Theopolitical Right to Texan Jews: Jews Need Not Apply

It's not that some Texas Republicans are anti-Semitic, it's just that they need a Christian in charge. A bunch of angry Texan evangelical Republicans are trying to replace House Speaker Joe Strauss, and aren't having much success. So:

And, not surprisingly, the effort has started to take on religious overtones:

[A] handful of outside socially conservative groups are running a fairly deceitful but noisy campaign trying to pressure lawmakers who actually like the speaker's management style to vote against him.

They blame him for the failure of the sonogram bill but the pro-life Texans for Life said the claim is false. They blame him for the failure of voter ID by permitting the Democratic filibuster, but that's false. Straus followed the direction of his colleagues in the Republican caucus

They said that Straus appointed moderate chairman, but the budget under Straus was more fiscally conservative than the last one under Craddick.

Now, the so-called grassroots effort has crossed over the line with coordinated email and robocall programs calling for a true Christian speaker. Straus is Jewish.

The Texas Freedom Network reports that supporters have also been sending out emails explaining the importance of replaced Straus with a Christian:

Has the religious right's effort to topple Texas House Speaker Joe Straus become an anti-Semitic smear campaign? Quorum Report (subscription required) has now posted various e-mails from groups and individuals opposed to Straus, who is Jewish. Excerpts:

"Straus is going down in Jesus name."

"[W]e finally found a Christian conservative who decided not to be pushed around by the Joe Straus thugs."

Another e-mail calls for replacing Straus as House Speaker so

"...that our nation will again prosper and hold to values that the Christians and Republicans hold so dear in their souls."

To my landsleit who think the theopolitical right are your political allies: they will never accept us. They practice exclusionary identity politics, and we are the excluded ones. They will turn on you. Zealots like these always do.

Another case: The frontrunner for the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Saul Anuzis, has defended a notorious bigot, Kyle Bristow, who among other things, invited a Holocaust denier to a Holocaust museum. That would make me feel welcome.