The New Jeremiah Wright?

By Ed Lasky

Barack Obama's reading habits and sources of news have been revealed in a recent Washington Post article: The article mentioned only one blogger by name that President Obama read: Andrew Sullivan. The Atlantic's Sullivan is notorious for his tirades against Israel, Americans who support Israel, calumnies against Jews who try to influence US policy, and for his long-running denunciations of AIPAC.

Sullivan also supported the notorious Chas Freeman for chairmanship of the National Intelligence Council and the Walt-Mearsheimer "thesis" on why Congress supports Israel (it's the nefarious, diabolical Jews).

Sullivan has complained that the Washington Post publishes "hackneyed AIPAC boilerplate every day on their op-ed page"; he alluded to Charles Krauthammer and Fred Hiatt (editorial page editor of the Wash Post), both of whom are Jewish, of "looking after their own neocons" ( of course, neocons is code for Jews )

Today, comes a timely example of Sullivan's animus towards all of the above:

Andrew Sullivan, in a post on the root causes of jihadism, praises a writer for the American Conservative, Daniel Larison, for his bravery in addressing what he sees as a strong connection between terrorism and America's support for Israel. Larison, Andrew writes, "as often, treads where angels fear to."

American Conservative is the Patrick Buchanan rag.

I could go on...

Jeremiah Wright's successor? Hey, don't need to be photographed in the pews when the Blackberry is on the belt.

Speaking of Obama's advisers on Middle East issues:

In the Washington Post article regarding people who influence Barack Obama there popped up a name that drew my interest: Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick.

He is the former archbishop of Washington.

From the Post article:

He has had several private and sometimes unreported meetings with the President about the Middle East.

Now, given the contentious relations the Catholic Church has sadly had with Israel since its founding, I was curious about Cardinal McCarrick.

I googled the name and this materialized on my screen, a column from Watan: The Arab American National Newspaper . Drawing on an article from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the column reports on a September, 2009, letter signed by ethnic and religious leaders commending Barack Obama's approach towards the Israel-Palestinian problem, that has mostly consisted of pressuring and criticizing Israel. One can read the letter by clicking on the above URL.

But the more revealing aspect is the signatories. They include not only McCarrick but also this cast of characters (including a sprinkling of left-wing rabbis):

Frank Anderson
Former Chief, Southeast Asian Division, CIA
President, Middle East Policy Council

Dr. Ziad Asali
President, American Task Force on Palestine

Robert Barkin
President; Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Jeremy Ben-Ami
Executive Director, J Street

Ambassador Warren Clark
Executive Director, Churches for Middle East Peace

Debra DeLee
President, Americans for Peace Now

The Rev. Mark Hanson
Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
President, Lutheran World Federation

The Most Rev. Howard J. Hubbard
Bishop of Albany
Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary, National Council of Churches

Imam Mohamed Magid
Imam and Executive Director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society, ADAMS Center, in Sterling, Virginia

Salam Al-Marayati
Executive Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council

Rev. John McCullough
Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service

Rev. Peter Morales
President, United Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
Archbishop Emeritus of Washington

Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
Imam of Masjid al-Farah, New York City

Dr. Bob Roberts, Jr.
Senior Pastor, NorthWood Church, Dallas, TX

Hon. George R. Salem, Esq.
Chairman, Arab-American Institute
Strategic Advisor, DLA Piper LLP

Roland Santiago
Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

Ron Sider
President, Evangelicals for Social Action

Rev. John Thomas
General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

Dr. James Zogby
President, Arab American Institute