Eric Cantor - American First

Eric Cantor, the House Republican Majority leader, lost his re-election bid. I'm totally fine with that. I am staunchly against his politics and policies. However, what struck me were the two different tones regarding his defeat.

National American media outlets spoke of his job, his history, his campaign, what his loss means to politics in general and the Republicans and Tea Party specifically.

Israeli and local Jewish media outlets spoke about him being the last Jewish republican in the House.

America won and tribalism lost.

This disparate method of framing the conversation, those discussing politics and those discussing religion, reveals why America is great and why tribal logic is so dangerous.

To Americans, Erica Cantor was an American politician. To Jews, mostly around the world as few Jews are present in his district, he was a Jewish politician.

America has shown that assimilation and integration creates equality. Now compare that to Israel - a theocratic, autocratic, semi-democracy, run on the concept of tribalism and at war since its founding because of racial, ethnic, gender, and religious differences.