What Goes Around Comes Around...

Several Observations:

Supreme Court justice Sam Alito could be seen mouthing the words "not true" as Obama excoriated the court for its decision in in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, but why is he surprised? Confirmed as a self described "non-activist" judge during his confirmation hearings, Alito was part of the five to four majority that overturned a hundred years of settled law on campaign finance law, opening the door to unlimited corporate spending in elections. In what world could this be a good idea? In truth, the door was cracked open some years ago (Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976) when the Supremes affirmed that writing a check is the same as political speech, which seems a dubious proposition, at best. This latest ruling should have us all worried about further perversions of the political process.


Sarkozy, the Burka, and Jewish History...
This week in France brought legislation aimed to outlaw the wearing of the Muslim full-body veil called the "Burka" for any woman wanting to access public services, e.g. at a gov't office, or a school, or a hospital, etc. I was struck by a historical irony. France is the very place where Jews were first offered the possibility of being citizens of a modern nation state. The year was 1793, the person making the offer was Napoleon, and the Jewish notables he had assembled were only to happy to accede to his demands: be a Jew at home and a Frenchman in the street. As long as Jews were willing to shed their distinctive rituals and habits, and swear never to become a fifth column with France, they were to be welcomed with open arms.

The values of "liberte, egalite, fraternite," still inform social discourse in France. Sarkozy is playing the same role defined by Napoleon: telling the newcomers that they are welcome as long as they are willing to "look like us."

While generations of our forebears made similar moves to shed
the distinctive clothing and culture of European Jewry when they President Sarkozy Napoleon Bonaparte
arrived at these shores, the ethos has changed markedly. Today,
most American Jews would identify attempts to outlaw the Burka as repressive and discriminatory. In France, however, they are following the script written two hundred years ago.