Rootless Cosmopolitans (or Makes Me Wanna Challah)

Deborah had pointed out to me yesterday Jennifer Rubin's bizarre post in Commentary on the allegedly inexplicable "hatred" of Sarah Palin by American Jews.  As others have pointed out, public opinion polling of Jews regarding Palin has pretty much been in line with what one would expect of a group that is among the most liberal in the electorate.  Liberals (and thus Jews) are not big fans of Palin for a host of reasons that don't really need a lot of elaboration -- she's extremely right wing, has a manifestly thin grasp of policy and history, and plays the politics of resentment and self-pity with a skill that Richard Nixon would envy.  What's to like?

What I did think worthy of note was how, well, anti-semitic Rubin's piece seemed to be.  The Jews -- they're all about the fancy book l'arnin', the irony and sarcasm, the baby-killing, and the accumulation of fancy degrees from elite academic institutions.  In short, they are not real Americans, who love babies, the flag, the outdoors, the military, huntin' and fishin', monster trucks, reality TV, and snow machines.  It really reads like a parody of right wing anti-semitism through the ages.  Compare Rubin's work to that of noted racist and Confederate sympathizer Robert Stacey McCain and you will see little difference.  (Of course, Commentary has trod this path before in the article that McCain is commenting on.  I particularly enjoyed Michael Medved's "thought" that Jews essentially identify themselves as "anti-Christian" thus triggering in my mind Kinky Friedman's lament that "they ain't making Jews like Jesus no more.")

Ultimately, what comes through in Rubin's writing is how much she dislikes her fellow members of the tribe and the things that they value.  One imagines Rubin embracing the fictional program depicted in Phillip Roth's "The Plot Against America" to Americanize the Jews.  It's an odd stance for an allegedly Jewish publication.     

Comments

[M. Bouffant]

Could also be statements like "There's going to be lots of Jewish people returning to Israel" (paraphrase, of course) or whatever other idiocies she & her ilk spout, confirming that their only interest in Israel &/or the Jews is how the nation & people fit into the Armageddon delusions real Americans hold.

[ari]

I just killed a baby. It was great. And now I'm heading indoors. Where people like me feel most comfortable.

Seriously, the bigger problem with that piece is that Rubin has no methodological foundation to her argument. Palin rubs Jews the wrong way? (Wait, that's pretty porny, right?) We know this how? Because Jews disapprove of Palin and express that disapproval in public opinion polls. But wait, when did expressing disapproval in a public opinion poll become hatred or even evidence of being rubbed the wrong way (cue the porny soundtrack, okay Charles?). Never. The reality is that Rubin has read the work of some prominent Jewish opinion journalists and uses their words as a stand-in for data. Well, here's the thing: opinion journalists are paid to be opinionated. Honestly, I'm not claiming that Jews like Palin. I certainly don't. But I also don't hate her. Mostly, I think she's silly. So I spend my hate reserves on the people who are covering her, who inflict her silliness on me more often than I'd like. (Not you, Charles; you're my man with the porny plan.) Really, if someone wants to make a claim about a group's emotional response to a politician, it wouldn't be a crazy idea for that person to have some actual evidence to support her or his argument. But then again, that's asking for way too much. Okay, I'd better get back to collecting the blood of Christian children. I've got cookies to bake!

[ari]

Also, I still can't figure out if Rubin is counting Albright as a Jew or a goy. I guess, in fairness, that one is kind of confusing.

[Sir Charles]

ari,

Please use Splenda. I'm trying to drop a few pounds in the New Year, but as a self-hating Christian there's nothing I like so much as them blood cookies.

M. B.,

Yeah, the whole we love Israel and want the Jews to have a homeland to which to return so that ultimately Armageddon can be unleashed, Jesus returns, and the Jews burn for all eternity, might not really be all that appealing to the constituency destined for the barbecue.

[Sir Charles]

ari,

I believe that that noted liberal Hitler had rules to make that kind of determination.

[ari]

I have to say, right now I'm more creeped out by my jump to porn in a comment about Palin. Look! It's Super Patriarchy Man! In my defense, I think I would have made the same connection if Rubin had written that Pat Buchanan rubs Jews the wrong way. But then I might have made a joke about seasonings or something. Regardless, apologies for the sexism, internet.

[Sir Charles]

ari,

Relax -- you were wearing your sweater backwards all day -- the stress must have been unbearable.

[ari]

A real friend would have said something earlier, Charles. Note to readers: Jews hate Sir Charles. He rubs us the wrong way.

[Sir Charles]

I can produce affidavits from at least a dozen Brandeis alum who will refute your blood libel.

(And yes, they are all women -- don't you bring your homophobia to my site Mr. Patriarchy.)

[ari]

I forgot for a moment that you stole a spot at Brandeis from the Jew for whom it was intended. See, people? The man is an anti-Semite!

[Sir Charles]

Someone had to be able to fight off the townies. Outside.

[Delicious Pundit]

"Mr. Berkowitz is shot, stuffed, and mounted at the Republican National Committee. And the joke's on them because it's restricted."

(Apologies to the master.)

[Gene O'Grady]

I suspect my wife, who grew up Baptist in San Bernardino and tried moving to Alaska when she was young (an experience so bad she married me on the rebound) hates Sarah Palin more than ari ever could -- more knowledge of the cultural background and a sense of personal embarrassment, plus distrust of the Alaska sexual politics she saw at first hand.

By the way, I think the Hitler reference is off -- it was Mussolini who said "I decide who's a Jew."

[oddjob]

their only interest in Israel &/or the Jews is how the nation & people fit into the Armageddon delusions real Americans hold.

Barney Frank most aptly refers to said "real Americans" as "anti-semites for Israel".

Oh, and as to Palin and the Jews, if what I've read at Sully's blog is correct we mostly have Bill Kristol to thank for the disaster that is the persona we call Sarah Palin.

[big bad wolf]

natural fact is/title gives me paroxysms

[Sir Charles]

DP,

I suspect the master would not be a big Palin fan -- probably he'd see her as a better looking Grammy Hall.

ari,

Having just gotten back in from walking the dog and talking to the young women across the street, I found reading the last sentence of the attached item quite amusing:

http://gawker.com/5442692/lets-do-the-two+step-monogamy-shuffle-again

Gene,

I am knee deep in volume 2 of Ian Kershaw's Hitler biography and am at the part describing the adoption of the Nuremberg laws and the kerfuffle they caused within the Nazi Party.

oddjob,

Kristol is the guy who strikes me as the real self-hatinh Jew in the group. Read his Commentary remarks about writing off the Jews. Pretty contemptuous stuff I'd say.

[Mandos]

"Why do our fellow Jews hate freedom?" is not exactly a new refrain from Commentary.

[oddjob]

OT, but it fits here as well as anywhere else presently active.

[Amanda Marcotte]

Palin kept going on about "Real Americans", a group that seems to be defined by its Christianity as much as other qualities. I fail to see why Jewish Americans, or anyone who doesn't fit Palin's definition of "real" Americans, should feel anything but animosity.

[oddjob]

I fail to see why Jewish Americans, or anyone who doesn't fit Palin's definition of "real" Americans, should feel anything but animosity.

Absolutely! After all, "Real Americans" resent the fact that anyone else is here at all.

It's yet another tactic for reinforcing the group identity via resentment.