or, what is Bad Art?
by Rena Silverman

Happy New Year, fellow Jews. The United States financial crisis has caused an uproar of the cyber-specific anti-Semetism, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group that fights anti-Semitism on the Internet.
"The age-old canards about Jews and money are always just beneath the surface," said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The ADL has mostly witnessed "a dramatic upsurge" in anti-Semitic statements in online Financial discussion boards. Comments include:

* "(Jews have) infiltrated Wall Street and Government and have ruined our country."
* "What is a GS Jew? Goldman Sachs? Jews are greedy, rotten slime balls."
* They (Jews) love money nothing else, no faith or religion can be so heartless to their victims."
* That's how they work they short the stock all the way making billions and then cover right it up sell and then taxpayers to the rescue and it is true all those institutions are ran by Jews …."

The Neo-Nazi and Conspiracy-Theory Bloggers have used also paved the economic heap into a single, straight path headed right towards the Jews.

One white-supremacist website wrote: "I would imagine the likelihood of the Fed etc bailing the company out depends largely to what degree it is Jewish owned." This is of course, referring to the demise of Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers, a recent member of the Wall Street, Interrupted group. Other members include home-loan-providers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and insurer AIG, who were nationalized by the US government.

A YouTube video titled "The Court Jewsters" includes a montage of Jewish figures involved in the crisis - from Lehman Brothers chief Richard Fuld to US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Benanke - and includes a shot of a dollar bill emblazoned with "In Zionist bankers we trusted." This video offends me--less because it's anti-Semetic, but more because it is just bad art.

Speaking of bad art, I wonder what Sarah Palin would say. In the Vice P debate, she said something about the Holocaust, perhaps the prevention of a second. I wonder if she would be so kind as to comment on this situation that might errupt right here, not in Israel, (home to Arabs Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Samaritans, and yes, of course, Jews).

In defense of my last name I will clarify, testify to, and state that I am not worried about a second holocaust. But, I will just point out that Hitler did blame the Jews for Germany's financial troubles right before he wiped them out. In his Kampf, he claimed that the Jews were corrupting ethical and national value, and that they were taking lebensraum (German for "living space"). He was also kind enough to describe Jews as parasites, liars, dirty, crafty, sly, wily, clever, and many with more creative adjectives. The result of his opinion? Slowly and steadily, the legal, economic, and social rights of Jews were steadily restricted, and then there was genocide.

At least Frederick Toben, wanted in Germany on charges of Holocaust denial, was arrested in London yesterday.
*This article is an opinion. I think it's right, but it's an opinion.
Also, let's caption the picture, "Bad Art." Thank you, come again.