Of course there are hardcore Conservative Jews in America, but most of the time the issue that binds them to the hardcore Christian Right is economic; not religious. In this scenario both the US Jews and Christians are willing to overlook the other's extreme position in favor of their own, as long as they're helping each other TODAY.
On the one hand you have Christians who want Jews to accept Jesus upon his return, or die, and on the other you have certain Jewish business-types who profit off of cheap labor and general conservative stupidity. Both often voting for the same politician.
It cuts both ways. I can make a similar argument for the Democrats, but the key difference here is the "capitalist" aspect of things.
Since Democrats and liberals don't base EVERYTHING they do on whether it garners a financial return, they're less likely to sell out their core beliefs for a dollar. Yet for many conservatives in America it is the almighty dollar that is their ONLY belief, or at the very least, the most important one. Political issues are merely opportunities to make more money, regardless of the specifics.
And this is what we're seeing now with conservatives getting all loud, and favoring everything Israel does or says, without hesitation. You're hearing on FOX News, on radio, and right-wing websites. When I saw an article from Glenn Beck's "Blaze" website linking people to Howard Stern defending Jews I knew exactly where this is headed.
For years and years Conservatives just figured, like James A. Baker III, "Fuck the Jews...they don't vote for us anyway." But now they see an opportunity to profit from the Jewish vote, and Jewish influence. Believe me, they still think the Jews can go fuck themselves, but note before grinding some shekels from them.
When I read comments on Facebook from soft-Jews like, "I can't believe FOX News is the only one getting this right!" I think of two things: 1) Those people are idiots and 2) By getting it right they mean 'favoring the Israeli perspective only.'
Don't get me wrong for I am 100% in support of what Israel is doing. There will be mistakes. People will die. Children will die. It will be ugly. War isn't pretty, and with it comes collateral damage. Whether I support Israel, or not, it's fucken ugly. But it's not Israel's fault. Aspects might be, like a missile astray, but that missile only flies because it's the fault of militant Muslims.
That said, I'm not a moron who all of a sudden believes in FOX News because they've decided to stake out an angle, like they do on every issue. If FOX sees a chance to make a dime, or have conservatives looking better, they'll take it. Because their news is OPINION news. Even if a particular story itself isn't opinionated, it's about how much you run a story, when, and where. For example, if FOX runs a story of an Israeli being killed 100 times, but only shows a hospital in Gaza being hit once, that's OPINION NEWS. It's meant to sway. And I'm not falling for it.
Just because other news outlets have been at best average, and more likely terrible, doesn't make FOX News good.
But I'll stick to the point.
Conservatives are ceasing this opportunity to profit on Jewish fears. That's all this is. They're hopeful Jewish dollars and media influence will somehow help them win elections. They no more care about Jews today than they did 5, 10, or 20 years ago, or at any other time in history.
From a conservative political perspective they're hopeful this conflict can make them look better among an influential sect of Jewish voters who know full well who's responsible for others wars. Conservatives are using this crisis to help erase the other foreign policy disasters they got us into. But in truth, all the other problems in the Middle East right now, including this one, are exacerbated by their horrific war mongering efforts. I for one don't forget that just because FOX News and douchebags like Michael Savage and Mark Levin sing a different tune. A tune they hope will just earn them more dollars; not because they give a shit about Jews, or anyone else for that matter.
As a religion Judaism borders on Socialism, which is completely at odds with what Conservatives believe. Jews pray as a people, and for people. Again, that's not in line with Conservative orthodoxy. Now of course you have the Jews who claim their support for Conservatives is based on a supposed willingness to back Israel at all costs. But that's a joke argument. Domestic American politics are quite different from Middle Eastern politics. That's just another excuse some people use in the hopes the American government lets them keep more money. Believe me, a lot of Jews favor their money over any other belief, including Israel's survival. There are many shitty Americanized Jews.
Conservatives are screaming about this in a hope to CAPITALIZE on a horrific situation. That's all this is about. They hope to sway an electorate, and the idiots on radio and television are just hoping to profit from it. It's disgusting, but it's par for the course. I would expect nothing less.
A member of the Likud wants to defend his country against imminent danger, just like any Liberal Jew in the United States. And a member of Likud wants all their citizens to have health care, just like a Liberal Jew in the US. A member of Likud believes in public education, just like a liberal Jew in the US.
In other words, a Conservative Israeli is more closely aligned to a liberal US Jew than a Conservative US Jew. In fact, the Conservative US Jew is pretty much to the right of every single person in every single first world country. They just want to trick you into thinking their movement is something other than that.
Nothing in this conflict will stop me from believing America needs public health care, public education, public support for the needy, and countless other things. No matter how much money I make in my life, that will never change. That's the core of who I am, taught to me by Jewish parents, who know right from wrong. Nothing that happens in Israel today, tomorrow, or going forward is going to change my belief in these things. And that's what a real American Jew is supposed to look like.
An Atheist Jew, no less.
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