Great speech by Pritzker, correct on all points and it all needed to be said. The pearl-clutching on the right is a confirmation.
There are rumors that he is considering a run for president, so here's a question: as we've seen, the country will not elect a woman president in the near future, is it possible that it might elect a Jewish president? My impression is that no. Both the right and left have antisemitic sections (based on different ideas, but with the same result) and with the margins in national elections so thin, these sections will be enough to sink a Jewish candidate, either D or R.
I also doubt the country would elect Pritzker due to his religion, plus his weight.
Another Democrat i think would make a great president is Pete Buttigieg, but the bigots will never, ever allow a gay man, who is also a veteran & very intelligent, as opposed to the "fucking moron", as his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him, to become the president, no matter how good a job he would undoubtedly do!
I agree. You know, it has been said on more than one occasion, by more than one person that if television had been around in the 1930s, FDR does not get elected. Welcome to the United States, where a person can be downgraded and dismissed before ever saying a thing. By the way, on White House comments about Pritzker's speech, you mean to tell me they lied? Gee, what a shock!
I don’t know about that. Greg Abbot’s been the governor of Texas for ten years and he’s been a cripple since he was 26. And as far as obesity being a liability, it didn’t seem to hurt Chris Christie when he ran for governor of New Jersey. Or uh, Trump.
It's possible. But I wouldn't bet the farm on on it. There's also a large difference between a state election, particularly if controlled by one party, and a national election. The GOP is dictating directions right now which already puts Pritzker in a hole, and I can guarantee Trump and his minions will make a lot of both his weight and a Jew that doesn't offer enough support for Israel. The only possible mitigations are a streak of sanity infecting the right or enough people negatively affected by the economy and other factors to want change.
I don't share your dim view of American voters. I doubt that the antisemitic wing of voters is significant. The are many, many examples of successful Jewish politicians as well as every other ethnicity and religion.
I do wonder how his billionaire status will play in the primaries. As bashing the uber wealthy is a very strong strain in the party, and they will have alternative choices without that scarlet letter.
I also think that there are many reasons that Clinton and Harris lost, and that their gender was not the most significant. There are many examples of successful women Governors and Senators, and Congresspeople. The right candidate hits the right messages.
There are also plenty of fat, old, and unattractive politicians, as well as very attractive failed politicians. I think that physical attractiveness can be a big plus (great smile, graceful, great dresser, etc) but is not as big a negative for a high-quality candidate. Conveying the image of charisma and personability has a broad range.
I think your rosy outlook on voters is way too rosy. Election results don't back it up and I personally know too many with feelings just like Garry stated.
In local elections, of course, I'm aware of many successful Jewish politicians, because the margins are wider and can swallow the bigoted contingent. But in national presidential elections the margins are in the low single digits and losing even a small section of you party's base due to prejudice is much more costly and can be the difference between winning and losing.
I don’t agree that Pritzker’s being a Jew would be any sort of real liability. I’ve read the commenters here and elsewhere who keep purporting this, and heard Marj Halperin invoke it on last week’s Mincing Rascals broadcast, and it all strikes me as being kind of a “poor me” whine, and a bit paranoid. Are there elections where a candidate lost and it was known that it was because he or she was Jewish?
There is, of course, anti-Semitism. Whether it is more prevalent on the left or the right can be open to debate, but I think the impact it has on elections is minimal. Right wing anti-Semites are never going to vote for a Democrat in the first place, and the left wing variety tend to let their political interests trump their bigotry. For example, I’ve known a number of far left radical Jew haters in my time, and while they enjoyed expounding at great length on the usual hobby horses like the evils of Israel and Jewish control of the universe, they also loved and I mean LOVED Bernie Sanders, as much if not more than they loved Norman Finklestein. Of course that’s not to say that they would love Pritzker or Shapiro (as Marc points out, Pritzker’s billionaire status would be a greater liability), but I don’t think that too many of them would defect at the ballot box if that was their choice.
