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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 28, 2024

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It’s not going to go well for Jewish Americans if we start having ethnic purges. They have a sixth sense for this kind of thing. If Puerto Rico can be a floating pile of trash, so can Brooklyn.

Trump is, if anything, pro-Jew. I accept that American Jews may be sensitive to potential ethnic troubles. But specifically worrying about Trump is a false positive.

Aren’t the pigeons keeping the trash down?

I understand the fear, though I’m not sure exactly which end of it is worse. Trying to scaremonger Jews about a potential Hitler for political points is extremely dangerous. I can’t imagine anything scarier to a Jew than invoking the Holocaust in relation to a candidate for president. Whether or not it’s true, and especially if it’s not, this is like telling a rape victim that the guy down the hall is a rapist. You’re bringing back all the trauma of what the original event means. I mean obviously if it’s actually true, then a warning is warrented, but if it’s not, it’s extremely cruel and terrorizing millions of New York Jews who now believe that they need to prepare to flee because Hitler is coming back.

By that same token, though, I imagine many Jewish Americans are not sure about Kamala not listening to the Free Palestine crowd.

Is that the real argument, that trump will bring ethnic purges? And is this just extrapolated out of his border views?

I think that’s what it ultimately boils down to. Trump started his campaign promising to deport illegals. Then there was the Muslim ban. Now Vance is saying that Haitians on Temporary Protected Status are basically illegal and should be deported. The next step is to look into canceling green cards. Then revoking naturalized citizenship. Couple that with relaxing civil-rights laws, and you see where this is going.

Whether or not Trump himself wants to do all these, a sizable chunk of the population does. That is the demographic that attends Trump rallies.

Then there was the Muslim ban.

It wasn't a Muslim ban.