The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna
Are not very pure or true.
With my gipsy ancestress and my weird luck
And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack
I may be a bit of a Jew.
-Sylvia Plath, Daddy
As we grew up, my maternal Grandmother was such a worrier and reminderer, we would jokingly wonder if we had Jewish roots.
My paternal uncle doesn't care for Jews. Not high-level hatred, but more the Jews-killed-Jesus level. Hilarity ensued when his genetic profile came back with some Jewishness in it.
My sister, whose favorite picture from her trip to Israel was of her in front of the American Embassy in Jerusalem, came back Jew-negative on her profile. But that doesn't signify, considering my uncle's results.
My dad was not a Jew-hater, but low level 'they own the banks,' etc.
Once at a family gathering my paternal cousin said, "Bush is a secret Jew, Cheney, is a secret Jew." My eyes and my son's met across the table. He still brings it up humorously from time to time.
23 comments:
Do you think he's unelectable because he's Jewish?
I realize there's a certain amount of low-grade anti-semitism out there (less than in any other country) but I'm not sure it's an impediment to electability. There's a certain permanent amount of inter-tribal suspicion in general, mainly coming from the party of tribalism, but that didn't stop Obama.
Personally, I look at the array of Dem candidates and it's like the party went out and got the most unappealing braying fools they could find but then I thought that about the GOP crew in 2016 (with 1-2 exceptions) until Trump distinguished himself from the pack. None of this bunch has come close to doing that and show no signs of doing so. They're all too busy hewing to the standard politics of identity and grievance. The one person left with integrity is not even on the debate stage.
As with the GOP crew in 2016, there has been a rotation so every Party-approved candidate has gotten his or her day in the sun. Warren's currently in free fall apparently and Buttedge is about to be. Klobuchar had a moment but I think it's over. No full day for Klobby; only a brief moment. Now we're all supposed to get excited about Bloomie who is also Jewish. I don't think it will last too long. I hope not, anyway. He sucked as a Republican and he's even worse as a Dem. He's a terrible politician and the only reason he's gotten this far is because he's rich.
Who will be electing the president? I heard that the millennials are outvoting the boomers now. How much do they know about how horrible socialism is? Will they go with Bernie because he promised them all kinds of stuff that they supposedly won't have to pay for?
The theory I read is that Trump will be running against socialism more than he will the candidates.
Amartel, I said probably. Great point about Obama getting in. I think there is enough residual prejudice against Jews that it could make a difference.
I have not been following the Dem field or debates. I posted this because I saw a headline that Bernie is leading in Iowa.
DB, don't know about the breakdown in turnout. For now, I assume the oldsters are still preeminent. I will say my millenial son has never voted, but was gratified at the Dem freak out when Trump won. He was not a Trump fan, but apparently not a fan of Dems either.
I don't think any of them are electable. The Democrat brand is so tainted now that it's going to be years before they can field a credible nominee.
As for the Jew, my WASP father really didn't like anybody, but Mom, good Irish Catholic that she was, admired a good many things about the Jews.
She had very little ill will in her, which is an admirable quality in anyone.
Dad Bones said...
Who will be electing the president? I heard that the millennials are outvoting the boomers now
I wouldn't buy that one without serious research. The geezers always outvote the kids.
Somebody may be taking the results of '18 and '19 and making some very iffy conclusions.
If a group isn't excited about the ultimate candidate then they won't turn out in numbers necessary for the demographic to make a difference. And that's the problem with identity politics. They had their perfect storm in 2008 and then went back to their treehouses and their silos and their safe spaces expecting their own personal Jesus to show up over and over forever.
Well, I hope he'd be unelectable, but remember, Trump was "unelectable" in 2016, until he got elected. I'd be more worried about an oddball, out-of-the-mainstream candidate like Bernie (and maybe Yang or Steyer) than about Biden.
Obama was the perfect storm, and even conservatives fell for him. So I guess I can see the same thing happening with Bernie as with Trump, i.e., people crossing the aisle out of desperation (healthcare terror, mainly). Forget Socialism, Obamacare has made a complete hash out of healthcare insurance.
Trump should throw his hat into the democrats ring, or at least out out a tweet he's thinking about it. It will be the Unity ticket.
Mike drop.
"Trump should throw his hat into the democrats ring...."
