Question: Am I crazy, or is some of the Sarah Palin Derangement Syndrome a Jewish thing? Watch this clip of Sandra Bernhard. I began to suspect this when I heard Michael Savage, a right-winger if there ever was one, flip his nut when Palin was selected. He was screaming to the skies (of course, he always does that) that McCain must tell Palin to bow out.
I mean, it's understandable if some Jewish folks fear small towners since they are not famous for their tolerance. (I'm reminded of Blazing Saddles where Mel Brooks calls these kinds of people "morons.") As long as they're in their little villages, no problem, but put one a step from the White House and "Holy Shit!" But I don't know why people worry so much. Not all country bumpkins are the same. I'm no historian, but I don't recall a long list of American frontier pogroms. If anything, Sarah will nuke Iran to save Israel.
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I don't know if it's a half Jewish thing or if it's more of what Roissy posits: that Pallin reminds women of the true purpose of womanhood.
ReplyDeleteI will say, however, that growing up in a half Jewish household, there is no small fear in the Jewish community for country folk. I believe this fear is what prompts so many Jews to favor massive immigration in hopes of diluting the population of whites.
Zylonet, why is it that Jews are laying the seeds for their own oppression? These immigrants whether they be Hispanic or Muslim are some of the most anti-Semitic people I've come across. I live in a small town and go to a church with country folk. They are the most pro-Jewish people I've come across.
ReplyDeleteIt's not because she's from a small town. It's because she's anti-intellectualism personified. And yes, Jews tend to be intellectuals.
ReplyDelete"I mean, it's understandable if some Jewish folks fear small towners since they are not famous for their tolerance."
ReplyDeleteThe definition of "tolerance" is famously suspect, but the assumption that people from small towns are more hostile to Jews than city dwellers certainly deserves examination.
Generally speaking, when people are "intolerant," they harbor hostile attitudes toward other groups with whom they regularly interact. You're thus more likely to hear expressions of anti-semitism from those who live and work around Jews than from those who only see them on TV. Apart from that town in Iowa where the Hassidim were running the slave-camp slaughterhouse, most small towners rarely think about Jews one way or the other.
Jewish fears of Middle America are a hold over from their great-grandparents experiences in Poland and Russia. And Germany, if they managed to escape.
" most small towners rarely think about Jews one way or the other."
ReplyDeleteI have found that statement to be utterly true. Youd be shocked how many rural people dont know what "Jews" are, and if they do, they are supportive of Israel because of their religous beliefs.
"Zylonet, why is it that Jews are laying the seeds for their own oppression? These immigrants whether they be Hispanic or Muslim are some of the most anti-Semitic people I've come across."
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why they cannot see the forest for the trees on immigration. My guess is that it's partly because they were inculcated in their youth to distrust Anglos. I find the entire episode baffling. A few years back I was driving with my Jewish father and he remarked that the country had changed and we were no longer on top. He wondered why. Of course, there was no use in pointing the obvious since he is programmed to believe in leftism at all costs.
"It's not because she's from a small town. It's because she's anti-intellectualism personified. And yes, Jews tend to be intellectuals."
I do not believe that Jews tend to be intellectuals. Most Jews are fairly smart, but obviously they are not intellectuals or they wouldn't be supporting mass immigration. If anything, I think Pallin is not nasty enough in personality for most Jews. To illustrate: at a family member's graduation, my aunts were discussing selling their recently inherited shares of a family beachhouse to their brother. My sister asked if they would be selling their shares for a low price or offering them for free since they live thousands of miles from the beach house. My aunts just laughed and said, "honey, don't forget we're Jewish, we don't do that." If this same situation were to be presented on the Protestant side of my family, the answer would have been entirely different. I match hundreds of these experiences over the years with my family to those of my consultancy where the Jewish clients are always the most acerbic. I really think Jews like that give and take and someone like Pallin is just a normal person.
A great book for anyone is "Postville....." about the Hasidics in Iowa. I have worked for the same sect that is heavily involved in the slaughterhouse. I would say the book is nearly perfectly aligned with my historic observations about the intersection of Protestant/Jewish culture.
Just for fun, you might want to try this experiment on your own. Go to The New York Times Search feature and type in "Michael Richards racist." See how many hits you get.
ReplyDeleteType in "Mel Gibson anti-semitism" and see how many hits you get.
Type in Don Imus racist" and see how many hits you get.
Type in "Duane Chapman racist" - that's Dog, the Bounty Hunter - and see how many hits you get.
Now type in "Sandra Bernhardt" plus any other keyword or keywords that might lead you to a NY Times story about her recent performance in DC, and see how many hits you get.
Curiouser and curiouser . . .
"It's not because she's from a small town. It's because she's anti-intellectualism personified."
ReplyDeleteYes, Michael Savage just luuvvs those intellectuals.
C'mon. Jews are disproportionately freaked out by Palin because she represents the scary rural white Christian fanatics who have always harassed Jewish Others. "Anti-intellectual" is a euphemism that masks more directed antipathies here, in the exact same way that "rootless cosmopolitans" is referring to more than just rootless cosmopolitans.
"I don't think you know what an intellectual is. Your definition, whatever it is, would exclude the vast majority of intellectuals in America."
