PASSIONATE INTENSITIES: The famous professor spouted and fumed!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023

He was troubled by one key word: It's hardly surprising to see that people have been emotional, disturbed, upset—to see that many people have been "passionate"—in the aftermath of the slaughter conducted by Hamas on October 7.

It would be odd if people weren't emotional, disturbed, upset in the wake of such a mass slaughter. That said:

When we humans are upset, we may not function in thoroughly constructive ways. In a widely cited set of lines, Yeats offered a famous account of what can happen at times of vast upheaval:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst   
Are full of passionate intensity.

As we noted yesterday, we thought of those famous lines as we watched yesterday's Morning Joe. There's been a great deal of intensity on that show in the weeks since October 7. 

Along the way, there has also been a very large sifting of facts. Basic information may be sifted, even picked and chosen and suppressed, at times of such high passion.

Last week, we discussed a bit of intensity to which we were exposed on the red tribe "cable news" program, Fox & Friends Weekend. All last week, we discussed some of the passionate intensity which was performed on that program on Sunday morning, November 5.

The intensity led to an astonishing claim or suggestion. We refer to the claim or suggestion that Barack Obama needs a sign—a yard sign which says, "Kill the Jews."

The person who made that claim or that suggestion almost surely isn't "the worst," though she performed a good impression of same on that astonishing program. For better or worse, passionate intensity isn't restricted to "the worst" at times of great upheaval. This brings us to something Professor Dershowitz said last Friday morning on the Fox Business Channel.

Like Batya Ungar-Sargon, Professor Dershowitz almost surely isn't "the worst." That said, he was full of passion, and full of intensity, in the appearance in question.

Last Friday, he spoke with Matia Bartiromo on her program, Mornings with Maria. As we noted on Saturday, a headline on a Fox News report captured his remarks as shown:

Alan Dershowitz calls out Obama's 'deep hatred of Israel': 'He should be ashamed'

If you'd been watching Fox & Friends Weekend, you'd been told that Obama needed that sign in his yard. Now, you were told that Obama had displayed a "deep hatred of Israel" in a recent set remarks.

Does Barack Obama need a sign in his yard—a yard sign which says, "Kill the Jews?" Passionate intensity can lead us humans to make such astonishing comments.

Concerning Professor Dershowitz, he was also passionate when he spoke with Bartiromo. Below, you see the way the interview began:

BARTIROMO: (11/10/23): I want to get you to tell me more about what exactly Obama said that was—he did have moral equivalency between, you know, the terrorists of Hamas and Israel!

DERSHOWITZ: Well first, he said that the occupation is unbearable. He just lied through his teeth.

There is no occupation of Gaza. In 2005, and if life is unbearable in Gaza, it's because Hamas has been in control—the kleptocracy. People have stolen billions of dollars that were intended for humanitarian aid for their own bank accts in Qatar.

As far as the occupation of the West Bank, he's been to Ramallah. He knows Ramallah—there's no occupation. It's a beautiful city, as nice as Jerusalem, except a lot safer, because there's no terrorism.

And to compare those disputed claims with the rapes, beheadings, burnings, kidnappings, it's just obscene and despicable. And what it does is it lends support to those students, basically, who are saying, "Well, what Hamas really did was not so bad. It was in response to the occupation.’"

Although he said that the attacks by Hamas are not justifiable, he made them justifiable, because if life really is unbearable, as it's not, then you can do anything you want to make it bearable.

To watch the full tape, click here.

The interview continued from there. The professor was full of intensity on this particular morning.

Below, we'll note the professor's instant objection to Obama's use of one particular word. Already, though, he had said that Obama was "lying through his teeth" in his recent remarks about this deeply important matter. He had also said that Obama's remarks had been "obscene and despicable."

The passionate professor was full of intensity on this particular morning. "You are so spot on," Bartiromo inevitably said at this point, going on to say that Obama's remarks had been "absolutely disgusting."

Full disclosure! At this point, we haven't even reached the comments which were featured in the headline sitting atop that Fox Business news report. We refer to the comments which were quoted at the start of Kristen Altus' report:

ALTUS (11/10/23): Expressing outrage over former President Barack Obama’s call for an end to Israeli "occupation," Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz expanded on why he’s never talking to the Democratic president again.

"I think he always had a deep hatred of Israel in his heart. He hid it very well. He called me to the Oval Office and he said to me, 'Alan, you've known me for a long time. You know I have Israel's back.' I didn't realize he meant to paint a target on it," Dershowitz said Friday on "Mornings with Maria."

"He's never been supportive of Israel. And finally, his true feelings have come out now that he's no longer president and doesn't have to be elected," the professor continued. "He has contributed enormously to the problem because he is respected among young people. And if he says the occupation is unbearable and that anything can be done to stop it, he is encouraging people to engage in their antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-American attitudes. He should be ashamed of himself. He should apologize, but he won't."

So began the news report, focusing on a key word. 

"Obama had always had a deep hatred of Israel in his heart," the passionate professor had said. The passionate fellow had also said that Obama had skillfully hidden his deep hatred—had done so until now.

Also this! In the current instance, Obama had been encouraging people to engage in antisemitic attitudes! Or at least, so the passionate professor had said. 

Obama should apologize, the professor had said. But, of course, he won't.

This is the sort of thing you hear if you watch Fox News / Fox Business programs. Barack Obama needs a sign which says, Kill the Jews. He's always had a deep hatred of Israel. Also, he was lying through his teeth in his recent comments.

In this case, the passionate professor spouted and fumed about Obama's alleged deep hatred. Repeatedly, caution and logic were thrown to the winds—and then too, there was that key word.

Right out of the gate, the passionate fellow had gone there. Obama had said "the occupation is unbearable," but no occupation exists!

According to the Harvard professor, it was that despicable choice of words which showed that Obama had been lying through his teeth! According to a wide array of disconsolate experts, this is the way we humans are frequently inclined to behave when things begin falling apart.

The Harvard professor spouted and fumed. Logic died a thousand deaths as he spouted and fumed for his compliant corporate host.

But what about that troubling word—the word which showed that Obama was lying? Tomorrow, we'll take a look at that key word and at one other—"blockade."

We'll try to perform a very rare function. Even as the center fails to hold., we'll try to let some tiny bits of information sneak out.

Tomorrow: Occupation, blockade

By the way: What had Obama actually said? To read his remarks, click here.