Jim Clancy is a familiar face to viewers of CNN. But just what was he thinking when he embarked on a bizarre anti-Israel Twitter outburst?
It started when Clancy tweeted this in relation to the appalling Paris terror attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo:
The cartoons NEVER mocked the Prophet. They mocked how the COWARDS tried to distort his word. Pay attention.
— Jim Clancy (@clancycnn) January 7, 2015
When Clancy was called on this by Oren Kessler, his response was to inappropriately imply that Kessler was doing so for “Hasbara.”
@OrenKessler Hasbara?
— Jim Clancy (@clancycnn) January 7, 2015
Things went rapidly downhill as Clancy took any legitimate criticism to be part of an organized pro-Israel attack on him particularly when the respected blogger Elder of Ziyon presented factual evidence to dispute Clancy’s original tweet.
.@clancycnn You might want to actually look at the cartoons before tweeting about them. I have a collection: http://t.co/QSvVFHKqwM — ElderOfZiyon (@elderofziyon) January 8, 2015
The Hasbara (Israeli explaining the inconsistencies of Human Rights) team has declared victory over @ClancyCNN – next up, #ICC — Jim Clancy (@clancycnn) January 8, 2015
The openly anti-Semitic “Jews Making News” Twitter account then weighed in with an attack on Elder, which prompted Clancy to respond with the bizarre claim that both Elder and the anti-Semitic Jews Making News were part of an anti-Muslim and pro-Israel PR campaign.
Clancy has since removed the following two tweets, which we have taken screenshots of, from his Twitter feed presumably after realizing just how damaging to his credibility they are.
What does it say about Clancy’s state of mind that he cannot distinguish between a genuine pro-Israel blog site and another that expressly promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories? When confronted over his bogus claim that those criticizing him on Twitter were part of an anti-Muslim campaign on behalf of Israel, Clancy still had time to demonstrate his bizarre neurosis with a reference to a “Hasbara team.”
@HumanRights2K Get a grip, junior. It’s my Friday night. You and the Hasbara team need to pick on some cripple on the edge of the herd. — Jim Clancy (@clancycnn) January 8, 2015
A more detailed roundup of Clancy’s tweets and the various responses can be found on the Twitchy website. The bottom line, however, is that Jim Clancy didn’t just dig a hole for himself. He kept digging by conjuring up an imaginary team of pro-Israel activists who by definition would be anti-Muslim bigots, to explain away alternative views to his original tweet that had nothing to do with Israel whatsoever. This he compounded by promoting an anti-Semitic Twitter account as evidence of his ridiculous theory.
Twitter often exposes the real thoughts of prominent users, including media personalities. Jim Clancy has given us a window into his worldview and it isn’t pleasant. Nor is it appropriate for a CNN anchorman.
