Bob Schwartz

Month: September, 2024

Trump says Jews who don’t vote for him should have their head examined. Should we? Should he?

“Chuck Schumer is Hamas all the way. I don’t know what the hell happened to him. If you support him, you’re crazy.”

“But they do love me in Israel. Everybody loves me. I could run for Prime Minister.”

Trump recently addressed the Israeli-American Council. In his 45-minute incoherent diatribe he explained why American Jews must vote for him.

Some unforgettable moments:


And, sadly, and I have to say this, and it hurts me to say it, you’re going to still vote for Democrats, and it doesn’t make sense. I say all the time that any Jewish person that votes for her, especially now, her or the Democrat Party, should have their head examined. It’s true.


With all I have done for Israel, I received only 24 percent of the Jewish vote. Now, think of this. I really haven’t been treated very well, but that’s the story of my life. It’s true. Think of it. But I understood that because I wasn’t really tested, I wasn’t a politician, and I won. But I understood that. And then I became President and was the best President ever for the people of Israel and for Jewish people. The best President ever.

And I did more for them than any President has and probably any President can do or will do, other than the current situation that’s coming up, because I have a feeling that maybe that’s going to be more than anything that was even done in the past, if you want to know the truth, because I think Israel is in big trouble.

And still, in 2020 — so remember, I got 24, 25 percent. Now I did all of these things, and I got 29 percent. Think of it. So I wasn’t treated right. But it’s not me that’s been treated badly. It’s Israel. Because you can make a big difference in the vote. You’re going to be a big factor in the vote.

I will say, places like Miami and different places were great. But honestly, I went from 25 to 29. And based on what I did, and based on my love of the same love that you have, I should be at 100. I should be at 100. But — But let me give you the bad news. A poll — I just told you how good the polls are, but we need every vote we can get.

The current polling has me with Jewish citizens, Jewish people — people that are supposed to love Israel. After having done all of that, having been the best President, the greatest President, by far — by far — a poll just came out. I’m at 40 percent. That means you got 60 percent voting for somebody that hates Israel. And I say it, it’s going to happen.

It’s only because of the Democrat hold or curse on you. You can’t let this happen. Forty percent is not acceptable because we have an election to win. So after all of this, I went from 29 to 40 percent.

And people that are smart said to me — a friend of mine, Jewish friend of mine, loves Israel, loves everything about your religion and about your country, your place. He said, “I can’t believe it’s happening. It’s sad.” And he started to cry, actually. He started to cry. With all of this — and he’s a tough cookie. I don’t think he cried for — since he was a little tiny baby. Maybe then I don’t think he cried.


And I only want to be — so I’m not going to call this as a prediction, but, in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss if I’m at 40 percent. If I’m at — if I think of it, that means 60 percent of voting for Kamala, who, in particular, is a bad Democrat.

The Democrats are bad to Israel. Very bad. They’ll never change because they have a section of their party now which has become amazingly and quickly very powerful, votes-wise. I mean, Chuck Schumer is a Palestinian. Who would have thought that was going to happen? What the hell happened to him? I saw him the other day. He was dressed in one of their robes, you know. That’ll be next. No, Chuck Schumer is Hamas all the way. I don’t know what the hell happened to him. If you support him, you’re crazy.


I’m at 40 percent. And when I heard that number today — it just came out today — when I heard that number today, I think it was insulting to our country. It was insulting to Israel. You know, it’s very interesting. They did a poll in Israel. I’m, like, at 99 percent favorable. I could run for — right now, I could run for any office in Israel. I’m at — in Israel, they love me. Here, not so much.

But they do love me in Israel. Everybody loves me. I could run for Prime Minister. Would you like me as your Prime Minister? But I have to learn your language. That’s a tough language to learn. I have to learn it in about three months. I have to learn it very quickly. But, no, I’m very — most popular person in Israel. But here, it doesn’t translate. It’s a — it’s a strange thing.


Idiots Are People Two!

On an episode of the NBC show 30 Rock, Idiots Are People Two!, when Tracy Jordan is called an idiot on TV, he rallies his fellow idiots to stage a protest against NBC.

30 Rock is the best TV comedy series of the current era. It found ways to sweetly make fun of America’s social, cultural, business and political foibles. Human foibles too.

Even though the show ended in 2013, some of its sharpest points are timeless. I know many episodes by heart, after frequent rewatching. Today, the episode that came to mind is Idiots Are People Two!

Album: In Waves by Jamie xx

All you children, gather ’round
We will dance and we will whirl
All you children, gather ’round
We will dance together
We will dance to our own song
We must spin to our own world
Won’t you dance with me?
All You Children, Jamie xx/The Avalanches from In Waves (2024)

Memorable music moments can be big or little, big or little artists, big or little venues.

Big Ears is the most creative and eclectic music festival in America. Held in Knoxville, Tennessee, founded in 2009, we attended the festival in 2015.

There were artists familiar and unfamiliar, performing in concert halls and smaller sites. One night we went to a tiny downstairs club to hear producer and DJ Jamie xx (Jamie Smith). I didn’t know that he was a founding member of the xx, an award-winning young British group. I didn’t know much about him or about the music he was producing for others and creating for us and himself.

