Jeffrey Toobin: "New York values" is classic anti-Semitic slur

[Penelope]

Jews think everything is anti-Semitic.

obama pls drone

[Famous Mortimer]

"NY values" is definitely code. It might not have been deliberate antisemitism on Cruz's part, but the implication was still there.

Also, LOL at people who aren't Jewish declaring with confidence that antisemitism doesn't exist. Next time I want to know whether racism against blacks still exists, I'll be sure to ask white people.

1) I'm half Jewish and I look Jewish as hell.

2) At least Black people can point to the fact that they are lower on the socio-economic totem pole than "the dominant race" (normal ass White people). What do Jews have to point to? A conservative Republican said he didn't like a city that votes 80% Democrat and sometimes they suspect there might have been a barbecue they weren't invited to.

[Derpist]

I'm amused when these histronics come up in every imaginable foreign policy issue. Don't support exactly everything the Netanyahu administration does? ANTI-SEMITE!

I actually mostly like Israel and think stuff like BDS is stupid, but this tendency in modern culture is really crass and probably provokes most actual anti-semitism.

It's also a joke to watch upper-class Jews pretending to be some discriminated class when they often sit at the apex of an urban hierarchy that victimizes blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and working-class whites.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Cruz literally said in one of his speeches "God bless PM Netanyahu".

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Donald Trump is the person in this race who incites hatred against entire groups of people (Mexicans, Muslims). He is the one who sees people as groups rather than individuals. Remember "the blacks"?

[The Free North]

As someone who grew up in the NYC area his entire life, I don't see how its an 'Anti-Semitic' slur at all. I took it to be a dig at our perceived rudeness and fast pace of life that some hate.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

1) I'm half Jewish and I look Jewish as hell.

Ditto.  And I grew up in suburban Maryland where it didn't matter at all, because it was a cosmopolitan place.  Then I moved to Wisconsin before seventh grade, and suddenly everything became about me being Jewish.  Friends saying stuff like "wow, I'm surprised they let a Jew into the Lions Club!" when my dad joined.  Because ignorance.

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This isn't an oppression contest.  I'm not oppressed.  I never claim to be oppressed.  If I claim anything, it's that I get a reminder that certain attitudes remain ingrained in society.  And while they don't really have an impact on my life, it is a reminder to me that if you ARE a person of color, racism works in much the same way, only with much, much more damaging results. 

I'll take being subconsciously thought of as rich, nerdy, and part of a world banking conspiracy ANY DAY to being thought of as being poor, angry, violent, dangerous, lazy, or any of the other negative prejudices that people have about Black people.

But back to the point of why stuff like "New York values" is irritating.  While it may not be coded antisemitism (my neighbor thought it was, I'm not convinced), it is the sort of divisive, red-state/blue-state, us/them, culture war BS that does have an element of bigotry.  When you're not quite part of the good-old-boy Christian down-home "wholesome" apple-pie and Wednesday-night Bible study culture, for whatever reason, the tension is palpable.  And Cruz is exploiting that.

[Famous Mortimer]

I lived in Minneapolis, Tampa, and the middle of nowhere Arizona and never encountered any anti-Semitism. A lot of people assumed I was Jewish though. Mostly Jewish people. Though occasionally a non-Jew has asked me some question about Judaism or Israel and then I answer them and add "you know I'm Catholic, right?" to which they respond "Really? I thought you were Jewish" but then that's the end of it. I don't notice them being nicer to me after that. Except for one Guyanese guy in New York City. He thought I was Jewish and when I told him he wasn't, he started being much nicer to me and giving me weed. New York City, with its values, is actually the only place I've ever observed real anti-Semitism.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

I lived in Minneapolis, Tampa, and the middle of nowhere Arizona and never encountered any anti-Semitism. A lot of people assumed I was Jewish though. Mostly Jewish people. Though occasionally a non-Jew has asked me some question about Judaism or Israel and then I answer them and add "you know I'm Catholic, right?" to which they respond "Really? I thought you were Jewish" but then that's the end of it. I don't notice them being nicer to me after that. Except for one Guyanese guy in New York City. He thought I was Jewish and when I told him he wasn't, he started being much nicer to me and giving me weed. New York City, with its values, is actually the only place I've ever observed real anti-Semitism.

The only place I've observed real anti-Semitism is online, where people can hide their faces behind a screen and talk tough.  That's when I start getting the Rothschild, world banking conspiracy, Israel controlling US policy BS.  And I'm like "dude, I grew up Presbyterian and I'm atheist now," and they double down.

People show their true colors when they don't have to be held accountable for their words.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

I'm amused when these histronics come up in every imaginable foreign policy issue. Don't support exactly everything the Netanyahu administration does? ANTI-SEMITE!

Bibi is a maniac; the settlers are frightening racist criminals violating international law; the situation is being exploited by American evangelical Protestant theocrats who only care about their apocalyptic death cult, not a whit about actual Jews; whenever a Jew or Christian starts talking about "Judea and Samaria" I want whack them upside the head; and I think Palestinian Arabs are being denied basic human rights, in large part due to actions taken by the State of Israel.

Call me antisemitic, lol.

