by Maasanova

The damage control team for Rahm Emanuel has been assembled since the moment he was appointed, beginning with a television media blitz that attempted to shape his mainstream public image. However online where the public is a bit more astute, Emauel's image is a total disaster. Enter James Zogby: Rahm Emanuel's left gatekeeper.

James Zogby is a leading figure in some of the most influential Arab American civil rights organizations in the United States and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), "a Nonpartisan Resource for Information and Analysis." His brother John Zoby is president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling.

As a key figure in liberal political circles for decades, James Zogby is one of the premier propagandist for the American and Arab intelligentsia. Along with his connections to the still forming CFR-run Obama Administration, as well as the Arab world, Zogby is an obvious choice to ease well meaning liberals' concerns over Emanual's controversial appointee as Obama's White House Chief of Staff.

In his November 14, 2008 blog entry, Rahm Emanuel and Arab Perceptions, Zogby does his best but fails miserably at spinning Rahm Emanuel's sketchy history in American politics.

Zogby begins his case by attempting to frame the issue of Emanuel's appointment to the Obama Administration as primarily a concern of Arabs. He writes:

"On November 5th, my office sent an email to tens of thousands of our members and contacts congratulating President-elect Barack Obama. In our message, we noted the historic transformation his victory represented and commended the thousands of Arab Americans who participated in this winning campaign. The initial and near universal response was heartwarming, with many sharing moving anecdotes of their campaign experiences, their reactions to the victory, and their hopes for change.

One day and one announcement later, the tide turned.

With the naming of Congressman Rahm Emanuel as Obama's White House Chief of Staff, for some, not all, the euphoria turned to despair. The emails and calls to my office were both troubled and troubling..."

Never does he mention all of the other groups who are skeptical of Rahm Emanuel including Obama's black constituents, the worldwide anti war and peace movements, the worldwide anti-Zionist movement, the Armenian community (still slighted over Congress refusing to recognize the Armenian Holocaust), America's pro-2nd Amendment community, civil liberties organizations, and finally Democrats and Republicans alike who feel that Emanuel is too much of a partisan DC insider.

Now that is a lot of people; surely no small minority.

Zogby continues to be intellectually dishonest by attempting to obscure known facts about Emanuel starting with his service with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Zogby maintains that Emanuel only volunteered as a civilian for a few weeks, doing maintenance on Israeli vehicles. While that may or may not be true (we don't know because he doesn't sight his sources) it is still service whether compulsory or voluntary. Furthermore, Zogby never addresses the fact that Emanuel never served or volunteered for the US Armed Services during a time of war.

Zogby then dismisses an accusation that Rahm Emanuel may be a Mossad asset that was used to penetrate the White House in order to spy on the Clinton Administration. According to The New Federalist, mainstream sources such as the Washington Post did indeed report that an organized spy ring did in fact penetrate the White House before and during the President Clinton/Monica Lewinski scandal. There was even a mainstream book entitled Gideon Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad, written by a former reporter for Britain's Daily Express Gordon Thomas, lends further credence to a conspiracy by the Mossad and foreign intelligence. So with that said, can it really be a stretch that Emanuel is an intelligence asset of a foreign government?

Zogby, whether for reasons of limited space at his blog or simply by pure laziness, addresses none of these facts.

Finally, and most ironically, Zogby does his best Abraham Foxman impersonation and accuses American Arabs of antisemitic canards for their criticisms of Emanuel and his father, a former Israeli terrorist.

So James Zogby, it has not gone unnoticed that your entire article is a canard, and if the Arabs had a translation of the term "uncle Tom," you would most certainly fit the bill.

Thanks to Rownen Berkeley at Wake Up From Your Slumber