Yahoo Sports breaks a taboo today, by saying that both general managers for the American League teams in the championship series share "ethnic/religious heritage." They're both Jewish. The writer can't even get that word out of his mouth, but the story is helpful; it advances knowledge about the Jewish presence in the Establishment, rather than mystifying this issue.
It stands in bright contrast to "60 Minutes" last night, which devoted not one but two pieces to hackneyed ethnic portrait. The lead piece was on a 300-pound FBI guy who infiltrated the Gambino family and put x number of mobsters in prison. I think his name is Falco. I don't even want to supply the link. The piece involved the ways that a man from Cuban background had successfully mimicked Italian ways to get in tight with the mob. Learned to say manicotti right, that kind of thing. He's written a book, published by CBS's sister company, of course. (The media are all mobbed up.)
In the second piece, Morley Safer went to some Italian wine making family and portrayed their ancient landloving lifestyle. Thereby balancing the crude and predictable Sopranos shtik of the first piece with the predictable refinement of food Italians. The hidden theme was, Safer sure likes going to Italy. Maybe he has a house there? The third piece on "60 Minutes" was a slavish description of the pacification of Sadr City in Baghdad by General Odierno using drones that can take out a pickup truck with a missile from 2 miles up. Lesley Stahl "reported" this. I wonder how many civilians the Americans have killed. I love "60 Minutes." This was the worst show I've seen in many years.
Back to my hobbyhorse. The Italian stuff is a form of minstrel show. Tired ethnic stereotype, while the new ethnic story is before our eyes, and yes I wonder how many of the writers and producers at "60" are Jewish. The Mafia piece is about "their thing," that thing the lawless Italians don't speak about, which I guess involves taking a 2 percent cut of the food-preparation and garbage-hauling and trucking industry? Something like that. True corruption. But what about our thing? What about the Israel lobby, embedded in Establishment life, distorting our Middle East policy, destroying Palestinian hopes, undebated by our presidentials, and steeped in omerta?
