Israel Matzav

What goes around comes around

What is remarkable, though, is to hear a leftist -- and J Streeters are nothing if not leftists -- complaining about the very existence of rude behavior in response to someone's politics.

Let's go back to the election campaign of 2008. What was the reaction at just about any Shabbos table on the Upper West Side, or in any other environment where the J Street leftists have the edge, if some lonely soul would admit to liking McCain-Palin? Would a J Street person have said, "Oh, that's interesting. Tell us why?" Or would the response have been rude and blunt, "Sarah Palin is an idiot," and by inference, "Hey, mister, you're an idiot, too!"

Let's be honest. Were Palin voters ever treated with respect and engaged in thoughtful conversation in J Street circles? After all, we're told that we don't just disagree ith conservatives but that every conservative is stupid. Regan was stupid when he was running, we were told, and George H. W. Bush was stupid, and George W. Bush was stupid, called every vile and ugly name.

We're supposed to feel bad that a J Street girl was made to feel unwelcome in her own space, her synagogue? I do feel bad about that. I don't like it anyone is made to feel uncomfortable, or embarassed, for having a well-intentioned opinion, left or right. But then, what are to conclude about what happened at a Tom Chapin concert (and I usually love Tom Chapin, particularly his shows geared to children). Imagine you're a Republican and after spending good money for a pair of tickets, you're greeted with a song like this, "Go Away, Sarah Palin, Go Away." Let's assume that even 25 percent of Tom Chapin's audience voted for McCain-Palin. Was it not rude of Chapin to so mock and insult the political choice of one out of four people sitting in front of him, a captive audience who bought tickets and could not simply change the channel?

But insulting the Republicans, and Republicans such as Palin, is not only allowed, it is so normative that Chapin probably didn't think twice. Chapin, who happens to be a real mentch in most every circumstance (I know people who've worked with him), who works hard to convince children not to be mean or a bully, had no problem being mean, if not a bully, to the Palin supporters in his audience. He encouraged them to be laughed at. He created an atmosphere in which a Palin supporter would feel ashamed. Not that much difference from how that J Street girl was treated.

I'd bet the house that if a J Street person were at that Chapin concert, he or she would have laughed and cheered, never thinking for a moment that Chapin was being rude and insensitive.

Labels: Democrats, J Street, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Tom Chapin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:55 AM