Larry Klayman
The ethical decline of liberal Jewish intelligentsia, Part 2
By Larry Klayman
During the height of the Clinton administration scandals in 1999, I penned a column for WND.com, which I wrote from my heart. As a proud Jew who had come to Christ and as a result considered himself a Jewish Christian, I was then put off by those Jews in the liberal press establishment in particular who found the conduct of President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton totally acceptable. In scandals ranging from Travelgate to Filegate to Chinagate to Monica Lewinsky, the liberal Jewish left sought to run interference for the Bonnie and Clyde of American politics, attacking me every step of the way for my efforts to bring the felonious duo to justice. Pointing out that these journalists and other leftist Jews had abandoned the basic tenets of Judaism, which hinge on strict adherence to the ethics and morals embodied in the Ten Commandments, I challenged them to reform their ways and not abandon their Jewish roots. I also criticized them for treating me harshly in their writings as a type of Jewish Uncle Tom, because of my belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
I wrote, "Sadly, the modern-day liberal Jewish intelligentsia seems to have abandoned those values (the Ten Commandments). Many of its members have put ideology so far ahead of ethics and morals that they have become blind to corruption around them. The leftist politics that they share with the Clinton administration have been exalted over and above all else, creating a devastating moral vacuum. This lost sense of right and wrong and the unquestioning defense of Clinton – even in light of the most obvious and damning evidence – represents a total surrender of ethical responsibility. In fact, it's the moral equivalent of ethical and religious bankruptcy. ... They have lost sight of their Judeo-Christian heritage."
The column was well received by both Jews and Christians alike and at that time was read by the largest number of internet viewers in WND.com's early history for any article. In fact, I only received one email criticizing me for attacking the ethics of the Jewish left.
I wrote the piece not to be sensational, or even controversial – although that is a tag I don't mind being identified with. Rather, I felt that only yours truly, as a Jewish Christian who had taken on the Clintons, could say what needed to be said. If a "singular Christian" had written the same thing, he or she would likely be accused of being anti-Semitic by liberal Jews. While my observations were not funny, my column was in a way insulated from reactive criticism among my own people, much as the "black humor" of Eddie Murphy and Dave Chapelle is in their comedy routines.
Fourteen years later, I am again extremely troubled by the actions of the Jewish left. In fact, the ethical and moral bankruptcy that I first observed with leftist Jewish journalists has now spread like a cancer into the bowels of government, most notably the Obama administration. Indeed, just last week, Vice President Joe Biden praised so-called Jewish leaders in Hollywood and elsewhere for promoting gay marriage and other leftist causes, stating at a reception hosted by the Democratic National Committee, "Think of all that. I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether its in Hollywood or social media are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry. The influence is immense ... and I might add, it is all to the good."
Well over a decade since the scandalous Clintons left office, the issue of leftist Jewish influence is not just about the promotion of anti-family institutions like gay marriage, but of outright criminal behavior of the Obama administration. I am more than embarrassed and appalled as a Jew to see my own people at the forefront of a number of scandals now perpetrated by the Muslim-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, and his leftist Jewish government comrades and partners in crime. It is time for the great majority of Jews, who are honest law-abiding citizens, to speak up and play a role in helping to put these felonious liberal Jews in a place where the sun don't shine – meaning prison.
That Jews don't mince words and don't generally circle the wagons for their own creed is a Hebrew virtue. The God of Abraham and Isaac is not forgiving to His own people when they step out of line and neither have been his flock. True Jews, like true Christians, will police their own house and not allow criminal behavior to go unaddressed, no matter what the source. That is one of our main differences with Muslims, who by and large cover for, or stay silent about, the terrorist deeds of their brethren. Ironically, this helps explain why Obama, who by birth is half Muslim and who in his heart is a Muslim through and through, refuses to call Muslim terrorism the terrorism it is. We Jews and Christians are cut from a different godly cloth – Yahweh.
So in the last few weeks, when it was revealed that the three main actors in the burgeoning IRS scandal, Doug Shulman, the former IRS commissioner, Steven T. Miller, former acting IRS commissioner, and Lois Lerner, former director of exempt organizations, are all Jewish, my heart again throbbed in shame. Ominously, during the 1990s, and at the height of my efforts to bring the Clintons to justice while heading Judicial Watch, I had tangled with one of these felonious characters, Steven Miller.
As reported last week by Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner, Miller, who headed the IRS Enforcement Division from 2009 until the end of last year, is named in court documents as part of a trio of Internal Revenue Service officials who allegedly characterized the 1998-2001 investigation of Judicial Watch as politically motivated.
Indeed, I had sued Miller and the IRS after they undertook an audit of Judicial Watch one week after our Clinton impeachment report had been entered by Rep. Bob Barr into the Congressional Record. Miller and company illegally asked in the audit papers about the political affiliations of our directors, much like has been recently exposed to have occurred in the current IRS scandal concerning conservative, pro-Israel and Christian groups during the Obama administration.
All of this underscores why we Jews must now fearlessly stand up and seek to hold our own people legally accountable for their criminal wrongdoing. If the past is a prologue, neither Congress nor our corrupt and compromised Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder will bring these disgraceful rogues to justice. To do less would be to forsake our proud Judeo- Christian roots and heritage.
