When former President Richard Nixon became paranoid that the Bureau of Labor Statistics had come under the control of Democrats and a “Jewish cabal,” he ordered adviser Fred Malek to create a list of “important Jewish officials” within the bureau, several of whom were later demoted or transferred. “It was the last recorded act of official anti-Semitism by the United States government,” Slate’s Timothy Noah noted. Malek has since apologized for serving as Nixon’s “Jew counter,” and has gone on to be a perennial Republican operative, serving as national finance co-chair for Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign, and as deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee under President George H. W. Bush. Now, right-wing Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has hired Malek to chair a 31-member commission charged with making recommendations on how to reform government.
Look, it's great that Malek apologized, but there is something unseemly about a person whose claim to fame is creating lists of bad Jews still being a member-in-good-standing of the political class. Yet, here we are, with Malek apparently well-entrenched in the national GOP. And now he's charged with reforming Virginia's government.
I can't wait.
It's a good point that he's still "one of the guys" among Republican bigwigs and they don't see a problem with that. But someone with a working knowledge of government corruption could be a pretty valuable player for reform efforts, same as the government consults former counterfeiters when designing new currency.
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