By JENNIFER EPSTEIN |
5/21/13 8:18 PM EDT
Vice President Joe Biden spoke at length Tuesday night about the influence of Judaism on the United States, dating back to the country's founding and to the present day as Jews helped shape views on gay rights.
“The truth is that Jewish heritage, Jewish culture, Jewish values are such an essential part of who we are that it’s fair to say that Jewish heritage is American heritage,” he said. “The Jewish people have contributed greatly to America. No group has had such an outsized influence per capita as all of you standing before you, and all of those who went before me and all of those who went before you.”
Biden spoke for nearly 20 minutes at the American Institute of Architects building in Washington, at times improvising after asking that the teleprompter machine that had been set up in the event space be taken down. (He joked about President Obama's reliance on the machine, but later gave Obama credit, noting he "sends his best" but is "otherwise occupied with a few problems.")
“You make up 11 percent of the seats in the United States Congress. You make up one-third of all Nobel laureates,” he said. “So many notions that are embraced by this nation that particularly emanate from over 5,000 years of Jewish history, tradition and culture: independence, individualism, fairness, decency, justice, charity. These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this tzedakah.”
“The embrace of immigration” is part of that, as is the involvement of Jews in social justice movements.
“You can’t talk about the civil rights movement in this country without talking about Jewish freedom riders and Jack Greenberg,” he said, telling a story about seeing a group of Jewish activists at a segregated movie theater in Delaware. “You can’t talk about the women’s movement without talking about Betty Friedan” or American advances in science and technology without mentioning Einstein and Carl Sagan, or music and Gershwin, Bob Dylan and “so, so, so many other people.”
“I believe what affects the movements in America, what affects our attitudes in America are as much the culture and the arts as anything else,” he said. That’s why he spoke out on gay marriage “apparently a little ahead of time.”
“It wasn’t anything we legislatively did. It was ‘Will and Grace,’ it was the social media. Literally. That’s what changed peoples’ attitudes. That’s why I was so certain that the vast majority of people would embrace and rapidly embrace” gay marriage, Biden said.
“Think behind of all that, I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether it’s in Hollywood or social media are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry. The influence is immense, the influence is immense. And, I might add, it is all to the good,” he said.
Jews have also been key to the evolution of American jurisprudence, he continued, namedropping Brandeis, Fortas, Frankfurter, Cardozo, Ginsberg, Breyer, Kagan. “You literally can’t. You can’t talk about the recognition of … rights in the Constitution without looking at these incredible jurists that we’ve had.”
“Jewish heritage has shaped who we are – all of us, us, me – as much or more than any other factor in the last 223 years. And that’s a fact," he said.
“We talk about it in terms of the incredible accomplishments and contributions” of Jews in America, Biden added, but it’s deeper “because the values, the values are so deep and so engrained in American culture, in our Constitution.”
“So I think you, as usual, underestimate the impact of Jewish heritage. I really mean that. I think you vastly underestimate the impact you’ve had on the development of this nation. We owe you, we owe generations who came before you," he said.
So whether you're right of left, if you don't like the look of contemporary liberal America, you know where to start pointing fingers 
Edited by Ironicwarcriminal ()
roseweird posted:as a useless and ineffectual jew who has contributed nothing to american society i object
Yeah same...because i'm white and have no real social power or influence, white privilege is a complete lie.
roseweird posted:no no i wasn't saying jewish privilege is a lie, i'm just saying don't murder all the jews or anything like that please
Who said anything about murder? I'm just talking about accountability.
roseweird posted:Ironicwarcriminal posted:Who said anything about murder? I'm just talking about accountability.
also it's just sort of a reflexive reaction when people start saying "blame The Jews" i guess
you're the only ethnic or religious group that hasnt been the victims of a massacre in the last almost 80 years
swampman posted:roseweird posted:Ironicwarcriminal posted:Who said anything about murder? I'm just talking about accountability.
