OPINION: We need to talk about the unchecked anti-Semitism in the GOP
Please allow me to introduce myself, the (culturally) Jewish woman with the most Irish name in the world—Tara: the throne of the Irish kings, Dublin: the capital of Ireland.
Not a single branch of my family tree even brushes the coast of the Emerald Isle; my mother’s theory about my father’s family surname is that they most likely came from Lublin, Poland and got Corleone’d at Ellis Island.
I use this disclaimer before writing about the rise in anti-Semitism in this country over the last seven years since a certain Orange Menace descended a gold escalator and ruined everything we had that was good, mainly because I get a whole lot of “you can’t be Jewish with a name like Dublin” or the old “You don’t look Jewish,” which some people actually think should be taken as a compliment.
I was raised Jewish and am proud of my heritage, but I stopped believing in any of it after my Bat Mitzvah and started doing this weird thing called thinking for myself. I just can’t with any sort of groupthink, especially when there’s no proof of anything. But this isn’t a religious site, it’s a political one. And religion doesn’t belong anywhere near politics, but HOO BOY is it all over politics. So welcome to the point of this op-ed.
Maybe you’ve noticed all of the extra Nazis hanging out with certain members of the GOP, usually at their big conventions like CPAC. Or perhaps you’ve seen them openly running for important offices with real impact on the entire country.
Kari Lake, Doug Mastriano, Blake Masters, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Paul Gosar are just a handful of sympathizers who are fine using coded language like “Christian Nationalist,” which is just saying “Nazi” with two words instead of one.
Work-drive thoughts this morning: the rise of authoritarianism in the US is rooted in white supremacy. These mid-terms are about one issue. ONE. pic.twitter.com/9uKWjg3GRH
— THEE Side-Eye Pinkie Pie (@NYPoliticalMom) October 6, 2022
“Not talking about stuff you don’t like leads to bad people in our government,” is the most basic way I can word things. We don’t need an anti-Semitic election denier who once dressed up in a Confederate uniform and stormed the Capitol on January 6th to be the GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA.
So in one day we learn that Doug Mastriano cosplayed as a Confederate solider and independently produced a film where his son starred as “Nazi Fritz”.
So him paying for supporters on the hate filled, anti-Semitic Gab site is par for the course. pic.twitter.com/N5shkIbvk3
— Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (@malcolmkenyatta) August 27, 2022
Don’t look away when you see imagery that is clearly marginalizing Jewish people. Anti-Semitism is going unchecked within our own Congress, with more bound to seep through if we don’t stop them at the polls. We need to keep calling it out when we see it, on social media, and in our daily lives.
We condemn the incendiary remarks made by @RepMTG. There is absolutely no place in our democracy for the instigation of political violence. https://t.co/1JQI1pisxn
— ADL Southeast (@ADLSoutheast) October 2, 2022
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Center on Extremism recently released a new report on anti-Semitism that not-at-all-shockingly found that Florida is home to an extensive and interconnected network of white supremacists and other far-right extremist groups you’ve probably never heard of, but they all hate the same people, hooray!
They also say there was “a significant increase” in Florida-centric violent rhetoric in right-wing online spaces this past August right after the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property. That’s right, keep blaming the Jews instead of the big Orange Jew-hater who hated that his daughter first married, then became, a Jew. Those classified nuclear documents just followed him to Florida like a bunch of loyal jackals made of cardboard. Ok, Trumpers.
And then there’s that other Florida Man, Governor Ron DeSantis, who has yet to condemn the rise of anti-Semitism in his backyard.
RELATED COVERAGE: A SHANDA: DeSantis ad intentionally features antisemitic pastor
Tomorrow at 9:30am ET, we'll be leading a panel of experts along with the @McCainInstitute in discussing how government & civil society can work together to protect our democracy in the face of rising violent & anti-democratic threats.
Register here: https://t.co/yy6cxJHrHh pic.twitter.com/y2jTWeSt2N
— ADL (@ADL) October 2, 2022
Don’t let someone get away with saying something like “Hey, that Coke machine just Jewed me out of a quarter!” (that happened to me in college). Don’t snicker at someone remarking that we own the banks and the entertainment industry. I’m here to tell you that’s patently not true, because I’m poor and don’t have a book or film deal. Call out antisemitic tropes when you see them. It’s not hard to be a better person than your average MAGAt.
JUST NOW: We received word that another Max Rose campaign sign has been defaced with an Antisemitic trope – right in the middle of Rosh Hashanah. We cannot stand for this hate in our society any longer. Let’s choose a better America.
— Max Rose (@MaxRose4NY) September 28, 2022
It’s crucial that we shine a huge light on all the hateful -isms and -phobia the MAGA Republicans have brought into our daily lives. It’s up to us to hold them accountable.
Tara Dublin is a woefully underappreciated and unrepresented writer currently shopping a super cool novel that has nothing to do with politics while also fighting fascism on the daily.
Follow her on Twitter @taradublinrocks
This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.
