Why Left is wrong
In his Nov. 11 column, Jared Silverman says, correctly, that Jewish liberals are out of step with America. However, he doesn’t say why that’s the case — so I will.
I think Jewish liberals suffer from deep-rooted fantasies about what is truly in their interest. There is a psychological phenomenon, known as “repetition compulsion” that causes people to repeat the same mistake and expect a different outcome.
Jews became enraptured with Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s, and only in recent years have we learned about his duplicity. Jimmy Carter, whom Jews supported in unusually large numbers, allowed fanaticism to take hold in Iran and writes books with titles like Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
Two Republican presidents — Richard Nixon and George W. Bush — truly served Jewish interests but were spurned by most Jewish voters.
Nixon, seeing Israel in dire straits during the Yom Kippur War, ordered the airlifting of much needed supplies to the Israelis and altered the outcome of that war. Bush was probably the best friend that Israel has ever had in the Oval Office.
Unlike Barack Obama, Bush understood the futility of expecting “changed behavior” in the Muslim Middle East. Obama has fostered a fantasy among Palestinians and Iranians that has been interpreted by them as a sign of American capitulation.
It is time for Jews — who were pioneers in the area of psychoanalysis — to cure themselves of repetition compulsion, engage in a bit of introspection, and figure out where their interests truly lie.
Joe Rosenberg
Maplewood
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