Is there some great swath of Jew hating undecided voters that would reject Pritzker just because he’s Jewish? Maybe, but it wouldn’t be my hunch.
I agree it's very hard to put numbers on this as people either won't admit to a prejudice in a poll or the prejudice could be subconscious. But I would point to the 2024 election where anti-Israel sentiment on the left may have led to many typical Dem voters in Michigan staying home and handing the state to Trump. It was also a factor in selecting Harris' VP candidate. As I said, this is just my impression, I have no hard data to back it up.
Much of what you say would make sense in normal times. A normal Republican wouldn’t make a big deal out of Pritzker being Jewish. Try to remember that I’m Jewish and have no problem with it. In normal times, most candidates would worry about making a big deal of it and being labeled racist. But this is not normal times. Trump would question if he was even a real Jew because he didn’t support Israel. This is obviously not true. I’m talking about Trump. Too many MAGAs don’t think independently. If Trump says it, it must be true. He has already stated that anyone not backing Netenyahu’s policies or totally supporting what Israel is doing in Gaza is not really Jewish. It might be more a liability than you think because MAGAs and their political leaders are not above untruths in campaigning. It doesn’t even matter if they actually believe what they are saying. Go back and look up the last two presidential campaigns.If MAGAs really believe some of the things stated, it would be a field day for psychiatrists and psychologists.
The Simpsons made fun of the utter failures, known as the White Sox last Sunday night with a tiny graphic that was shown for just a couple of seconds, you had to pause the picture to read it, that said to contact them at "free-libraryemail.com"
Then Family Guy really went after that insane pillow seller, fat fascist traitor supporter & crack addict, Mike Lindell for about a minute. The writers there totally made him look like an even bigger fool than even Kimmel does!
Interesting that an animated comedy show on Fox broadcast has more guts than the entire CBS network brass!
I think it's Fox News that is off-the-rails right-wing propaganda and spin (with the exception for their polling arm, which is surprisingly competent). The larger Fox entertainment empire is more politically secular, I think. They've had The Simpsons for over three decades and with Family Guy and Futurama, other shows and movies, they don't really censor left leaning views in their shows.
Then again, based on the first sentence in your link regarding Andrew Jackson, maybe it already has: "When Donald Trump and his followers go in search of historical forerunners to justify their regime, they turn with striking regularity to the presidency of Andrew Jackson."
Your Tune of the Week has a whole religion class nicely summed up. Great song! I wonder if the Bible verse you are looking for is the one where Jesus says he is the door; i.e. the only path to salvation. John 10:9; al5hough some translations say gate.
I'm very confused. Pope? I thought he was trying to be king or dictator. Didn't he compare himself to MLK? Wait- didn't some of his followers compare him to Jesus? Just how are we to address him? I know Garry has some ideas.
I think our governor would make a great president and that he is correct, politically as well as ethically, to go on the verbal offensive against trump. Governor Whitmer is making a spectacle of herself in embracing (literally) Agent Orange. btw, hasn't trump proved that an overweight man can be elected president?
Perhaps I was too quick to relay what I read and apologize if so. Nevertheless, she is obviously trying to placate/work with trump. That tactic never works with mob bosses (ask Neville Chamberlain)
Whitmer has a tightrope to walk in Michigan; it is a very bi-polar state, and one in which you would presume the union base would be very pro-Democrat. However, the "old line" union members are largely white ethnics who are pro-Trump, and vote against their economic self-interest more often than not. I think she's been hoodwinked by Trump handlers, but she is trying to placate both sides - never a winning strategy (IMHO).
I am far from a scripture expert, but I asked AI your question about the tune of the week and the phrase "you must come in at the door" and got this answer:
"In John 10:9, Jesus says, *"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." This verse emphasizes the idea of entering through Jesus as the way to salvation. It's a powerful metaphor for faith and guidance."
Looks like this is in the English Standard Version, in other translations it says "gate", not "door".
