I did read those comments, and I’m slightly confused because, again, the ADL is treated as some sort of font of credibility and its catering to anti-Muslim bigots is treated as somehow an aberration.

The ADL is not a “civil rights organization” so much as a hardline Likudnik spy network. Progressive Jews like Michael Lerner denounced the ADL years ago for smearing even the most moderate critics of Israeli policy as “anti-Semites.” I was not a commenter on LGF until very recently, but I’m well-aware of the site’s past as a far-right hate group against Muslims — I commend Charles for the maturing of his views (even if he hasn’t ever quite apologized for all the past incitements to genocide that occurred on this blog), and find it somewhat surreal (but in a good way) to see the recent set of highly-agreeable posts defending the civil rights of Muslims, contrasted with the set of truly extreme bigoted posts against Muslims from past years. But I find it strange that his views changed so quickly on virtually every single issue possible, except those relating to the Israeli far-right and its American apologists.

The true face of the ADL emerges when one notes its activities in the 1980s and 1990s illegally spying on anti-Apartheid activists inside the United States and passing along their information to the racist South African government. What sort of “civil rights organization” would engage in that sort of behavior? (Apartheid South Africa, even during its period of intense diplomatic isolation, was one of Israel’s key strategic allies. Israel was the only developed state in the world to maintain normal diplomatic relations with the Apartheid regime.)

I guess my thought is that I’m just surprised that Charles would have even expressed any surprise at all that the ADL would have catered to bigots, since they’ve been doing that for a very long time. I agree that Palin and Cantor are bigots for opposing the mosque (although, to be fair, their remarks are nowhere near as severe as the ones Charles himself made as recently as a couple of years ago on the subject of Islam), but the ADL’s coddling of these bigots is nowhere near as offensive as their aiding and abetting of the white racists in South Africa.

I hope that at least partially explains where I’m coming from. Let me know if you disagree or whatever.