The Shmegege Vote: 2008

shmegege [shmeh∙geh'∙geh], noun: Yiddish word meaning buffoon, idiot, ignoramus

A whispering campaign might be better because that would connote shame, or at least discomfort. Instead, anti-Obama e-mails -- by Jews, for Jews -- continue to make the rounds:

Don't believe the Christian business because he really is a Muslim;

No, he actually is a Christian, but no matter what he says, don't believe he's with Israel because at heart he's a radical and, trust me, he has a pro-Palestinian agenda.

Oprah left that church but Obama stayed because he truly buys into what that antisemite minister is selling, so don't get taken in by all that denunciation business.

Offline, too, there are those "just between us" declarations. My eighty five-year-old cousin tried to deck a guy at his senior citizen center who announced "I'm never going to vote for a shvartzer," though unfortunately he was slowed by his emphysema and held back by his wife. Yesterday, at lunch, a friend confided how shaken she'd been at a recent wedding when she discovered everyone at her table -- all Jews who had voted for Clinton, Gore and Kerry -- felt compelled to explain they were going for McCain because he when push comes to shove, you just cannot trust a black to do right by us. Saddest of all, another pal -- successful, lively, chic, overtly Jewish three days a year -- announced, "I wish I could bring myself to vote for him, but I can't." Her brow would have furrowed in distress but for the Botox.

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Jews and blacks together always seemed as natural to me as peanut butter and jelly. We understood each other. We were fighting the same fight against the same enemy. I recall everyone's horror when my Queens College classmate, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner died with their brother-in-freedom James Chaney. I remember how thrilled we were to see those rabbis marching with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma.

Of course, you'd have to be willfully stupid not to be aware of the prejudice. Over the years, members of each group sang out variations on the "They steal from us" and the "Deep down they hate us" theme. Still, that night Obama secured the nomination, I assumed most of my fellow Jews were, like me (a Hillary supporter), saying the Shehecheyanu, a thank you prayer to God for bringing us to this marvelous day. An African-American as the candidate of a major political party!

Many were, but what about the others with the tight lips? My 2008 concern has nothing to do with the thousands of American Jews who will vote for McCain because they sincerely believe in him and the Republican agenda. It has to do with the nature of the case against Barack Obama. Too many Jews are buying into the same sort of blood libel and belligerent ignorance that has tormented our people throughout our history.

"He really is a Muslim with a hidden agenda that will lead to the destruction of the State of Israel" has the same moral worth as Henry Ford's accusation in The International Jew of a secret conspiracy among Jews to achieve world dominance. (Ford quotes the "protocols," fictitious memoranda from purported Zionist conspiracy meetings: "To destroy Gentile industry, we shall... encourage among the Gentiles a strong demand for luxuries, all-enticing luxuries...," as if without Jews the ladies from Grosse Pointe would have chosen Sears Roebuck over Paul Poiret.)

"Shvartzer" = "kike." When challenged, the Jews who use the word say no, no, shvartz is the Yiddish word for black; so it's descriptive. But in its entire history of usage, I venture that no one has ever used "shvartzer" as an honorific.

And sadly, my super-hip pal's "I wish I could bring myself to vote for him, but I can't" is nothing more than a twenty-first century's version of the early twentieth's pusillanimous "I personally would not mind having Jewish lawyers in the firm, but they wouldn't feel comfortable here."

When that curtain is drawn in the voting booth, are some Jews going to abandon their remembrance of cruelties large and small and pull a lever because of the heady power rush of having permission to believe lies because they are Jewish lies ? Are we going to let our neshumas, our souls, shrivel in fear of the new ? Will we accept any dreck we read in an e-mail, any falsehood we hear, just because it comes from a fellow Jew?

November fourth is an important test for us. We will get to see if we are mensches or if have turned into the people we most despise.

Comments

[Nilegirl]

Susan, you have stated it so clearly, and all I can add is that we should all be looking at the color of the politics, not the color of the skin; the color of the intellect, not the color of rumor; the color of a future we want for our families and not the color of the respect we may hold for a man seasoned by his past.
Prejudice is so ugly, and we Jews should be the first to reject it. It has been the color that shaded our own lives for too many centuries in too many places. Rumor is equally suspect. We all saw what the Swift boat episode brought about. If we genuinely care about the meat of the issues, everything else is flubbery!
Nilegirl

[Sciguy]

Awesome post!

I hope you're wrong. I hope your friends are outliers (statistically speaking). I hope that when we Jews get into the voting booth, when nobody's looking, we'll do better than to vote like a bunch of schm*cks who have bought into the religious right's propaganda. Somebody like Schmuckabee is not on our side. The fundies that McCain and Lieberman hang out with are not on our side. McCain is not on our side. I don't think even Lieberman is on our side (I think he just does anything he can do to stay in power, and since Ned Lamont beat the tar out of him, he's decided that staying in power means being the Repub's token Jew).

