Double Helix Double Talk

You can't seem to go anywhere today without running into someone who is no longer ashamed to be anti-Semitic.

Scientist James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and a Nobel Prize winner, says anti-Semitism is justified, in a recent magazine interview.

Watson, 78, who lives in Cold Harbor, N.Y., tells Esquire magazine in its January edition that anti-Semitism, in some circumstances, is justified.

In an interview profile for the magazine Watson asks rhetorically, "Should you be allowed to make an anti-Semitic remark?" He answered: "Yes, because some anti-Semitism is justified. Just like some anti-Irish feeling is justified. If you can't be criticized, that's very dangerous. You lose the concept of a free society."

I feel like making an anti-Watson remark, involving swear words. But wait: There's more.

Apparently a firm believer in eugenics, Watson also feels "Ashkenazi Jews" – Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities in the area of Germany – have higher intelligence than other people.

"I've wondered why people aren't more intelligent," Watson says. "Why isn't everyone as intelligent as Ashkenazi Jews? And it may be that societies work best when there's a mixture of ability – the bright people would never be an army."

So he's an anti-Semite, a bigot, and a believer in "master race" bullshit. Plus, I wasted hours of my life in high school bio class reading his Double Helix book.

I always liked Crick better, anyway.