There was another thread recently on Mudcat regarding commemmorating Auschwitz (and other) mass murder in which there was more than one comment on whether there was a point in re-hashing Jewish consciousness of terror, loss and grief. That thread went rather well I thought but here I am tempted to make such a comment myself because I think possibly both sides demean the reference by utilizing it in rather off-hand personal jibes. In these cases, in America, which do occur, and have personally occurred to me, I treat it strictly as one-on-one, because nine times out of ten the remark is thoughtlessly generated out of temporary stupidity, fatigue, or a misplaced attempt to be humorous. I have been personally as prone to error in this regard as anyone else.

This affair makes me want to give each of the participants a little shake and the question: "Are the next words out of your mouth going to make things better or not?"

There was a Seinfeld episode where he rather cruelly tricks his uncle into breaking up with his girlfriend on the (made-up) pretext that she is an anti-semite. After the damage is done, Seinfeld realizes he has made things worse for himself and he works on his uncle to get back with her. "But she's an anti-semite!" the uncle says. Seinfeld gives him a look and says "Can you blame her?"