Norman Podhoretz, one of the original neoconservatives, just wrote a 352-page book asking Why Are Jews Liberals? To Podhoretz, and to many others, it's a mystery why Jews remain loyal to the Democratic Party and continue to avoid aligning with today's Southern-based GOP. After all, many Jews fall into a demographic—higher income, suburban, professional—that has tended to align with the GOP. And recent Republican administrations have been aggressively pro-Israel (at least when Israel happens to be governed by a right-of-center coalition). Plus, Republicans have pretty much purged the folks who make unfortunate stereotypical comments about Christians' elder brothers in faith. Well, pretty much.

In a letter to The Times and Democrat (Orangeburg) on Sunday, two South Carolina Republican officials defended Sen. Jim DeMint from charges that he had opposed earmarks that would have benefited the Palmetto state.

"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves," wrote Edwin O. Merwin Jr. and James S. Ulmer Jr., chairman of the Bamberg County and Orangeburg County Republican Parties, respectively. "By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation's pennies and trying to preserve our country's wealth and our economy's viability to give all an opportunity to succeed."

Oy vey!