Why We're Making An Obama T-Shirt

I’m a regular reader of this site, and a Clinton supporter, and something about this
tee-shirt endorsement bugs me. Backing Obama is fine, and it’s probably a good
idea for Jewcy to endorse someone in this closely contested race, but I think you’ve
come to a completely valid conclusion for all the wrong reasons.

Your discussion of Obama has not focused on his strengths or plans for the
presidency, but on a defense of the man in the face of the “extraordinary
racism, xenophobia, and dirty tricks employed by the Jewish establishment.” Aside
from the obvious hyperbole*, this is a contrarian endorsement: we should vote
for Obama for “a hundred different reason” that Jewcy has left unarticulated. The
coverage on this site has made the case that Barack Obama is not anti-Israel,
not a threat to Jews, and may be unfairly treated by the Jewish establishment –
but none of these are fundamental reasons why Democrats, or Americans in
general, should choose him to lead our county. If, as it is clear, you truly
feel this way: make that POSITIVE argument. Explain why we should choose him
over Hillary, don’t simply tell us why we shouldn’t not choose him.

Jewcy, this criticism gets at a larger fault that I think you should consider. Just as
going after the ADL, it’s not enough to simply tell us why the Jewish
establishment is wrong, biased, or idiotic. Contrarianism, however satisfying,
does not push young Jews in new directions. While you rightly attack the ADL or
the middle-name-droppers out there, you also must argue for an alternative
worldview. This site has excellent
potential, now that it’s become established enough to endorse its first
candidate, its time to move beyond contrarianism.

* “Extraordinary racism”? C’mon. There is, admittedly, some racial
undertone…but stating a candidate’s middle name out loud, for whatever
obnoxious reason, hardly qualifies as “extraordinary racism.” This contest, despite
the 24-hour-media’s shrill hype, has been pretty damn civil.

Agree with the above comment: If you're going to "endorse" someone, at least find a substantial and meaningful reason for the endorsement.

Ideally, this endorsement would explain why American Jewry should see past the anti-Israel foreign policy team Obama has assembled, not to mention the Farrakhan-promoting, race-baiting, hate-spewing pastor whom Obama has called his spiritual adviser (and friend) for the last 20 years.

The above post was about why Jewcy has decided to sell Obama t-shirts and not why Tahl or Jewcy is supporting him.  Read the post - the title is

Why We're Making An Obama T-Shirt 

Not Why We Support Obama.  

'They're not endorsing him, their just printing tee-shirts bearing his likeness'?

C'mon! Of course theyre endorsing him, they've just found a way to do it that doesnt involve articulating a single reason why their readers should vote for him.

It's kind of insulting .

"In an effort to recreate a Jewish culture that feeds the soul, that enervating both intellectually and creatively..."

There's a word missing after the second "that" in the sentence above. If that word is "isn't", you've lost the rhythm of the positive verbs in the rest of the section. If it's "is", you misunderstand "enervate", which means to weaken, fatigue, de-energize.

And I agree with the comments that printing an Obama t-shirt in the service of strengthening the site's contrarian bona fides is a poor decision, although the thinking is of a piece with much Obama enthusiasm; lots of extra-political reasons for making a political choice.

My sympathies are with what Obama represents, but I'm troubled by his record of voting in a manner discordant with what his supporters think he believes. I'd really like to see a discussion of these policy matters take precedence over the vaporous hagiography that counts as Obama commentary around here. 

Jewcy is definitely endorsing Obama (I think that was clear before this tshirt post). The above post though was not about the reasons Jewcy is endorsing him, which is what subsequent posters are responding to.   The above post is about why Jewcy has deemed it OK to create an Obama t-shirt from a both a marketing and ethics perspective. 

I think you could sell a bundle.  And make a bundle.

Wow.

I agree with the comments above, from the contrarianism to the misuse of the word "enervate."

This was sloppy, poorly argued, and poorly thought-out. A disappointment over all.

All this nonsense about how Obama is/was a Muslim. Where do these "establishment" Jews get such a silly, baseless idea?

could write a letter to the editorial board regarding copyright infringement--My Unpublished Letter to the Jews.

When I write, I usually have other tabs open--like Dictionary.com, Onelook Reverse Dictionary, and Wikipedia.  And Dictionary.com.

Did I mention Dictionary.com? 

Here on the internets, I often get snippy comments from folks who deride what they presume is my use of a thesaurus, in that typically American suspicion of the well-spoken. In actual fact, I very, very rarely peek at one-nor a dictionary. All those enchanting words crouch, alert, in my cerebral cortex, waiting to pounce.

I owe this to some natural ability and, mostly, to many years of Jesuit training. These motherfuckers are mostly a plague upon the earth, but when it comes to precision and rigor and an absolute intoxication with language, they're peerless.

And no, there was no diddling, despite my having been a most fetching young lad.  

Thread hijack complete. Return to topic. 

