Politics

"That Jew"–kinda like "That One," but probably not really like "That Girl."

Here’s your lame apology of the day, via Talking Points Memo :

Arkansas state Sen. Kim Hendren, who is currently the only announced Republican candidate for U.S. Senator against Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln in 2010, has apologized for referring to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as “that Jew,” at a county Republican meeting last week.
“I don’t use a teleprompter and occasionally I put my foot in my month,” Hendren told Arkansas blogger Jason Tolbert.
“At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ‘The Andy Griffith Show,'” he explained. “I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as ‘that Jew’ and I should not have put it that way as this took away from what I was trying to say.”

As my friend Yehuda observes, the real point of interest here is that the implication is that Jews are not traditional, but that a TV show that ran from 1960-1968 is. Awesome.

18 thoughts on “"That Jew"–kinda like "That One," but probably not really like "That Girl."

  1. ‘that Jew’
    Are you truly offended, or are you using political correctness to beat up on a Republican who let two careless words slip out of his mouth?
    Is it so terrible that we’re all reminded that Schumer, a high-ranking US senator, is a Jew? Information like that is bandied about with pride at Jewschool. I, for one, am growing tired of this thought police whipping people for “nappy headed hoes” and the like.
    He apologized. For “that Jew” an apology is sufficient. Let’s slowly put down the pitchforks, take a breath, and move on with our lives… unless this is just politics, in which case your calculated outrage is insulting on a much deeper level.

  2. Of course it’s not offensive, but who does that Christian think he is to claim a monopoly on conservatism?
    …oh wait, maybe that kind of labeling is offensive. Good on him for apologizing though.

  3. Hey all,
    that Jew. you know, the northern, liberal, up to no good socialist. Cmon y’all, if you like, we could do a history lesson. Best case scenerio, it was really dumb. Worst, it was dog whistle.
    The thing that disappoints me is that Lincoln (D-Walmart) isn’t getting more stiff competition. Personally, for her bs on employee free choice, i’d like to see put out to pasture.

  4. lmao jews are uber sensitive when it comes to ”that jew!” or ”jews” or ”jewish” or w/e ?? I dont get the point. What are jews named then? Isrealys? cheese.

  5. Come off it. It’s a weird and ominous comment. It means that Hendren doesn’t look at Schumer and see “that senator” or “that liberal” or “that anti-gun lunatic” or “that patsy for the banking industry” all of which are politically relevant. By saying “that Jew” in an unguarded moment he demonstrates that it is THIS characteristic that is important to him. And one has to wonder: why?

  6. David A: Maybe he thinks Jews are all crazy, abortion-friendly, gay-marriage-supporting, anti-gun, liberal Democrats? Or, perhaps, to take that step further, that the abortion-friendly, gay-marriage-supporting, anti-gun, liberal Democrats are all Jews?
    If so, I’m not sure what I’m more offended about–his incorrect characterization of Jews’ politics, or his need to point out Schumer is a Jew.

  7. By saying “that Jew” in an unguarded moment he demonstrates that it is THIS characteristic that is important to him.
    As it should be.

  8. By saying “that Jew” in an unguarded moment he demonstrates that it is THIS characteristic that is important to him.
    As it should be.

    It should be? Why?

  9. By identifying him as a Jew first, he acknowledges Schumer’s true nature. Speaking of which, I noticed that no one makes such a big deal out of Arabs calling every Jew they meet Yehudi. Sometimes I think they are incapable of learning my name – it’s always Yehudi this and Yehudi that.
    I asked a Pali friend of mine once what Yehudi means. Obviously, it means Jew, but in semitic languages every word has a root, so what was the root of Yehud. She said the root is Wahad, which kind of means “one”, but Yehud doesn’t translate exactly. It’s almost possessive, “the one’s”. It blew her mind, she never thought of it before.
    The Arabs call us “the one’s”, as in, we belong to the One G-d. Whenever an Arab says Yehud, in the name itself they are acknowledging our true nature as Jews.

  10. I asked a Pali friend of mine once what Yehudi means. Obviously, it means Jew, but in semitic languages every word has a root, so what was the root of Yehud. She said the root is Wahad, which kind of means “one”, but Yehud doesn’t translate exactly.
    Your friend is misinformed. In Arabic, as in Hebrew, the middle consonants of those roots are different — hey vs. chet (and their Arabic equivalents).

  11. The Arabs call us “the one’s”, as in, we belong to the One
    G-d. Whenever an Arab says Yehud, in the name itself they are acknowledging our true nature as Jews.

    This is a false etymology.
    But, you know, even if it were in any way correct, I’m not sure why it would necessarily indicate that Arabic speakers were “acknowledging” anything. My name, Miri, is short for Miriam, meaning “sea of bitterness,” but the fact that people refer to me that way generally doesn’t indicate that they’re thinking of either my ostensible bitterness or my…sea-ness.

  12. I haven’t had the personal experience of being called “yahoud” by an Arab. But here in America, we’re frequently referred to as “Jew”, and not in a good way. My rebbi comments that we’re the only people on Earth whose proper demonym is an offensive epithet. “Jewish” is the PC term.

  13. I find Jew-“ish” to be skirting with something loose, almost non-committal. I agree that saying, “I am Jewish” is more normalized than, “I am a Jew”, but prefer the later. We don’t hear of Christianish, or Muslimish, or Budhistish.
    On the other hand, people do say British, Finnish, etc.
    It seems almost as if we want to tell goyem, it’s ok, don’t worry, I’m not a real Jew, I’m Jew-ish. What is that -ish?
    I know that’s too much sensitivity for many tastes. I am a Jew. There’s a strength implicit in its simplicity that I think some may feel uncomfortable with, or maybe I’m over analyzing and generalizing, or both. Still, think about it the next time you’re asked, and if you’re used to saying, “I’m Jewish”, try saying, “I’m a Jew.”

  14. We don’t hear of Christianish, or Muslimish, or Budhistish.
    That’s because in English Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist can be either nouns or adjectives.
    “I’m Christian” and “I’m a Christian” are both correct, and both are quite common. The first is the equivalent of “I’m Jewish” and the second the equivalent of “I’m a Jew.”
    In both cases, the latter is stronger because a noun is always stronger than an adjective.
    But saying “Jewish” doesn’t minimize it any more than saying “Christian” does.
    Regardless, it strains credulity to claim that referring to someone as “that Jew” in the context of trying to contrast his (bad) values with your (good) values is the same thing as simply noting that someone is “a Jew.”

  15. saying “Jewish” doesn’t minimize it
    Em, from a literal, grammatical sense, I completely agree with you. Still, if I offer you a cup of black tea or a cup of green tea, you’ll choose one and not the other. They’re both tea, it’s true, but there is an element of choice, either towards the preferred, or the least disliked.
    Again, might be too touchy for some, I admit. All I’m saying is, be mindful of this choice next time you have the opportunity.

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