also it's just sort of a reflexive reaction when people start saying "blame The Jews" i guess
you're the only ethnic or religious group that hasnt been the victims of a massacre in the last almost 80 years
i'm just guessing here, but it takes a special sort of person to lose a war with thatcher.
roseweird posted:swampman posted:roseweird posted:
Ironicwarcriminal posted:
Who said anything about murder? I'm just talking about accountability.
also it's just sort of a reflexive reaction when people start saying "blame The Jews" i guess
you're the only ethnic or religious group that hasnt been the victims of a massacre in the last almost 80 yearsexactly, we're overdue
go for it- rocky balboa voice
Goethestein posted:i was thinking about how long until the last holocaust survivor dies, and it'll probably be another 20 years at least, but then of course by that point the nine jews who live in that secret mountain stronghold under switzerland will dedicate all of the world's medical resources to keeping him/her/xher alive indefinitely. we'll enter the 22nd century with a cyborg zombie holocaust survivor. believe it
Goethestein posted:the funny thing about jewish privilege is that it's the one type of privilege you cant point out anywhere. like mainstream republicans, schweeny D&D demoCRAPS, and tumblr socialists all seem to get equally buttmad from what i've noticed. im not sure of any other opinion that elicits that kind of response.
you also get this reaction with other obviously dumb ideas
slumlord posted:Goethestein posted:the funny thing about jewish privilege is that it's the one type of privilege you cant point out anywhere. like mainstream republicans, schweeny D&D demoCRAPS, and tumblr socialists all seem to get equally buttmad from what i've noticed. im not sure of any other opinion that elicits that kind of response.
you also get this reaction with other obviously dumb ideas
yes, other "obviously dumb ideas" like controlled population reduction, nationalization of all factories, turning off TV, all get this kind of reaction
I have never been so upset by a poll in my life. Only 22% of Americans now believe "the movie and television industries are pretty much run by Jews," down from nearly 50% in 1964. The Anti-Defamation League, which released the poll results last month, sees in these numbers a victory against stereotyping. Actually, it just shows how dumb America has gotten. Jews totally run Hollywood.
How deeply Jewish is Hollywood? When the studio chiefs took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times a few weeks ago to demand that the Screen Actors Guild settle its contract, the open letter was signed by: News Corp. President Peter Chernin (Jewish), Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey (Jewish), Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger (Jewish), Sony Pictures Chairman Michael Lynton (surprise, Dutch Jew), Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer (Jewish), CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves (so Jewish his great uncle was the first prime minister of Israel), MGM Chairman Harry Sloan (Jewish) and NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker (mega-Jewish). If either of the Weinstein brothers had signed, this group would have not only the power to shut down all film production but to form a minyan with enough Fiji water on hand to fill a mikvah.
The person they were yelling at in that ad was SAG President Alan Rosenberg (take a guess). The scathing rebuttal to the ad was written by entertainment super-agent Ari Emanuel (Jew with Israeli parents) on the Huffington Post, which is owned by Arianna Huffington (not Jewish and has never worked in Hollywood.)
The Jews are so dominant, I had to scour the trades to come up with six Gentiles in high positions at entertainment companies. When I called them to talk about their incredible advancement, five of them refused to talk to me, apparently out of fear of insulting Jews. The sixth, AMC President Charlie Collier, turned out to be Jewish.
As a proud Jew, I want America to know about our accomplishment. Yes, we control Hollywood. Without us, you'd be flipping between "The 700 Club" and "Davey and Goliath" on TV all day.
So I've taken it upon myself to re-convince America that Jews run Hollywood by launching a public relations campaign, because that's what we do best. I'm weighing several slogans, including: "Hollywood: More Jewish than ever!"; "Hollywood: From the people who brought you the Bible"; and "Hollywood: If you enjoy TV and movies, then you probably like Jews after all."
I called ADL Chairman Abe Foxman, who was in Santiago, Chile, where, he told me to my dismay, he was not hunting Nazis. He dismissed my whole proposition, saying that the number of people who think Jews run Hollywood is still too high. The ADL poll, he pointed out, showed that 59% of Americans think Hollywood execs "do not share the religious and moral values of most Americans," and 43% think the entertainment industry is waging an organized campaign to "weaken the influence of religious values in this country."
