Jonah Goldberg and Harold Meyerson on the election: It’s all good

Two op-eds in the LATimes illustrate two Jewish reactions to the election. Although they supposedly are on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, they have much in common.

On one hand is Jonah Goldberg, editor of National ReviewOnline. Goldberg is a neocon—a faux conservative who recently was noted as supporting the firing of John Derbyshire for telling the truth about race. Goldberg has also attacked Peter Brimelow for what he described as “the narrow and nasty emphasis on what … Brimelow calls America’s ‘specific ethnic core'” (“Peter Brimelow (“a once-respected conservative voice”) on Goldberg of National Review (a once-conservative, now respected, magazine“). Brimelow’s main point is that Goldberg has been an enthusiastic supporter of displacement-level non-White immigration and is horrified at the thought of an identity politics for White people (for other groups, it’s just fine).

So it’s not surprising that Goldberg is not particularly upset by the election (“The right isn’t waving a white flag“). Goldberg claims that conservatism will come back, as it has before. Not one mention of the demographics of the vote or what that portends for the GOP or what the GOP ought to do about it.

That’s presumably because Goldberg is quite happy about the ethnic transformation that is making the Republicans and conservatism in general obsolete. Goldberg is a Jewish ethnic activist with an active role in shaping mainstream conservatism by getting rid of the Derbyshires and the Brimelows. As a neocon who supports displacement-level non-White immigration,  he certainly would not want to accept any responsibility for the demise of conservatism or the Republican Party.

The other op-ed is by Harold Meyerson who correctly points out the ethnic dimensions of the election and what it means for the future of the Republican Party and for conservatism in general. A little background. Meyerson is no stranger to TOO:

[Meyerson, writing in the Washington Post in 2008 before the election:] The GOP’s last best hope remains identity politics. In a year when the Democrats have an African American presidential nominee, the Republicans now more than ever are the white folks’ party, the party that delays the advent of our multicultural future, the party of the American past. Republican conventions have long been bastions of de facto Caucasian exclusivity, but coming right after the diversity of Denver, this year’s GOP convention is almost shockingly — un-Americanly [my emphasis]— white. Long term, this whiteness is a huge problem. This year, however, whiteness is the only way Republicans cling to power. If the election is about the economy, they’re cooked — and their silence this week on nearly all things economic means that they know it.

[My comment: This of course is ridiculous. Identity politics is what multiculturalism is all about. Meyerson doesn’t seem to notice that Blacks are much more likely to engage in identity politics than Whites: Well over 90% of blacks will vote for Obama. And he would never complain about Jewish identity politics in which the great majority of Jews vote Democrat (74% in 2004, 79% in 2000) despite their elite economic status and despite the fact that the Bush II administration was dominated by foreign policy operatives whose main allegiance is to Israel. Just imagine the angst of people like Meyerson if 75% of Whites voted Republican. (“The 2008 election will increase the racial polarization in the US“)

Meyerson writes that the Republican Party is “un-American” because there are so many Whites. On the other hand, what’s the definition of people who don’t think that Israel should be a Jewish state: “Anti-Semite” of course.  Given his hostility toward the idea of a “specific ethnic core” of America and his strong support for Israel, we must assume that Jonah Goldberg is entirely on board with this double standard about ethnic politics.

It’s no surprise then that Meyerson is jubilant about the election because he sees it as a sign of the eclipse of White America. The results for California were particularly edifying for Meyerson.

There are many ways to illustrate the descent of the California Republican Party into oblivion. A starting point is the demographic breakdown of the members of Congress elected last week in the state.

Assuming the leaders in the few remaining close races hold their leads, there will be 38 Democrats and 15 Republicans representing California in Congress come January. Of those 38 Democrats, 18 are women, nine are Latinos, five are Asian Americans, three are African Americans, four are Jews and at least one is gay. Just 12 are white men. Of the 15 Republicans, on the other hand, all are white men — not a woman, let alone a member of a racial minority or a Jew, among them.

The composition of the state’s new Democratic congressional delegation merely reflects the state’s demographic changes. Latinos (72% of whom backed Obama) were 23% of the California electorate in 2012, up from 18% in 2008. The share of Asian voters (who voted for Obama at a 79% rate) doubled, from 6% to 12%, between those two elections. Voters under 30 increased their share of state ballots cast from 20% in 2008 to 27% in 2012, and backed Obama at a 71% rate. The state’s proportion of white voters, meanwhile, fell from 65% in 2004 to 63% in 2008 to just 55% last week. (CA to GOP: Adios)

The percentage of California Asians voting Democrat is particularly shocking—higher than either Latinos or Jews. And they are liberal on social policy: “In a poll that Pew released in June, 55% of U.S. Asians preferred a bigger government that provided more services, while just 36% preferred a smaller government providing fewer services.” Asians are following the Jewish pattern: Voting with the left despite their income and educational profile.

So it’s safe to conclude that the election is viewed positively across the Jewish political spectrum. While Meyerson and his anti-White hostility are utterly predictable, Goldberg’s reassurances to conservatives are particularly galling. “Don’t worry; it will all work out.”

It won’t work out. And it’s completely dishonest to avoid talking about the ethnic angle and the role of neocons in aiding and abetting the ethnic transformation of America and purging immigration restrictionists from the Republican Party and mainstream conservatism. The reality is that the only hope for a revival of conservatism is a new explicitly White identity politics. But that would be horrifying to both Goldberg and Meyerson.