I'm agreeing with Ismail.  But I peek at the word sources.  Like Mark Twain said, the difference between the right word and almost the right is word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

Threadwise, I can see a little Bill O'Reilly (speaking of Jesuit training) sneaking in here--with Jewcy Gear on the horizon.  Jewcy Mugs, Won't Talk About Lieberman t-shirts, Graduated From Ivy League--Still Don't Know Shit lapel pins, Won't Catch Me Wearing Lapels baseball hats...a marketing gold mine, that's what this is.  

The cultural identity, political hopes and social aspirations of this "New Jew" generation is projected onto Barak Obama in a most unbelievable way.  He's not completely devoid of embodying this bundle of ideals, but I'm not sure if it's at all accurate.  There's so much projection and so little introspection, and examination that he's actually been devalued.  He's become a feel good fashion statement.  I'm looking for a little less love and a little more substance.  If Hillary belonged to a church with a pastor who uttered a fraction of what Wright did, it would be the death of her political career.  Are we so post feminist that we ignore what she possesses?  Are we such citizens of the world that it's too narrow minded to carefully examine who he depends on for valued council?  Some of Jewcy's manifesto seems so very adolescent, and I'm completely in the demographic.  Why shake off common sense to embrace change and the unknown?  

for a Jewcy Mike Gravel t-shirt.

Hi All,

Naftali, Ismael, and David (Kelsey, your edits are coming soon) --  you're Jewcy rock stars. As for the anonymous others, please create some kind of identity on the site so I can relate to you in the context of other contributions you make. Regardless, I'm very pleased by the level of commentary, the sophistication of our regular readership, and the high bar to which Jewcy contributors our held.

A few quick notes:

- This isn't Jewcy's formal endorsement of Obama. Background: some discussion occurred recently about whether it was appropriate for Jewcy to endorse a candidate at all, to what degree it could manifest its biases, political or otherwise, in any of its related ventures (online magazine, merchandising, etc), and in general, whether a more formal cost-benefit analysis was needed before decisions were made which could result in the alienation of a portion of our readership. While I believe that such decisions must be thought out, researched, and well-argued with the utmost intellectual integrity, they are absolutely not to be subjected to the kind of cost-benefit analysis in question.

The quickly written rant above was originally an email articulating my reasons for such a position, and using an Obama tee as an example (in full disclosure, one only has to read the full breadth of our election coverage to realize a more formal Jewcy endorsement of Obama - as the Democratic nominee -- is likely). 

- Readers' confusion over the context and intention of this post (is it a rant? an article? an endorsement?) is completely understandable. Is the distinction between an article and a blog post merely artificial, an old media hold-over? What is the relationship of traditional top-down editorially generated content (our reported and edited articles) to user-generated content (our users' contributions, which are sometimes as insightful and well-written as our original content) to quickly written blog posts? Especially with new media publications such as ours, attempting a somewhat unprecedented integration of all those forms of content, the answers to those questions are still being figured out.

- Ismail, I feel real love for you. It's growing. And it's starting to disturb my fiance. Putting that aside for the moment, you are right that "enervate" is used improperly in the post. It's a publishing epidemic, but I think it's fueled by more than just grammatical sloppiness. While enervate means to deprive of vigor, innervate means to stimulate. I think that the latter is often misspelled and when the misspelling is corrected by most auto spell checks, it's corrected as enervate. Just my theory. And still, there's no excuse for it. 

- Re: the first comment,  you're right that being contrary is not enough. From the very beginning, we've stated that iconoclasm for its own sake is empty. Our contrarian positions must be substantiated by facts and argued with reason and humility. As for articulating an alternative worldview, that's a work in progress, and one we'll only accomplish as a community.

Speaking of which, if any of you have additional comments or specific ideas about what we should be doing that you'd like to share with me personally, by all means email me at [tahl] at [jewcy] dot [com].

tr 

I think that if Farrakahan were the Democratic nominee for president, he would received 75% of the Jewish vote. Most Jews eternally vote democratic in order to repay their debt to FDR for preventing the US from being overrun by foreign accented Jews, and thus embarassing them. Jews may make outstanding contributions in certain fields, but when it comes to politics, most of them have the intellectual capacity of lemmings

Try as he might Obama can't escape his anti-Israel, anti-Jewish past.  David Duke is also practically endorsing Obama.  Considering that "Jewcy" has the same attitude toward Judaism that "Jewcy" has it's not surprising.

It's lovely how the bigot Ismail is treated here.  The Arab Islamofacist, anti-semitic, anti-Israel, terrorist supporting pyscho who actually believes Palestinians exist.   You couldn't get away with your vicous anti-Jewish comments on a real Jewish website.  You got your ass verbally kicked on lgf, which is more "Jewish" than this craphole, and ran away like a little baby.

I would label the  "Jewcy" staff Judenrats but considering that over 90% are not even Jews, that wouldn't be accurate.  The more terms would be "Aryan Kkk Lovers" and "hamass lovers."

