[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgHHX9R4Qtk]
Not unlike our other Obamatards, Sarah Silverman really has no idea what racism is. But it doesn’t stop her from pretending she does, as she attempts to get Barack Obama elected this November.
Silverman is part of a project called “The Great Schlep” which teaches Jewish kids how to talk their grandparents in Florida into voting for Obama. Brought to you by the same folks who brought you the Hasbara Handbook, they have a PDF file for download with talking points which attempts to lay out how Barack Obama and Jews are similar.
For example, “Obama’s life story of achievement through education and hard work is one Jews can relate to.” Also, Obama “knows how it feels to personally experience prejudice and be treated like an outsider”. And for added measure, Obama “is a Christian and has never been Muslim.”
But my favorite is the nod she gives to Obama’s Father’s Day speech to black men, when he told them they have only themselves to blame for their own disenchantments — after all, racism has all but ceased to exist with the civil rights movement. And it’s not racial transcendence if we keep talking about it.
As the talking point says: Obama “calls for affirmative action to be based more on economic factors and less on racial ones. At a Father’s Day speech at an Africa America [sic] church where Obama called upon black men to be more responsible fathers, he was chastised by Jesse Jackson.”
Sarah Silverman shares the widespread Liberal thinking that (1) racism is real only in our minds, therefore our minds must be freed. Once Barack Obama becomes president, we can convince everyone else that racism is or can be over; (2) if you’re not voting for Obama it’s because you’re racist–of course!–not because he and his minions will do absolutely nothing for you or your family; (3) Barack Obama is a great, new kind of black man precisely because he isn’t a scary 1970s black man who, while refusing to accept white supremacy was absolutely correct in his analysis of how racism works in the U.S., made us all feel really uncomfortable by pointing it out; (4) and Sarah’s case in particular, the neurosis that so many Jews in this country have that they’re just like blacks because everyone is out to get them — without acknowledging so loudly that, unlike blacks, they enjoy so many of the positions they have in an elite class in large part because they’re “Jewish,” however defined.
Like the movie “Crash,” which sent Liberals weeping from the theater, hers is the belief that racism is a one-on-one sport, disregarding and/or refusing to acknowledge that it’s a systemic blight, aided by these types of ideas.
Silverman and her ilk believe that everyone is terrible if they don’t share in their righteous support for Barack Obama, just like everyone is terrible if they don’t share in their equally righteous support for Israel. It’s not surprising Obama and Israel supporters are increasingly going hand in hand.
Their logic, in the first and final instance, values only their equality and their life under the guises of valuing equality and life for everyone.
Silverman is correct to conflate the Zionism/Obamaism issues into one. Indeed, both of these movements have been so powerfully built using similar playbooks.
Related posts:
- Zionism Must be Defended (or, Barack Obama’s AIPAC speech)
- Bush Compares Iraq to the United States
- DC Premiere: The United States’ Persecution of Dr. Sami Al-Arian
- George Bush: The Saad Eddin Ibrahim of the United States
- War Scoreboard Part III: Palestine, The United States, And Its Puppets
I usually love Sarah Silverman, and get her jabs at racism…I thought this one was hilarious until I realized…that it was REAL. As sketch comedy, the Great Schlep video is funny. As an actual campaign? Creepy.
Posted by Jillian | September 30, 2008, 6:06 pmUh… you don’t think elderly Jews, by and large, have experienced prejudice and been treated like outsiders?
There was about a 10-20 year lag time between when the major barriers came down to entering American institutions for Jews, and when they came down for blacks. Jews weren’t considered ‘white’ by anybody for the vast majority of American history. I’ve been born with the privilege that I can pass as white if I so chose (though it’d take some hair straightener and maybe a nose-job to really do the trick), but many people of my grandparent’s generation remember a very different reality.
The talking points link you posted sound like they’d be effective for dealing with elderly Florida Jews. Some of ‘em are perfectly wonderful people. Others of them are, frankly, racist and bigoted, same as any other group of elderly gits. Some of those racist, bigoted, elderly Jews experienced racism and bigotry themselves growing up, making it even sadder.
If one’s goal is the same as mine — elect Barack Obama president — those talking points, and this campaign, seem like a useful contribution to the cause.
People vote. Even people you (and I) disagree with violently on some issues. Even people who you (and I) would consider to be of poor character. Swaying their votes matters.
Posted by Joe | October 1, 2008, 2:29 amUh… don’t you think you’re a Liberal idiot, Joe?
Posted by Anonymous | October 1, 2008, 4:51 amJoe… are you trying to say that the civil rights of jews lagged behind that of the blacks in this country??? that’s FUCKING RIDICULOUS. There isn’t even anything close to a comparable model when it comes to the social status of jews and blacks in this country… from the beginning of the colonial era to today. sorry cupcake, this ain’t europe…
Posted by Tarik | October 1, 2008, 11:59 amI just wanted to point out that Baruch does not mean “lightning” but, even better, it means “blessed.” If you don’t believe me, check out this wonderful article in the Washington Post August 28.
http://tinyurl.com/5q2zm5
It’s well researched, with enough facts about Obama’s name to impress grandparents of other faiths as well!
Posted by Anonymous | October 2, 2008, 11:58 am“”Joe… are you trying to say that the civil rights of jews lagged behind that of the blacks in this country??? “”
Uh, what the fuck are you smoking? Clearly, it went the opposite direction? Mainstream acceptance of blacks lagged behind mainstream acceptance of Jews, but *both* took a really long time. And elderly Jews who were born in America were definitely alive at a time where American Jews experienced serious racism, likely experiencing it themselves. And so, Obama “knowing how it feels to personally experience prejudice and be treated like an outsider” might appeal to elderly Jews on a gut level.
“” Uh… don’t you think you’re a Liberal idiot, Joe?”"
Liberal, yes (with occasional libertarian leanings).
Posted by Joe | October 3, 2008, 1:17 pm