The Best Little Antisemitism Training in Kentucky

A Kentucky state legislator went on a bizarre tirade about various Jewish connections to RU-486 (popularly known as "the abortion bill"). It really is impossible to summarize -- it features alleged connections to Zyklon B, musings about Jewish women's sexual practices, complaints about the Nobel Prize awards process ... really, just click through the link.

Anyway, the conclusion of the story informs the reader that "A spokeswoman for the state’s Senate Republicans told the [Louisville] Courier-Journal that the leadership will add training on antisemitism to the annual training senators receive."

Put aside whether any amount of training could anticipate ... this. And put aside whether we trust the Kentucky Republican Party to be even halfway competent in picking antisemitism training. My question is, even if Kentucky Republicans were being earnest here, what major counter-antisemitism training initiatives right now are primarily focused on the sort of antisemitism Kentucky Republicans are most likely to indulge in (see also: "Jew them down")? 

Regardless of your views on the nexus between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, I don't think Kentucky Republican politicos are especially likely to start endorsing BDS in an antisemitic fashion. And while I don't want to suggest, falsely, that the programs attacking contemporary antisemitism do not care about or cover more right-wing varieties, I do feel as if much of the new energy and material on the subject tends to focus on alleged left-wing iterations. The relevant curriculum and research on right-wing practices, in other words, perhaps hasn't been updated -- particularly with an eye towards moving past overt KKK style right-wing antisemitism and into the more "insidious" (to borrow a term) forms that are penetrating mainstream conservative politics.

Primary Day Predictions (Kentucky and New York)

It's primary day in America, with some big races in Kentucky and especially New York. Why not lay down a marker  of some predictions?

Kentucky Senate: McGrath defeats Booker. Over/under: 15 point margin.

NY-03: Tom Suozzi (incumbent)

NY-09: Yvette Clark (incumbent) -- but with less than 50%.

NY-10: Jerry Nadler (incumbent)

NY-12: Carolyn Maloney (incumbent)

NY-14:  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,(incumbent), and it's not close.

NY-15: Richie Torres breaks from the pack and defeats the loathsome Ruben Diaz Sr.

NY-16: Jamaal Bowman defeats Eliot Engel (incumbent) by a surprisingly comfortable margin (~10 points).

NY-17: Mondaire Jones in a tight race.

Keep in mind: I'm not very good at predicting things. But we'll see how I do?

Tupac Lives!

By now you've probably heard about this story. Basically, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called a press conference to complain about people filing for unemployment benefits under fake names -- a practice which slowed down processing for real Kentuckyians facing real needs. The example he gave was a guy named "Tupac Shakur" -- obvious fake, right? Wrong. There is a real Tupac Shakur living in Kentucky (though presumably not the Tupac Shakur) who really filed for unemployment benefits. Upon learning this, Beshear called the real Tupac to apologize. And Tupac accepted, saying "I understand, he’s dealing with a lot. Mistakes happen."

There isn't really anything substantive worth saying about this. The reason I'm writing is because the story seemed like a rare instance of everybody involved being nice and reasonable.

• Gov. Beshear was reasonable in thinking the name "Tupac Shakur" was fake.
• The actual person with that name was reasonably embarrassed to be called out like that.
• Beshear, upon realizing his mistake, called Mr. Shakur to apologize.
• Shakur graciously accepted the apology.

Really, I can't ask for much more from either of them. Mistakes happen, apologies are made, people are understanding. It was just nice. And sometimes I like focusing on nice.

A New Environment Roundup

We're closing the political theory term with a unit on ecologism/environmentalism. In honor of that, a roundup that includes nothing on that topic whatsoever:

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C. Thi Nguyen explains how echo chambers are like cults. The problem isn't lack of competing information per se, the problem is that the echo chamber has built-in narratives for why alternative information sources aren't trustworthy and can be discounted.

Eric Ward is interviewed by Tikkun on the subject of identity politics.

