Let’s Be Clear. When the Right says “George Soros”, they mean “Jews”.

Almost everybody has a last name. Some, like Sting, Madonna, Cher and, apparently now Ye, don’t actually use them. But they all came into the world with one.

For most people, whatever last name they have is largely irrelevant to the path of their life. You can be a proud O’Malley or Simmons or Asgeirsdottir, but it probably doesn’t impact how your typical Thursday goes all that much. Although, in fairness, the name Asgeirsdottir probably does make it harder to place a collect call or pick up a Starbucks order.

The last name “Leach” is, in some ways, an exception to this general rule. First, having your name pronounced (but NOT spelled!) the same as a slimy, blood-sucking insect, did present a lot of opportunities for comedic brilliance to my classmates in elementary school, and, unsurprisingly, grown adults who disagree with me on Facebook.

The other significant difference my last name made in my life was giving me a deep insight into anti-semitism in America. This is because I was born, and have always been, Jewish. However, the name my father randomly chose when he sired me (a long story, for another day) disguises my Jewish heritage. As a result, people who meet me don’t suspect that I am Jewish, and thus have often felt free to let their bigot flag fly.

There are dozens of stories I could tell: The guy who was buying my car who assured me that he wasn’t going to “Jew you down” (imagine my relief!), or the woman on a dinner cruise who explained how all of the Jews who worked at the World Trade Center “just happened” to call in sick on 9/11. I replied that all the Jews on the Titanic also just happened to go parasailing just before it hit the iceberg. I told her this to illustrate how preposterous her story was. But it turns out, she actually believed me and started a “Titanic Truther” Tik-Tok group.

Then there was the cute girl I met at a frat party when I was in college who told me the biggest problem with our school was that “there are way too many Jews here”. Despite this shocking display of prejudice, I didn’t immediately abandon my efforts to hit on her. That didn’t happen until a half hour later when she started making out with my roommate. Hey! I’m not saying I’m proud of it!