Steve King: How did white supremacist become offensive?

[Dill]

(02-16-2019, 01:01 AM)hollodero Wrote: Many followers will have a different (meaning: more plainly anti-semitic) take and she knows it.

Sure, but the term still is pretty specific. Benjamin, sounds pretty Jewish. That's a certain type of money source that is addressed there, in a bit derogatory fashion.
I think an apology is good enough on that one, but for me there's a flavor. Admittedly, I think someone Islamic needs to be extra careful on that topic.

A quick note in response:

"Benjamin" is a Jewish name for sure, but also take by many Christian Anglos, among them one of the U.S. Founding Fathers--Benjamin Franklin.
His image appears on our 100 bill.


Which is one way his name has made its way into American pop culture, as it becomes a metonym for money.  Omar is quoting a rap lyric when she says "It's all about the Benjamins."   If a Muslim must be "extra careful" discussing "the Benjamins" that indicates the terrain of social discourse is tilted somewhat against them.

This leads us back to the question of whether and how one can criticize the Israel lobby in the U.S.--especially the critique turns around donations and other monetary favors--without being tagged an anti-semite.

(02-16-2019, 01:01 AM)hollodero Wrote: Well, that is whataboutism.
Secondly, most of these folks are way "worse", sure, all those sycophants that support Trump through this emergency travesty have no honor. And they support someone quite racist (though I wouldn't say anti-semitic, specifically), and this was obvious as soon as Trump claimed that judge with the Spanish name can't possibly judge him fairly. And encouraged a crowd to boo said judge on the grounds of said Mexican sounding name. All that held their nose through this and many other instances and stood silent are at moral fault.
Still, whataboutism.

Another quick note: the images of Republican ads with money grabbing Jews leads up to a question:

Nottawhatabout question--could Omar's status as a Muslim of Palestinian heritage, who is likely to contest a Republican sponsored bill which would punish those who boycott Israel, have something to do with the sudden storm of outrage about anti-semitism?  Could that be why the storm comes down on her as it has not on these other individuals?

The Republican ads then establish a comparative baseline against which to judge the response to Omar. Without that baseline I don't see how we can tell whether the response to her "antitsemitism" is normal, what anyone would be subjected to, or more a consequences of special circumstances--her religion and an impending bill.

Can you think of another way of establishing a point about differing magnitudes of response?