On Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh accused Barack Obama of waging an anti-Semitic campaign against Jewish people. Limbaugh's logic?
There are a lot of people, when you say banker, people think Jewish. ... People who have a little prejudice about them. ... To some people, banker is a code word for Jewish; and guess who Obama is assaulting? He’s assaulting bankers. He’s assaulting money people. And a lot of those people on Wall Street are Jewish. So I wonder if there’s – if there’s starting to be some buyer’s remorse there.
Via Ben Smith, the ADL responds:
Rush Limbaugh reached a new low with his borderline anti-Semitic comments about Jews as bankers, their supposed influence on Wall Street, and how they vote.
Limbaugh’s references to Jews and money in a discussion of Massachusetts politics were offensive and inappropriate. While the age-old stereotype about Jews and money has a long and sordid history, it also remains one of the main pillars of anti-Semitism and is widely accepted by many Americans. His notion that Jews vote based on their religion, rather than on their interests as Americans, plays into the hands of anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists.
When he comes to understand why his words were so offensive and unacceptable, Limbaugh should apologize.
Limbaugh's statement really was incredible, even for Limbaugh. I happen to be Jewish, but more importantly, I am an American. Although he apparently thinks otherwise, I would object to his diatribe with equal force no matter which religious, racial, or ethnic group he chose to attack.
Limbaugh's bigotry is an affront to what makes this nation great. It speaks volumes about conservatives that they place a man filled with such hatred at the center of their movement.
