Posted on 05/01/2020 7:25:45 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Tuesday evening, the mayor of the city that is home to the largest Jewish population in the world called upon law enforcement officials to round up the Jews.
Bill de Blasio, the self-hating leftist whose birth name of Warren Wilhelm Jr. long ago posed an obstacle to expiating his "white guilt," displayed his malice and hostility for all to see. In response to a crowded Brooklyn funeral for a prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbi, hizzoner decided the best recourse to this flouting of social distancing was to target and besmirch all New York's Jews. He tweeted, in relevant part: "My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups."
This is despicable animus. To single out all the Jews for collectively spreading a disease is to hearken back centuries to the revolting medieval pogrom incitements that blamed Jews for metastasizing the Black Death. That de Blasio's obtuse rhetoric comes directly on the heels of his shirking of any culpability for the Big Apple's recent years-long rise in anti-Semitic violence only exacerbates the disgrace. I am proud that the religious liberty law firm where I am of counsel, First Liberty Institute, quickly blasted de Blasio's tweet as "outrageous, vile, and dangerous" before offering to represent for free any NYPD officer who is punished for refusing to do the mayor's bidding and round up the Juden.
But the problem for de Blasio cuts far deeper. In late March, nearer the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the mayor inadvertently exposed his comprehensive anti-religious bigotry. In explaining how the city would react to obstinate houses of worship resisting hizzoner's social distancing guidelines, de Blasio warned that law enforcement would "take additional action up to the point of fines, and potentially closing the building permanently." To speak of "permanent" closure of religious institutions, in this manner, is to let the cat out of the bag. Such an admonition is not merely reckless in its unconstitutionality; it is stupefying in its immorality.
Yet, for all his myriad flaws, Wilhelm, er, de Blasio, is but a symptom of a broader debilitating disease. Progressivism, which long ago supplanted Lockean liberalism as the dominant left-of-center political counterweight to traditional conservatism, has always had a tense relationship with religion -- and with the Judeo-Christian moral and religious tradition, more generally.
Every high school civics student learns how Karl Marx, reasonably viewed as the intellectual progenitor of contemporary leftism, infamously referred to religion as the "opium of the people." Leftists invariably view the Judeo-Christian moral tradition as imposing destructive and anachronistic shackles upon personal autonomy-maximizing liberationism. Leftism exists not in harmony with Christianity and Judaism; it seeks to replace it wholesale. Ask not how many dead bodies are left in its wake.
But for the anti-religion zealot -- especially those, like Marx, who grew up deep in the geographic heart of Christendom -- there is often a belief that Judaism is actually the most foundational root of civilizational evil. The logic is just as simple as it is inescapable: If Christianity is to blame for backward-looking traditions, chauvinism and imperialism, then Judaism is ultimately to blame for being the religious antecedent of Christianity in the first instance. It should thus be no surprise that Marx, himself the grandson of a Dutch rabbi, was appallingly anti-Semitic in his writings and rhetoric.
Today, we see this play out repeatedly on the world stage. Far too often, left-leaning newspapers deploy photos of Orthodox Jews while caviling about ecumenical social trends, such as gentrification or intra-city strife. Leftist politicians who despise the greatness of Western civilization routinely single out the tiny Jewish state of Israel as a uniquely pernicious wellspring of the alleged Western wickedness. None of this is happenstance. It is the direct result of the far left's innate Jewish problem.
Alas, if nothing else, we should all be grateful for one thing about the sad saga of Bill de Blasio: There has not been a clearer example, in recent memory, of the dangers posed by leftist Democratic Party governance to the Jews.
Generally speaking, Jewish people vote Democrat. To the Democrats, there is no problem.
Excellent article. A definite keeper.
The far left doesn’t have a ‘Jew problem’, the Jews would stop to vote for liberals on the way Gulag.
Hey, he’s not the first politician to have a “Jewish problem”.
“the mayor of the city that is home to the largest Jewish population in the world”
Hopefully this will be enough for them to vote him out.
“Jewish people vote Democrat”
One of the great mysteries of all time...never understood it.
Not all Jews are alike. The Jews who live on the Upper Westside are immensely different from the Orthodox who live in Brooklyn. The Upper Westside will continue to support DeBlasio. Also come election if De Blasio makes nice and makes a nice deal with the Orthodox rabbis, the Orthodox will vote for him as well. Just the way it is.
See my profile page for a detailed explanation.
The Orthodox absolutely love Trump.
The rest, not so much...
How does the far left have a Jewish problem when they keep voting Dem year after year ?
It might be wise to remember that NY City politics is not a vacuum, de Blasio did not get appointed, he ran against opposition. In his winning race in 2013, he ran against Christine Quinn and Anthony Weiner amongst others to succeed Michael Bloomberg. At that time it appears he ran as a left-wing candidate against even further left candidates. NYC is East Coast loonie with San Francisco & Seattle competing for the West Coast title.
Jews have no problem voting for Dem party. So don’t bother.
I read your explanation, and I have one more possible reason to add. With the insight you have from being Jewish, I’m hoping you will let me know if my idea makes sense. What I am thinking is that Jewish citizens see the democrats as being in favor of a larger central government, whereas republicans are more inclined to leave a lot of things to the states. So if you are in a group that has been historically persecuted, you may feel that if you can get control of the central government (democrats), you will be able to enact laws to give yourself greater protection, whereas if you have less control of the central government (republicans), you take your chances from state to state on how much protection the government will provide for you.
The biggest Jewish problem in America is the phony Jew, Chckie, the goyem Schumer!
Perhaps it’s because the erroneously think of Christians as their enemies and associate the Republicans with Christians.
Maybe so. I doubt many are that deep thinking.
To me, a powerful central government is a dangerous thing. So I want as much federalism as possible.
And this is also the thinking of the Satmar (the Haredi group at discussion in the news). They were from Hungary and founded in the USA after WWII. The Shoa is foundational to their mind set, more so than even Israelis (who have present dangers to worry about). They are not only deeply religious, but deeply distrustful of a powerful government.
Hence, they are federalists -— and Republicans.
++++++++
What’s missing from my home-page explanation is a paragraph about inertia — so many Jewish people just don’t know any better — although that comes from being over-educated, urban, secular people in the NE.
They go to a liberal college, go work in a liberal city, and then go read the NYT. They’re smart people. But, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan — they know so much that just isn’t so.
99% of secular Jewish people (outside of Israel) are just not aware of what the Democrat party really is. They read the NYT, and that’s it. They go about their lives.
I’m Israeli by birth and (dual) citizenship, a career IDF officer, turn military trainer for the USA, and so much more in tune with non-MSM news.
They’re just not. I supposed this could be summarized as “Tradition!”
Little Trivia I’ve posted before:
“Schumer” is Yiddish for “scum”.
It was the name given to traveling grifter salesmen.
So, there is a datum on nature vs. nurture.
There’s an old joke told by Orthodox:
A modern Jewish woman was traveling by train across the USA. She sees men gathered at the station, all dressed in black suits, white button down suits, and large black hats. They’ve got full, proud, beards. The women with them are clothed in modest dresses.
“So backwards! They disgust me. They bring us Jews back 1000 years”, she sneers with disgust.
Her traveling companion replies, “I believe they’re Amish.”
“Oh,” responded the first woman sheepishly, “It’s so wonderful to see a people preserving their culture.”
++++
Friendly way of saying, the seculars’ problem is not with Baptists or Catholics or any Nazarene denomination.
They have a problem with G-d. And, by derivation, anyone who takes G-d seriously.*
* excepting Muslims or another protected group.
De Blasio is fighting God.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.