It scares me that you're most likely right. Hopefully, we can change that "Obama is bad for us" perception between now and November.

[marysandra]

I am an IrishCatholic with a Jewish name, Jewish relatives, Catholic and Jewish kids. We were and are a very ecumenical family...I have heard some of the comments you cite from my own near and dear.
However, I would venture to say, that if my late Irish parents were alive, they would be having a tough time this year also...I think some of this unfortunate bigotry is the result of living to an older age, and in somewhat tight knit communites of all stripes..Old habits die hard, for some of these folks, who are in all respects patriotic and many are veterans..My young friends and relatives have a very different view of the world, and I daresay my grandchildren don't even "see" color or religion, bless them. So let us grant a bit of leeway to the "greatest generation" to whom all respect is due,,but to our younger generation, come on,"Snap out of it" as Cher famously said to Nicholas Cage in "Moonstruck", but leave out the slap across the face, that would be rude.

[sloburnjo]

Susan, are these folks Jewish as in those who practice the Jewish faith or are they Zionists?
There is a great distinction between the two.

[skyshoes]

The ingrained racism runs so deep among some of my most "solidly liberal' friends. They shuffle their feet they look for assurances, they question about things they never used as measuring points before.. "Yeah but he won't put his hand over his heart"... "the pledge of allegiance".."the Muslim thing" They are looking for an excuse..any excuse.... Not a racist bone in their bodies.

North Carolina and Virginia went for Obama yet many northern "liberal" states did not. I read recently the choke factor is 19%, that is almost twenty percent of people even claiming they will vote for Obama will revert behind the curtain. The gentleman has to work at least twenty percent harder to win.. Lets not kid ourselves.

How can he win? The right wing power brokers are already working overtime taking up the "get out of Iraq" points the Democrats were vilified for.. It will be reframed as a victory. They are finally sending some support to the beleaguered youths stranded in Afghanistan...Back slapping all around. Those important points of Obama's policies will be undercut. In Obama's introduction of Jabbering Joe Biden as vice president he mentioned the war(s) he mentioned health care... what was missing? its the ECONOMY!!!

[shermanscribe]

Wish I knew how to say "deja vu" in Yiddish, because there's something so familiar about the arguments among Jews over Obama. "Is he good for Israel?" "Deep down THEY hate US." Yes, it is a minority position, and yes, many in that minority are older, generally more conservative people, but it is both embarrassing (as in "that's MY uncle saying such stupidities?!?!") and potentially dangerous, since so much of this shmegege vitriol seems to be concentrated in the highly contested state of Florida. If any of you can use Ms. Isaacs' words and reputation to debunk the paranoia of those ignorant emails it will be a mitzvah indeed!

[ThirdWorldWoman]

(Post 2 of 2) Third, Isaacs' identity politics - thinking it the summa that the Democratic Party have a black or female nominee - has been the destruction of the Party.

Whether black or white, male or female, Americans have 3 major problems:
(1) The hollowing-out of the economy
(2) Health care
(3) Iraq

On (3), there may be no answer. Hillary and Obama are no better-informed than McCain. Given Russian and Iranian aggressiveness, anti-American forces are coming to dominate the world energy scene, and what is needed is neither a stupid Bush nor a naive Obama, but rather an astute and ruthless Kissinger or Haig to advance American interests.

On (2), both Obama and Hillary have advanced private-insurance-based plans. Only Edwards advanced a true national insurance plan - but Demcrats rejected him because he was not so thrilling as a black or female candidate. But his policies would have been better for Americans OF EVERY RACE AND GENDER.

On (1), none of the candidates - McCain, Hillary, Obama - have made serious proposals, and all 3 are well-connected to the corporate world.

Democrats will move into the solid majority when they give up identity politics, reverting to economic politics. The day they win back the "Reagan Democrats" is the day the Democrats win a landslide - by economic politics, not identity politics.

In the interim, Isaacs does only harm by demonising Jewish Republicans rather than looking at the problems of the Democrats' identity politics and policies.

[Hilma]

Bravo, Susan.
You ought to take your comments on the stump. Everyone who votes McCain into office will get what they deserve. Unfortunately, the rest of us will get it, too.
Hilma

[ThirdWorldWoman]

(last - 3 of 3) In the interim, Isaacs does only harm by demonising Jewish Republicans rather than looking at the problems of the Democrats' identity politics and policies.

[renatam]

Republicans have an almost 8 year record for ALL to see. Validating and propping it up for another 4 years -- makes anyone who does -- a disgrace.

[ThirdWorldWoman]

(continued) Finally, Isaacs' identity politics - thinking it the summa that the Democratic Party have a blavck or female nominee - has actually been the destruction of the Party.

