November 10, 2016, - 5:54 pm
Dear Debbie: Advice to a Jewish Trump Supporter About Dealing w Her Liberal Family
What do you tell a person who is bright and conservative (usually one and the same but not always), how to deal with a family that is entirely liberal? I get requests for advice on every topic imaginable, even though I’m not an advice person because I don’t deign to know better than you how to live your life. Still, I’m honored that readers and others would think highly enough of me to solicit my views. Below is an exchange with someone seeking my advice two days before the election. It is ever relevant even though the Presidential election is over, as politics and the Presidential transition are still all over the place and the unhinged liberals cannot handle the results. I think you’ll enjoy this advice I gave to a Jewish Trump supporter, though it could be any Trump supporter of any ethnicity and/or religion.
[Please note that “Shabbat” is the Jewish Sabbath.]
From: [Redacted]
Date: Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 8:11 PM
Subject: What To Say To Liberal Family Members Who Bring Up Trump At Shabbat Dinners
To: Debbie Schlussel writedebbie@gmail.comHey Debbie,
Hope you’re doing well.
I’m curious if you ever have to deal with liberal family members who insist on bringing up Trump and Hillary.
It’s been happening to me. I have an older sister who is a social worker for the public schools where I live. So you could say she’s for the underdogs. And she’s very very pro choice (even though she’s in her late 50’s).
Anyway, during these last two Shabbat dinners at my mom’s apartment she brought up the election. And she was like “I hope Trump doesn’t win. He’s such a buffoon, blah blah blah.
Then this last Friday night she came with her other social worker friend [name redacted] who asked me why I like Trump. And I started to say that Hillary would definitely increase the number of Syrian “refugees” in this country by like 500%. This [named redacted] wouldn’t let me finish. She was like “no aside from that…”
Now between the two of us, this business of importing more America, Jew hating Muslim terrorists into this country is not something to be brushed off. Trump at least put it out in the open when he first said he would ban Muslim immigration (even though he’s been waffling on it.) Personally, I don’t want to see American become like Europe. I don’t want it to get to the point where Americans become desensitized to the terrorism. And that’s what will happen if Hillary gets into the White House.
Anyway, my sister then said that what’s happening in Syria is a genocide, and that as Jews we should be especially sensitive to that fact.
So I told her that what’s going in Syria is just Muslims killing each other like they always do. And that to call it a genocide would be an insult to all the Holocaust victims/survivors. At this point I started to lose my cool because I can’t stand to see Jews going about their lives to these terrorists.
Then my young niece jumped in about how she’s pro choice and that no man has a right to tell her what to do with her body.
What do you say to family members like this?
Anyway, that’s the end of my rant.
Regards,
[Name redacted]
My response:
I basically don’t talk to and have nothing to do with these type of family members, though fortunately I have very few. These people are morons and exasperating and you’ll never convince them or get them to reason. You are either born with the ability to develop critical thinking skills or you aren’t. 80% aren’t. And sadly, some Jews (not all)–including your liberal family members–are not immune to being part of the 80%. Also, remember that 80% of the Jews refused to go with Moses out of Egypt. What became of them? We’ll never know. But we have plenty like them today. My advice is not to talk politics with them. Otherwise, you will be frustrated to no end. To date, there is no such thing as a brain transplant, so these people are beyond help. If they were on their way to their beheadings at the hands of Muslims–which their descendants who are not aborted surely will be–then, it will be too late. And even then, they will probably be spouting this BS about Muslim jihadists being akin to Holocaust survivors. And speaking of the Holocaust, these people are the same as the other Jews who told the community, don’t worry, the trains are just taking us to a resort weekend, as they drove them on their way to become ashes at Auschwitz. You cannot fix stupid. It’s lonely being smart. I know this doesn’t help much, but still . . . I hope I helped.