ReplyDeleteI define an intellectual as someone who pursues knowledge and truth; others may prefer a broader definition. The nice thing about your post was how you didn't miss the chance to take a strike at me.
"Are half Jews and younger Jews less PC than the older generation or are they somewhere else on the political spectrum? I believe almost half of Jews under 16 have a non-Jewish parent, perhaps their perspective is somewhat different."
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent question for which I have limited insight. The best I can offer is my own familial experience. My work experience typically deals with people 40+. My much younger brother is liberal and somewhat identifies with the Jewish side of our family and has strong feelings towards Israel. My sister is also liberal but tends Christian. I have about nearly a dozen Jewish cousins and all are married to gentiles and none are religious. A few are die-hard conservatives , but I don't know the feelings of the remainder because I don't see them often. If I had to take a guess, I would posit that for my family, Jewish anxiety will be absent from the children of my generation.
In my general experience the younger generation has a different take on political correctness. For instance, when we lived in Miami a young Anglo guy told me that he was tired of the Latin people and wanted to meet a nice, normal white girl. This most un-pc statement was shocking since the speaker was a complete granola. Equally shocking, not more than two months after he made that comment, he signed-up for the Peace Corps and has since shipped off to West Africa. My brother, who as mentioned is liberal, has made similar statements. He recently told me that he sometimes thinks that most blacks aren't very smart and that he wants to move back to NJ to be around good, American white people. A few days later and he was back on the leftist train. I don't have enough experience to make a definitive statement, but it certainly strikes me that younger people are battling a dissonance between what they see and what they are told.
Rural White Christians have always been most favorably disposed to Jews. This dates back to rural White Christian George Washington, and includes rural White Christian Andrew Jackson.
ReplyDeleteIt was city dwellers, particularly the loathesome, very un-Christian Nathan Bedford Forrest, founder of the KKK, who formed the anti-Jewish mob in places like Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and yes, New York.
By contrast, the Western Frontier was not plagued by anti-Jewish sentiment -- you needed the help of your neighbor regardless to survive rough, frontier life, something still evident in the brutal Alaskan winter. When you might need succor from neighbors, you won't inquire too much about anything other than their willingness to help you out when you need it, as everyone eventually does, in that sort of rural, semi-frontier environment.
Besides which, Rural White Christians side with Jews over Muslims every time. For scriptural reasons -- Judaism is a founding religion of Christianity, while Islam claims it makes Christianity null and void. Judaism makes no such claims and thus taking sides is easy, for Evangelicals. Who also find Islam's polygamy barbarous.
Zyonet -- you are probably correct on the PC thing. It's a powerful control, but contradicts what they see with their own eyes.
Palin, btw, had an Israeli flag in her office and like most Evangelicals is a strong supporter of Israel. If for no other reason than the Jewish state will allow Christian pilgrims while Muslims have always forbidden them.
"I'm no historian, but I don't recall a long list of American frontier pogroms"
ReplyDeleteOh, sure there were pogroms in the frontier -- it's just that they were not against Jews.
" most small towners rarely think about Jews one way or the other."
ReplyDeleteYes, I grew up in a small town and never met or knew a Jew until I went away to college. I thought that they were only a historical people.
I was shocked that many of my Jewish fellow students did not want me to date Jewish girls.
It was city dwellers, particularly the loathesome, very un-Christian Nathan Bedford Forrest, founder of the KKK, who formed the anti-Jewish mob in places like Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and yes, New York.
ReplyDeleteYou should at least do a little research on the net before you post outrageous lies about the long dead.
Wow. Still think it's "derangement" after the Couric interview? The woman is a joke. I actually felt bad for her, and then I remembered she's running to be the freaking backup to the president of the United States. McCain's VP pick is the most irresponsible and reckless major decision made by a presidential candidate possibly ever.
ReplyDeleteAre half Jews and younger Jews less PC than the older generation or are they somewhere else on the political spectrum? I believe almost half of Jews under 16 have a non-Jewish parent, perhaps their perspective is somewhat different.
ReplyDeleteAssimilation. Dershowitz and Schlesinger and all those guys have their views, but the rest of us are closer to the American mean and will continue to be such as time goes on. Heck, a lot of us don't even understand why we're supposed to hate the Germans anymore when almost everyone involved is dead.
As for the immigration thing, all I knew growing up in NYC was black and Hispanic guys were going to mug you and white and Asian guys weren't. I didn't even understand this whole 'Jews aren't white' thing until I read about the historical aspects of the immigration debate; sure Jews were liberal, but I figured that was a cultural thing like pasta and kielbasa, and easily explicable given the anti-semitism of the European right. (I mean, c'mon, the Dreyfus affair where half the country was convinced the guy was guilty because he was Jewish, and Hitler of course.) Granted I wasn't full-blooded, but I figured I was white because I had pink skin. It's an inexact heuristic but a bunch of guys with pink skin are not going to mug you on the street. For me racism was all about street crime.
I didn't realize that NYC was any place exceptional growing up, either. Sure they claimed they were better than every other city, but I just figured every other place did that too. I was so surprised to see people in Boston had to watch shows about people in New York; I figured they watched shows about people in Boston, just as people in Chicago watched shows about people in Chicago, etc...