The Right Words For The Right Occasion

Uh oh, the Virginia Democratic blogosphere is self-destructing again over the “jewbaiting” thing.

At issue this time is this comic flyer produced by Jim Webb’s campaign, which shows a caricature of Harris Miller and calls him the “anti-Christ of outsourcing” again.

The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star quotes some people who think the flyer is anti-Semetic. “There’s no question to me that’s replete with anti-Semitic stereotypes,” says Mark Feldstein of GWU. Virginia blogger Shaun Kenney, who started the first jewbaiting argument, agrees, calling the flyer “disgusting” and “gutter politicking.” (What other kind of politicking is there? :)

Virginia Centrist, a pro-Webb blog, is outraged over the accusations, and retracted his pledge of support for Miller if he wins the primary (big surprise, there). “Miller supporters are telling people that Webb is anti-semetic,” he writes. “It is disgusting.” In his comments, he calls Miller’s campaign “vile and disgraceful.” (What other kind of campaign is there? :)

Now, I’m not an English professor, but it seems to me that hyperbolic words like “vile,” “disgusting,” and “disgraceful” should be reserved for things that are, um, actually bad. You know, things like pedophilia, sex with chickens, that sort of thing. Calling a cartoon “disgusting” reminds me of the Muslim response to those Danish cartoons. Personally I just thought the flyer was silly. And besides, since Harris Miller already fits the Jewish stereotype in real life, it would be hard to make a caricature of him that doesn’t also look Jewish. What should they have done, made him black?

Anyway, the flyer seems like a flimsy excuse for mock outrage, if you ask me.

Related

• It’s The End Of The World…
• The Fightin’ Seventh
• Miller\’s Attack Ad
• H-1Bs And The Virginia Senate Race
• Yikes! A Strike Against Miller