Your reference to gate in this context made me think of one of my favorite poems which is sort of an agnostic’s perspective: From Invictus by William Ernest Henley.
Love it! Thanks. I think I heard this poem in the movie about Nelson Mandela, but I only remembered the last two lines, while the first two lines give it a lot more weight and meaning. It's timeless and timely.
I think the dimensions pertain to the door to heaven, not heaven itself. Meaning the door to heaven is so wide/high, etc. that it's the only way to enter heaven. (why would you want to get under or climb over heaven?)
The Republicans' willful misinterpretation of Pritzker's exhortation to verbally denounce Trump's cruelties as a call for violence, reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's apparently earnest poem claiming "The female of the species is more deadly than the male" despite all of history's evidence to the contrary.
A dozen years ago I composed a rebuttal "to" Kipling in his poem's own metrical style. The indignant Republicans should ponder these of its lines:
"Deadly" means someone stops breathing and no more will draw a breath.
Wounds from words, while devastating, are more curable than death.
Sarcasm isn't deadly, though. Mere argument won't kill.
A fool is he who won't distinguish those from acts that will!
I’m fairly confident the Bible verse alluded to is: Ephesians 3:18-19
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
I also see now that the verses cited by other readers are also likely correct, and that the writer cleverly and artistically combined the two to make the primary point of Christianity—that Jesus loves us beyond comprehension and provides a way to Him
The NFL wasn’t wrong on Herschel Walker. He would have been an early 1st rounder if he hadn’t signed a lucrative 3 year deal with the USFL so he could go pro earlier.
Another take on Republicans obsessing over birth rates is their belief that white people are headed to a minority status in the US, which would help explain why they're so opposed to immigrants from south of the border.
Japan, Iceland, China, Italy, Greece, Singapore, Russia, et al that tries child incentives to boost the birth rate know that they could incentivize immigration as an alternative. They do not because they are concerned with cultural and political integration in addition to the costs of accommodating the immigrants before they are established.
Unlike America, most countries (including the ones you list) have very specific national identities. I would venture that most Americans take pride in our "melting pot" attitude about inviting other cultures into the fold, and see MAGA efforts to rebrand the US as a strictly white Christian country as anathema to who we are.
The Axiom of Choice line reminds me of a favorite: Have you noticed that when migrating geese fly in their familiar "V" formation, one side of the "V" is always longer than the other? We'll, after years of study, scientists have discovered the reason: ...there's more geese on that side.
By some accounts, Shedeur Sanders is an even bigger self-promoter and showboat than his dad, Deion (and that photo of the room he decorated does little to dispel that impression). As talented as he is, my bet is NFL teams thought he'd be too much of a pain in the ass.
Some kids don't get it. A big mouth can make some NFL coaches wonder if a kid is coachable. The last thing an NFL coach needs with a rookie QB is remote coaching from dad or a rookie belief that he is already ready for Canton.
Great speech by Pritzker, correct on all points and it all needed to be said. The pearl-clutching on the right is a confirmation.
There are rumors that he is considering a run for president, so here's a question: as we've seen, the country will not elect a woman president in the near future, is it possible that it might elect a Jewish president? My impression is that no. Both the right and left have antisemitic sections (based on different ideas, but with the same result) and with the margins in national elections so thin, these sections will be enough to sink a Jewish candidate, either D or R.
I also doubt the country would elect Pritzker due to his religion, plus his weight.
Another Democrat i think would make a great president is Pete Buttigieg, but the bigots will never, ever allow a gay man, who is also a veteran & very intelligent, as opposed to the "fucking moron", as his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him, to become the president, no matter how good a job he would undoubtedly do!
I could be wrong, but it seems to me Pritzker has lost weight in recent appearances.
Which reminds me of the old Nichols and May exchange:
“How does she look thin?”
“Fat.”
I remember reading eons ago that people knew Ted Kennedy was running for president when he discernibly lost weight!