That's a sinister canard, Foxman said. "It means they think Jews
meet at Canter's Deli on Friday mornings to decide what's best for the Jews." Foxman's argument made me rethink: I have to eat at Canter's more often.
"That's a very dangerous phrase, 'Jews control Hollywood.' What is true is that there are a lot of Jews in Hollywood," he said. Instead of "control," Foxman would prefer people say that many executives in the industry "happen to be Jewish," as in "all eight major film studios are run by men who happen to be Jewish."
But Foxman said he is proud of the accomplishments of American Jews. "I think Jews are disproportionately represented in the creative industry. They're disproportionate as lawyers and probably medicine here as well," he said. He argues that this does not mean that Jews make pro-Jewish movies any more than they do pro-Jewish surgery. Though other countries, I've noticed, aren't so big on circumcision.
I appreciate Foxman's concerns. And maybe my life spent in a New Jersey-New York/Bay Area-L.A. pro-Semitic cocoon has left me naive. But I don't care if Americans think we're running the news media, Hollywood, Wall Street or the government. I just care that we get to keep running them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column
roseweird posted:the bacteria are supposed to be good for your guts or something i think
i remember seeing it in a shop outside of novaslobodskya in early 2000s and commiserating with a native about how american consumers would never accept something that filthy
abc - disney, robert iger, jewish
nbc - nbc universal, jeff zucker, jewish
fox - newscorp, rupert murdoch, neocon
cw - cbs corporation/warner brothers, leslie moonves / barry meyer, jewish
comedy central - viacom, sumner redstone, jewish
mtv - viacom
fx - newscorp
amc - amc networks, josh sapan and charles dolan, jewish
hbo - time warner, jeffrey bewkes, not jewish!!
tbs - time warner
showtime - cbs corporation
cnn - time warner/tbs, phillip kent, jewish
fox news - newscorp
msnbc - nbc universal
slumlord posted:Goethestein posted:the funny thing about jewish privilege is that it's the one type of privilege you cant point out anywhere. like mainstream republicans, schweeny D&D demoCRAPS, and tumblr socialists all seem to get equally buttmad from what i've noticed. im not sure of any other opinion that elicits that kind of response.
you also get this reaction with other obviously dumb ideas
can you explain how being a member of the wealthiest ethnic group in america with no lack of civil rights or real boundaries to any employment and a hugely disproportionate amount of power in law, academia, government, finance and media doesn't constitute "privilege?"
guidoanselmi posted:mods plz ban everyone who posted itt for antisemitism tia
this but unironically
Gazprom CEO: Alexey Miller - Not Jewish
National Iranian Oil Company CEO: Mahdi Mir Moezzei - Not Jewish
ExxonMobile CEO: Rex W. Tillerson - Not Jewish
PetroChina CEO: Zhou Jiping - Not Jewish
BP CEO: Bob Dudley - Not Jewish
Royal Dutch Shell CEO: Peter Voser - Not Jewish
Pemex CEO: Juan José Suárez Coppel - Not Jewish
Chevron CEO: John S. Watson - Not Jewish
Kuwait Petroleum Corp CEO: Nizar Al-Adasani - Not Jewish
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO: Yousef Al Omeir - Not Jewish
