"ANTI-SEMITISM. THEY DON'T HIDE IT"
Rush talked about how stunned Anderson Cooper was to realize that Hezbollah are very open and frank about their hatred of Jews. Rush said that people like Cooper seem "fascinated" by their anti-Semitism, that Nasrallah, who has made his life’s work to kill Jews, is "studied intellectually" by these people. And then, bless his ample heart, Rush compared this tolerant approach to the intolerant hyperventilating being heaped upon Mel Gibson. Thank you, Rush!, as that has been one of my points all along. Nobody is defending Mel here, but I loathe the hypocrisy of all these politically motivated blowhards. Plus, I'm not certain just how Mel Gibson feels about Jews. Hassan Nasrallah openly call for the annihilation of Jews. As far as I know, Mel has not.
Anderson Cooper transcript:
COOPER: I think what's been lost in a lot of this coverage is just how anti-Semitic Hezbollah is in the rhetoric.
JEFFREY GOLDBERG, "THE NEW YORKER": Yes, it's absolutely fascinating, Anderson. The anti-Semitism -- there's two things that are fascinating, rather. One is how embedded in the core of Hezbollah ideology, anti-Semitism is. And I don't mean anti-Israel thinking or anti-Zionism. I mean frank anti-Semitism.
The other thing that's so interesting about it is how blunt they are and how frank they are about their anti-Semitism. They don't hide it. They don't try to mask it in any way. They state very openly to you when you ask their exact feelings about Jews, which are quite extreme.
COOPER: It's interesting because I talked to a representative news editor from al-Manar TV, and I asked him, you know, does Hezbollah still want to destroy the state of Israel? And I know Larry King has asked him that same question, and he rarely -- he basically doesn't answer that question. He sort of seems to avoid it. Which is so at odds because I mean Nasrallah himself is very point blank and matter of fact and open about his hatred of Jews.
GOLDBERG: Well, you know, al-Manar is an interesting place. They are slightly more schooled in let's say obfuscation or public relations. The leadership -- I mean, one of the things about Nasrallah that's so interesting is how straightforward he is. And you see that in all of his statements on Israel. And even his statements on America. There's no attempt to soften the language.
And the other thing about it that's so shocking, I think, when you first hear it -- is I always notice this -- and one of the first things I noticed, was the use of epidemiological metaphors to describe the role of Jews in the world. Not just Israel, but Jews. Talking about Jews as a cancer, talking about Jews as a parasite on society. And they generally are very forward about this.
8 UPDATE: Linked to Rush's site ...
Anderson Cooper Discovers Hezbollah's Anti-Semitism: They are a little perplexed at [Hassan Nasrallah’s] anti-Semitism and even more stunned how open he is about it. How more open can you be when you have been kidnapping and killing and attempting to kill Israelis and Jews for how many years now? How much more open can you be? Where is the shock? Where is the surprise? Mel Gibson, an actor, happening to be partying a little too hearty. Speeding. Pulled over. Spewed some epitaphs. Why, you'd think the world was coming to an end. Not defending Gibson, I'm just saying the lack of proportion, not only the proportion of the response and so forth, but a guy that has made his life's work killing Jews is studied intellectually, academically and interestingly. Why is he this way? Why is he so open about it? In one sense, folks, this is just absurd and it is outrageous. But that is just who the Drive-By Media is.
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