I agree. You know, it has been said on more than one occasion, by more than one person that if television had been around in the 1930s, FDR does not get elected. Welcome to the United States, where a person can be downgraded and dismissed before ever saying a thing. By the way, on White House comments about Pritzker's speech, you mean to tell me they lied? Gee, what a shock!
I don’t know about that. Greg Abbot’s been the governor of Texas for ten years and he’s been a cripple since he was 26. And as far as obesity being a liability, it didn’t seem to hurt Chris Christie when he ran for governor of New Jersey. Or uh, Trump.
It's possible. But I wouldn't bet the farm on on it. There's also a large difference between a state election, particularly if controlled by one party, and a national election. The GOP is dictating directions right now which already puts Pritzker in a hole, and I can guarantee Trump and his minions will make a lot of both his weight and a Jew that doesn't offer enough support for Israel. The only possible mitigations are a streak of sanity infecting the right or enough people negatively affected by the economy and other factors to want change.
Not to be excessively PC, but we don't say "cripple" anymore.
Ok, he’s been crippled since he was 26.
We've already elected a fat president. But Pritzker is also intelligent and able, that would be a change.
I don't share your dim view of American voters. I doubt that the antisemitic wing of voters is significant. The are many, many examples of successful Jewish politicians as well as every other ethnicity and religion.
I do wonder how his billionaire status will play in the primaries. As bashing the uber wealthy is a very strong strain in the party, and they will have alternative choices without that scarlet letter.
I also think that there are many reasons that Clinton and Harris lost, and that their gender was not the most significant. There are many examples of successful women Governors and Senators, and Congresspeople. The right candidate hits the right messages.
There are also plenty of fat, old, and unattractive politicians, as well as very attractive failed politicians. I think that physical attractiveness can be a big plus (great smile, graceful, great dresser, etc) but is not as big a negative for a high-quality candidate. Conveying the image of charisma and personability has a broad range.
Agreed. Ann Richard won the governor's seat in TX.
I think your rosy outlook on voters is way too rosy. Election results don't back it up and I personally know too many with feelings just like Garry stated.
In local elections, of course, I'm aware of many successful Jewish politicians, because the margins are wider and can swallow the bigoted contingent. But in national presidential elections the margins are in the low single digits and losing even a small section of you party's base due to prejudice is much more costly and can be the difference between winning and losing.
I don’t agree that Pritzker’s being a Jew would be any sort of real liability. I’ve read the commenters here and elsewhere who keep purporting this, and heard Marj Halperin invoke it on last week’s Mincing Rascals broadcast, and it all strikes me as being kind of a “poor me” whine, and a bit paranoid. Are there elections where a candidate lost and it was known that it was because he or she was Jewish?
There is, of course, anti-Semitism. Whether it is more prevalent on the left or the right can be open to debate, but I think the impact it has on elections is minimal. Right wing anti-Semites are never going to vote for a Democrat in the first place, and the left wing variety tend to let their political interests trump their bigotry. For example, I’ve known a number of far left radical Jew haters in my time, and while they enjoyed expounding at great length on the usual hobby horses like the evils of Israel and Jewish control of the universe, they also loved and I mean LOVED Bernie Sanders, as much if not more than they loved Norman Finklestein. Of course that’s not to say that they would love Pritzker or Shapiro (as Marc points out, Pritzker’s billionaire status would be a greater liability), but I don’t think that too many of them would defect at the ballot box if that was their choice.
Is there some great swath of Jew hating undecided voters that would reject Pritzker just because he’s Jewish? Maybe, but it wouldn’t be my hunch.
I agree it's very hard to put numbers on this as people either won't admit to a prejudice in a poll or the prejudice could be subconscious. But I would point to the 2024 election where anti-Israel sentiment on the left may have led to many typical Dem voters in Michigan staying home and handing the state to Trump. It was also a factor in selecting Harris' VP candidate. As I said, this is just my impression, I have no hard data to back it up.
