‘Here Be Monsters!’: The Mayor and The Munsters
“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.” – Jenseits von Gut und Base, Frederich Nietzsche (1886)
Supposedly, when ancient cartographers reached the limits of their knowledge, they warned their readers of the areas beyond by writing “Here Be Monsters!” [or “Dragons!” or “Lions!”] (The phrase was more recently popularized in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean.)
Their declaration of “Monsters!” certified their ignorance.
In the mid 60s, there was a popular TV-show The Munsters. It had higher ratings than its rival The Addams Family and was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best TV Series. (It lost to The Rogues.)
The joke was, Dracula and Frankenstein considered themselves a normal American family. Both are funny, worn and loving. Nevertheless, they’re viewed as monsters.
Not only was the show’s co-creator Bob Mosher Jewish, but the best-known character Grandpa, i.e., Dracula, was obviously Jewish. Portrayed by Al Lewis (born Avraham Meister, educated at Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, sent his son to Yeshiva), his appearance, mannerisms and inflections were obviously Jewish.
The truth is, though based on Christian Vlad the Impaler, Dracula has always been a metaphor for bloodsucking Jews.
When he first appears in the seminal 1931 film, he wears a necklace bearing an oversized Star of David. (Some claim, although identical to a Star of David, this is actually a “Starburst”and it’s purely coincidental he is introduced this way. Sure.)
Scholars confirm Dracula‘s author Bram Stoker, hated Jews. His 1897 book reflected George de Maurier’s 1894 Trilby, in which Jewish Svengali hypnotize and controls young Christian women. De Maurier attributes Svengali’s evil to his Jewishness. Stoker repeatedly limns Dracula having a “Beaky” or “Aquiline” nose, “His pockets full of gold” and “Ungodly.”Very subtle.
Trilby and Dracula, both exceedingly popular, promoted the “Blood Libel”, Jews murder Christians to consume their blood. Svengali and Dracula were both The Rogues, rich Jewish monsters defiling their innocent non-Jewish neighbors.
In the book Frankenstein, the oversized creation is actually no monster, but intelligent, articulate and loving. He saves a girl from drowning, secretly helps overworked farmers with their chores.
Yet, as in The Munsters, he is rejected as a monster by everyone, including his creator. The author Mary Shelley memorably makes the point the real monsters are the ignorant people attacking him.
Throughout history, Jews have been attacked, rejected, restricted from owning land, colleges, medical schools, country clubs, prestigious apartment buildings, investment banks, law firms, et al.
Thank God, much of that has dissipated, but when extant, the justifications, behind closed doors, were that Jews were avaricious, dishonest, cheap, duplicitous.
They were shunned, but no one called them “Monsters.”
That epithet was innovated by the mayor of the city with more Jews than any metropolis not named Tel Aviv. He updated “There be monsters!” to “Now is the time of monsters!”
Jews donating to a lobbying organization promoting candidates supporting the Jewish homeland are “Monsters” who “move millions in dark money to accomplish a single goal, to preserve their power so they can turn us against one another.”
The mayor’s solution? Turn everyone against these Jewish “Monsters.”
They “fund bad-faith attacks” and “Would rather spend far more on political organizations than they would ever be made to pay in taxes.”
In other words, if New York City has a budget crisis, it isn’t because of the mayor’s over-spending, or because he is driving wealthy taxpayers out of the city by vilifying them, but because these Jewish “Monsters” duplicitously avoid paying taxes, i.e., the Jews are still sucking our blood. Pretty clear what bad faith he is referring to.
According to the mayor, it is perfectly legitimate to fund lobbying organizations to promote anti-Israel candidates, the ones he supports, but if Jews dare to do the same thing, they are “Monsters.”
His inconsistency is consistent. He is perfectly comfortable with numerous Muslim countries operating under Sharia, Muslim law subordinating women, executing homosexuals, but a Jewish homeland is intolerable.
Might the significant increase in the physical and verbal abuse, even murder, of Jews, subsequent to his assuming office, have something to do with his vilification of Jews? Of course not. He “loves Jews.” It’s only those nefarious Jews who dare support the Jewish homeland who are “Monsters.”
If he and his cohorts succeed in eliminating the Jewish state, while he simultaneously makes New York City dangerous for Jews, where can Jews escape to?
He would smilingly respond, not his problem.
Like the cartographers, his declaration of “Monsters!” certifies his ignorance.
Grandpa Dracula Munster and Herman Frankenstein Munster were funny. Labeling Jews “Monsters!” is not.
Mary Shelley would point out who the real monster is.
Nietzsche would point out “I warned you.”