Whether black or white, male or female, most American have 3 major problems:
(1) The hollowing-out of the economy
(2) Health care
(3) Iraq

On (3), there may be no answer. Hillary and Obama are no better-informed than McCain. Given Russian and Iranian aggressiveness, anti-American forces are coming to dominate the world energy scene, and what is needed is neither a stupid Bush nor a naive Obama, but rather an astute and ruthless Kissinger or Haig to advance American interests.

On (2), both Obama and Hillary have advanced private-insurance-based plans. Only Edwards advanced a true national insurance plan - but Demcrats rejected him because he was not so thrilling as a black or female candidate. But his policies would have been better for Americansof every race & gender.

On (1), none of the candidates - McCain, Hillary, Obama - have made serious proposals, and all 3 are well-connected to the corporate world.

Democrats will move into the solid majority when they give up identity politics and revert to economic politics. The day they win back solidly the "Reagan Democrats" is the day the Democrats win a landslide - and it will be by economic politics, not identity politics.

In the interim, Isaacs does only harm by demonising Jewish Republicans rather than looking at the problems of the Democrats' identity politics and

[renatam]

Americans do NOT want an empire, nor will our poor continually be sent out as fodder for corporate and/or political interests that do not benefit American citizens. We do not want colonialism, nor can we afford it.

We don't want/need Bosnia LIES-as-propaganda, nor war profiteering.

We don't want slogans and demonizing of veterans (Kerry, Gore, etc.) by chicken-hawks who so fight wars themselves (Bush, Lieberman, Cheney, etc.) and don't send THEIR CHILDREN. Quite the opposite.

The American people have had enough of the Bill Kristol Neo-Con AGENDA -- and we will not be duped or manipulated into John McCain's "War on the Worlds" FANTASY. The Georgian incident, motivated by political Republican games, has put Americans once again on a path to yet another WAR. Lobbyists, Haliburton -- will not decide the future of America. New Yorkers will not put tape over our windows every Election, nor will bringing us to the brink of War with Russia -- game us into voting for this continuation of our morphing into a militarized State.

The minority will not wield undue influence -- any longer. Name calling will not replace political discourse. Pity commentary -- filled with LIES -- will not work. Barack Obama has influenced a withdrawal from Iraq (when he was called an APPEASER by Clinton, Lieberman, McCain, Bush, etc.) and -- has refocused our "leadership" toward Afghanistan -- where it ALWAYS should have been. As a New Yorker, THAT is my priority.

[pastgone]

This poster, in the name of relevance, acts as if Hillary Clinton is still a candidate.

You ignore one very big, very important thing, ThirdWorldWoman. Every word out of McCain's mouth is a lie. To examine his words as "serious proposals" is ridiculous. Here's his agenda: endless provocation and endless war, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and a government run by cronies who will take every chance to line their own pockets and those of their friends at the expense of everyone else.

At least Obama is telling the truth to some degree about what he intends to accomplish.

[DickTater]

Will people vote for something or someone, even if they will not benefit directly or even be hurt by it slightly?

Jews know that if they elect a Dem, the free ride for Israel might come to an end, and America won't be run by the israeli/neocon tent revival boys. But the world will be safer and our country more sane, and B H O will not be instigating anti-jewish domestic policies....heck maybe thepolice state will ease up on all of us.

Rich folk may know that making themselves ungodly rich while the vast majority starve and there are no roads or schools or bridges probably won't make a better america. Would they vote for a fairer tax scheme? Warren Buffet would, but he is in the vast majority I fear.

I believe white folks have voted many times for the betterment of all, and to reduce disparity. Even if it meant that were going to have to move over on the assembly line and in the office and in the neighborhood. I believe men voted for women's issues and children's issues, even if that vote made laws that were harsher on men.

Our leaders and most rich folk have used their position, power, privelege, and social circle to thwart the will of the voters on all these issues. We vote FOR fairness, but the folks pulling the levers and buying our govt. make sure it never really happens.

[JMEB]

I'm afraid that old age (bigoted, conservative) will trump Jewishness (more often than not not-bigoted, left-of-center) for the older generation. But every Jewish person I know under the age of 40 plans on voting for Obama. They are far too educated and intelligent to buy all the schmegege propaganda against him.

[renatam]

If propaganda lies are acceptable about one person/group -- they can easily be redirected to another. Propaganda LIES should be repudiated from any source -- and not proffered/leveraged as uniquely OK because it serves a particular objective.

The propaganda LIES about Senator Obama will be challenged and nobody should get a pass for circulating it.

America is moving away from the time where the auto-default, shortcut to diminish a man because of his ethnicity -- and making LIES stick based upon the same -- will work. Hillary and Bill Clinton are still coming to terms with this isn't the 1980s/90s any longer. We don't have to accept the standard of elevating some at the expense of others -- any longer. Maybe we will finally get the BEST CANDIDATES, instead of flawed, legacy bottomfeeders from the lowest 5% of their Class -- as President.

