"Go Back Where You Came From" and Two Columns

If You're Not Jewish, You Don't Have to Read This 

Throughout my lifetime, with rare exceptions, I have voted for Democrats.  Where I grew up, in a basically Jewish neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, most voters, wrong or right, were enraptured by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and voted that way.   Any Jews who voted Republican, it was understood, did so because their accountants had told them the G.O.P. stood for lower taxes and that was reason enough for them to vote Republican.  They voted “their wallet.”   But historically, regarding matters Jewish such as anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and the newly established State of Israel, there was no difference between Republican and Democratic positions.  But such is not the case today.

While both parties officially recognize the importance of remembering the lessons of the Holocaust, there are a surprising number of Americans who do not, and they have found a home in the right wing of the Republican Party.  Also, the Republican Administration has taken positions allied with Israel’s right wing, ignoring those who feel a two-state solution, providing for Palestinian autonomy, is the only real road to real peace there.  And quietly, American anti-Semites recognize that the President’s Charlottesville comments and his “Go back where you came from” insults, while not specifically directed at Jews, tell them that their votes belong in the Republican, and not in the Democratic, column.  While this is certainly enough to steer Jews away from the Republican Party, they are uncomfortable because of the presence in the Democratic Party of a few with strong pro-Palestinian opinions, bordering on anti-Semitism.  We do not live in a perfect world. 

Let me now direct a few words at Jews who support Donald Trump.  They include some of my Florida neighbors who believe Trump’s moving the United States embassy to Jerusalem and blindly supporting Benjamin Netanyahu are reason enough for them to support him.  They include those who today follow a kind of

Adelson

Judaism which calls for the re-establishment of Israel’s ancient biblical borders and even the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel.  They include multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson who uses his casino-based fortune to support Donald Trump.  All of you - LISTEN! Listen to Trump’s magic words!

“Go back where you came from.” 

Yes, “go back where you came from.”  These words have been shouted at Jews throughout history wherever they fled during the Diaspora.  They have been shouted at Irish immigrants fleeing oppression and starvation in Ireland.  They have been shouted at Italians, Greeks, Poles and today, at those who come from failed nations below our Southern border.  They have been shouted at Blacks attempting to enter previously segregated schools and public facilities.

Anyone who utters those words, and that specifically means the President of the United States, regardless of to whom they are directed, is an enemy of the Jewish people in the United States and elsewhere in the world.  Their excuses and rationalizations are worthless. Those who utter such words are capable of initiating pogroms and building extermination camps.  Fools like Sheldon Adelson should find better ways to spend their money than to support Donald Trump.  Sooner or later Trump’s anti-Semitic, white nationalist, supporters will spit on Sheldon Adelson and tell him in the President’s words, to “Go back where you came from.” 

Proudly, 

Jack Lippman

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"People Are Saying" ...

Alleged claims that are prefaced with vague attributions such as “People are saying that …” or “There’s a lot of talk around that …” are worthless.  Of course, they would be inadmissible in a court of law, and similarly should be ignored when they appear on the internet or in other media, even when spoken by the President of the United States, who knows to use such prefaces when he lies … so the lie cannot be directly attributed to him.  

Contrary to this are well documented claims such as the videos of Donald Trump "socializing" with female guests at Mar-a-Lago back in 1992 in the company of his friend at the time, sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.   (Seek out these videos by doing a Google search.)                                 
JL               
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Two Columns for Your Attention

Two recent Washington Post columns are worthy of your attention.  Dana Milbank writes of the unity Donald Trump has brought to the Democratic Party and Michael Gerson, conservative and former Bush speechwriter, talks of opposition to the President.  It will be time well spent.

CLICK HERE to read the Gerson column and CLICK HERE to read the Milbank column. (Columns courtesy of the Palm Beach Post website.)

And speaking of newspapers, the Vindicator, the only daily newspaper serving the greater Youngstown, Ohio, area (about 600,000 people live there) has gone out of business.  Other papers have gone the same route.  More will follow.  News on the internet or on radio or television is not the same as daily news in print.  If democracy is to survive, a free press is necessary.  It is a patriotic act to subscribe to your local newspaper.  Please do so.  (Usually they are accompanied by enough supermarket discount coupons to cover the price of a subscription!)
JL