[Vosem]

As a Jewish person (from New York, no less!) who has encountered anti-Semitism, I can't say that I perceive "New York values" to be an anti-Semitic code so much as it (as Cruz is insisting) refers to simply being very culturally left-wing. It's synonymous with "San Francisco values".

[Derpist]

I'm amused when these histronics come up in every imaginable foreign policy issue. Don't support exactly everything the Netanyahu administration does? ANTI-SEMITE!

Bibi is a maniac; the settlers are frightening racist criminals violating international law; the situation is being exploited by American evangelical Protestant theocrats who only care about their apocalyptic death cult, not a whit about actual Jews; whenever a Jew or Christian starts talking about "Judea and Samaria" I want whack them upside the head; and I think Palestinian Arabs are being denied basic human rights, in large part due to actions taken by the State of Israel.

Call me antisemitic, lol.

Many people will. Unfairly.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

I'm amused when these histronics come up in every imaginable foreign policy issue. Don't support exactly everything the Netanyahu administration does? ANTI-SEMITE!

Bibi is a maniac; the settlers are frightening racist criminals violating international law; the situation is being exploited by American evangelical Protestant theocrats who only care about their apocalyptic death cult, not a whit about actual Jews; whenever a Jew or Christian starts talking about "Judea and Samaria" I want whack them upside the head; and I think Palestinian Arabs are being denied basic human rights, in large part due to actions taken by the State of Israel.

Call me antisemitic, lol.

Many people will. Unfairly.

These are mainstream Jewish views in this country.  Not the majority, but a lot of us feel this way.  I want to see the State of Israel succeed, but Likud seems determined to lead it to international isolation and ultimately suicide.

[PeteB]

For the record, and I do not like Cruz, I do think that he meant to say/imply "rude, liberal, etc.", and was not on an anti-semitic path.  Having said that, he really should have a broader base of advisors who would catch these bombshells before they go off.

[Torie]

No, not this time. It was a slam at secular liberals in general, rather than a segment of the Jewish population in particular. And the high profile secular liberal Mayor of New York at present, whose public profile embodies those values, does not have a Jewish surname.   

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Give me a break, every single person knew what that meant the second he said it. WillspsBrighton has sunk to a new low in this thread. If you can't understand that 80% of this country is just filled with terrible people who have those feelings, please try to go out more and understand how terrifying these places are.

All the Europeans on here really undrestood what that hateful man was getting at.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

As a Jewish person (from New York, no less!) who has encountered anti-Semitism, I can't say that I perceive "New York values" to be an anti-Semitic code so much as it (as Cruz is insisting) refers to simply being very culturally left-wing. It's synonymous with "San Francisco values".

If you think "San Francisco values" isn't code for something other than "being very culturally left-wing," you are extremely naive, my friend.

[Higgs]

Pretty sure he just meant New York values as generic liberal values.

[Xing]

"NY values" is definitely code. It might not have been deliberate antisemitism on Cruz's part, but the implication was still there.

Also, LOL at people who aren't Jewish declaring with confidence that antisemitism doesn't exist. Next time I want to know whether racism against blacks still exists, I'll be sure to ask white people.

1) I'm half Jewish and I look Jewish as hell.

2) At least Black people can point to the fact that they are lower on the socio-economic totem pole than "the dominant race" (normal ass White people). What do Jews have to point to? A conservative Republican said he didn't like a city that votes 80% Democrat and sometimes they suspect there might have been a barbecue they weren't invited to.

Like Beef said, it's not a contest. I wasn't implying that Jews have it as bad as black people in this country, but when people assume that because they've never experienced antisemitism that it must not exist, it makes me think of people who think racism is dead because they don't encounter it.

[ElectionsGuy]

I hate when people accuse others of using 'code words' as a way to paint them as bigoted. This is no different. New York is 5-6% Jewish, which is above average for the US, but not anything near the extent of interpreting New York as a code word for Jew.

[RFayette]

I hate when people accuse others of using 'code words' as a way to paint them as bigoted. This is no different. New York is 5-6% Jewish, which is above average for the US, but not anything near the extent of interpreting New York as a code word for Jew.

[The Other Castro]

Didn't West Wing teach us this like 20 years ago?

Yep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbgoAchOhEk&nohtml5=False

[Meclazine for Israel]

Love the Jews.

Went to the USA for Christmas once, and we visited people with Jewish neighbours.

They had small celebrations with dancing followed by food, we drove to a naked sauna called the "schvitz".

Every time i tell my Australian friends we went to an underground sauna with massage facilities whilst totally naked, they look at me strange.

But i loved to see the culture of Jewish people first hand.

I dont think saying "New York values" is a huge issue to your average Jewish person.

They probably have bigger issues to deal with on a daily basis.

[Virginiá]

Ditto.  And I grew up in suburban Maryland where it didn't matter at all, because it was a cosmopolitan place.  Then I moved to Wisconsin before seventh grade, and suddenly everything became about me being Jewish.  Friends saying stuff like "wow, I'm surprised they let a Jew into the Lions Club!" when my dad joined.  Because ignorance.

Ooooh. DC suburbs by any chance?

[The Other Castro]

I can assure you that if Cruz had said the same thing about Sanders, we'd be having a different conversation. Let's dispel with this fiction that Ted Cruz didn't know what he was doing, he knew exactly what he was doing.