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10 Apr 2009 03:07 pm

Larry Summers On Good Friday, Ctd.

A reader writes:

That photo of Larry Summers yesterday gave me a jolt - it is the classical Jew profile from every old European caricature (think Der Sturmer or the protocols of the elders of Zion). So I found it very disturbing, particularly given the classic European antisemitic association of Jews and money and given Summers's current position.

I found it even more disturbing when you actually linked to one of those classic caricatures of Jews (the Bosch painting, traditionally showing all those nasty Jews gloating over the Crucifixion) effectively gloating about how Summers looks like them.

I do hope you didn't exactly understand what you were doing and didn't realize the implications of the link. Maybe to some people the Bosch image is amusing. To me it brings to mind the traditional Easter pogroms, when good Christians for centuries heard during mass about the suffering of Christ a the hands of the evil Jews and after church went in a fury to kill and maim those horrible people.

I do hope you respond to this, otherwise I will have no choice but to believe that your selection of the photo and the corresponding Easter image were intentional, and not an innocent mistake.

Oy. In my survey of Getty photos for the Face Of The Day, I thought that one of Summers was a gripping and surprising portrait. Then a reader emailed me the Bosch and I too was struck by the similarity. I can see now why you might see things the way you did. But it was in no way intended. I'm sorry if anyone was offended. I'll try and be more conscious of these things in future.

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