October 5, 2002
Bush's Jewish Goebbels
"Bush's Jewish Goebbels"? Don't you see the difference between pointing out that Bush has taken a play from Hitler's playbook, as the German minister suggested, and this obscenity? I work very hard speaking against Israel's policies, and for the need to pressure the US government to pressure Israel, and have to constantly defend myself from charges of antisemitism, or accusations that I am a self-hating Jew. Please consider the damage when someone on our side makes a comment that is, whether quoted in or out of context, whether intended or careless, antisemitic. Whether you intended it or not, bringing Fleischer's Jewish identity into play, especially while you are making a flammatory comparison to Goebbels, can only be read as saying that his Jewishness is relevant to your case against him.By the way, it is a bad comparison as well. Fleischer is not the propaganda mastermind of the Bush administration. It is probably Rove that has more of the Goebbels role.
Dear Sir,
I'm sorry if my remark offended. You're right that Fleischer is not strictly analogous to Goebbels, though he's pretty sophisticated at manipulating messages. More adept than Bush is I think, and certainly a great deal more intelligent.
I know it's all extremely sensitive these days. There is some irony in Fleischer being in service of Bush, who is such a Nazi. And the fact that Fleischer is Jewish, when one would hope being Jewish would make you run as fast as you can in the opposite direction whenever something smells like a Nazi, is heavy laden with irony. But that presumption obviously does not hold true in today's world.
For what it is worth, from a personal point of view I feel very close to the Jewish people and the Jewish culture, moreso than I do to the Christian culture if we are talking in broad generalities, though the Christian culture produced me. Perhaps I take too many liberties in talking about Jewishness because I feel like family, and am in part. If I were to hold a prejudice about Jews, it is on the positive side and always has been. And of course any such generalizations only go so far before they break down into absurdity.
I think the Jewish culture is one of the greatest contributions to world civilization, and though such a statement could never rise beyond a matter of opinion, it would be easy to make a case that it is the greatest, or certainly one of the greatest cultural traditions in the world. I feel, as I gather you do, that the government of Israel is a horrible betrayal of that fine tradition, just as the U.S. government is a horrible betrayal of nearly all that is great about America.
My comments about Fleischer in no way mean that his Jewishness is something I hold against him. It is one of the things about him that redeems him somewhat to me, that humanizes him to me and makes him a little less scary.
The anti-semitism issue is so extremely sensitive today. It's because I love Jewish people and feel so close to so many that I feel very clear that disagreeing with what the Israeli government does has absolutely nothing to do with anti-semitism, in my case. Obviously many others feel the same. My commenting on Fleischer as being Jewish was just one of many layers of irony that I was commenting on. If it was insensitive to the anti-semitism issue, I apologize.
Because the issue you raised is so important, I would like to post your letter and my response on my site, but I won't use your name, unless you specifically write to me and say, "Please post my name." If you have strong objections to me posting it anonymously, let me know.
If I post it, I can apologize to others who may have been offended as you were.
respectfully yours,
David Cogswell
-- By David Cogswell