January 12, 2007

Appearance by Ken Stein, the Professor Who Resigned from the Carter Center Last Month

Last night Ken Stein spoke to a very large crowd in Los Angeles about Jimmy Carter's book, and about Stein's resignation from the Carter Center.

Stein is the professor who made headlines last month due to his resignation:

President Carter's book on the Middle East, a title too inflammatory to even print, is not based on unvarnished analyses; it is replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions, and simply invented segments.

Aside from the one-sided nature of the book, meant to provoke, there are recollections cited from meetings where I was the third person in the room, and my notes of those meetings show little similarity to points claimed in the book.

Stein spoke highly of Carter last night, praising his intellect many times. The two men have been friends for decades, and have toured the Mid East together. But Stein was specific in his criticism of Carter's book. He stated that Carter consistently misrepresented the facts in order to support an argument that Israel was responsible for its conflicts with the so-called Palestinians.

Here are two key slides from his speech:

And here are some quotes from Stein, from the Q&A session after his prepared remarks:

"I have to view [Carter's book] as an intentional falsehood."

"[Carter doesn't] let the facts get in the way of his ideology."

"The book has to be seen in the context the assault on Israel from many different people, as well as on those who support Israel."

"My fear is that American Jews are asleep, and are not teaching Israel's history to their children diligently."

Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly to Keep Earmark Reform Alive

Further to the hot story today about the Senate Dems trying to stop earmark reform, it's worthwhile to note that while Senate Dems voted overwhelmingly to kill earmark reform, Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly to support it.

What was specifically being voted on was a motion to table (i.e. kill) an earmark reform amendment.

Here's the vote:

(Hat tip to commenter HappyFeet.)