"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves,"said James S. Ulmer Jr. and Edwin O. Merwin Jr. chairmen of the Orangeburg and Bamburg county, South Carolina GOP.
There are a lot of "sayings" about the Jews. In fact there are a lot of "sayings" about all kinds of groups in South Carolina; real or fabricated but I suspect that these gems say more about South Carolina, the rest of the Bible Belt and it's prevalent mentality than they say about anything else.
Of course to substantiate an item of bigotry, one only has to show other bigots one example and I'm sure one could be provided, but I know a large number of Jews, rich and otherwise and those who have money seem to have acquired it by the same means as anyone else -- from inheritance to hard work and if I have to include myself, I'm notorious for letting the pennies fall where they may and other acts of negligent squanderation. I can't remember the last time I bothered to balance my checkbook and the luxury of not having to think about money is far more enjoyable than the big house and the boat and the sports cars.
Anyway these two party Chairmen wrote in a letter to a local newspaper that criticism of Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is unfair because he is like a penny pinching Jew for not bringing in federal dollars for projects in South Carolina. I hate to accuse the Republicans of being stupid, small minded and ignorant bigots, but they are in South Carolina. Imagine being du
mb enough to print such things, not knowing how outrageous it is, not caring because there probably aren't enough Jews in those places to matter or enough decent people to be offended. They were wrong, of course but the comments at The Palmetto Scoop post decrying the letter are loaded with trollish anti-Semitic diatribes so scurrilous I'd be hard pressed not to gun down the writers in cold blood, given the chance. Well maybe not so cold.In fact this prompted me to renew my membership in JPFO despite the furious anti-Obama rhetoric one sees there. It's obvious that despite over 150 years of family involvement in American life which includes a confederate great-grandfather, I'm still a hated member of a foreign conspiracy to the toothless, unwashed, tattooed and unlettered Republicans of the State where the Civil War started. It's a bit too soon to put away the weapons and maybe time to acquire some more.
Anyway, I'm already more than prepared to discuss "old sayings" with such redneck Republicans as may trickle down here like dog pee from a hydrant. Sometimes discussion just isn't enough though. Sometimes 9mm just isn't enough either.
Of course, you probably noticed the comment thread under the article ... and those two buffoons masquerading as Jews trying to pull off an old trick to sucker the super gullible: Make up a Jewish screen identity and then say something anti-Semitic, like those Godwin epithets hurled at Obama that were disavowed as racist. I can't decide which is more insulting - the remark itself or the deception or both.
ReplyDeleteFrom the NY Times:
ReplyDeleteMartin Perlmutter, director of the Jewish studies program at the College of Charleston, said the op-ed article did not reflect a broader culture of anti-Semitism in the state. “I think it is, as much as anything, an isolated incident,” Mr. Perlmutter said."
Sounds like Obama down playing Carter's remarks about covert racism.
What would we do without all those ethnic attributes we keep hearing about?
ReplyDeleteWe would never know how to "jew" someone down or that only a black person can teach us how to run or how to get drunk like an Irishman.
Like the poor, prejudice will always be with us.
Oy Vey!
Hey, I wish I had some of it - I can't hold on to a nickel.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes this all the sillier is that they could have avoided ALL the attention by substituting "Rothschilds" for "Jews." Just name a famous banking family instead of a banking stereotype.
ReplyDeleteSure, or the Tan family or the Qiao family or the Fuggers, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteSince this whole thing hit the news I've been trying to remember who the Republican presidential candidate was who gave a speech to a prominent Jewish organization and basically thanked them for being so good with money. It might even have been President Bush.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else remember? It's been driving me nuts.
Oh, I think I found it: I think it was this Tommy Thompson remark about "making money" being part of the "Jewish tradition."
ReplyDeletePeople need to remember that the reason so many Jewish families got into banking in the first place is that historically they were forbidden by law from entering other occupations. Lending money and charging interest was forbidden by the Catholic church, so Jewish families, barred from taking part in so many other occupations, turned to that. While that might have been profitable, it led to further resentment and persecution.
So while calling attention to Jewish financial prowess is offensive as a stereotype, it also has negative historical connotations.
This concludes today's history lesson.
Yes, it was the rise of medieval guilds that forced European Jews out of most professions - that and not being able to own land.
ReplyDeleteJews hardly ever had a monopoly on banking and early on bankers were really pawnbrokers. The concept of the check seems to have been developed by the Templars and they monopolized international banking. Huge banking families like the Fuggers weren't Jewish (honestly I'm not making the name up) and actually rose to noble status, nor were the Lombards.
But nobody likes bankers, particularly when they need money and nobody has promoted the stereotype of the Jewish moneylender like the Churches and in many cases they still do. I can't tell you how many misinformed preachers think Jesus turned over the tables of the "money lenders." The Gospels - anti-Semitic enough already, talk about money changers present to keep foreign coins with their foreign gods out of the sanctuary.
But enough. . .