Tuesday, November 17, 2009

KKK, Know Nothings, Teabaggers, Fascists... You Think There's A Difference? They're All At The Core Of Movement Conservatism

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The far right has never been friendly territory for Jews

It's always a little jarring to watch the small but determined handful of befuddled Jews flirting-- for one reason or another-- with the right-wing elements that have been trying to exterminate them since Biblical times. There were even confused Jewish fascistswho supported Hitler and Mussolini (and wound up being killed by those they supported). Their political posterity in contemporary American politics is Eric Cantor (R-VA), Sheldon Adelson, Mel Sembler, Scooter Libby and a motley gaggle of neo-fascist hate talk media types from Irving and William Kristol to Mark Levin, Michael Savage and Michael Medved, as well as members of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

In 1981 the Ramones released their sixth album, Pleasant Dreams, which included The KKK Took My Baby Away, a song by Joey Ramone, who was Jewish and progressive, about the theft of his girlfriend by Johnny Ramone, who was non-Jewish and conservative. I was a dj in San Francisco at the time and was, at least in the beginning, reticent about playing it. Eventually, though, people started understanding that it wasn't supporting the KKK, and it became a big hit on our station. Something similar happened 5 years later when they released Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, commemorating Reagan's tribute to SS troops in Germany. It came out in the U.K. first, and Warner Bros was reluctant to even release it in America-- and waited a year!

Last night was the closing of a hugely successful play in L.A., a musical in fact, called Parade, which starred one of my neighbors, T.R. Knight. If you know him at all, you probably know him in his scrubs as Dr. George O'Malley from Grey's Anatomy, although he received spectacular reviews in the role of Leo Frank, a Jewish resident of Atlanta who was lynched by the KKK in 1915. Extreme right-wing Jews like Eric Cantor and Michael Savage should keep in mind the barely below-the-surface virulent anti-Semitism their "allies" in the conservative movement have always harbored.

In 1984 the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, still a viciously right-wing and thuggish outfit, denied Frank a posthumous pardon. I doubt too many teabaggers have joined that movement because they want to kill anyone; give them time. Here's a great video of the whole Leo Frank story and how the far right works:

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3 Comments:

At 7:06 PM, Blogger Laci the Chinese Crested said...

Correction--the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles finally granted Leo Frank a posthumous pardon in 1986. The pardon was not because they thought Leo Frank innocent, but because his lynching deprived him of his right to further appeal. The descendants of Mary Phagan's family and their supporters still insist on his guilt.

Still sucky!

I wasnted to pass this on to a Jewish Teabagging relative.

 
At 9:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Conservative Christians, who you would probably consider fascists, are the biggest supporters of Israel. "Progressives," on the other hand are not big friends of a Jewish state and tend to favor the Palestinians, who in general (and Hamas in particular) would like to see the Jews take a very long walk on a very short pier into the Mediterranean.

But I digress, why do a befuddled group of American Jews continue to flirt - for one reason or another-- with socialism? Good intentions, one has to surmise... Unfortunately, altruism is not something that can be legislated. Using the government as a weapon to take from those that produce to give to those that don't is not "doing good," it's evil.
And finally, I have several friends and former co-workers that are Jewish immigrants from Soviet Russia. Let's say simply that they have no fondness for anything from the manifesto of Marx. They understand first-hand the consequences of this well-intentioned, but wrongheaded ideology. Never have I met individuals who more value liberty, freedom, personal responsibility and limited government!
Oh, one more thing, why is that progressives really only believe in freedom in the bedroom, but want to control every other aspect of your life?

 
At 11:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you are concerned about tyranny, then I suggest you read the great book by Mark Levin (who you criticize here): Liberty and Tyranny. Levin is far from a facist. He stands for freedom of the individual against the growing state...

 

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