A Tale of the Two Mezvinskys
The “wedding of the century,” as some of the press has called the Chelsea Clinton-Marc Mezvinsky event, has finally taken place. Chris Wilson and Jacob Bernstein give an account of it in the Daily Beast. The New York Times reported on the festivities and about sightings of Vernon Jordan, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and other celebrities. There was a 20 piece orchestra, a huge white gluten-free wedding cake, and Chelsea’s beautiful wedding gown designed by Vera Wang who was also in attendance. And of course, there was speculation that the event cost anywhere from $900,000.00 to $5 million, an over-the-top cost in these hard times, especially when Jenna Bush’s wedding supposedly cost a rather modest $100,000.00.
The Beast report noted the following: “A few hours after the sun came up, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, mother of the groom, was spotted in the parking lot of the Delamater Inn,” but no mention or photos were released of the groom’s father, Ed Mezvinsky, or of Ed’s brother, Norton Mezvinsky. From the press reports, it was all about the Clintons — and although Chelsea did marry Marc Mezvinsky, he almost seemed not to have parents or family.
And the above is the subject of this blog. As it turns out, I knew both Ed and Norton. I met Norton when we were both graduate students at the University of Wisconsin. Norton went on to teach at the City College of New York and then became a Distinguished Professor at Central Connecticut State College. He became most well know, however, as a very strong opponent of Israel.
As various articles on Dan Pipes’ website have pointed out, Norton Mezvinsky founded a new group, The International Council for Middle East Studies, which Asaf Romirowsky calls a “radical anti-Zionist,” organization which maintains that Israel is responsible for all the problems in the region. Norton endorsed the 1975 UN resolution declaring that Zionism is racism and his strong anti-Israel views are well known in the Jewish community.
Now, writing in the American Thinker, Romirowsky and Winfeld Meyers reveal that Mezvinsky also has close ties to Lyndon LaRouche, the conspiracy minded opponent of the Rockefellers, the Queen of England, and of Israel. According to their research, Mezvinsky brought LaRouche to speak at his college and touted his increasing influence in Washington.
Norton Mezvinsky has acknowledged that he was not invited to the wedding, and is extremely hurt. He told the New York Daily News that a family dispute, and not politics, was the reason he was told that he could not attend his nephew’s wedding. According to Mezvinsky, he supported his brother Ed’s plan to write a book about his experiences in prison (more of this in a moment) but that Marc opposed this.
But if one is familiar with the style of LaRouche supporters, they always use their connection to players in government to prove their importance, and it is more than possible that his presence with the Clintons and others could have proved to be embarrassing. Roger, Bill’s brother, once too was an embarrassment, but I guess he now looks like a straight arrow compared to Norton.
Can you imagine if this had been Jenna Bush marrying into this family? Can you even imagine?
What a dismal and depressing family stew. I wish the newlyweds a sincere Mazel-tov. They will need it.
Birds of a feather flock together….
Oh, leave Levi Johnston and the Palins alone already!
HA-HA-HA
Joseph, still playing a blind fool?? Or did you stopped “playing”???
Oh leave Obama and Ayers alone already!
The Clintons and the Mezvinskys look down on rednecks, with their familial problems that is ironic. Take away their money and stick them in a trailer park and you have a Jerry Springer special right there.
Well, look on the bright side. Perhaps the family business will discourage Chelsea from following her parents into politics….
This illustrates perfectly what I’ve been saying for many years about the differential treatment in the judicial system – some poor sap (not defending anyone here) holds up a liquor store – netting him $100 and goes to jail for 25 years – some rich sap steals millions from friends family and whomever else he can – and gets what? Seven years. And even then he’s not a social pariah.
Lesson: Go for the millions.
Good heavens ! Chelsea’s husband to be was described as a “wealthy investment banker.” If I were friends of the family, I would be checking jewel boxes and safe deposit boxes right now !
Yeah, the media narrative about the groom was that his parents were both former congressmen. They didn’t think the world needed to know about his parents’ sordid past.
