Commentary’s Alana Goodman got to sit down with Sheldon Adelson at his Venetian office and asked him about his role in trying to unseat President Obama (the money wasn’t a big deal), his thoughts on hot button social issues (the Republicans ought to lighten up) and more.
It’s a good get for Goodman — Adelson’s hard to pin down for an interview.
One of his locutions intrigued me, though:
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As for the critics, Adelson was dismissive: “What right do they have to criticize me? They don’t know me at all.”
And then:
I asked him what he thought about accusations that he is more loyal to Israel than the U.S., an anti-Semitic smear that proliferated during the election.
“Listen, I live here. I don’t live there,” he said. “My wife is Israeli, my children carry Israeli passports, but I don’t. And what right do critics have to make any comment about who I’m loyal to?”
Adelson is a native speaker, and he repeated the usage twice — what "right" do critics have to criticize?
This is curious, not merely considering America’s founding principles, but because of some of what Adelson is famous for: He just spent upwards of $100 million criticizing others — first Mitt Romney, then Obama. He runs a giveaway paper in Israel that makes it its business (as newspapers legitimately do) to rip apart public figures.
What is Adelson getting at?
