Jewbaiting Harris Miller v2
The Free Lance Star picked up on the comic issued by the Webb campaign, and came to a conclusion that will undoubtedly shock NLS and company:The flier put out by Jim Webb's campaign for U.S. Senate described his opponent as a corporate lobbyist who made money by sending American jobs overseas.
But what caught Dan Smolen's attention was the cartoon that accompanied the text: That of a man with a hook nose and money spilling from his pockets.
It was a caricature of Harris Miller, Webb's opponent in Tuesday's Democratic primary who happens to be Jewish.
The image made Smolen, who is Jewish and Stafford County's Democratic chairman, uncomfortable. As I've mentioned in my first post on this subject, Republicans and Democrats need to be especially aware whenever the old hatreds of past generations seep into today's politics. It's intolerable, and a sin against the public square:Jewbaiting is a word created by the Germans in 1853 (literally Judenheutze) who's purpose is to use the Jewishness of an individual as part of his definition, usually as an epithet. In anti-Semitic Germany, you can only imagine what connotations it would have... "He's a shrewd businessman, but he's a Jew after all... He drove a tough bargain, but Jews are like that... I've never been able to trust that fellow, but Jews can help but be that way..."
That's jewbaiting, and it's disgusting.
Fast forward to today. In the midst of a negative attack campaign by James Webb, what purpose does it have to mention outsourcing, being a lobbyist for both Repubicans and Democrats, having no support from liberals and oh yes... he's a Jew that doesn't go to church?
Simple answer? Webb is jewbaiting his opposition. This one is beyond politics, folks.
Despite the best attempts of Webbbloggers last week to undo the damage, political analysts and many Jews are taking notable offense:"That doesn't look so good. There's no question to me that's replete with anti-Semitic stereotypes," said Mark Feldstein, an associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University. "I'm not someone who readily cries anti-Semitism, but I think it's hard to look at this and not see a number of anti-Semitic stereotypes plugged into this ad, from the hook nose to the 'antichrist' to the money-grubbing character."
Bruce Newman, a professor of marketing at DePaul University and editor of the Journal of Political Marketing, said it reminded him of 1930s German propaganda, where the Jewish character was subtly made out to be the thieving villain.
"It very much crosses the line," said Newman, who is Jewish. "I'm speaking with my professional hat on now. It's a modern-day caricature of the quote-unquote villain, the one who's out to make life difficult and hurt people in the town. I've seen literature from those days and this offends me quite a bit." Agreed.
Next, we have the immortal quote from Ben Tribbett over at NLS, who responded to Miller's concerns about Webb's committment to the Democratic Party:There might be nothing more uncomfortable than a candidate whose analogies don't come from personal experience. Harris Miller is Jewish and doesn't go to church! What makes this entire debacle even more disgusting is the Webb campaign's efforts to backtrack on the issue. From the FLS:The cartoon features Webb as a sort of super-hero fighting to keep jobs in America. The text on the flier refers to Miller, a former lobbyist for the IT industry, as the "anti-Christ of outsourcing."
Webb didn't invent that label, Denny-Todd said. Instead, it comes from a column written in January by a senior editor for InformationWeek, a magazine for IT professionals. Oh really?
Here's the actual line from the InformationWeek article:Harris Miller, aka the Antichrist if you're an unemployed IT worker, is gearing up for a Senate run as--a Democrat? "I think businesspeople can be good Democrats," Miller told me last week. "I'm proud to be a businessman; my father was a small businessman." I did a Google search on "antichrist of outsourcing", and you can see the results for yourself.
Fact of the matter is, IW never used that phrase. The author? Jim Webb, which leads one to believe that the tactic of pointing our Miller's "jewishness" is much more than just ill-directed volunteerism.
Now comes the real question the Webb supporters have been asking me: What do you care?
I care because no one should be criticized on the basis of faith in America. Not Republican, not Democrat, not anyone. After that disgusting comic, it's not just about faith anymore, it's about ethnicity and gutter politicking. Why go to such lengths to point out Miller's faith? His ethnicity to the point of cariacture? What's to be gained?
Jim Webb should do more than apologize. He should personally condemn the comic and those who created it, renounce the tactics his supporters have employed, and lastly do what honor demands and back out of the race.
Why on earth would he, or any other candidate, want to claim victory (or defeat) thanks to the tactics of jewbaiting?
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Jason Kenney 
4 Comments:
These nouns denote artistic forms in which someone or something is imitated in an amusing and generally critical manner. A caricature grossly exaggerates a distinctive or striking feature with intent to ridicule: drew a caricature of the politician.
The artist who drew this traced Harris Miller's face.
If you folks think his face looks like a caricature, then perhaps you're the ones who are prejudice
Did the artist also trace the money falling out of his pockets and emphasize his nose? Perhaps they selected the worst pictures they could find, the ones that highlighted the features they wanted.
Tracing isn't a defense.
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