Rush and the right

[tahnan]

I know I shouldn't read the Corner. I really do. But I had to know whether they could possibly put a positive spin on the latest from Rush Limbaugh. For those who've just seen the pull-quote, here's the full context: Norman Podhoretz wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal, whose premise seems to be the following: Jews should love the American system in which they have prospered and should also love Israel; Obama campaigned on changing the system and on policies dangerous to Israel; therefore, Jews shouldn't love Obama. Which is why Podhoretz is surprised that 75% of Jews voted for Obama, and why they now seem to be having, or so he hopes, "buyer's remorse".

Now, there's a lot wrong with that argument (you have to believe that Obama's policies really are bad for Israel, that Jews should love the system just because it worked for them, that...oh, never mind, find the flaws yourself). But it was this reference to "buyer's remorse" that Limbaugh was explicitly referencing when he said the following, the last paragraph being what's getting quoted:

...Scott Brown had a lot of success with independents, and that's what Jewish liberals like to call themselves when they're asked.

They call themselves independents before they'll refer to themselves as liberals. So if Jewish people voted 78% for Obama -- which is far higher than any other group except African-Americans. If Jewish people gave Obama 78% of their vote, what if they're experiencing buyer's remorse like all these people in Massachusetts did? Do you realize how important this could be? I don't think there's buyer's remorse yet in the black community. That's still pretty strong. But what...? Remember, now, Jewish people, Jewish liberals call themselves independents and 78% of them voted for Obama. What if they are experiencing buyer's remorse and could be persuaded to desert Obama and the Democrats in general? If it's possible, if that's happening behind the scenes and we don't see it, it suggests that Scott Brown's victory could be even more indicative of an even bigger change in the political temper of the country that has so far been recognized -- and I think it's something worth considering. Now, if you have often wondered -- just out of, you know, a legitimately cure political sense.

If you have asked yourself: Why are so many Jewish people liberal when it seems that so much of what liberals do would be anathema to Jewish people, particularly abortion, but any number of things, taxes, tax increases. Look, folks, there are a lot of people who when you say "banker," people think "Jewish." People who have prejudice is the best way to put it. They have a little prejudice about them. So for some people, "banker" is code word for "Jewish," and guess who Obama's assaulting? He's assaulting bankers. He's assaulting money people, and a lot of those people on Wall Street are Jewish. So I wonder if there's starting to be some buyer's remorse there.

Now, once again, there's any number of logical flaws here (if you didn't see that coming, perhaps you missed the fact that this was Rush Limbaugh): for instance, any medieval monk could point out the flaw in the argument "Many independents voted for Scott Brown; many Jews are independents; therefore many Jews voted for Scott Brown", and they wouldn't even have to speak English to do it, as long as you translated "many" for them.

But the thing is this. Podhoretz was saying "Jews as a group have succeeded in America, so they should be conservatives". Limbaugh is saying "Jews are Wall Street bankers, so they...." No, really, it's too late at that point. Is he saying that most of those 75% of Jewish people who voted for Obama are Wall Street bankers? That when Obama assaults (assaults? really?) some Jews, all Jews should rally behind those Jews and...? The point is, it's awful. The Anti-Defamation League, of course, has already condemned the statement. Again, though, after hearing the statement, my thought was, could anyone really defend Limbaugh on this?

But I underestimated the bloggers at the National Review.

Norman Podhoretz quite properly takes Anti-Defamation League czar Abe Foxman to task for insinuating that Rush is somehow a Jew-hater for wondering if Jewish voters are having buyer's remorse regarding Obama. They certainly should, both because of Obama's striking nastiness to Israel and of his attacks on "greedy bankers" (which Rush mentioned), free broadcasting, and of course the crusade against American medicine, all enterprises in which Jews have long flourished.

Rush should be a hero to Foxman and American Jews, but they are so blindly partisan that they can no longer distinguish between their friends and their enemies. Foxman has relentlessly attacked American Evangelicals — arguably the most pro-Jewish and pro-Israel people in America — but conveniently disappears when the government goes after real Jews for presumed "dual loyalty." Which, one might say, is the core principle of the ADL.

Dear Mr. Ledeen:

Foxman, as the national director (not "czar") of the ADL, did not condemn Rush for wondering whether Jewish voters are having buyer's remorse regarding Obama. He condemned Rush for his "offensive and unacceptable" references to Jews as being rich bankers, for reinforcing the stereotype (even in the shallow guise of denying it) that Jews have all the money. The actual politics of American Jews is utterly irrelevant, and trying to make the ADL's statement about those politics is disingenuous, misleading, and missing the point. Also, when you talk about how Jews have been involved in finance, broadcasting, and medicine, and therefore all Jews should oppose any candidate who tries to change those things: you're not helping.

Then again, when the National Review refers to anyone else as "blindly partisan", it's actually just kind of funny.

Comments

[rubrick.livejournal.com]

Huh, I'd always assumed the most pro-Jewish and pro-Israel people in America were the Jews. Learn something new every day, I guess.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Many Jews are anti-Israel; it's one of those things you don't want to bring up after services in casual conversation. On the other hand, most Jews are pro-Jew, and don't even get me started on evangelicals, many of whom I went to high school with, giving me a first-hand view of just how pro-Jew some of them are.

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

Evangelicals are pro-money and pro-G-d. Jews are all rich, and we also like G-d. QED.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

No, I think it's more that evangelicals know that the Jews will bring about the end times, and so we're really necessary for fulfilling His plan. Or something like that. Though I didn't quite catch all the subtlety in this after getting one of my quite intelligent high school classmates to acknowledge that, yes, he believed I was going to hell. (He now directs a Christian leadership program at a Presbyterian church in Virginia.)

[jadelennox]

it's slightly more complicated than that, but basically. There have to be Jews so that we can go to Israel so that we can convert at the end times. On the other hand, we also are the chosen people, so we are like god's favorite little heretics. Of course we are evil sinners and bankers and bad people but that's only because we haven't figured it out YET. You have heard lumpybeast talk about how her grandmother used to say that "Jews missed the boat"? The point is, they would always pull the boat over to the shore for us if it looked like we wanted to board, because they love us so damn much.

Usually I hate Foxman, because he is so inclined to jump on anyone who is making fun of people with Long Island accents as anti-Semites that I think he dilutes the ADL's condemnation of people who really deserve it. Which in this case, includes Rush Freaking Limbaugh, who just called me a Wall Street banker.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Oh, right, I knew there was an Israel connection.

To be honest, I couldn't have remotely told you who ran the ADL; the last time I had cause to refer to B'nai Brith, I think I was in high school, when my father was a member and I'd long since given up on B'nai Brith Youth. So I have no particular feelings about Foxman. Podhoretz, on the other hand, I've developed some very sudden opinions on.

[redbeard.livejournal.com]

What do you mean we're not all wealthy bankers (even if secretly so)? Did you miss that how-to seminar in our secret Elders of Zion lair at the center of the earth?

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Here's what I want to know. If the Jews control the money and/or the media, why the hell can't we get Rush Limbaugh off the air?

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Or as Jon Stewart put it, "... then why am I on basic cable?"

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

Send the invite to me next time. I'll make sure Tahnan attends. I could use some secret wealth.