Much of what you say would make sense in normal times. A normal Republican wouldn’t make a big deal out of Pritzker being Jewish. Try to remember that I’m Jewish and have no problem with it. In normal times, most candidates would worry about making a big deal of it and being labeled racist. But this is not normal times. Trump would question if he was even a real Jew because he didn’t support Israel. This is obviously not true. I’m talking about Trump. Too many MAGAs don’t think independently. If Trump says it, it must be true. He has already stated that anyone not backing Netenyahu’s policies or totally supporting what Israel is doing in Gaza is not really Jewish. It might be more a liability than you think because MAGAs and their political leaders are not above untruths in campaigning. It doesn’t even matter if they actually believe what they are saying. Go back and look up the last two presidential campaigns.If MAGAs really believe some of the things stated, it would be a field day for psychiatrists and psychologists.
The Simpsons made fun of the utter failures, known as the White Sox last Sunday night with a tiny graphic that was shown for just a couple of seconds, you had to pause the picture to read it, that said to contact them at "free-libraryemail.com"
Then Family Guy really went after that insane pillow seller, fat fascist traitor supporter & crack addict, Mike Lindell for about a minute. The writers there totally made him look like an even bigger fool than even Kimmel does!
Interesting that an animated comedy show on Fox broadcast has more guts than the entire CBS network brass!
I think it's Fox News that is off-the-rails right-wing propaganda and spin (with the exception for their polling arm, which is surprisingly competent). The larger Fox entertainment empire is more politically secular, I think. They've had The Simpsons for over three decades and with Family Guy and Futurama, other shows and movies, they don't really censor left leaning views in their shows.
Disney bought Fox Entertainment in 2019.
Out of curiosity, has anyone here ever actually bought or felt a My Pillow?
I haven't, but the few reviews of them were certainly saying they're terrible.
"Trump regime" -- great idea, Eric. This needs to catch on.
Then again, based on the first sentence in your link regarding Andrew Jackson, maybe it already has: "When Donald Trump and his followers go in search of historical forerunners to justify their regime, they turn with striking regularity to the presidency of Andrew Jackson."
Your Tune of the Week has a whole religion class nicely summed up. Great song! I wonder if the Bible verse you are looking for is the one where Jesus says he is the door; i.e. the only path to salvation. John 10:9; al5hough some translations say gate.
That's the New Testament Bible verse I was thinking of (or John 14:6.)
My BIL was trying to troll me about Trump's comment about becoming Pope. I said: since Popes usually die in office, I'm all for it.
I'm very confused. Pope? I thought he was trying to be king or dictator. Didn't he compare himself to MLK? Wait- didn't some of his followers compare him to Jesus? Just how are we to address him? I know Garry has some ideas.
I think our governor would make a great president and that he is correct, politically as well as ethically, to go on the verbal offensive against trump. Governor Whitmer is making a spectacle of herself in embracing (literally) Agent Orange. btw, hasn't trump proved that an overweight man can be elected president?
I read something on Yahoo News that Witmer offered a hand and Trump initiated the hug. I guess I'd have to watch a clip to see what it looks like.
Perhaps I was too quick to relay what I read and apologize if so. Nevertheless, she is obviously trying to placate/work with trump. That tactic never works with mob bosses (ask Neville Chamberlain)
I don't know the story, but I could easily believe it. I hope she disinfected herself after.
Whitmer has a tightrope to walk in Michigan; it is a very bi-polar state, and one in which you would presume the union base would be very pro-Democrat. However, the "old line" union members are largely white ethnics who are pro-Trump, and vote against their economic self-interest more often than not. I think she's been hoodwinked by Trump handlers, but she is trying to placate both sides - never a winning strategy (IMHO).
I think William Howard Taft proved that!
I am far from a scripture expert, but I asked AI your question about the tune of the week and the phrase "you must come in at the door" and got this answer:
"In John 10:9, Jesus says, *"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." This verse emphasizes the idea of entering through Jesus as the way to salvation. It's a powerful metaphor for faith and guidance."
