Ed Brodow: Jews and Democrats—A Marriage Made in Hell

By Ed Brodow:

When politicians consistently vote against your interests and you continue to give them your support, you are just plain stupid. Can there be any doubt about that? As a former US Marine, I don’t believe in turning the other cheek. For that reason, I am appalled that the majority of my fellow Jews persist in voting for Democrats who have a track record of letting them down.

This is a particularly trying time for Jews in America. It doesn’t make sense. Jews have made extraordinary contributions to their adopted country. Instead of being applauded for their accomplishments, Jews are being targeted by a list of outspoken anti-Semites that is growing by leaps and bounds. A rash of anti-Semitic violence has erupted in jurisdictions that are controlled by the Democratic Party. The most egregious attacks on Jews have occurred in the Brooklyn neighborhood known as Crown Heights. I grew up there, so I take it personally.

The perpetrators of most of the attacks in Brooklyn have been black people. When you consider that Jews have always stood shoulder to shoulder with blacks in their movement for equality, black anti-Semitism is hard to understand. Or is it? Not if you recognize that Democratic political administrations have deliberately fomented racial and religious hatred. It began at the top with Barack Obama, whose personal actions encouraged anti-Semitic behavior within the African-American community. Last year, the US Congress was accorded the opportunity to speak out against the anti-Semitism of hate-mongers within its own ranks—Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez—but the House showed its yellow streak by refusing to issue a blanket condemnation.

In New York, the mayor and governor—both Democrats—look the other way when Jews are assaulted on the street. Mayor De Blasio’s sluggish response is inexcusable because the problem has existed since I was a kid in Crown Heights generations ago. The mayor has been hiding under a rock. Showing his true colors, De Blasio has blamed the problem of anti-Semitism on white supremacy and Donald Trump. “In June,” according to the New York Post, “de Blasio insisted anti-Semitism was a ‘right-wing movement’ and blamed President Trump for fueling attacks on Jews.” The latest attacks against Jews have been overwhelmingly perpetrated by blacks, yet De Blasio has targeted white supremacy as the root cause. Can he be serious? The response from City Hall is laughable—an attempt to criticize the mayor led to this hypocritical comment from the mayor’s office: “Statements that try to sow racial division are not productive in the fight against anti-Semitism.”

The mayor won’t concede the truth. “De Blasio refused to acknowledge anti-Semitism as anything other than the fault of his political enemies,” writes Ariel Sobel in Jewish Journal. “Unwatched, the pot boiled. Now it’s overflowing.”

“If any other minority group were subject to such abuse, it would be a leading national story,” says David Marcus in The Federalist. “Why have these attacks been swept under the carpet? The clearest answer seems to be that the news media and our political leadership are uncomfortable with the fact that many of these attacks were perpetrated by black people.” The attitude among Democrats is that there are more black voters than Jewish voters, so let’s throw the Jews under the bus. That strategy is validated when the vast majority of Jews vote for Democrats.

Why? Why do most Jews vote for Democratic politicians who have sold them down the river? The only answer that makes sense is that Jews are self-destructive. Their reputation for intelligence and academic achievement is outweighed by the simple fact that Jews have always been suckers for Democrats. Since I was a kid, Jews have been married to the Democratic Party. In the 1950s, it was the party of the underdog. In contrast, today’s Democrats represent America’s social and cultural elites. “How is it possible,” asked author David Horowitz, “that Democrats can pose as defenders of minorities, the middle class, and the poor? Democratic policies,” he says, “have devastated all three.”

Yet the majority of today’s Jews still cling to the Donkey’s skirt. Exit polls indicate that 71% of American Jews voted for Hillary and 76% voted Democratic in the midterm elections. Unfortunately the Democratic Party has been hijacked by neo-Marxists who militate for a dysfunctional version of social justice that promotes anti-Semitism. This was part of the Democratic platform under President Obama. His negative attitude toward Jews was exposed by his attachment to Jew haters Reverend Wright and Louis Farrakhan.

The role of the Democratic Party in the rise of anti-Semitism cannot be denied. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The Democrats have an anti-Semitism problem, and it isn’t subtle.” Democrats have been conspicuously reluctant to discipline the obvious anti-Semitism within their ranks. “None of the leaders of the Democratic Party,” David Harsanyi wrote in the New York Post, “has said anything about the activist wing pushing these age-old hatreds.” And what about the Democratic-controlled media? “The media,” said Harsanyi, “has a track record of tenaciously ignoring the anti-Semitism creeping into Democratic Party politics.”

“Democrats need the votes of people who hate Israel,” observes the Jerusalem Post. “In doing so, politicians such as Nancy Pelosi within the Democratic establishment look the other way when certain viewpoints correlate to anti-Semitism.” Bret Stephens agrees in the New York Times: “If Pelosi can’t muster a powerful and unequivocal resolution condemning anti-Semitism, then [Ilhan] Omar will have secured her political future and won a critical battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. At that point, the days when American Jews can live comfortably within the Democratic fold will be numbered.” Guess what? That day has arrived.

The majority of American Jews, who are largely secular and have been assimilated into American society, are stuck in their misplaced loyalty to the Democratic Party.

In startling contrast, ultra-Orthodox Jews voted overwhelmingly for Trump. The folks with the beards and fur hats understand that Donald Trump is the best friend American Jews ever had. Their secular cousins ought to take note.