Harris Be Harris

For folks of a certain age, it was a bit amusing watching the post-retirement revival of longtime ADL chief Abe Foxman as a progressive mensch. In his dotage, he became unsparing in his criticism of a Jewish establishment that had (in his fabulous coinage) "Washington Post syndrome" (a maddening refusal to take on mainstream conservatives no matter how extreme they get, coupled with hyper-policing of the mainstream left). You loved to see it.

Sadly, if this article on J Street's newly emergent clout amongst old-school Jewish establishment "heavy hitters" is any indicator, ex-AJC chieftain David Harris will not be undergoing a similar redemption arc.

An influential vote against J Street at that meeting [on whether to admit J Street to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations] was the American Jewish Committee, which nullified the nod J Street had received from other mainstream groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Reform movement. 

David Harris, then the AJC CEO, said he doesn’t regret the way his group voted then and that he would recommend the same vote now. 

“I don’t believe it is the role of American Jews — who live thousands of miles from Israel, reject aliyah, don’t face life-and-death military service and don’t have to take their children and elderly to bomb shelters day and night — to seek to influence existentially important issues affecting Israel and its vital link with the United States,” he said. 

He added that such lobbying for U.S. pressure on Israel is “inappropriate and, yes, harmful.” The same goes, he said, for right-wing groups that seek U.S. pressure on Israel for their favored outcomes.

Ah yes, a principle that applies exactly same for right-wing and left-wing groups, with the small exception of it absolutely never applying to right-wing groups.

Anyway, as much as I enjoy one last opportunity to be cranky at David Harris, the article is actually one of general good news, in that Harris position is increasingly an outlier, and other bigwigs with impeccable "establishment" credential are stepping up to give J Street their hechsher. Long past due, of course, but progress is progress.

The Power of Positive Thinking

My wife and I are finally watching Season 4 of Ted Lasso. Much has been written about the show's relentless positivity, and the degree to which it is or isn't an appropriate message for the present moment (even with Season 3's attempt to complicate the roots and results of Ted's positive affect, I still do think the fundamental message of the show is pro-positive).

It did feel to me like, as a show Ted Lasso was the apex of a particular type -- the response to the anti-hero era of Peak TV television that wanted to show the virtues of optimism and doing the right thing without being hokey about it. But now that I think about it, was that ever really a "trend"? What other shows fall into the category (one can't have an "apex" of category with only one member)?

The obvious answer, and what I'd deem the inaugurator of the style, is Parks & Rec. And another I'd argue for is The Good Place, whose underlying ethos did seem view trying to be good as a force which, if persistent and relentless enough, could conquer all things. But what else? Community? It's a sweet show at root, but I think its core is less human decency and more the joy of whimsy and absurdism. Brooklyn Nine Nine? Maybe -- one could argue that its positive core is what made the show "work" as a cop show in the middle of the Black Lives Matter era. But still, I feel like I must be missing something -- more than one something, in fact. But I'm drawing a blank.