Looks like this is in the English Standard Version, in other translations it says "gate", not "door".
Your reference to gate in this context made me think of one of my favorite poems which is sort of an agnostic’s perspective: From Invictus by William Ernest Henley.
“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
Love it! Thanks. I think I heard this poem in the movie about Nelson Mandela, but I only remembered the last two lines, while the first two lines give it a lot more weight and meaning. It's timeless and timely.
Yes, but I was wondering more about the image of heaven being so low, so high, so wide --the dimensions, in other words.
I think the dimensions pertain to the door to heaven, not heaven itself. Meaning the door to heaven is so wide/high, etc. that it's the only way to enter heaven. (why would you want to get under or climb over heaven?)
The Republicans' willful misinterpretation of Pritzker's exhortation to verbally denounce Trump's cruelties as a call for violence, reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's apparently earnest poem claiming "The female of the species is more deadly than the male" despite all of history's evidence to the contrary.
A dozen years ago I composed a rebuttal "to" Kipling in his poem's own metrical style. The indignant Republicans should ponder these of its lines:
"Deadly" means someone stops breathing and no more will draw a breath.
Wounds from words, while devastating, are more curable than death.
Sarcasm isn't deadly, though. Mere argument won't kill.
A fool is he who won't distinguish those from acts that will!
By the way, Eric, "Grand Old Paranoids" is scintillating!
And the winner of the visual quip poll was ??????
I was wondering also. I rechecked the entire newsletter to see if I somehow missed it.
Yeah, I forgot to include that. Dang. Will feature it next week but if you're impatient, you can look at the poll results here: https://ericzorn.substack.com/i/161902780/the-weeks-best-visual-jokes
I’m fairly confident the Bible verse alluded to is: Ephesians 3:18-19
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
That could be it! Thanks!
I also see now that the verses cited by other readers are also likely correct, and that the writer cleverly and artistically combined the two to make the primary point of Christianity—that Jesus loves us beyond comprehension and provides a way to Him
The NFL wasn’t wrong on Herschel Walker. He would have been an early 1st rounder if he hadn’t signed a lucrative 3 year deal with the USFL so he could go pro earlier.
Another take on Republicans obsessing over birth rates is their belief that white people are headed to a minority status in the US, which would help explain why they're so opposed to immigrants from south of the border.
White supremacists have believed this for decades.
These self-styled "pro [white] natalists" are just another manifestation of the great replacement racists.
Japan, Iceland, China, Italy, Greece, Singapore, Russia, et al that tries child incentives to boost the birth rate know that they could incentivize immigration as an alternative. They do not because they are concerned with cultural and political integration in addition to the costs of accommodating the immigrants before they are established.
Unlike America, most countries (including the ones you list) have very specific national identities. I would venture that most Americans take pride in our "melting pot" attitude about inviting other cultures into the fold, and see MAGA efforts to rebrand the US as a strictly white Christian country as anathema to who we are.
The Axiom of Choice line reminds me of a favorite: Have you noticed that when migrating geese fly in their familiar "V" formation, one side of the "V" is always longer than the other? We'll, after years of study, scientists have discovered the reason: ...there's more geese on that side.
I'm stunned!! - Whodathunkit?
James Carville had Bill O'Reilly on tilt about the Trump regime in the NewsNation townhall last night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbcG3ac_XFU
By some accounts, Shedeur Sanders is an even bigger self-promoter and showboat than his dad, Deion (and that photo of the room he decorated does little to dispel that impression). As talented as he is, my bet is NFL teams thought he'd be too much of a pain in the ass.
Some kids don't get it. A big mouth can make some NFL coaches wonder if a kid is coachable. The last thing an NFL coach needs with a rookie QB is remote coaching from dad or a rookie belief that he is already ready for Canton.
Few NFL front offices and coaches wanted the prospect of having to deal not only with Shedeur, but also his second-guessing dad, to boot.