Even if you are going to examine the influence of Jewish money in politics, or Jewish money in philantropy as you have periodically, take the damn time to actually investigate WHAT Jews that contribute, contribute to, and on what basis and priority.

I contest that you MISLEAD, by your fixation. Rather than illuminate, you distort.

Money is in politics, certainly. Money is power certainly, in MANY ways, absent a strong civil emphasis.

You are NOT advocating for a strong civil emphasis. You are picking a single faction of a small group's influence, but using the GENERAL term "Jewish money".

They way that you undertake this is contemptuous Phil.

You try and talk about the Nakba and the current plight of the Palestinians, they bring up medieval conquests. You try and talk about about aid to Israel, they bring up aid to their prisoners, the Palestinians. At no time will you EVER get them to evaluate the morality and ethical nature of their and Israel's actions. This is because there is no moral or ethical basis, and they know it, so to enter that discussion in good faith would mean the end of their little Biblically-not-justified genocidal Apartheid party.

Witty, a group of ultra-Zionists with money acting in the name of Judaism blackmailed Kennedy to try and usurp the power of the presidency, to turn him into a puppet over issues of the entire Middle East. I challenge you to not raise your finger to point this way or that but to point the finger to yourself and the rich ultra-Zionists you regularly shmoozed.

It's time for you to do some serious soul-searching while you still have your faculties, old man.

Kennedy made his name in the Senate on his support of the McCarthyite opposition to communism, and his support for the cold war.

He and Nixon were close allies in the Senate. He was considered safe on national defense, ideologically acceptable, though untested.

In his campaign he struck out on new ground. He expressed similar balances of idealism with pragmatism that Obama presented. (Not "realist", but what is possible.)

That is what appealed to Jewish voters and Jewish donors to Kennedy's campaign. To imply that Jewish support of Kennedy was based on trivially single-issue orientation, is to MISREPRESENT Jewish political involvement and contribution.

One thing that the Kennedy campaign and the Obama campaign have in common is the repugnance for dogmatic leftist litmus tests on issues.

They desire the support of those with strong positive commitments, and stated in positive terms. (So for example, on the Israel/Palestinian conflict, I would expect that they would value association with those that assert that they support the efforts of the Palestinians for a thriving nation and community.)

He currently does and should distance themselves from the negative approach, of "ANTI"-Zionism, which he genuinely don't endorse.

The reaction to that far left litmus testing is more severe than imagined repugnance at Israel Lobby perseverence.

Try as you might, glimpses of the truth like this cannot be dismissed.

I believe that it is obvious that certain Jews have influence in the U.S. that plays a major role in distorting culture and policy to benefit what they believe to be in the interest of the Jewsish community and Israel. I also believe the same Jews to be hostile to traditional American culture and citizens.

What I don't quite accept is the notion that Jewish wealth is enough to control the nation. Going on memory, many of the wealthiest Americans are not Jewish at all, and the vast majority of the population is not Jewish. So money alone is not what cements Jewish power and influence.

My guess that Jewish power rests on organization and zelotry. I've often heard that Israel is a base for data mining information and money laundering. If so, each can be a powerful tool for corruption.

http://www.sandersresearch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1356&Itemid=97

If I'm not wrong Zionism is more like organized crime than a political movement, and should be treated as such. How entrenched are Zionists in the FBI and law enforcement?

It's not Phil making that claim, Richard. It's how Kennedy himself saw it: "We're willing to pay your bills if you'll let us have control of your Middle East policy."

You are incorrect about this. Close to the majority of the wealthiest Americans are indeed ethnically Jewish, even though the vast majority of the population is not Jewish.

In terms of the hyper-wealthy and influential, about 40-50% of America's billionaires (and probably an even higher percentage of America's millioniares) are Jews even though they are only about 2% of the overall population. Many are now legitimately asking: how 'democratic' is it that a small ethnic minority wields that much wealth, power, and influence all out of proportion to their small numbers in the population?

Even average Jews are much more well-off than most Americans. It was reported recently by Pew that nearly 50% of American Jews make over $100,000 a year, which is far above any other American ethnic or religious group.

With that much money and power at their disposal, Jewish money influences not only American politics but just about everything else in America. Do some research and you'll come to this conclusion.

You may be right, Ari. I'm just going by recollections of Forbes listings. Bill Gates, the Walton family, Warren Buffett are high on the list, and I remember them holding huge sums of money- far more combined than most.

I know that Jews tend to make more than average Americans, but they also tend to live in the most expensive areas of the nation where $100k yearly doesn't buy what a much smaller salary would in other areas.

I have mixed feelings about income. If people make their money ethically, is it my business to comment? On the other hand, there does seem to be a Jewish old boys network that would have many Jews screaming racism or discrimination if they weren't benefitting themselves- many still complain about WASP privilege.

Jews do seem to do quite well financially, but I'm still not sure that such a small group of people control anywhere near the majority of the legal/visible wealth in the nation.

My guess is that as a group certain Jews have always consciously positioned themselves near power, and looked for or hastened, a time of weakness or inattention to make a move at power themselves.

I could be wrong, but I don't see the Jewish position as very stable in the long run.