Conservative Blogger Asserts Rick Perry Didn’t Write his Op-Ed on Israel

Reposted by arrangement with Think Progress

Conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin asserted in a blog post that Texas governor and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry did not write a Friday pro-Israel op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal and Israel’s Jerusalem Post. The op-ed, in which Perry cherry-picked a quote from a historian to link Texas and Israel, criticized President Obama’s pro-Israel record. “Perry almost certainly didn’t write it,” said Rubin. “We know that because his own foreign policy views are rudimentary. […] A ghostwritten piece so far above his current abilities highlights the concern.” Rubin acknowledged that “most pols have these things written for them,” but said that “until he personally could articulate his thoughts in detail, [advisers] should forgo the pretense of sophistication.” Among Perry’s top reported foreign policy contacts are former Bush officials Donald Rumsfeld and Douglas Feith. So who wrote Perry’s Op-Ed?

Ali Gharib

Ali Gharib is a New York-based journalist on U.S. foreign policy with a focus on the Middle East and Central Asia. His work has appeared at Inter Press Service, where he was the Deputy Washington Bureau Chief; the Buffalo Beast; Huffington Post; Mondoweiss; Right Web; and Alternet. He holds a Master's degree in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. A proud Iranian-American and fluent Farsi speaker, Ali was born in California and raised in D.C.

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3 Comments

  1. I wonder what her gambit is. I am sure she will be quite pleased with Perry’s position vis a vis Israel.

  2. It doesn’t matter who wrote it. The op-ed was written in Perry’s name, therefore he owns it, every word in it. Public figures who have op-eds ghost-written for them (and virtually all do) can’t come back later and disqualify their comments. If your name is on it, it’s yours for the record. Now defend it, or say you were wrong.

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