Category — Far-left

In the off chance any of my readers also get just a teensy weensy bit tired and aggravated with the far-Left’s unremitting babbling about the supreme value of racial diversity over say, stopping the world from melting due to global warming, or think the Bankruptcy Law was horrific, don’t want to lose the next election over gay marriage, or think maybe we shouldn’t award transit strikers who march out of the negotiating table for their “courage” even as the parent union refuses to sanction their lust for civilian pain, I would like to gleefully refer you to two paragraphs in the Forward’s editorial this week. Sometimes it can seem for a moment that the Forward has warmed to the social far-left, and I worry just a little…but then they give ‘em the old bitch slap, just like they always do in the end.

The Democrats, out of power and leaderless for years, return to power chastened and convinced they need to do things differently. Just how differently, no one knows, but the buzzword on everyone’s lips is economic populism. Since the 1970s, they have allowed themselves to be defined as the party of the outsider, the downtrodden, the oppressed and vulnerable minorities. That has allowed the Republicans to present themselves as the voice of the majority, which is a good way to win elections.

The Democrats seem to be aiming now to push their minority-rights agenda toward the background and emphasize their old New Deal-labor platform of economic egalitarianism, promising a better deal for society’s have-nots.

Do you hear that Far-Left? Economics. Health care. Support of public transportation, not just subway strikes. OIL. It’s time to stop the victimology game. It isn’t moral, it isn’t smart, and it isn’t the way to win elections. You are entitled to have your opinions, but I think from now on we will do things my way instead.

Go play color war at your own party. Move on.

Sometimes I get exhausted (for like, five minutes) bitching about fundamentalist places like Big Aish and Dark Light. I need some hope; a sign that we aren’t being pulled and pushed to the polar extremes in the Jewish world.

That’s why I check out JVoices, the Jblog voice of moderation. (Belch)

So at first, there I was, thinking I was reading an old post condemning Satmar for being anti-gay, which is really a good use of one’s time. Because they’re really concerned about appearing reactionary. Satmar is listening; the dialog continues.

But as I read the post, it became clear this was not about Satmar. This was the most vicious slap to the Zionist Entity’s face on a supposedly Jewish group blog I’ve ever seen.

“Ariel� (presumably not Ariel Beery) writes, without any capital letters, because they are oppressive to lower-case letters, “how do you deal with israel knowing that it is committing genocide and that it is an apartheid state? i am curious about this.�

Well, Ariel, as a matter of fact, I don’t agree with the misappropriation of the term “apartheid,â€? because it is…hey, wait a minute…wtf? “Committing genocide?!?â€? Are you out of your mind? What “genocide?â€? Hey Jeannette Friedman, didn’t I tell you all that Holocaust education accomplishes very little and even backfires?

Who needs whatreallyhappened.com when we have JVoices? Cole Kravitz may be the most irresponsible editor of a “Jewish” group blog on the net. I personally think it is unfortunate that he is tolerated and included in the communal conversation by more responsible, reasonable, and nuanced voices on the Jewish Left.

First of all, let me be clear. Management screwed up major in their negotiations with the Transport Union. I would have had both Kalikow and Pataki removed from office for their roles in escalating that situation.

But the Transport Union was no hero. They are scum. They brought the city to all but a halt when they did not have to, and made the lives of millions of working people hell.

JFREJ is honoring the union out of desperation to appear in solidarity with working class people of color. Yes, most of the transit union is non-white. Yes, JFREJ notices things like that. But beyond race, JFREJ has no more to do with working class people than it does with people of color.

As someone who works in a working class industry for his day job, I would just like to shout out a “Not in my name!� to the entitled at JFREJ.

Stop pretending you have anything to do with working class issues, or that you even understand them because of your elite, private school education. You may understand why white male hegemony is oppressive to other wealthy white people who go to elite, private schools. But not working class issues. That’s simply not your thing. But that is why you may make a difference in helping “domestic workers.� Because your people have nannies and maids. At least JFREJ members themselves might treat their domestic workers a bit better, and talk about it to congregations like B’nai Jeshrun. But talk about how working class people should be treated by people like you – white, well-heeled, Jews. But don’t get involved in working-class issues that aren’t directly tied to Mrs. Rubinstein on West End Avenue.

The Transit Union’s strike was an embarrassment to working class people. It was hurtful to unions as well. It was brutal for working people. You clearly have no connection with any of that, or anyone like that.

Stick to honoring and discussing Tony Kushner’s plays. This is appropriate to your constituency. And it is very nice of him to accept your award. He certainly doesn’t need you.

Very few do.

First of all, when I say Jewbiquitous is pandering in their post, “The Bad Jew: Starbucks Edition,� for politely and sympathetically deconstructing JVoices post about publicly violating the Sabbath in “frumster drag,� I mean “pandering� in an absolutely non-accusatory way, and I wish to apologize if any sting remains.

But what I really wanted to do was add a personal anecdote to this discussion.

On occasion, I am known to break a dietary restriction. The dietary restriction in question is anything containing dairy, as I am lactose intolerant. But man is a weak creature, and follows his eyes and his heart, and casts off his yoke: of carrying lactaid pills.

So there I was – munching down a couple of slices like a sheygetz who had gotten baked a mere hour ago, when a pack of Modern Orthodox teenagers clearly originating from New Rochelle waltzed into the pizza parlor and began debating whether or not they should get a slice.

Feeling emboldened (gas does that) I marched over and explained that this would simply not do, and told them that this was serious moris ayin, and that they should either, 1) take off the kippahs; or 2) piss off.

One of the lads countered that some people are identifiable racially, but I noted that I had not demanded he remove his long nose, merely his beanie.

Anyway, my point is – if you are dressing like a frummie, you should act within those parameters. If you don’t, you are asking Angry Jew, and all the cultural Angry Jews in the underbelly of Gotham to rise up from their secular seats, whether they be sipping a latte, watching baseball wallowing in their self-righteousness, or satiating munchies with two slices, or whatever us shkutzim do instead of halachic Judaism or even make Judaism-up-as- you-go, and promptly give all you people a sound scolding for misrepresenting Judaism.

And you know what? You are kind of asking for it.

Don’t wear a halter top if you’re shomer negiah, and don’t wear a beanie if you are walking into a strip bar. Or any bar. South of W. 72nd street. Or at least, don’t complain if there is a misunderstanding, and a comment.

I don’t care how big your tikkun olam was this week. You post-denominational folks need to learn to dress appropriately. Sometimes I fear you have no sense of decorum. In ancient times, you could go to charm school. But this Torah of the Wasps is mostly lost. We are destined to wander through bars, coffee shops, and pizza parlors alone, unprotected, and subject to the insensitive and underemployed elements of the City’s mean streets.

Exile’s a bitch.

(Full Disclosure: I didn’t actually retort with the nose comment. But only because they were teenagers. I want it clear that I did think of it at the time, and have mostly been glad I let that one go. Mostly. Even though I think about it way too much. Angry Jew confliction.)