Michael Goldfarb (political writer)

Michael L. Goldfarb (born June 6, 1980) is an American conservative[1] political writer. He was contributing editor for The Weekly Standard[2] and was a research associate at the Project for the New American Century.[3] During the 2008 presidential race he served as John McCain's deputy communications director.[4] He is a founder of the online conservative magazine The Washington Free Beacon.[1] Goldfarb attracted some online attention for two posts ridiculing liberal bloggers as basement-dwelling Dungeons & Dragons players.[5]

Goldfarb graduated with an A.B. in history from Princeton University in 2002 after completing a 98-page-long senior thesis, titled "The Search for Stability in Afghanistan: The Lessons of State Building in Afghan History," under the supervision of Stephen Kotkin.[6][7]

In an article titled "A Conservative Provocateur, Using a Blowtorch as His Pen," The New York Times called Goldfarb "an all-around anti-liberal provocateur" and said he "has blazed a trail in the new era of campaign finance, in which loosened restrictions have flooded the political world with cash for a whole new array of organizations that operate outside the traditional bounds of the parties."[8]

Accusation of antisemitism against Obama

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As a blogger and deputy communications director for the McCain presidential campaign, Goldfarb told CNN, "The point is that Barack Obama has a long track record of being around anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American rhetoric."[9]

Asked to be specific, Goldfarb named Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia University professor who once held a fundraiser for Obama, but then refused to cite anyone else. Blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote on The Daily Dish, "Asked to name one other anti-Semite other than his allegation about Rashid Khalidi, he can't. He won't. But he leaves it hanging, refusing to disown or retract the charge. This is pure McCarthyism. And it is the rotten core of McCain."[10] Goldfarb later explained that the McCain campaign had decided not to make mention of Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright, who has a long history of such rhetoric.[11]

Beauchamp affair

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While at The Weekly Standard, Goldfarb was the first to raise doubts about the veracity of Scott Beauchamp's then-anonymous Iraq reporting for The New Republic.[12][13]

Affiliations

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References

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  1. ^ a b Rutenberg, Jim (February 23, 2013). "A Conservative Provocateur, Using a Blowtorch as His Pen". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. ^ Weekly Standard masthead Retrieved 2011-11-06
  3. ^ "About PNAC" Archived 2011-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-11-06
  4. ^ Weekly Standard 2 June 2008: (Bumped) Kristol: So long (for a while) to Michael Goldfarb Retrieved 2011-11-06
  5. ^ "Politics' new third rail: Dungeons & Dragons". The Week. The Week Publications. August 22, 2008. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008.
  6. ^ Goldfarb, Michael L. Kotkin, Stephen M.; Princeton University. Department of History (eds.). "The Search for Stability in Afghanistan: The Lessons of State Building in Afghan History". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ a b The Phillips Foundation Michael Goldfarb profile Retrieved 2011-11-06 Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Ruttenerg, Jim (February 23, 2013) ""A Conservative Provocateur, Using a Blowtorch as His Pen." New York Times. (Retrieved 5-9-2014.
  9. ^ Michael Goldfarb on CNN (October 30, 2008) Footage on YouTube. (Retrieved 5-9-2014.)
  10. ^ Sullivan, Andrew (October 31, 2008) "Pure McCarthyism." The Daily Dish. (Retrieved 5-9-2014.)
  11. ^ Klonick, Kate (January 27, 2009). "Q & A: Former McCain Blogger Michael Goldfarb". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  12. ^ Cohen, Patricia (July 28, 2007). "Shedding Pen Name, Private Says He's 'Baghdad Diarist'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  13. ^ McLeary, Paul (August 10, 2007). "Krauthammer, Goldfarb, and Emanuel: Getting the TNR mess wrong on purpose". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  14. ^ Ken Silverstein: Neoconservatives hype a new Cold War Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, Salon, 5 October 2011
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