In todays world, many forms of discrimination, be they racial, sexist or religious, still exist in various degrees, whether they are illegal or not.
One area of life, however, is free from discrimination. Scumbagness is an equal opportunity employer.
You probably wont find scumbagness in the new, improved, unabridged Merriam Webster dictionary, but it does have a definition known to all, especially as of late:
The state of being a scumbag, that is, a despicable human being by virtue of sexual, financial or ethical misconduct at the expense of other members of ones family, community or society or, at the expense of ones voters.
Almost every week now, it seems, news of another scumbag breaks out this week, it is Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York. And every time it happens, another ethnic, political or religious group is represented. Weiner is both Jewish and a Democrat. A couple of weeks ago, the Scumbag of the Week was Arnold Shwarzenegger. He is Catholic and a Republican. John Edwards, who, we admit, seems to occupy a unique place in the Scumbag Hall of Fame, is Protestant and a Democrat, a former senator and vice-presidential candidate. Eliot Spitzer Jewish and a Democrat. (Is it an accident that two of the four scumbags just mentioned are from New York?) Of course, there are a number of Catholic priests and sports coaches not to mention Bernard Madoff who sometimes seem to corner the market on scumbagness.
We cannot speak for the various ethnic or religious groups, or for either political party, but we can point out that Jews used to say that Jewish men make the best husbands, that Jews dont do scumbaggy things. Sadly, times have changed and scumbagness does not discriminate against Jews or anyone else. It is a very diverse club, with, apparently and unfortunately, a growing membership.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
