For years science fiction authors have tinkered with the theme of a time machine — one that could take man back in time. Now, lo and behold, it seems as if we’re in a time machine as America is being whisked back decades when race was a red-scab raw issue — and comments about all those powerful, rich Jews were shamelessly uttered without embarrassment.
For our latest entry into evidence that in terms of attitudes some Americans seems to have discovered the secret of tim travel we now give you a quote that doesn’t seem just like it comes from the late 60s when black-white issues boiled to the forefront, but from the 30s and 1940s: a reported assertion from New York Democrat Mike McMahon’s campaign that his GOP challenger Mike Grimm is getting “Jewish money”:
Mike Grimm, a G.O.P challenger for Mike McMahon’s Congressional seat, took in over $200,000 in his last filing.
But in an effort to show that Grimm lacks support among voters in the district, which covers Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, the McMahon campaign compiled a list of Jewish donors to Grimm and provided it to The Politicker.
The file, labeled “Grimm Jewish Money Q2,” for the second quarter fundraising period, shows a list of over 80 names, a half-dozen of which in fact do hail from Staten Island, and a handful of others that list Brooklyn as home.
“Where is Grimm’s money coming from,” said Jennifer Nelson, McMahon’s campaign spokeman. “There is a lot of Jewish money, a lot of money from people in Florida and Manhattan, retirees.”
Aha!
Not to give it way but: can you guess how this post will end? (Make your bets in Vegas now.) (Keep reading)
Let’s quote a bit more of this New York Observer story:
As a point of comparison, the campaign also provided in-district and out-of-district fundraising totals from McMahon and Grimm’s G.O.P primary opponent, Michael Allegretti. However, they did not provide an out-of-district campaign filing from Grimm, but only a file of Jewish donors to him.
Nelson said that the list was compiled by the campaign’s finance director, Debra Solomon and that she did not know exactly how the finance team knew who was Jewish and who was not.
“She herself is Jewish so she knows a lot of people in that community,” Nelson said.
Nelson stressed that the point of compiling the list was not to show that Grimm had a lot of Jewish support, but that he had little support in the district.
“I don’t think ethnicity matters. When people look at who is funding his campaign it’s not people who have a direct vested interest [in the district.]”
The campaign also wanted to point out that Grimm benefited greatly from his endorsement by Rudy Giuliani, and made a separate column to denote donors who have to the former mayor’s presidential or Senate campaigns. Only five appear to have done so.
The story goes on to say how Grimm met recently with a famous rabbi and how McMahan
“has been trying to make his own in-roads into the Jewish community. A source said that he is scheduled to meet next week with several major Jewish donors.”
Note to McMahon: You can meet with all of the Jewish donors you want, be bar mitzvahed, and even get circumsized (I know a mohel who works for tips) on CSPAN but it’s unlikely that the “Jewish money” statement will win you a lot of Jewish votes.
On the other hand, if the comment was allowed to stand, it could mean a big infusion of money into the McMahon campaign by people who personally admire actor Mel “%@!*F^%!!” Gibson and Oliver “Conspiracy-Under-Every” Stone.
The story has the obligatory statement of outrage from Grimm.
So…now…can you guess how this story ends? You got it:
Staten Island Rep. Mike McMahon (D-NY) moved into damage-control mode Thursday, firing the communications director for his re-election bid Thursday night after she gave a reporter a breakdown of a Republican rival’s “Jewish money” contributions.
McMahon announced he was firing spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson after she provided a New York Observer reporter with a breakdown of Republican rival Michael Grimm’s second-quarter financial haul donations from Jewish donors, in an apparent effort to show the former FBI agent has little financial support within the district.
In an astonishing move – putting such a statement on paper – the file the reporter was given was titled “Grimm Jewish Money Q2.”
“Where is Grimm’s money coming from,” Nelson was quoted saying to the Observer. “There is a lot of Jewish money, a lot of money from people in Florida and Manhattan, retirees.”
She added that the campaign’s finance director had compiled the list, and, by way of explaining how she managed to pick out donors by their religion from filings, said, “She herself is Jewish so she knows a lot of people in that community.”
Nelson also insisted the purpose wasn’t to show “ethnicity” in terms of who was outside the district, but that was the only list the Observer said it was given – and it came at a time when McMahon has reportedly been ramping up his outreach to Jewish donors.
“This is a United States congressman that’s segregating people out by their religion. I’m outraged. Even an apology isn’t going to make it right,” Grimm told POLITICO. “This goes to his thought process and his feelings.”
On the other hand, perhaps there are several reasons to avoid “Jewish money.”
I’ve been told Jewish money (including mine):
–Invariably winds up in the cash register of a Chinese restaurant.
–Wants to make a quick detour to Nordstrom’s.
–In older women relentlessly seeks out plastic surgeons (in one seniors’ facility in San Diego there was a drive by face-lifting).
–Is attracted to stores selling Barbra Streisand CDs and Adam Sandler movies.
Now, excuse me since I have to get off of TMV immediately so I can dominate the news media, run the entertainment industry and give millions of my trillions and gazillions of dollars to political campaigns (not to mention to run American foreign policy: Hillary is LATE checking in with me and her daughter’s wedding is NO EXCUSE!!!!).
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.