This piece in Vanity Fair online is historic: it is an open discussion, in a glossy social column, of the social resentment among WASPs toward the new wealth, the Jews and their allegedly-gauche manners, in this instance the (truly) horrifying fact that Stephen A. Schwartzman’s name is being incised on the facade of the NYPL, something I decried weeks ago, and something the Astors, the original givers to that shrine of learning, never would have allowed. The only writers to address this issue directly before are me, Scott McConnell, and Kevin MacDonald, though in MacDonald’s case it is interlarded with antisemitism.
This piece too is interlarded with antisemitism. The writer both echoes the antisemitism and condemns it at the same time. What is the answer? We should talk about it, and have this out. A giant shift has taken place in the American establishment. Jews are principals in the Establishment now. This column is a great help. It suggests that the meritocracy has eroded old bars and discriminations. Alright, yes. And thru intermarriage the Christians are flesh of my flesh, and Jews are flesh of theirs. Get used to it. Guess who’s coming to the inauguration. Obama is about to ring in a great new age of miscegenation.
What this social column does not address are the absolutely necessary sequiturs: How much of political giving now comes from Jews? Why is McCain thumping the Iran drum? Is that about money? What is Sheldon Adelson, the third richest man in America, doing at Bush’s head table when Haaretz says he wants to push the Arabs out of the West Bank? Why is Haim Saban funding the Brookings Institution? Why is Lester Crown funding the Council on Foreign Relations–and reportedly banging tables about Iran? When Obama says that McCain’s talk is about "domestic politics," is he speaking about Jewish wealth?
In short, what is the new Jewish leadership’s agenda for the Middle East? And does the next generation of Jews want Zionism incised on the facade of the Lincoln Memorial? (Nope, hallelujah). These are real political questions. Get over your ancient dogeared canards and look at the face of America.
