Jews for Ossoff

I find it sad but typical that the Jewish media has united in support of one of the members of its tribe, Jon Ossoff, a Democrat running to replace Representative Price in Georgia's 6th congressional district.  According to almost all media accounts, Ossoff is the leading candidate, the smartest and handsomest of the many candidates running in this preliminary election.  I don't understand this election; it appears to be sort of a joint primary to eliminate a few of the almost twenty candidates from both parties who are running. Ossoff has reportedly received over $8 million in campaign donations, most of them from out of state, no doubt much of it from liberal Jews who hate Trump.

The Jewish media and political establishment (who backed Hillary) have latched on to Ossoff as the great Jewish hope to begin the overthrow of Trump.  They are powerful, but failed to elected Hillary.  Will they be more successful in Georgia?

Bannon vs Kushner

I thought maybe the Trump administration would rely less on Jews to run the country, but the Jews seem to be taking over.  That may not be bad, but it’s not what I expected.  Trump was going to work with Russia more and with American Jews less.  The reverse is happening.  

It looked like all the establishment Jews supported Hillary during the election, from George Soros on down.  Even many Republican Jews, like William Kristol, could not stomach Trump.  Trump is supposed to be a Presbyterian, a child of Protestant parents.  While he is clearly not very religious, to the extent that he espouses religious beliefs, they appear to be based on Protestant thinking.  On the other hand, Trump lived in New York City and worked in real estate; there is almost nothing more Jewish than that, other than working as a financier on Wall Street.

His son-in-law Jared Kushner is, in fact, the embodiment of the New York Jewish real estate tycoon, taking over the real estate empire created by his father, Charles, who was sent to prison by Chris Christie for political corruption.  Kushner’s paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors who came to the US from Belarus in 1949.  For me that raises the question of whether Jared has a Jewish tribal hatred of Russian Slavs that seems to afflict so many Jews who lived under oppression in the old Soviet empire.  Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, is a religious Jew, having converted to marry Jared, but she is not an ethnic Jew with those inherited tribal prejudices.  

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin may be the only Jewish members of Trump’s cabinet, but many of this other advisers are, such as Gary Cohn, Carl Icahn, and some of their Wall Street associates.  Also Jewish are Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and policy adviser Steven Miller.  Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross does not appear to be Jewish, but he worked for the Rothschild family for more than twenty years before going out on his own.  

On the other side, Vice President Mike Pence says he is an evangelical Christian, but he doesn’t appear to belong to a particular church.  Reince Priebus is Greek Orthodox.  Wikipedia says Steve Bannon comes from an Irish Catholic family.  Regarding Bannon, the Religious News Service says that he sees a connection between the alt-right positions he espoused and Jewish Zionism.  I’m guessing the military appointees to Trump’s cabinet are  not Jewish -- Mattis, Kelly and McMaster.  One web site simply says McMaster is Christian; Mattis’ religious views seem to be a mystery.  Tillerson is a member of a Congregational church.  Scott Pruitt is a Baptist.  Rick Perry is an evangelical Christian.  Ben Carson is a Seventh Day Adventist.  Jeff Sessions is a Methodist.  Mike Pompeo is a Presbyterian.  The Religion News Service says Betsy DeVos has deep roots in the Christian Reformed denomination.  Nikki Haley was born into an Indian Sikh family but now attends her husband’s Methodist church.  Tom Price is a Presbyterian.  

So, it looks like whether Bannon stays or goes, Trump will be surrounded by more Christians than Jews, although it looks like Jared Kushner is the most influential adviser on many issues.  On foreign policy, Mattis, Tillerson and McMaster are there with Kushner.  On domestic issues there are a number of Christians to put in their two cents worth, depending on what the issue is.  Perhaps I am overly worried about the Jewish influence around Trump.  

Trust in White Institutions

This poll by Gallop indicates that people have the most trust in institutions that are primarily staffed by white people.  The common perception of the military is that it is made up of rednecks who can’t get a regular job in the business economy.  Of course, the military is not 100% rednecks, but they constitute a higher percentage than in most of the other categories in the poll.  Small business probably has a pretty good cross section of the population.  A number of minorities and immigrants work in the small business economy.  But police, like the military, is disproportionately white.  This is one of the complaints of the “black lives matter” movement.  I find it surprising that police rank so high.

I also find it surprising that predominately Jewish institutions rank so low.  The media, TV and print journalism, a profession dominated by Jews both in TV and print, rank near the bottom.  Jews are disproportionately represented in politics, particularly in the Senate, which ranks at the bottom.  Lawyers don’t fare much better, as illustrated by the relatively low ranking of the Supreme Court (half Jewish) and the legal system. 

I am not sure what to make of this.  It probably doesn’t mean much, but it does at least illustrate the enormous recovery of prestige by the military.  As a Vietnam veteran I came home to country that was on the verge of hating everything about the military.  The military has gone from the bottom of the chart of the top in forty years.  The 9/11 attacks definitely have something to do with the change, as does the abolition of the draft.  As a formerly hated veteran, I am suspicious of the ranking.  I think civilians may say they honor the military, because they don’t want to serve.  It’s easier to pay compliments to soldiers and veterans than it is to go fight.  Civilians are happy someone else is doing it.  But it’s great for the people who are fighting today’s wars. 

The poll results: