I discuss the Jewish vote, race-bending, and Michele Bachmann with Dave Weigel:
A couple of things: I do think that some Jews are put off by some religious Republicans' devotion to Israel, but I think it probably has less to do with superficial cultural differences than I suggested and more to do with a sense that the right's love for Jews is exploitative and not exactly sincere, since after all, how much can you like me if you ultimately think I'm going to hell for not believing in Jesus? The best analogy I can think of is white liberals who go out of their way to befriend a black person not because they're friendly or polite but because they're trying to prove something.
As for race-bending and geek culture, I think I've said this before, but I suspect some white geeks are really protective of the canonical race of superheroes and the like because comic books and fantasy involve so much vicarious projection. In other words, while it's easy to imagine themselves having superpowers, it's harder to imagine having superpowers and also being black. So the nontraditional casting of superheroes alienates them from a culture they're attracted to in part because -- let's face it -- they already feel alienated from the mainstream. Although geekdom is a lot more legit than it used to be, and a lot more geeks are black. So I'm optimistic.