DS
[I should add, as I’ve said on this site and on radio interviews before, this business of comparing my Holocaust victim relatives to Muslim jihadists who will impose their extremism on America, is just disgusting. Jews fleeing Europe or trying to never flew planes into buildings, never shot up gay clubs, never shot up Christmas parties of those who just threw them a baby shower, never shot up American military bases or marathons, etc., etc. ad nauseam. We Jews have been part of this country since before the beginning of it, fighting in every war, including the Revolutionary War. And we have always assimilated into the American culture. In contrast, Muslims insist that American culture assimilate to them and their intolerance and backward values. This constant moral equivalence of Jews to Muslim extremists is just sickening.]
She wrote back:
Thanks Debbie.
Now speaking of Jews, what do you think of some of these right wing religious ones who are never Trumpers? One guy insists that Trump is even worse than Hillary who he still admits is a vicious Jew hater.
Thanks.
[Name redacted]
My response:
People like that are no different than the ones in your family who are liberal morons. Morons come in many different stripes. I cannot stand them, no matter the stripe. Be proud that you are among the 20% or fewer who actually have a brain and use it to the full capacity. Like I said, the majority of people do not and are complete idiots. Even some of the Trump supporters aren’t that smart, but those are a smaller portion, relatively speaking. Most Trump supporters know the issues and what’s important. We know Trump isn’t perfect, but he’s by far the better choice of the two. It’s not even close. It’s a no-brainer. But like I said, sadly, far too many people, in fact, have no brain.
Her:
Thanks Debbie. I so want Hillary to lose just to see the heads of all these libs explode.
Me:
I do, too. For that and a lot of other reasons. Sadly, I think Trump will lose. I hope I am wrong. Like I said, the masses are morons. And if the masses vote, that’s a problem. We’ll see. Keep hoping and definitely vote!
As we all know now, my prediction was, very fortunately, wrong. And we got to see a lot of heads explode. They’re still exploding, which says a lot. I’m sure her Shabbat dinners with her family won’t be any less contentious or condescending (on the part of his liberal relatives) though.
I wanted her to know she is not alone, but it is, indeed, lonely being intelligent in a cesspool of idiots. But even though she may be lonely when sitting among the stupid wolves parroting the BS lines they’ve been taught, she really isn’t alone. Many of us think like her, but we just aren’t there are the dinner table to answer her family members.
The good news is that several polls I’ve seen show that this time around, 30% of Jews voted for Trump, so things are getting better. I suspect the number might even been higher.
The even better news is that the American electorate looks a lot different than it did in the last several Presidential elections. Let’s hope it stays that way and that Trump keeps his promises to tamp down on massive Muslim immigration.
Now is the hard part: we must hold Trump’s and the GOP Congress’ feet to the fire. They have no excuses now.
I believe that how Trump acts in the future will have a significant impact on how Jews vote in the future. For example, in the past, a lot of liberal Jews have bemoaned Israel’s new “settlements”–which should be called homes, arguing that Israel’s actions were an impediment to peace. Yet, those same liberal Jews failed to recognize that Israel HAS yielded in the past to US pressure and stopped the building of homes, what was Israel’s “reward?” More terrorism and war.
If Trump pursues a path of much stronger support for Israel encouraging Israel to demonstrate strength, instead of weakness, I believe that Israel will start to experience more peace. Those results will be hard for the liberal Jews to ignore–though, unfortunately, not impossible.
Meanwhile, here’s some quotes from Jews about the Trump victory. (I give the source of the quotes below.)
“The good news is the revolution we’re going through is a bloodless one so far. It is being fought with ballots not bullets.”
“Clinton wanted to sell the country to the highest bidder so she could have $200 million in the bank,” said Eugene Greenstein, 70, a retired engineer from Detroit, Michigan.
Rabbi Pini Dunner, the spiritual leader of an Orthodox synagogue in Beverly Hills, said he was looking forward to a new U.S. approach in the Middle East. The election “will certainly have struck fear into Islamic radicals, and radical governments in the Middle East who know that he is not frightened to take action if it’s the better interest of the United States and of…Israel.”
http://forward.com/news/353962/dismissing-anti-semitism-fears-republican-jews-cheer-trump-victory/
Ralph Adamo on November 10, 2016 at 6:59 pm