Conspiracy theories about the Rothschilds are a symptom. The problem is deeper.

[DonViejo]

Last edited Thu Mar 22, 2018, 10:35 AM - Edit history (1)

By Yair Rosenberg March 21
Yair Rosenberg is a senior writer at Tablet Magazine.

Last week, D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. blamed the Jews for bad weather.

“It just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation,” he said in a video posted to his Facebook page. “That’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.” The Rothschilds, of course, are a Jewish banking dynasty whom hateful conspiracy theorists have impugned for everything from the Kennedy assassination to the Islamic State.

The punchlines write themselves: If Jews really controlled the climate, Tel Aviv wouldn’t be so humid, New York would feel like Los Angeles, and anyway, George Soros and Sheldon Adelson would never be able to agree on how to set the thermostat. “The good news,” wrote Bard College’s Walter Russell Mead, is that “paying off the Rothschild family to stop climate change has got to be easier than shifting the whole global energy system.” But although this story may be funny on the surface, it masks something deeply unsettling beneath.

When initially contacted by The Washington Post about his video, White “expressed surprise that his remarks might be construed as anti-Semitic” and insisted “the video says what it says.” White has apparently also raised the shadowy specter of the nefarious Rothschilds (who “control the World Bank, as we all know”) at public events. And even when he ultimately apologized, White still claimed that he had no idea that he was posting anti-Semitic material. What’s troubling is that this is entirely possible.

The scandal here is not just that an elected Democrat, the youngest on the D.C. Council, believed that a family that has been the target of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for centuries is controlling the weather. It’s that he exists in an information bubble where this sort of thing is apparently both common and not considered outrageous or reprehensible. And the existence and influence of that bubble is far more disturbing than any single anti-Semitic eruption.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/03/21/conspiracy-theories-about-the-rothschilds-are-a-symptom-the-problem-is-deeper/?utm_term=.cb77a6388fcd

[still_one]

1. All this reveals is the country has its share of out of touch, tin foil idiots. What the article

fails to point out though is that it is far more prevalent among registered republicans than Democrats

[DonViejo]

3. How many right wing Dems do you know?

From the article:

Yet even as it has become increasingly apparent that these bigoted disinformation bubbles exist and have ensnared numerous individuals, many are still in denial and dismiss the inevitable anti-Semitic outbursts they provoke as isolated incidents. This is true on the right — where no matter how many neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and Islamophobes that President Trump retweets, white supremacy and bigotry is viewed by many as incidental to his appeal. And it’s true on the left — where anti-Semitic incidents are too often ignored or explained away as distractions or exceptions, from the Women’s March organizers and their Farrakhan fandom to the Chicago LGBT march that ejected lesbians displaying Jewish stars.

[still_one]

4. Exacly Don. zero

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Actually, I don't think that matters.

While the numbers of anti-Semites may be lop-sided, leaning almost entirely to the right, this author did what many on the left do not, and that is call out the problems on the left in regards to anti-Semitism. I am seeing, FINALLY, more left-leaning journalists and people being willing and able to stand up and call out all forms of anti-Semitism, not just the ones that piss off their respective side.

Yet even as it has become increasingly apparent that these bigoted disinformation bubbles exist and have ensnared numerous individuals, many are still in denial and dismiss the inevitable anti-Semitic outbursts they provoke as isolated incidents. This is true on the right — where no matter how many neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and Islamophobes that President Trump retweets, white supremacy and bigotry is viewed by many as incidental to his appeal. And it’s true on the left — where anti-Semitic incidents are too often ignored or explained away as distractions or exceptions, from the Women’s March organizers and their Farrakhan fandom to the Chicago LGBT march that ejected lesbians displaying Jewish stars.

BAM! He said what needed to be said. I have no problem, as I am sure you know, of calling out anti-Semitism on the right. When I do (or someone else does), lots of people are willing to stand up and scream, "Disgusting!". However, when it comes from our side of the fence, people fall silent (at best), or defend it/make excuses for it (at worst).

Many people, IMO, sadly, seem to think anti-Semitism is unworthy of discussion (see this thread) and that the growing anti-Semitism worldwide is just a fluke, not a "real" problem in which for them to "worry their beautiful minds".

[still_one]

6. That is a true observation BTA

[Behind the Aegis]

7. I see it way too much.

Hell, there is even someone claiming Schumer works for Bibi! The idea of "Jews are only loyal to Israel" is another anti-Semitic meme with which some are quite comfortable spewing.

[still_one]

9. The dirty little secret is that there are some on the far left have the same feelings toward Jews as

those on the far right

[Behind the Aegis]

10. True. I have a dirty little secret for you.

Do you mind if I PM you later tonight? I am about to head out.

[still_one]

11. anytime BTA

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. The "Blacks for Trump" guy at the Trump rallies is a huge proponent of this shit.

I remember being in line for a Hillary speech during the campaign and he walked up with a megaphone and started spewing this shit.

[Initech]

8. The real "deep state" is Vladimir Putin and his evil regime.

Russia is the biggest threat facing the world right now and they're succeeding with their plan. Everything else is irrelevant to this equation, regardless of what the dipshit conspiracy theorists think.