there are absolutes in this world, Mr. Klein

So, Ezra Klein was on MSNBC this morning to comment on the new GOP House Majority’s desire to open the 112^th Congress with a reading of the Constitution.  His comments boiled down to the action being irrelevant because the document “was written more than 100 years ago.” 

He also put these words in print on his Washington Post blog: “…the Constitution is not a clear document. Written 100 years ago, when America had 13 states and very different problems, it rarely speaks directly to the questions we ask it.”

I guess the fact-checker at the WashPost was late getting in this morning because Klein’s entry was later edited to read: “My friends on the right don't like to hear this, but the Constitution is not a clear document. Written more than 200 years ago, when America had 13 states and very different problems, it rarely speaks directly to the questions we ask it.”

But let’s not get picky over semantics, at least not the kind of semantics that make a 26 year old know it all (whose most complete biography can be found on Wikipedia- "100 year old" comment included) look like someone more fit to co-star in the next Michael Cera movie than the actual, informed “policy wonk” he makes the claim to be.  After all, true wonks stand behind their opinions no matter how wacky they may be.  That’s how you go from being a guest star to getting a starring role on MSNBC, right? 

Poor Mr. Klein, he’ll have to wait a while longer, then, for his ship to sail.  By 5 pm he was already retracting his words: “Yes, the Constitution is binding. No, it’s not clear which interpretation of the Constitution the Supreme Court will declare binding at any given moment. And no, reading the document on the floor of the House will not make the country more like you want it to be…”

Mr. Klein should know full well the complete lack of value any public reading has when the words being read aloud fall on deaf ears; he was raised Jewish.  Presumably, whether only on high holidays or on a weekly basis, Mr. Klein attended services and heard the words of the Torah read aloud.  If the Constitution is invalid because it’s “over 100 years old” then the 3,313 year-old Torah must really be out of date, rendering Mr. Klein’s Jewishness about as valid as his Americanness.

Perhaps that is why he was so eager to defend Hitler:

Hitler probably had the Jews of Germany to thank for the boost in effectiveness felt by his social reforms; it was probably easier to get jobs once Jews were denied theirs, and I’m sure apartments were easier to come by once Jews were kicked out of theirs, and well, as far as doctors go, I hear that Mengele was a regular miracle worker.  As far as Volkswagen goes, well, who wouldn’t want to operate a car of the people—the Aryan German people, that is—and when it comes to vegetarianism well, my dead Aunt’s German parents fed off chicken bones because Germany's breadbasket was just so bountiful. 

“Not everything the Nazis touched was bad. Hitler was a vegetarian. Volkswagen is a perfectly good car company. Universal health care is a perfectly good idea. Indeed, the Nazis actually did a pretty good job increasing economic growth and improving standards of living…pushing Germany out of a depression and back into expansion.”

And speaking of bones, Klein throws us one at the end of his heil Hitler:  “Unfortunately, they also set out to conquer Europe and exterminate the Jews. People shouldn’t do that.”

Not only does he mention the Holocaust in passing, he insults his readers (and himself) by actually being sure to remind you that genocide is wrong.

A good conservative would snub their nose at his gross hypocrisy.  A Jew, especially one who happens to be good friends with a Holocaust survivor, would call Ezra Klein an ignorant ass.

A good conservative would combat his comments regarding the Constitution by explaining that without the Constitution Klein would have no America to argue about.  A good Jew would remind Klein that if a document that is 223 years old is irrelevant and up for debate, the 3,313 year-old Torah that made him a Jew must be something best left for the history books.

And a good Jewish American would tell Mr. Klein that if the Constitution is up for debate, and the Torah doesn’t matter, why should his own words even count?  Perhaps those, too, are up for interpretation.

In which case, it’s too bad the Washington Post blows all of its money on morons.

The horrifying thing about Ezra Klein’s comments is that they are

reflective of an entire generation’s thinking: Founding documents do not matter; everything is whatever you want it to be.  No wonder Klein can defend Hitler.  And if Klein—a Jewish American who is a mere 2 generations removed from those who fought in World War II and were murdered in concentration camps—can defend Hitler, and if the thought process that got him there is commonplace in his entire generation, what does that say for the future of America?