Hmmmmm……makes me wonder if this wedding was arranged.
Nothing but a bunch of crooks, all of them.
“From the press reports, it was all about the Clintons — and although Chelsea did marry Marc Mezvinsky, he almost seemed not to have parents or family.”
ALL the major news outlets mentioned – but most did not harp on – the criminal past of the groom’s father (an example from the July 18 NY Times is below). But it sure makes a better story for the right-wingnut blogosphere to pretend that they didn’t.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/fashion/18CHELSEA.html?scp=1&sq=clinton%20wedding&st=cse
From the NYT piece linked by you:
“She is divorced from the bridegroom’s father, former Representative Ed Mezvinsky of Iowa, who was released in 2008 after serving a five-year prison term and is now living in western New York, his lawyer said, and working as a health advocate for low-income people and refugees.”
One wonders what he served a five-year prison term for.
And in regards to your post at #7, you obviously did not catch the irony that Mr. Radosh was alluding to.
“One wonders what he served a five-year prison term for.”
Yes, one wonders. By not going into such detail in a story about the wedding, the Times obviously hopes that its readers will think that he got five years for a misdemeanor. As for Mr. R’s irony, I think it’s really ironic that in a story that criticizes the MSM for its omissions, he deleted such a telling detail about Jenna’s bare-bones wedding.
Or maybe, just maybe, people would’ve like to have known a little history about the groom and his family, seeing as how they are marrying into a powerful family like the Clintons? Of course not, so we’ll just drop a tidbit here and then hope people gloss over it in the rest of the human interest story.
And the story was not about Jenna Bush’s wedding, which happened more than two years ago. But again, the irony eludes you. That’s okay, though; the point wasn’t about the wedding to begin with.
“And of course, there was speculation that the event cost anywhere from $900,000.00 to $5 million, an over-the-top cost in these hard times, especially when Jenna Bush’s wedding supposedly cost a rather modest $100,000.00.”
Jenna was married lakeside at her parents’ ranch in Crawford, Texas. It seems you can squeak by with a mere 100-grand for a wedding if you also happen to have 1,600 choice acres to play around with. Jenna said she wanted to keep it “organic and natural.”
You skipped the best part of this story, which is the fact that Ed handed over just about all the money he stole over to Nigerian e-mail scammers.
The “wedding of the century!”
Truth is, there was no more interest in this wedding in the POPULAR gossip media than there was in the wedding of Jenna Bush. You got a few pictures so the ladies (including me) could check out the gown and then you get some light-hearted copy. Not a big story. Certainly not cover material, like Carrie Underwood’s wedding.
And this interests me because I think calling Chelsea’s wedding “the wedding of the century” is one more instance of the ruling class confusing its own perspective with that of the country as a whole.
Were the Mezvinsky’s Orthodox and had 10 children? The 2 getting married in the link above look like a nice couple. They have a family history of being able to be empathetic and be knavish. It ought to be an interesting marriage.
“…I recruited him into the Iowa Socialist Club. I recall him as a serious and cordial young man, who joined us in the picket lines we set up at the Woolworth chain in the city, to protest their segregated policies during the period of the first black sit-ins in the South.”
You’ve come a long way, Ron, from fighting for the rights of minorities to blogging for a site that Joe McCarthy would be proud to write for – and that would welcome him with open arms. Maybe you should reconsider socialism; evidently, you did good things while you were under its sway.
I think CNN needs to revisit the John John funeral. Good for a few hours of watching waves and maybe a few hours of expert observations and nostalgia for Camelot. Pardon me while I look for a hankie.
Ronnie:other info (some mildly important, some not). Ed was my
congressman. Seemed like a nice guy. Was on the Nixon impeachment
( or whatever it officially was)committee. Mark’s mother was also
a congressperson, from around Philadelphia. She was the crucial
vote for Clinton’s tax increases, which some say was reponsible
for the good economic Clinton years. She was defeated in her
Republican district, for her pains.