I love that the guy above calls himself "Zionist" and then, in his lunatic screed, paints an infinitely less flattering portrait of that political persuasion than I ever did. BTW, I never uttered a peep at LGF, an uninteresting site without a tenth of the wit, smarts or soul of this place. Must have been another Ismail. We're everywhere.

Tahl, I am delighted to learn that I'm a rock star. When may I expect the truck full of lissome and pliant young women and the bags of cocaine to arrive? I ask only so I can remove the lawnmower from the driveway and have time to remind my wife how long it's been since she's seen her mom.

Naftali! David! Dudes, we did it! We're totally gonna need a van, though, and I was thinking it'd be best if I sing lead. You guys cool with that?

Come to think of it, this is a very efficient way to achieve rock stardom. Normally, a band starts off as comrades and only gradually achieves the snarling contempt for one another that keeps VH1 interesting. Naftali and I already have a rich history of sniping and scorn-mission accomplished! 

Zionist wrote,

"David Duke is also practically endorsing Obama."

 That is the stupidest reason for being suspicious of Obama I have heard yet, and I AM suspicious of Obama.

Elvis wrote,

 "I think that if Farrakahan were the Democratic nominee for president, he would received 75% of the Jewish vote."

Elvis, I gotta give you folks on the far-right credit. You folks don't even TRY to reach out to others.   

It's exactly this kind of lunacy that hurts those with legitimate concerns about an Obama presidency. You people are SUCH a hindrance.

We must return our dialogue of scorn before the fabric of timespace is permanently damaged.  But hold off until I walk the dog and go to Walmart for groceries.

click on the image and get a larger frame.  It's making Barak look kind of Che' to me with the red on black in his hair, and the tiny star. I'm guessing that's the intention, it does read a bit constructivist. I'd like to view the image larger, they type is hard to decipher. 

This seems to be an adolescent response to the right-wing Jewish attack machine.  This would piss Morton Klein and David Horowitz off - so let's do it.  If you want to be really transgressive, why not print a Jewcy for Nader T-shirt - lets back the one candidate who not only is actively anti-Israel but also managed to hand Bush the White House for 8 years.  

I certainly get why Obama is the "Jewcy" approved candidate.  He's hip, he's multicultural.   Like Jewcy, the Obama campaign takes image and branding seriously and understands that hipsters need their substance delivered to them when they're not looking - the way that Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook delivers vegetables to kids.  But there's plenty of hip Jews already supporting Obama.  Obama-kahs are already on the market and they truly can't be improved upon when it comes to kosher Obama swag.

Jewcy should stick to a serious discussion of the issues around Jewish anxiety (real or manufactured) towards Obama.  Getting writers like Ali Eteraz to comment about how American Muslims respond to the defense against the "Obama is a crypto-Mulsim" "slur" offers a fresh and important perspective.    A Che-style T-shirt with rays of light gleaming from Obama with a Jewish star tacked on is on the other hand tacky and cliche.

Sure you can sing lead.  I'll just play my power chords in a different key.  Universe restored. 

Thank you one and all.  Just another days work.  Now back to my day job at the Daily Planet.

I admit that I am part of the Jewish-Jewcy community that you seem hell bent on alienating. lately, Jewcy has become a shill for Obama, not looking deeply into the man, but tarring anyone that does not fall into line as a nutter with racist thoughts. How hard is it to at least honor the original concept and being a home for all Jews regardless of branch and partisanship. You barely lasted one election before you go for the hard left? Seriously do you not even see what you are doing or is being just another run of the mill Jewish leftist website really the goal? I have never believed that Jewcy should make any endorsement nor should they have become so left-leaning that their original idea is dead. It is not too late to try and become the place that unites all Jews not just an echo chamber trying to be the next Heeb...

Jeffrey Weaver wrote,

 "Jewcy has become a shill for Obama."

Good point.

Jewcy, tell the truth -- were these t-shirts Koffler's idea?

Lets see-reasons why I should vote for Obama

1) He has advisors that made Jimmy Carter the "successful" president that he was

2) His Middle East advisors worship Yasser Arafat (Zbig Brestinky, Robert Malley, Samantha Power)

3) His spiritual leader is anti-semitic

4) He has no specifics on how to deal with foreign policy, economics, health care

5) His business partner (economic advisor) Tony Rezko is a Syrian allied with a corrupt Iraqi

6) He thinks Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a nice guy. Carter thought the same of Khomeni "a holy man"

If Obama advocated selling nukes to Iran and an economic boycott of Israel, you would still support him. Your column makes a sound argument for raising the voting age to 40. This is why we are not reaching out to you-you are in thrall of a false religion

haha love it. Obama thinks Ahmadinejad is a nice guy. You may not know this, but he actually calls him "M-Dawg."

I agree entirely with DK, it is rubbish like this that does such a giant disservice to any actual substantive conversation about Obama--one which certainly should be taking place, and one that has been largely ignored.

M-Dawg is a term of affection