© Larry Klayman
During the height of the Clinton administration scandals in 1999, I penned a column for WND.com, which I wrote from my heart. As a proud Jew who had come to Christ and as a result considered himself a Jewish Christian, I was then put off by those Jews in the liberal press establishment in particular who found the conduct of President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton totally acceptable. In scandals ranging from Travelgate to Filegate to Chinagate to Monica Lewinsky, the liberal Jewish left sought to run interference for the Bonnie and Clyde of American politics, attacking me every step of the way for my efforts to bring the felonious duo to justice. Pointing out that these journalists and other leftist Jews had abandoned the basic tenets of Judaism, which hinge on strict adherence to the ethics and morals embodied in the Ten Commandments, I challenged them to reform their ways and not abandon their Jewish roots. I also criticized them for treating me harshly in their writings as a type of Jewish Uncle Tom, because of my belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
I wrote, "Sadly, the modern-day liberal Jewish intelligentsia seems to have abandoned those values (the Ten Commandments). Many of its members have put ideology so far ahead of ethics and morals that they have become blind to corruption around them. The leftist politics that they share with the Clinton administration have been exalted over and above all else, creating a devastating moral vacuum. This lost sense of right and wrong and the unquestioning defense of Clinton – even in light of the most obvious and damning evidence – represents a total surrender of ethical responsibility. In fact, it's the moral equivalent of ethical and religious bankruptcy. ... They have lost sight of their Judeo-Christian heritage."
The column was well received by both Jews and Christians alike and at that time was read by the largest number of internet viewers in WND.com's early history for any article. In fact, I only received one email criticizing me for attacking the ethics of the Jewish left.
I wrote the piece not to be sensational, or even controversial – although that is a tag I don't mind being identified with. Rather, I felt that only yours truly, as a Jewish Christian who had taken on the Clintons, could say what needed to be said. If a "singular Christian" had written the same thing, he or she would likely be accused of being anti-Semitic by liberal Jews. While my observations were not funny, my column was in a way insulated from reactive criticism among my own people, much as the "black humor" of Eddie Murphy and Dave Chapelle is in their comedy routines.
Fourteen years later, I am again extremely troubled by the actions of the Jewish left. In fact, the ethical and moral bankruptcy that I first observed with leftist Jewish journalists has now spread like a cancer into the bowels of government, most notably the Obama administration. Indeed, just last week, Vice President Joe Biden praised so-called Jewish leaders in Hollywood and elsewhere for promoting gay marriage and other leftist causes, stating at a reception hosted by the Democratic National Committee, "Think of all that. I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether its in Hollywood or social media are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry. The influence is immense ... and I might add, it is all to the good."
Well over a decade since the scandalous Clintons left office, the issue of leftist Jewish influence is not just about the promotion of anti-family institutions like gay marriage, but of outright criminal behavior of the Obama administration. I am more than embarrassed and appalled as a Jew to see my own people at the forefront of a number of scandals now perpetrated by the Muslim-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, and his leftist Jewish government comrades and partners in crime. It is time for the great majority of Jews, who are honest law-abiding citizens, to speak up and play a role in helping to put these felonious liberal Jews in a place where the sun don't shine – meaning prison.
That Jews don't mince words and don't generally circle the wagons for their own creed is a Hebrew virtue. The God of Abraham and Isaac is not forgiving to His own people when they step out of line and neither have been his flock. True Jews, like true Christians, will police their own house and not allow criminal behavior to go unaddressed, no matter what the source. That is one of our main differences with Muslims, who by and large cover for, or stay silent about, the terrorist deeds of their brethren. Ironically, this helps explain why Obama, who by birth is half Muslim and who in his heart is a Muslim through and through, refuses to call Muslim terrorism the terrorism it is. We Jews and Christians are cut from a different godly cloth – Yahweh.
So in the last few weeks, when it was revealed that the three main actors in the burgeoning IRS scandal, Doug Shulman, the former IRS commissioner, Steven T. Miller, former acting IRS commissioner, and Lois Lerner, former director of exempt organizations, are all Jewish, my heart again throbbed in shame. Ominously, during the 1990s, and at the height of my efforts to bring the Clintons to justice while heading Judicial Watch, I had tangled with one of these felonious characters, Steven Miller.
As reported last week by Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner, Miller, who headed the IRS Enforcement Division from 2009 until the end of last year, is named in court documents as part of a trio of Internal Revenue Service officials who allegedly characterized the 1998-2001 investigation of Judicial Watch as politically motivated.
Indeed, I had sued Miller and the IRS after they undertook an audit of Judicial Watch one week after our Clinton impeachment report had been entered by Rep. Bob Barr into the Congressional Record. Miller and company illegally asked in the audit papers about the political affiliations of our directors, much like has been recently exposed to have occurred in the current IRS scandal concerning conservative, pro-Israel and Christian groups during the Obama administration.
All of this underscores why we Jews must now fearlessly stand up and seek to hold our own people legally accountable for their criminal wrongdoing. If the past is a prologue, neither Congress nor our corrupt and compromised Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder will bring these disgraceful rogues to justice. To do less would be to forsake our proud Judeo- Christian roots and heritage.
© Larry Klayman
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