Sonatrach CEO: Abdelhamid Zerguine - Not Jewish
Total CEO: Christophe de Margerie - Not Jewish
Petrobras CEO: Maria das Gracas Silva Foster - Not Jewish
Rosneft CEO: Igor Sechin - Not Jewish
Iraqi Oil Minister: Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi - Not Jewish
Qatar Petroleum Co CEO: Mohammed Saleh Al Sada - Not Jewish
Lukoil CEO: Vagit Alekperov - Not Jewish
Eni CEO: Paolo Scaroni - Not Jewish
Statoil CEO: Helge Lund - Not Jewish
ConocoPhillips CEO: Ryan M. Lance - Not Jewish
PDVSA CEO: Rafael Ramírez - Not Jewish
Sinopec CEO: Chengyu Fu - Not Jewish
Nigerian National Petroleum CEO: Chuks Onuoha - Not Jewish
Petronas CEO: Tan Sri Dato' Shamsul Azhar Abbas - Not Jewish
swampman posted:Saudi Aramco CEO: Khalid A Al-Falih - Not Jewish
Gazprom CEO: Alexey Miller - Not Jewish
National Iranian Oil Company CEO: Mahdi Mir Moezzei - Not Jewish
ExxonMobile CEO: Rex W. Tillerson - Not Jewish
PetroChina CEO: Zhou Jiping - Not Jewish
BP CEO: Bob Dudley - Not Jewish
Royal Dutch Shell CEO: Peter Voser - Not Jewish
Pemex CEO: Juan José Suárez Coppel - Not Jewish
Chevron CEO: John S. Watson - Not Jewish
Kuwait Petroleum Corp CEO: Nizar Al-Adasani - Not Jewish
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO: Yousef Al Omeir - Not Jewish
Sonatrach CEO: Abdelhamid Zerguine - Not Jewish
Total CEO: Christophe de Margerie - Not Jewish
Petrobras CEO: Maria das Gracas Silva Foster - Not Jewish
Rosneft CEO: Igor Sechin - Not Jewish
Iraqi Oil Minister: Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi - Not Jewish
Qatar Petroleum Co CEO: Mohammed Saleh Al Sada - Not Jewish
Lukoil CEO: Vagit Alekperov - Not Jewish
Eni CEO: Paolo Scaroni - Not Jewish
Statoil CEO: Helge Lund - Not Jewish
ConocoPhillips CEO: Ryan M. Lance - Not Jewish
PDVSA CEO: Rafael Ramírez - Not Jewish
Sinopec CEO: Chengyu Fu - Not Jewish
Nigerian National Petroleum CEO: Chuks Onuoha - Not Jewish
Petronas CEO: Tan Sri Dato' Shamsul Azhar Abbas - Not Jewish
But guess who is...Hall of Famer Rod Carew!
swampman posted:Saudi Aramco CEO: Khalid A Al-Falih - Not Jewish
Gazprom CEO: Alexey Miller - Not Jewish
National Iranian Oil Company CEO: Mahdi Mir Moezzei - Not Jewish
ExxonMobile CEO: Rex W. Tillerson - Not Jewish
PetroChina CEO: Zhou Jiping - Not Jewish
BP CEO: Bob Dudley - Not Jewish
Royal Dutch Shell CEO: Peter Voser - Not Jewish
Pemex CEO: Juan José Suárez Coppel - Not Jewish
Chevron CEO: John S. Watson - Not Jewish
Kuwait Petroleum Corp CEO: Nizar Al-Adasani - Not Jewish
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO: Yousef Al Omeir - Not Jewish
Sonatrach CEO: Abdelhamid Zerguine - Not Jewish
Total CEO: Christophe de Margerie - Not Jewish
Petrobras CEO: Maria das Gracas Silva Foster - Not Jewish
Rosneft CEO: Igor Sechin - Not Jewish
Iraqi Oil Minister: Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi - Not Jewish
Qatar Petroleum Co CEO: Mohammed Saleh Al Sada - Not Jewish
Lukoil CEO: Vagit Alekperov - Not Jewish
Eni CEO: Paolo Scaroni - Not Jewish
Statoil CEO: Helge Lund - Not Jewish
ConocoPhillips CEO: Ryan M. Lance - Not Jewish
PDVSA CEO: Rafael Ramírez - Not Jewish
Sinopec CEO: Chengyu Fu - Not Jewish
Nigerian National Petroleum CEO: Chuks Onuoha - Not Jewish
Petronas CEO: Tan Sri Dato' Shamsul Azhar Abbas - Not Jewish
just as worrying but these companies only poison the earth and not our children's minds,