What I heard was unforgettable. What I didn’t know was that at that moment his first solo album (his only one until this month, nine years later) was being released. In Colour (2015) became and remains one of my favorite recorded works.

There are so many talented artists in so many media. That is abundantly the case with music and with Jamie xx. As overwhelming as the art may be, there is a distinction that some artists express. As vague and wispy as it may sound, it is an expression of humanity. When I heard Jamie xx creating in that club, when I heard In Colour (again and again), that’s the distinction I still note.

Now we have, after nine years, In Waves. I will also be listening to this again and again. You should try too.

More about Jamie xx now.

Days of Awesome: Jewish High Holidays 5785

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year 5785, begins on the evening of October 2. The ten High Holidays continue until Yom Kippur on October 12.

The High Holidays are known as the Days of Repentance or the Days of Awe.

These holidays are complicated. Like SweeTARTS.

We take an unvarnished look back at what we’ve done and who we’ve been in the past year. We confess our transgressions in excruciating detail. We make a solemn commitment to do better in the year ahead.

We also leave the past year behind for the better sweeter year to come. The better sweeter us. We eat apples dipped in honey as a reminder of that possibility.

The term “Days of Awe” reflects a few things.

There is a belief that all this occurs in the face of a God that is powerful, judgmental and merciful. Something to be in awe of and afraid of.

Another perspective is that when we set aside days to look at ourselves, at others, at our relation and connection to others and to everything, we are in awe of a wonder-filled existence. Awesome

That is why we may call these the Days of Awesome. When some of us think of awesome, besides thinking theologically and philosophically, we naturally think about The Lego Movie.

Above is an image of Emmet and Wyldstyle reading from the High Holidays machzor (prayer book). The message: Everything is awesome.

Some may think that mixing up this solemn time with SweeTARTS and Legos trivializes and even desecrates the holidays. Or maybe during those special days, everything really is awesome.

Vote Forward. Vote Kamala Harris.

Vote Forward. Vote Kamala Harris. Download poster by Shepard Fairey.

While waiting for words

While waiting for words to post, I spent a little time listening to the mountains and clouds conversing. Others may have better things to say. I don’t.

Is it time to stop excusing Trump supporters for Trump’s hatefulness?

Trump has been hateful for his entire time in public life. His latest tirades, getting louder and uglier daily, are nothing new. But for all of this time, most of us have tried to excuse those who support Trump.

We looked across tables, in our social groups and pews, among our neighbors and colleagues, and said that people are mostly free to pursue their ideologies and support whoever they choose. Mostly, because there are obviously people whose odious beliefs reflect back on their supporters. A bridge too far.

Trump has been an exception. Trump can say hateful and horrible things and yet we believe that his supporters are otherwise decent people. They are our family, they are our friends, they are our public officials.

Is it time to stop excusing Trump supporters for Trump’s hatefulness, no matter who they are?

My answer will disappoint in its irresolution: I don’t know. What I do believe is that the increasing level of poison coming from one of the most visible people in the world—not just America but the world—is toxic. Maybe if his supporters acknowledged it, beyond “oh, that’s just Trump being Trump”, maybe we can start to get that poison out of our system.

Sunset Color

Sunset Color

I do not know the name of this sunset color.
It does not have a name.
If it had a name and I knew it I would not tell you.
I would tell you that sometime when
The day became night
Was becoming night
A color appeared in the sky
Then faded to black.

© 2024 by Bob Schwartz

Haitians stealing and eating pets? Jews killing babies for blood? How are these heinous accusations different?

“They’re [Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio] eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” That is disgraced former president Donald Trump, at a presidential debate watched by 70 million people, repeating a right-wing meme. The news outlets felt compelled to fact-check this. Needless to say, it is not based in fact.

What does need repeating, that still isn’t mentioned often enough, is that this is pure racism. The meme-makers know it, the repeaters, like Trump and Vance, know it.

So how is it like the blood libel, in which Jews were historically (and in some insane corners of the hate world still) accused of using the blood of Christian babies in rituals? To answer that, imagine that it was Jews in Springfield, Ohio who were the target of the haters. My guess is that we wouldn’t have fact-checking. My guess is that the nation would be so outraged that there would be calls for Trump to step down as candidate, and there would be Republicans who would support that.

But instead, these are just Haitian immigrants. What do they expect when they are different and, to some Americans, unwelcome strangers? But lest we forget, we Jews were that too.

“Haters gonna, hate, hate, hate” sang recent Harris endorser Taylor Swift. But when the hater is running for president, we should not shake it off.

Trump: A con man past his prime

What’s worse than a con man? An aging and unstable one with nuclear weapons.

When Trump first emerged in the 2016 primaries, Republicans he ran against exclaimed he was a con man unfit to be president. Once they lost to him, and he won the election, Republicans embraced the fact that while he was a con man, they could use him to get what they wanted. He may have been a con man, but he was their con man

The Trump on last night’s debate stage was still a con man, but aging and dangerously past prime. He showed himself to be mentally and emotionally unstable, unfit again to be president of the United States, the most powerful person in the world.

Republicans noticed. They are praying that enough voters didn’t.