Israelis For Kerry, Jews For Kerry, and Israeli Jews for Kerry
Allison Kaplan Sommer, usually so reasonable, now feels that Rhenquist's recent illness thoroughly vindicates her vote for Kerry. But Slate's solidly liberal law guru Dalia Lithwick says that's just silly:
The possibility of Rehnquist stepping down also crystallizes how oversimplified the recent arguments about the power of Supreme Court appointments really are. Suddenly this "four-seats-to-fill-with-whatever-maniac-he-likes" rhetoric is shown to be at least somewhat lacking in nuance. Because if Rehnquist steps down, and President Bush is re-elected, the 5-4 balance on the current court would remain unchanged. In fact, Bush might arguably have a hard time confirming someone as conservative as Rehnquist in the current Senate climate—meaning that the net effect of a retirement could be a more moderate court, even with Bush in office.
So it seems it's back that, for at least one left-of-center Israeli blogger, it might be back to the pangs of conscience for voting for the less... err... reliable candidate.
On the other hand, some American Jews have finally decided to vote on Israel:
This year, for probably the first time, Orthodox Jews will vote like "traditionalist" Christians. Conservative, Reform and non-affiliated Jews, on the other hand, will vote like secular, or "modernist," Christians. And the Jewish vote, in a meaningful sense, will cease to exist. George W. Bush deserves much of the credit...
Increasingly, America, or at least white America, has just two political cultures: religious and secular. And next week Jews -- who have held out longer than their Christian brethren -- will finally choose sides.
The possibility of Rehnquist stepping down also crystallizes how oversimplified the recent arguments about the power of Supreme Court appointments really are. Suddenly this "four-seats-to-fill-with-whatever-maniac-he-likes" rhetoric is shown to be at least somewhat lacking in nuance. Because if Rehnquist steps down, and President Bush is re-elected, the 5-4 balance on the current court would remain unchanged. In fact, Bush might arguably have a hard time confirming someone as conservative as Rehnquist in the current Senate climate—meaning that the net effect of a retirement could be a more moderate court, even with Bush in office.
So it seems it's back that, for at least one left-of-center Israeli blogger, it might be back to the pangs of conscience for voting for the less... err... reliable candidate.
On the other hand, some American Jews have finally decided to vote on Israel:
This year, for probably the first time, Orthodox Jews will vote like "traditionalist" Christians. Conservative, Reform and non-affiliated Jews, on the other hand, will vote like secular, or "modernist," Christians. And the Jewish vote, in a meaningful sense, will cease to exist. George W. Bush deserves much of the credit...
Increasingly, America, or at least white America, has just two political cultures: religious and secular. And next week Jews -- who have held out longer than their Christian brethren -- will finally choose sides.