So if Trump wins the Democrat nomination and is elected as a Democrat we have nothing to worry about, n'est-ce pas?
Although I agree with Amartel that there is a mild aversion to Jews in parts of the general population, I think a genuinely attractive Jewish candidate for president could easily overcome that. Dennis Prager comes to mind. He's genuinely likable, he puts people at ease and he's also a very persuasive presenter of the conservative (actually traditional American) position on issues social/political. A person who goes down smoothly, that's the key to breaking any initial discomfort.
Maybe you have to be taught very young to hate, but my father never spoke an ill word towards Jews. He had many Jewish colleagues in his line of work and he admired sharp wits, good intellect and fine musicianship. If he was playing piano it didn't matter who was on violin - music bridged any cultural gap that might have existed. If you knew your stuff at work you were okay in his book.
But that was a lifetime ago. That little corner of the world has been swept away and the people who used to live there have been replaced by hateful democrats. That makes me sad.
It wasn't until I went up north that I encountered overt anti-Semitism. I didn't know what to make of it. Still don't. I do avoid those who are vocal in their hatred of Jews, even to this day. I don't like them.
deborah said...
Obama was the perfect storm, and even conservatives fell for him
Whigs, maybe, but not Conservatives. Real ones, anyway.
Sixty Grit said...
It wasn't until I went up north that I encountered overt anti-Semitism. I didn't know what to make of it
A lot of minorities in the North, competing for a growing, but still small, pie and many of whom brought their prejudices from the Old Country.
The Micks hated the Wops who hated the Polacks, etc.
I think a lot of that died off after WWII and more after 9/11.
YMMV
So if Trump wins the Democrat nomination and is elected as a Democrat we have nothing to worry about, n'est-ce pas?
Well, of course! Exploding heads are messy.
I seriously don't believe that any one of them can beat Trump.
"The one person left with integrity is not even on the debate stage."
who? I'm curious.
Tulsi. Or Yang. Both wrong on just so many, many issues but at least they're not media muppets which indicates that they haven't been bought.
Tulsi sided with the mullahs, against the U.S., did she not? Yang - talk about unelectable - nothing about him is relatable.
But I prefer to work rather than dwell on those for whom I would never vote.
Clearly, but the topic is electability and whether any of the creatures running against Trump has the ineffable qualities that can turn into electability. Most of them are various flavors of establishment-ratified socialist and crony-capitalist gruel. Please, sir, may I not have more? These two, like Trump, are not. There's virtual black-out in the state media about them which indicates (as I said above) that they're not bought. (On the topic of bought, I think Bloomie bought himself. A real financial genius would have managed a discount on that sale.) Unlike Trump, neither Tulsi nor Yang had a pre-fab media presence. Trump had media backing (their mistake) in the primary plus a previously established public presence which these two do not and never will have so they can't get whatever message they have out. All they can do is take shots at the frontrunners which is not winning. They may have integrity for not selling out but they're not electable.
Anti semitism and racism is real. It was starting to fade away until the media started blowing on it like embers in a pile of tinder--it is time to get over it. It is ok to judge people--but judge them as individuals and on objective facts.
I
I'm confident Trump will win 2020, but not so happy that his coattails will help retain GOPe members. I think the impeachment has helped to protect some like Cornyn.
I'm getting curious how Trump will handle the general election debates. They have gotten our of hand, and I can't see allowing CNN or MSNBC to host any. However, I can see the corrupt election commission ignoring clear bias.
I like Tusli. not her politics- but her. Her politics is as bad as the rest of em' for the most part.
Have no idea why the left won't promote her. I think she could win for the D-party.
They hate her because she goes on Fox News.
Ricpic, you're right, like Obama, the package would have to be coolness, likeability, etc. But Obama was done a favor to a certain extent. Alright, we elected a black, now quit yer bitchin'. Jews are superior in intellect and success, so that feeds into fear and jealousy.
Sixty, the anti-semitism in my family, as I alluded, was generic, garden variety. But for some on my dad's side, including my dad, racism was neurotic. There's a theory out there, maybe in _Seed of Albion_, that there's intense racial phobia among the Irish? Scotch-Irish? I think there is probably a genetic component, fear of 'other.'
Ed, yeah, I did mean RINOs :)
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