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Dan Snyder Is Not a Wiesenthal Donor

He remains, however, a petulant, free speech-hating bully

by
Marc Tracy
February 04, 2011
The allegedly offending image.(Washington City Paper)
The allegedly offending image.(Washington City Paper)

JTA’s Ron Kampeas has done some reporting into the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s absurd charge that Washington City Paper, which has been sued by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder over a negative-but-true piece it published about him last November, was trafficking in anti-Semitic imagery in the article’s cover image (see left). Turns out Snyder is not a Center donor, but did solicit their backing. I guess it is comforting to know that the Center wasn’t simply prostituting its credibility out to the highest bidder. On the other hand, gthey really must believe that the image is anti-Semitic, which means they are stupider than I would have thought possible.

Washingtonians have known for some time about Snyder’s evil megalomania: It’s part of what made Dave McKenna’s brilliant polemic against him so funny and so apt. However, as local television sports anchor Brett Haber (a Member of the Tribe, naturally) perceptively notes, Snyder’s tantrums, idiotic hires and fires, and all the other things that have made the Skins one of the league’s least successful teams during his ownership tenure, were ultimately “his prerogative.” This goes way, way, way beyond that. His must-watch commentary is below.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.