SC GOPers Use Anti-Semitic Stereotypes to Defend Sen. Jim DeMint

HuffPost:

After a Democratic state senator wrote in The State that DeMint didn't bring enough money back home, Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin Merwin and Orangeburg County GOP Chairman James Ulmer responded that he was just looking after the nation's pennies -- like a Jew would.

"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves," Ulmer and Merwin wrote in a joint letter published by The Times and Democrat. "By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation's pennies and trying to preserve our country's wealth and our economy's viability to give all an opportunity to succeed."

Obviously, Merwin and Ulmer used the anti-Semitic stereotype to praise DeMint, but that doesn't excuse their words. The depiction of Jews as misers is an offensive stereotype that has been used throughout history to fan the flames of anti-Semitism. If they weren't aware of this, then they are genuinely clueless; if they were aware of it, they are bigots.

As the conservative Palmetto Scoop writes, things like this are why "many folks fear for the future of the once Grand Ole Party." As well they should.