There is something weird about how Republicans go around accusing Democrats of being anti-Israel or anti-Jewish and then have to apologize for using nasty stereotypes about Jews. It’s like Tommy Thompson and Mitt Romney see Jews as this endangered species of super-rich bankers who are really good at collecting their debts. It’s very strange. Any idiot can say that they support Israel more than the other guy, but it doesn’t make them a friend of Jewish people. For starters, Jews shouldn’t consider anyone a reliable friend if they have to explain to them that they don’t like to be culturally reduced to people who “make money.”
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Don’t be mean to our patsies who are kind enough to be cannon fodder for the End Times!!! We need them to rebuild the Temple!!
(of course, other than that, they’re money-grubbing warmongering you-know-whats)…
How much was the GDP per capita of Jews imprisoned in concentration camp to free Germans in WWII? Thats an equally good analogy.
An even better analogy is what was the GDP of blacks in apartheid South Africa as compared to free whites?
Yes the Repugs stereotype. Romney is as deep as an oil sheen on water and just as harmful.
person I can advise it’s no accident we have been a reliable constituency for the Democratic Party. We’re not monolothic of course in overall world view but typically we’re suspicious of politicians who do not believe in the separation of church and state. Most of my relatives believe the public domain should be secular and religion a private matter.
I think Obama would lose more Jewish votes if he suddenly became pro-life than for anything he has done or not done on Israel. Nearly seventy percent of Jewish voters are moderate to left of center and will vote that way. The thirty percent that are conservative leaning or very religious will vote GOP no matter what Obama says or does.
Personally, I despise Bibi Netenyahu.
It’s interesting to compare the Catholic and Jewish constituencies in this regard. For the Jews the GOP assumption is that all they care about is a militant stance on Israel and will ignore all other issues. Never mind that historical discrimination or the fact that most Jews are liberal on all other issues. Similarly the GOP theory is that all Catholics will vote GOP because all they care about is abortion – again ignoring all the other Catholic teachings about helping others, avoiding war, etc.
It’s interesting that in recent polls even the majority of Catholics are supporting Obama. My wife, and ex-Catholic who is still very involved in many Catholic discussion groups, says that there is a strong movement to “look at the big picture” and to understand that even strict anti-abortion policies won’t work if people don’t have affordable universal health care.
Of course, only a slight majority of Catholics support the Democrats while a very large majority of Jews do – but that may because Catholicism is just a religion while Judaism is also an ethnicity and identity – there are a hell of a lot of ex-Catholics out there who are supporting the Democrats, and the more the various bishops councils act like GOP shills the more ex-Catholics there will be.
That is an interesting comparison. I never thought of it that way before but you’re right. The GOP compartmentalizes Catholics into all voting based upon the teachings of the church re abortion and assume Jews are lock step militant supporters of Israel.
But Mother Teresa admonished Ronald Reagan about his policies towards the poor. And while I care about Israel I’m not blind to the immoral and strategic foolhardiness of their subjugation of the Palestinian people.
The worst anti-semites in this country are usually conservative Christians.
Probably the most common form antisemitism I see in America, though, on the right and the left, is shit like this from Jeffrey Goldberg Link
It’s the assumption that Jews as a group have anything to do with the policies of the neo-cons. Right wingers like Goldberg like to assume that Jews as a group hold his beliefs about Israel and foreign policy. It’s antisemitic at its core.
Speaking of Jews, check this out from Sarah Silverman’s father going off on some orthodox rabbi:
http://jezebel.com/5951833/sarah-silvermans-dad-gets-in-commenting-war-with-dickish-rabbi
Oh, cute:
Romney says Latino voters obsessed with “macho bravado”
OT, but Hmm, so SoS Hilary Clinton in an interview on CNN said she “takes full responsibility” for what happened in Benghazi.
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/15/clinton-i-take-responsibility-for-benghazi/
Here’s a real Jewish throw down.