
Of Course I Would Vote For Bernie Sanders
Apologies to those readers who prefer reports about the latest 1782 cases and Hague Service Convention news, but as you can imagine if you read the news, politics is becoming all-consuming here and it’ll stay that way at least through early March. The convention wisdom has it that Sen. Bernie Sanders is now the Democratic frontrunner. He is not my first choice for Democratic nominee. He is not my second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth choice. For the most part his policies are not my preferred policies, and in some cases I find his views unsettling and very concerning. On the one hand, a Jewish major party nominee would be a real milestone, and Sanders is recognizably Jewish and has views and an outlook characteristic of a recognizable, though somewhat fringe, corner of the Jewish community. I reject the views of those who doubt his Jewish bona fides. On the other hand, his substantive views on Jewish issues are, ironically, atrocious, and his attacks on AIPAC, his use of antisemitic figures as campaign proxies, and the ridiculous and unacceptable behavior of some of his supporters is beyond the pale. (more…)