Jew Hater or Doofus?

U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va.) is catching flak for a comment about Jewish influence on U.S. foreign policy that he made at an anti-war forum in Reston, Virginia:

If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq we would not be doing this….The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going and I think they should.

Moran himself is a Catholic, and last I heard the Vatican was staunchly opposed to war against Iraq. How come the Jews carry so much more clout?

In his defense, Moran says he focused on Jews because he was responding to a question from a Jew. If his interlocutor had been of a different faith, presumably he would have talked about how Hindus or Muslims or Unitarians could stop the war if they really wanted to.

"I know in my heart that I am anything but anti-Semitic," Moran says, noting that his daughter is marrying a Jew and will be a Jew herself soon. (She plans to convert, along with her 9-year-old son.)

Also, he really liked Seinfeld.

In short, Moran says he didn't realize he was reinforcing anti-Semitic delusions about Jewish power. Some may find it hard to believe that a member of Congress could be that clueless, but I credit Moran with all the stupidity he'll need to get out of this scrape.