We often talk about a "free speech crisis" on liberal college campuses. But there are a slew of avowedly right-wing (generally Christian) universities that barely pretend to allow for a diversity of opinions on campus.

ICE's Philadelphia office seems out of control.

Two British intellectuals (one whom served on the Chakrabarti inquiry, no less) give a history of antisemitism on the British left -- one that by no means starts with Jeremy Corbyn.

As teachers walk out in Kentucky in a push for higher wages, Governor Matt Bevin (R) blames them for exposing children to drugs, sexual assault, and violence. You'd think if teachers were that important -- not just responsible for educating youth, but also the sole bulwark against them being physically and sexually abused -- they'd be worth paying more.

Kim Davis Will Forever Be The Face of Democratic Homophobia

Earlier this month, I remarked about the inevitable historical procession of the Kim Davis drama:

When does the Kim Davis story become "the bigoted Democrat clerk, & the bold Republican judge who stood for equality & the rule of law"?

— David Schraub (@schraubd) September 6, 2015

Today, Kim Davis has announced she is switching parties to the GOP, explaining that "the Democratic Party left us a long time ago."

I'd say that this might complicate the above story, but then, why would it? Certainly, the mass shift of southern Jim Crow supporters over to supporting the national GOP has done nothing to deter hack conservative historians ignoring that migration completely. In 30 years, I expect to see the exact same thing happen again -- party shift and all.

Compare me to Jesus or GTFO

Rep. Steve King (R-IA): Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis is a latter-day Rosa Parks.

Kim Davis: Don't compare me to that layabout. She "had it easy."

[Note that I'm having trouble verifying whether the latter letter is genuine. Steve King, though, is absolutely being his usual self].

I'm a Celebrity! Roundup

I've been busy basking in the glow of my status as a big magazine contributor. That means that I haven't had as much time to do regular blogging as I'd like, and that means it's time for a roundup.

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* Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and has defied court orders requiring her to fulfill her official duties, has been jailed for contempt of court. Will any Republican candidate take a stand for the rule of law here? I can actually respect -- to some degree -- someone whose deeply-felt personal beliefs require them to abstain from certain public activities. But the right choice in such a circumstance is to resign from office, not to demand a public salary while obstructing the law.

* The ADL, incidentally, has just issued a statement that gets this issue 100% right. Good on them.

* Former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin has a great column up on the threat post by extremist Jewish settlers. Unlike him, though, I'd rather we not "wait for it to get worse so that it might get better."

* Wouldn't it be hilarious if, after all the sound and fury on the American side, it was Iran's parliament that rejected the deal? Actually, that outcome would probably be the single best thing that could happen for the anti-deal conservatives here in America.

* Dan Drezner urges that Political Science not emulate Economics. Hear, hear (says the political theorist)!

* Local news, but semi-important: Rep. John Kline (R-MN) will not seek reelection. Kline was my representative during college (he represents the area south of the Twin Cities), and his district is trending towards the Democrats. But Kline himself was pretty well-entrenched, so his departure is a big boost to Democratic pickup chances.

* Oh, one more: Virginia Postrel on what's actually driving stressed over-achievers at elite universities. It's not crass desire for fame or materialism, and it's not pushy caricatured Tiger Parents.

* Fine, two more. Shorter PJ Media: If Hillary Clinton is elected, conservatives will break every law that they possibly can and possibly launched an armed revolution. This reflects poorly on Hillary Clinton.

Almost a Point!

Kentucky GOP gubernatorial candidate David Williams, on his way to a truly embarrassing thrashing at the hands of incumbent Democrat Steve Beshear, has decided to take the truly low road, attacking his opponent for participating in a Hindu prayer ceremony at a factory ground-breaking that was bringing desperately needed jobs to the state. The company which owns the factory is based out of India, hence the ceremony, and Williams proceeded to attack the proceedings as "idolatry", "prayers to false gods", and urged Hindus to "come to Jesus".

