Today’s Daily News has an article that makes me harken back to the plot of The Beastly Bombing, which I saw on Friday. Specifically, the article talks about the growth of the number of Jews in congress and in politics in general. The article, written by Brad Greenberg, of all people, notes how Jews are poised to have their largest congressional representation ever. Jews are estimated to be a community of roughly 6 million people in the US (about 2%)… and after Tuesday, will contribute 30 members to the House and 13 members to the Senate.
The article has a number of speculations as to why this might be the case, with the conclusion being the drive to make the world a better place. The article notes that Jews were were elected to Congress not just from California, Florida and New York, but from states such as Arizona, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Tennessee. The article also discusses the election of the first Muslim to Congress, Keith Ellison (MN 5). The article notes that there is a perception that Jews have soely socially progressive politics, but that three of the 43 Jewish members of the 110th Congress are Republicans. National exit polls found 88% of Jewish votes went to Democrats and 12% to Republicans. A poll administered for the Republican Jewish Coalition reported 26% of Jews voted Republican. The article notes that there is no Jewish caucus, and political ideologies run the gamut – from the socialist Rep. Bernard Sanders, newly elected to the Senate, to Rep. Eric Cantor, the House’s only Republican Jew. It states that the greatest bond is the support for Israel – but that goes for most politicians on Capitol Hill… and that even about Israel, Jews will disagree on policy details.
What I’m trying to figure out is why the Daily News did this article. Its primary constituancy, the San Fernando Valley, is predominantly Jewish. Still, they don’t need an article like this, which seems to be to touch on conspiracy fears. The author appears to be Jewish, yet the research seems weak. There’s just something about this article — it wears funny shoes that don’t even have buckles on them. I think what bothers me is that I believe there is a large (somewhat hidden) subculture that feeds on the “Zog” conspiracy: that the Jews control government. Perhaps this comes from the classes I took on antisemitism when I was back in college. I have observed the growth of antisemitism in the country–both overt and more subtle measures, such as the evangelical tone of politics.
I should note that this article fails to mention the growth of evangelicals in politics, which is even more dramatic. Newsweek had a cover story on this a few weeks ago. There was a dramatic map showing this growth. Yet this wasn’t mentioned in this article at all. Why not? The evangelical movement has the politics groups and blocs. Not a mention.
I think a letter to the editor might be in order.
