Joe Klein of Time is calling it an “assassination” led by a “mob” “composed primarily of Jewish neoconservatives.” But then he goes on to quote Senator Schumer and his role in Freeman’s departure:

The mob was composed primarily of Jewish neoconservatives–abetted by less than courageous public servants like Senator Chuck Schumer, who has publicly taken credit for the hit. This was his statement:
“Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position. His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.”

Newsweek, however, is reporting that it was the vetting of Freeman’s foreign financial ties that were at issue, along with an objection from Nancy Pelosi:

Chas Freeman, the Obama administration’s choice to serve in a key U.S. intelligence post, abruptly withdrew Tuesday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and numerous other congressional leaders complained to the White House that he was too closely tied to Saudi and Chinese government interests.
The resignation of Freeman represents another serious “vetting” embarrassment for the White House and a personal blow to Dennis Blair, President Obama’s national intelligence director. After choosing Freeman to head the National Intelligence Council, Blair had publicly defended his choice and insisted as recently as this week that he had no intention of withdrawing the selection. On Monday, Freeman himself was telling people on Capitol Hill that the more criticism was heaped on him, the more intent he was on fighting to stay at the intelligence council.

And. . .

But Pelosi in particular was upset about public comments that seemed to belittle the Chinese human-rights movement—a cause she has championed for years. In 2005, for instance, Freeman was quoted as writing in a public e-mail about the Tiananmen Square massacre: “[T]he truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud … In this optic, the Politburo’s response to the mob scene at ‘Tian’anmen’ stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action.

Maybe Nancy Pelosi is a Jewish neocon now, too? At the very least, we’re going to need some sort of org chart as the vast-right-wing-left-wing-Jewish-Catholic-progressive-neocon-conspiracy is getting quite confusing .