Who Used “Blood Libel” First?
Posted on January 13th, 2011 in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
To evaluate Alan Dershowitz’s claim that “blood libel” is a phrase that has assumed “broad metaphorical meaning,” I Googled the term.
The only use of “blood libel” that I could find that did not refer to the anti-Semitic slur came (sigh) in the once-great Wall Street Journal on January 10th, in a column by conservative Glenn Harlan Reynolds called “The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel.”
So as the usual talking heads begin their “have you no decency?” routine aimed at talk radio and Republican politicians, perhaps we should turn the question around. Where is the decency in blood libel?
Which is obviously where Palin’s moronic ghostwriter got the phrase….
A shame no one called Reynolds out on this at the time.
Other than that, nope—can’t find a single use of the term in anything other than its specific meaning. What the hell was Dershowitz talking about?
(To be fair, there is this hilariously unconvincing list that a conservative at National Review dredged up, in which pretty much every example of the term is either in a context that acknowledges its original meaning or comes when it’s misused by conservatives…but there’s one use of blood libel by none other than the Boston Globe’s Alex Beam.
Mr. Beam, care to respond?
In any case, broad metaphorical meaning? I don’t think so.)
7 Responses
1/13/2011 7:48 am
It would be good to get beyond the war of words and focus on what is really worrisome here. Pat Buchanan, on Morning Joe, defended Palin by saying “she’s a fighter.” When attacked, she fights back. Which reminded me that real problem with her choice of rhetoric is not incivility, nor its impact on nut cases. It’s what it says about her character and the personal way she responds to events. All this will diminish (though harden) the ranks of those who think she’s the person we need dealing with Korea and the Middle East. (If, that is, Americans ever get back to noticing what we are doing in the rest of the world.)
1/13/2011 1:04 pm
a big “if”
1/13/2011 3:02 pm
Anonymous — exactly, that is why I mentioned it. There is something very American about Palin’s solipsism, this way of thinking that the rest of the world exists only insofar as it affects us. Palin justifies this on the basis of American exceptionalism, but she’s mistaken; it’s not exceptionalism she represents, it’s narcissim.
1/13/2011 3:03 pm
sorry, “narcissism.”
1/13/2011 3:30 pm
Just listen to her entire speech and you will hear a lot of good points she has made about this country. Don’t just pick out pharses that could be used against her. She should be praised for what she said.
1/13/2011 7:24 pm
Oh give it a rest Richard. Stop hollering about that bitch and let her go to eternal obscurity. She’s headed that way on her own… She doesn’t need your help.
If she gave a speech in the woods, would bloggers endlessly blog about it?. Ad nausium?
1/16/2011 8:58 pm
From the NT tonight-is Greg Bishop channeling Amelie?? Or is sportswriting just not very good? (What’s the “opposite”of throwing for a country mile? “Rumbled the opposite direction?”)
“Brady entered this rubber match with 36 touchdown passes and only 4 interceptions. He was 11 games removed from his last interception, too, at least until the Patriots’ first possession, when linebacker David Harris snagged an errant throw and rumbled the opposite direction, with only green turf separating him and the end zone.
But Harris built his punishing reputation off of tackles that rattle bones, not speed, and Alge Crumpler, a 10-year veteran, a slow and thick tight end, caught Harris 58 yards downfield. That proved fortunate, because the Jets squandered the field position, because Shonn Greene tripped on one play and LaDainian Tomlinson ran into a teammate on the next and Nick Folk missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt.
The Patriots scored on their next possession, on a 34-yard field goal from Shayne Graham. But Ryan’s defense stifled Brady. The Jets sacked him three times in the first half, with defensive end Shaun Ellis dropping him twice.
The Jets appeared to follow a blueprint similar to the one they employed last week against Peyton Manning and Indianapolis. They dropped defenders into coverage, played more zone than usual, blitzed less. In December, on this field, Brady threw for a country mile against this defense. On Sunday, the opposite took place.