(Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images for Hulu)
Fox News loves putting Alan Dershowitz on TV so they can trumpet that he’s a “Democrat” willing to support Donald Trump and complain about Black Lives Matter. Without his purported Democratic affiliation, Dershowitz is another generic MAGAhead, a distinction that could force Dershowitz to face the worst fate imaginable: not being on TV.
But Dershowitz is also cast as a Johnny-come-lately to the right-wing ecosphere which keeps him just alienated enough from his new audience. That appears to be a bit of a problem for him, so, weary of his brand as a Democrat in name only, Dershowitz is now going all Endgame to repair the timeline of his own life so he can be his current flavor of quasi-Republican all along. Just one who was viciously tricked by the Democrats.
“I think President Obama, for whom I voted twice, and would now reconsider my second vote for him, he conned me,” Dershowitz stated, according to TheBlaze “He called me into the Oval Office and he said ‘I have Israel’s back’ and I didn’t realize what he meant is to put a target on it and stab them.”
The crux of Dershowitz’s complaint was a UN resolution that the U.S. didn’t even vote for — but that the U.S. didn’t veto over unanimous 14-0 passage. The resolution scolded the Netanyahu government over its support for settlements in disputed territory and, in fairness, called out Palestinians for contributing to turmoil in the area. Since the resolution had all the influence of a frowny face note and came out at the exact same time that the Obama administration handed Israel a military aid package that Netanyahu even called “historic” only the most hyperbolic observers thought this resolution amounted to some kind of betrayal.
Dershowitz’s argument for why “handing a country tons of weapons” is less important to a nation’s security than “allowing a bunch of people to toothlessly complain” is his belief that the symbolic move “legitimized” criticism of Israel among American liberals. Dershowitz equates this kind of criticism to anti-Semitism given the conflation many make between criticizing contemporary Israeli government policy with the question of whether or not Israel has a right to exist at all. These are obviously severable ideas, but there’s an argument to be had that the former is deployed to Trojan Horse in the latter.
However, if there’s any trope out there Trojan Horsing anti-Semitism into mainstream political discourse, it’s probably this one that Dershowitz steps seamlessly into:
“I have some information as well about the Obama administration — which will be disclosed in a lawsuit at some point, but I’m not prepared to disclose it now — about how President Obama personally asked the FBI to investigate somebody on behalf of George Soros, who was a close ally of his,” Dershowitz affirmed.
It’s possible to think George Soros is a globalist banker quietly using his influence over a black guy to get the deep state to spy on people in a way that has nothing to do with his being Jewish but it’s definitely a popular idea among the anti-Semitic corners of the internet. It seems like the sort of thing someone wouldn’t want to “legitimize” by trumpeting it on a broadcast when you’re admittedly not ready to go to court with it. Feels a bit like throwing gasoline on the alt-right fires for no reason.
In any event, we’re all excited to see where the Dershowitz legacy lands next. Let’s just hope all this tinkering doesn’t end up with Claus von Bulow killing Ron and Nicole.
Alan Dershowitz Says He Was ‘Conned’ By Barack Obama – Says He Would Now Reconsider His 2012 Vote For Him [Union Journal]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.