Now, in the course of all that Williams almost brushes up against a legitimate point. He said that he's a Christian, and thus he would not feel comfortable participating in religious ceremonies of other religions -- be they Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or whatever. I empathize with that: as a Jew, I feel very uncomfortable when asked to partake in Christian religious ceremonies -- though I note that my discomfort in this respect would likely spell the end of any political ambitions I harbor, as I doubt Williams' tolerance extends towards non-Christians who want the option to opt-out of Christian ceremonies (a confidence I'd have even without Williams oh-so-stereotypical foray into "isn't it time that someone stood up for (Christians) for a change?" victimology). But sure, in abstract, I think it is perfectly legitimate for Williams not to want to engage in religious ceremonies of non-Christian religions.

The problem is that obviously, Williams' objection goes not to his own (dis)comfort level, but that Beshear didn't share it -- and more specifically, that he didn't share the proper degree of revulsion to that strange religion practiced by those foreigners over yonder. The overall tenor was of rank religious bigotry; the sad flailing attacks of a man who is already on his way to a humiliating defeat.

Not a Typo

If I had to pick the perfect name for a Republican agricultural commissioner, it would obviously be "Richie Farmer" (R-KY). But potential GOP KY attorney general nominee Todd P'Pool? How is that not a typographical error?

Senate Changed Paul

The earmark debate is dumb. Earmarks account for an absurdly small percentage of federal spending, so the hubbub over it is almost invariably a way to sound like one cares about the budget without actually having to cut anything worthwhile.

Nonetheless, it has been a bit of a tea party hobbyhorse, and opposition to earmarks was a key element of Sen.-elect Rand Paul's (R-KY) campaign. So much for that:

In a bigger shift from his campaign pledge to end earmarks, he tells me that they are a bad “symbol” of easy spending but that he will fight for Kentucky’s share of earmarks and federal pork, as long as it’s doled out transparently at the committee level and not parachuted in in the dead of night. “I will advocate for Kentucky’s interests,” he says.

Good lord, man, you've been elected for less than a week! At least go through the motions!

I'm reminded of the last panel of this comic:

THOG: Thog wonders how Thog will cope with life outside jailhouse walls. Prison changed Thog.

ELAN: We were only in there for 40 minutes.

THOG: Prison changed Thog quickly.

The Fruits of Their Labor

The Washington Post has an interesting profile of Louisville's continued efforts to keep their schools integrated after the Supreme Court's Parents Involved decision. The short story is that what was originally a rather popular and cost-effective plan is now more expensive, more convoluted, more difficult to administer, less effective and far less popular.

But hey -- at least Chief Justice Roberts got a pithy quote out of it.

The Dems Big Night

Jon Chait is right. Tonight was an excellent night for Democrats. We held the PA-12 (special election to fill John Murtha's seat) -- not too shabby, given that the district was the only one in the country to vote for Kerry in 2004 but McCain in 2008. Joe Sestak is, I think, a more formidable opponent for Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania. Bill Halter pushed Blanche Lincoln to a run-off, which I believe he'll win -- it's a push as to whether this helps or hurts (not so hot) Democratic chances to retain the seat (Halter isn't an incumbent, which is good, but he's also quite liberal for Arkansas), but in a coin-flip environment I'd prefer the more liberal of two options. Finally, the Kentucky race ended up exactly as one would want it, with AG Jack Conway pulling the Democratic nod to face Tea Partier Rand Paul -- by far the most favorable match-up possible in the Bluegrass State.

So yeah. Good night.

Homophobic AFSCME Ad Against McConnell

The AFSCME labor union put up an ad insinuating that Kentucky Senator (and Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell (R) was discharged from the military for being gay (telling him it's time to be "straight" with Kentucky. Subtle). It was followed up by a flier that was even more explicit on the subject (it is unclear if the flier was put out by AFSCME as well). Regardless, it is horrible that a putatively progressive organization would try influence an election by stoking homophobia.

I want to beat McConnell. I don't like him, and the thought of a 60 seat Senate majority makes me giddy. But not like this.

If you want to give AFSCME a holler, here's the link.