Top House G.O.P. Leader Defames Jews as “Shallow”
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Washington, DC: According to Florida's Bradenton Herald newspaper, during an appearance in Florida Friday night by U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) on behalf of congressional candidate Katherine Harris, "...[O]ne audience member asked why the Jewish-American community is so divided between liberals and conservatives. 'I always see two Jewish communities in America,' Armey replied. 'One of deep intellect and one of shallow, superficial intellect.' Armey said conservatives have a deeper intellect and tend to have 'occupations of the brain' in fields like economics, engineering and science. Liberals, on the other hand, tend to flock to 'occupations of the heart,' which he defined as people with jobs in the arts. 'They're going to be liberals...because they want to feel good,' he said. Splitting the groups between liberal 'artsy intellectuals' and conservative 'deep intellectuals,' Armey said as people grow they become more conservative because they gain a better sense of 'reality.' Liberals have a 'romanticized' notion of a world they pretend exists, he said."
"Dick Armey - the House's second-ranking Republican - embarrasses not just himself, but the entire Republican Party when he engages in such small-minded, intolerant, pseudo-scientific rhetoric," said National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "It's just breathtaking how easily he arrives at the conclusion that the 80-90 percent of the American Jewish community that disagrees with him engages in 'shallow, superficial intellect.' The profound irony is that this is the classic case of the pot calling the kettle black; Armey's simplistic statements only demonstrate that his own wanting intellect is shallow and superficial, not the other way around.
"Armey's stereotyping statements are ignorant, but much more importantly, they're divisive. They're words that are simply not conducive to maintaining a serious level of civil political discourse in this country.
"GOP operatives continue to chatter about a supposed political realignment among American Jews, even in the face of last week's Gallup Organization finding that Jewish support for Democrats continues to be 'remarkably stable.' But incidents like this one - along with House GOP Whip Tom DeLay's (R-TX) earlier remarks that 'Christianity offers the only viable, reasonable, definitive answer' to life's philosophical questions - should help to further illustrate the point: Whether we're talking about the issues or just how key GOP leaders regard American Jews, it's abundantly clear that they just don't get it.
"Representatives Martin Frost (D-TX) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) - both Jewish members of the Democratic House leadership - struck the perfect note earlier today in a joint statement when they noted: 'Seldom has the Congress become a better institution due to the departure of a Member of the House leadership. However, it has become clear that the House will become a more civil and decent institution the day Dick Armey retires.'"
