Jennifer Rubin

Ken Silverstein writes:
 * Jennifer Rubin, a writer for Commentary until late 2010, is another friend of Orion. She is one of a number of right-wing versifiers whose flimsy reporting — in her case little more than eager repetition of GOP talking points and unsubstantiated terror porn — have landed them jobs at the Washington Post. Orion’s lobbyists have briefed her and set up interviews for her, and she has attended their Washington events for Georgian officials. In February of 2010, when Rubin was still at Commentary, Goldfarb billed Orion $321.88 for drinks at  the posh Ten Penh restuarant,  for her and several other journalists. Rubin is a reliable mouthpiece for Georgia’s anti-Russian themes. During the week of Dec. 13, 2010, Goldfarb contacted Rubin to discuss Georgia. Eight days later, Rubin wrote an item saying that in regard to the Russia reset, “We need to examine what are we giving up and what are we getting.” She proposed the U.S. government consider “robust assistance to Georgia.” On Jan. 4 she published another item on Russia, citing a story by Lake and quoting Jamie Fly of the Foreign Policy Initiative (hear the echo?), who told her that, “Despite U.S. efforts to placate Russia in return for support on Iran, Russia has done little more than it did during the Bush administration to halt Tehran’s march toward a nuclear weapon.” During the week of May 29 of this year, Goldfarb logged a conversation with Rubin about “Georgian security.” On June 3, she wrote a story for Washingtonpost.com that suggested it “might be an excellent time to explore” whether Russian reset was “all give and no get for the United States and the West.” Rubin’s story cited Senators Echo and Echo (McCain and Lieberman)  complaining that a ‘reset’ consists “largely of acceding to Russian demands with no corresponding progress in Russian human rights or conduct toward its neighbors.” In an email reply Rubin wrote: “My views on Russia, human rights, Eastern Europe, Georgia, etc. are long standing and well known. I invariably take the side of democracies against tyrannies.” (Incidentally, Rubin is one of many media junketeers who have trekked off to the Middle East on the tab of pro-Israeli organizations, the true masters at spinning and pampering journalists. Earlier this year she and a group of media colleagues attended the Herzliya Conference “With the region experiencing great upheaval and Israel facing a variety of domestic and international challenges, this is a particularly opportune time to hear from Israelis and listen to Israeli officials,” she wrote at the time. Airline and travel expenses, she disclosed, were picked up by the Emergency Committee for Israel whose board includes Kristol and whose chief advisers include Goldfarb.)