Yes, this kind of President cannot be easily BOUGHT or MANIPULATED by special interests. Americans want this to STOP.

[biglover]

That is precisely why young folks have to turn out at the polls because you can believe the old fercocktehs [sic] will vote.

I am serious folks, high voter turnout is going to be the key. Young folks, black, white and brown must turn out and vote. It is your future that is at stake here.

[BannedInBoston]

Apologies to Ms. Isaacs. I skimmed her piece and came away with the opposite impression from what she was trying to convey. In fact, I came to the article with the expectation that she was going to make the point about many Jewish voters that she did, in fact, make. Only somehow, I misread something along the way, I guess. Anyway, further apologies. Great article!

[Susan Isaacs - Huffpost Blogger]

thanks for the apology, Banned, and for the compliment.

[BannedInBoston]

And here I thought she was going to take Jewish supporters of McCain to task because their support of McCain was based on his close connections with and support by Joe Lieberman, who is Jewish. Quite the opposite, in fact, and I'm starting to wonder if there isn't some kind of "Lieberman effect" going on with Jewish voters? This isn't anti-semitic, just a straightforward assessment of ethnic loyalties. (I note that 80+% of blacks are for Obama -- that's not racist just realist.)

[renatam]

92% of African-Americans voted for Bill Clinton -- TWICE. AAs are the most loyal and reliable voters of the modern Democratic Party.

Hillary Clinton just found that out during the Primaries.

The other shoe will drop when she is up for re-election in 2012 -- making her a lame-duck Senator, as well.

Like Joe Lieberman, for a very limited window, she has power/control over a National Party and undue influence as the loser -- over the Convention. As during this entire Election cycle -- Hillary and Joe have underestimated the American zeitgeist and tolerence levels for political games and machinations -- or egotistical self-aggrandizement and score settling REVENGE for previous disappointments.

The Nation has changed -- and, they have not. No worries -- for us, anyway.

[UrbanInterloper]

Ms. Isaacs, I'm glad to see you're not one of these victims of bigotry, and please forgive me the bluntness of the following unsolicited advice--but maybe you need new friends.

As others have pointed out, the vast majority of Jewish Americans support Barack Obama, support the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and are willing to have the U.S. put pressure on both Israel and the Palestinians. That's not what you might hear on the TV--but it's true. J Street has a new survey confirming this:

http://www.jstreet.org/page/media-advisory-new-survey-american-jewish-community

The American Jewish Committee has one too:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/12/ajc_poll/

None of this is news. The people you write about here represent a clear minority viewpoint that's roughly on par with Bush's dwindling approval rating: that's right, roughly 30%.

I'd also like to criticize your misleading use of the term "pro-Palestinian agenda," as if this is something wrong or to be ashamed of, or inherently "anti-Israel." Indeed, being pro-Israel, pro-peace and pro-security (for the region and for the U.S.) *requires* one have a pro-Palestinian agenda, hidden or not. We should be so lucky to have a president who is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian, because only when both sides have had their needs met with the conflict be over.

[renatam]

Americans have another agenda after the last 7 years. As a New Yorker, I know Senator Obama has already refocused the Bush White House toward those who killed some of my friends at The World Trade Center -- and, Bush announced the beginnings of a withdrawal and return of David Patreus -- today. I believe Senators McCain, Clinton and Lieberman called an APPEASER, cunningly -- triangulating him during the Primaries.

Senator Obama knows what he is up against and a false sense of security isn't one of his flaws. Quite the opposite, which is why he has out-managed, out-run and out-maneuvered competitors who he knows better than they know him. Seeing African-Americans as monolithic was/is the achilles heel of Senators Clinton, McCain and Lieberman. They simply don't KNOW him...but HE KNOWS THEM VERY WELL.

[doughnut70]

This is nonsense. Yes average people on the streets who don't know the issue are for pushing both sides to come to terms. But anyone who understands the Middle East (and world geopolitics) knows how important the survival of Israel is to the US and how much some groups are using the tool of anti-semitism which is much worse in the rest of the world than it is here to try and destroy the country. Israel was created by the UN out of international territory specifically not just for the Jews who were already there, but also for any Jews who wished to free persecution in the future. After WWII it was felt a country should be created specifically to look after Jewish interests and that was done in an area populated primarily with Jews. Nearby Jordan was created to placate the only other ethnic group in the area, the Palestinians. In fact the British who used to control the Middle East before ceding it to the UN after World War II had promised for many years to support a Jewish state even larger than Israel currently is. The only reason there has ever been a conflict is because Arab leaders have from the start refused to accept a Jewish homeland in their midsts and have been supported by other countries who hate jews even though no one has suggested that Jordan should be dissolved or refused to accept any other countries that were created by the UN.