About two weeks ago, I brawled over at Alas, A blog over the issue of antisemitism. Do I see it everywhere I look? Am I over-reaching? Well, gee, wonder where I could have acquired a habit like that.
The following is from JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)--some of you may have heard it on Rachel Maddow's show or read it on HuffPo.
Yes, this involves my senator!
SC GOPers: DeMint like a Jew watching our nation’s pennies’
October 19, 2009
Ya think?
Two South Carolina Republican officials defended Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) by likening him to Jews who "take care of the pennies."
Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin Merwin and Orangeburg County GOP Chairman James Ulmer wrote the Orangeburg Times and Democrat to defend DeMint after a Democratic politician said he didn't help direct enough funds to local projects.
"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves," the chairmen write. "By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation’s pennies and trying to preserve our country’s wealth and our economy’s viability to give all an opportunity to succeed."
The Palmetto Scoop, a conservative website in the state, said such comments underscored the Republican Party's difficulties.
"It's people like Ulmer and Merwin that make many folks fear for the future of the once Grand Ole Party," it said.
PS: And it's people like this that make some of the rest of us in South Carolina a bit hyper-vigilant.