South Park.”
I don’t even know what this means. Are you (kinda/sorta) admitting that it is okay for Muslims to be (nonviolently) offended by this? “Nastiness” is dulled if it is spread out a little, and if you think the “South Park” fellows are only after the prophet Mohammed, well, you need to actually watch the show.
A thousand and one pardons, may I most humbly explain you…
Years of frustration coupled with a lack of accurate foundational principles by which to measure and evaluate have left you fundamentally bitter and hostile at a world that does not accept you and understand you and appreciate you; yet you desperately want to be accepted and liked and respected outside your social circle.
It may help you considerably on your path to act as though you are adopting positions opposite from your own and write out proofs, and articulate the opposite opinion, than those you hold; start with your post on this article; research what the “others” say, on the many subjects that interest you, and articulate those other opinions with passion…
Best wishes..
“As one who has written comedy for a living….” It’s hard to believe this is true. Perhaps you lost your comic touch over the years. You seem much too sensitive to any perceived anti-Semitic remark. Or is it fake outrage? Were you a funnier guy as a Leftie?
Roger, with all the amateurs populating the current administration, why would you be surprised at their antics?
The joke was doomed from the start by making a Taliban the victim. And how many Jewish merchants are in the Afghan desert? He could have said Jews can be a pain in the ass and Muslims are hapless innocent victims and been applauded and been in line with Lord Obama. Too clever by half.
Gen. Jones is a living proof to Harry Truman’s opinion of generals: “Generals are usually dumb, but there ain’t a law against it…”