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| Feldman, Karlan & Gerhardt testifying before the House Judiciary Committee (JTA) |
This is one reason so
many Jews are in government - either by being elected or chosen by their superiors
to serve in positions of power. I haven’t done the math - but I would bet my
bottom dollar that the percentage of Jews in congress far surpasses their
percentage of the population. Many times over. It is no coincidence however that almost all of them are liberal Democrats.
Not only are they Democrats, but as noted many are in positions of high power selected by their peers or political leaders for their jobs.
(Which kind of refutes the argument that antisemitism has a
home in the Democratic Party. Although it is true that there has been a few
outspoken and possibly influential members of the House that might be seen as antisemites, they are still the
exception rather than the rule. Either way, this post is
not about that.)
Why are the Jews in congress Democrats? That’s an easy one. Most secular Jews
in America are politically liberal. They
have a natural home in the Democratic Party.
And yet, the fact that so many Jews are involved in what is happening
now in the House of Representatives gives me pause. Just to list the names I can think of off the top of my head:
Schiff, Nadler, Engel, Cohen, Raskin, Eisen, Goldman, Vindman,
Sondland, Feldman, Karlan, and Gerhardt... all of them Jewish.
These are all people
that are either members of congress, their attorneys, or witnesses
testifying about what they believed to be improper behavior by the President. Behavior that they strongly suggested is worthy of impeachment.
Now if you are a liberal Democrat or a ‘Never Trumper’ Republican,
whether you are Jewish or not, you are applauding all these people as
championing the constitution by calling for the President’s impeachment. Which
is about half the country right now. They do not see these people as Jews. They see them as heroes fighting the good fight against a tyrant. If they do notice their Judaism – it is in
a positive light.
Not so the other half of the country. The defenders of the
President have mostly been non Jews. Whether appointed officials, elected
officials, their attorneys, or just Republican voters.
Now
I still believe that most people defending the President - see the
impeachment as an opportunistic political conspiracy by Democrats the purpose of which is to remove
the President from office. And do NOT see it
as a Jewish conspiracy.
However, that so many of the accusers and decision makers are Jewish gives
the rabid antisemitic right wing fringe (e.g. White Supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK) food for their absurd claim that Jews are
an evil Cabal whose goal is world domination. …that they are every bit as
guilty of that as Henry Ford said in his infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Which reinforces the oft heard refrain by some of them that the United States is a Zionist Occupied Government – (ZOG).
Although that is ridiculous, the optics are there. That so
many of the people trying to ‘overthrow the election’ are Jews makes it easier for them to say those kinds of things. So that even though I
have so much pride in the accomplishments of my people, these optics give me
some pause.
It is also the height of irony that the vast majority of Orthodox
Jews are on the Republican side of this issue. About 80% of Orthodox Jews voted
for the President and could not be happier with the fact that he has surrounded himself with Jewish advisers - many of them observant; the unprecedented warm support his
administration has for Israel; upending decades of refusal to recognize
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital; moving the American embassy there; and ending the decades old policy that West Bank settlements are against international law.
There is not a single Orthodox
Jew I have spoken to here in Chicago that has not made the same arguments the
Republicans have made with respect to the impeachment proceedings – attacking Democrats as Leftists; and that what we are witnessing is nothing less than a naked attempt to overturn the last election by removing a sitting President they don’t like; and reverse the great policies he has implemented.
It’s ironic that Orthodox Jews support the same President
the antisemitic fringe does.
Where do I stand on all of this? I think he’s probably guilty
of what he is being accused of. But I also do not believe that has or will be
proven. And even if it is proven, I’m not sure it the impeachable offense Democrats
are saying it so obviously is. The fact that every single Republican on either
the Intelligence or Judiciary Committee feels that way and is vehemently opposed to
impeachment – and more to the point - the fact he will not be removed from office in the Senate trial - makes the many months congress was
occupied with this little more than an attempt to influence swing voters in the upcoming 2020 election.
Why does this matter? It should not be lost on anyone that
so many Jews have been involved in this process. And the fact that about half
the country is angry at those involved is not a good thing.
Just my thoughts.