Palin and the Jews

It is remarkable that people felt, and still feel, Jews would have trouble supporting Barak Obama. Skin color and a middle name of Hussein are the trappings of a person that might not support the well being of Jews. But these were trappings hung on a deeply progressive man. And American progressives have always been the friend of tolerance, and the friend of the Jews.

Early polls might have shown soft support for Obama, but as soon as they started paying attention, the Jewish vote swung decisively for Obama. But regardless of how Jews felt about Obama, the key driver of the Jewish electorate in this campaign was the Know-Nothing campaign of McCain-Palin, and in particular Sara Palin.

It was a mere 60 years ago that racial purists were in the final stages of a holocaust that slaughtered 50% of the world's Jews. To hear angry mobs at Palin rallies, to think of these people eroridng the barrier between church and state, to see prominent Republicans call for purges of people with "Anti-American views" brings a deep and dark fear to my heart. It is ludicrous to think that Jews, or any historically oppressed minority, could be fooled into supporting such obvious agents of religious and intellectual bigotry like Sara Palin. Ludicrous.