It has a long history in Western culture. Antisemitism is the worst sort of xenophobic nonsense and it brings out the worst in people. It has no basis in fact.
Pre-Revolutionary America was a better place for Jews than Europe -- and even here, they were not allowed to participate in elections (community councils and the like) until the founding of the United States.
The Pittsburgh killer explicitly stated antisemitism was his motive. This is entirely unAmerican, counter to the freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, and should be repugnant to all decent people.
There's a gun show in town this weekend and I was thinking about going. I still might -- but there are a couple of vendors who show up from time to time* that I would have a very difficult time not calling out. They always have significantly fewer browsers than the other tables -- unfortunately, it's still a non-zero number.
This pernicious notion is the precise opposite to the American ideal of tolerance and freedom. It should be opposed vigorously whenever it shows up.
If you're thinking about making a "Yes, but..." comment or worse to this post, do us both a favor and ban yourself now. I won't have it. I'm not obliged to tolerate poison and I won't.
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* Neither of them sell guns; each specializes in an only slightly firearm-related thing, different to the other. At least the guy selling bath towels and coffee mugs with pictures of Nazi leaders on them stopped showing up.
Update
3 days ago
8 comments:
When I started going to gun shows they had their own section now they're hardly noticeable . We have one guy that sells a self published book about his fathers experiences on the eastern front .
There always seemed to be a heavy emphasis on ss paraphernalia . Guess every ones grandad was in the ss .
A couple of years ago a small statue of a ss officer was for sale at a local auction . Some one near me asked what anyone would want it for and three of us in the crowd simultaneously said target practice .
Glenn
I hate Nazis, period. Unfortunately, there's always going to be someone who has to blame someone else for whatever. So there's always going to be Nazis or klansmen or whatevers steeping in their own sewage.
The towel-and-mug guy provoked an interesting reaction from most people. You couldn't quite tell what he had at first glance, so people would head towards his booth, realize it was pictures of failed chicken farmers, fat air aces and a lousy painter, and do an abrupt 180.
Always amazes me how someone claiming to be so superior to all others can be held back and oppressed by those he considers subhuman.
That said I prefer open display of one's bigotry, as it makes it easier for me to disassociate from them and to know who not to trust.
Being Jewish I had a hard time this week. Thank God for the Red Sox providing a little bit of cheer.
But please go to the gun show. Don't let them keep you from enjoying yourself. But don't call them out. It only reinforces their sense of "the world is out to get me".
And in the current context the antiSemitism of the Left is more dangerous to me. Trump's advocacy of Israel only hastens the time when Sarsour & Co will start to dominate the Democratic Party like Corbyn does the UK Labour Party.
There are ss guys that show up at the shows around here.
It is a free country. I does seem strange the air around them.
Perhaps Jake & Elwood had the right idea
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTT1qUswYL0
Being part Jewish myself, this scene fills me with satisfaction, for some reason.
Ulises from CA
I helped care-take a small summer cottage for a husband-wife team of doctors from Pittsburgh many years ago. She spent some time as a child at a Polish summer camp in the Town of Auschwitz, where she watched her ten-year old cousin get raped to death by the guards. Never heard her complain once about what life had done to her, unlike today's SJWs. Sitting in my work jeans and boots, and dirty T-shirt, holding a glass of wine in that camp, and talking with the Israeli Ambassador to Canada has to have been one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
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