A young man comes running into his home and shouts out breathlessly “Grandpa guess what, Babe Ruth hit two homers today”. The old man strokes his beard for a moment and replies “tell me Moishele, what this Babe Ruth did-is it good for the Jews?”
It is this ‘is it good for the Jews’ prism that subconsciously shapes the worldview of this generation of liberal Jewish media commentators, showbiz personalities and Hollywood denizens. Not so much from their own life experience but from the handed down stories of hard times from their parents or, for an older generation, Old Country trials and tribulation recollections from Grandparents.
For Palin to turn around the incessantly negative media hurricane that she, uniquely amongst politicians, has been subjected to, it is the hard core of Jewish commentators from, indeed, a non-elite family background (the bow tie wearers are a hopeless case, especially if they came from poor family situations) who need to be turned around.
No one expects Stewart and his ilk (and whomever Letterman’s gag writers are) to actually become a conservative Republican but they can recover their equilibrium and balance if they try and stand outside their inherited mental framework.
If they ask themselves “what this Sarah Palin is doing, is it good for the Jews?” in a reflective manner freed from class, social, tribal ancestral memory framework, (this is asking a lot I know but these are people who are clearly of a high intellectual level) there is food for thought. The first question in this analysis is not about Palin it is “is my liberal, Democratic party supporting point of view based on historical and personal constructs which are still valid?”.
It is beyond ironic that the Jews who in the 20th century fought for socialism and against the elites should have created a posterity who have become part of the elite (including the financial elite like Soros) but who hold to a watered down socialism.
The overarching irony is that from this elitist, opinion shaping position the “elite” they attack when attacking Palin is the vast mass of lower to middle class Americans like those who lined up in their thousands in the bitter cold for a glimpse of someone who is as non-elite as could be imagined for a conservative politician.
The Bush family-with their oil riches and country club imagery-yes most certainly a touch point for traditional Jewish liberal opposition, could anything be more New York City red rag to the Texas via Skull and Bones bull ? But Wasilla is not Dallas or New Haven. Palin’s history is taking on the oil companies not coddling up to them.
Fair minded analysis would surely allow the concept that Palin would govern with the interest of the average person foremost, not the Wall Street elite to whom she owes nothing.
If the Jewish faithed commentators on the left are to hold true to their faith which holds tolerance and brotherhood in the highest regard then they should lay down their historic, outdated prejudices. They are aimed at the wrong target and they owe it, in all fairness to their audience, to the American people, and to Palin to approach her and her supporters with an open mind.
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