Hamas War

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Elena Kagan, Obama's Kind of Jew

When I heard the announcement that United States President Barack Hussein Obama had nominated very Jewish named Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, my gut reaction was that she was chosen "to court the Jewish vote."  He has been losing Jewish support, but  it may backfire.

"It was on May 29 of last year that Kagan -- as U.S. solicitor general -- filed legal papers with the Supreme Court urging it not to hear arguments in a lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia brought by thousands of family members and other victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."  complete article (Hat tip: AJG)

I have no idea if Kagan's opponents can succeed in blocking her nomination.

Of course, being an expat, I'm not your typical American citizen.  I veered away from your standard Leftist Jewish American mind-set well over forty years ago, when Kagan was still in elementary school.  We have nothing in common, and everything I've read about her just confirms this.  I've long out-grown the gut-reaction pride at hearing an American Jew's success.

I see Elena Kagan as just another knee-jerk liberal, like Obama.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

i more or less agree with most of the sentiments you express here.
sometimes i surprise myself.
kagan scares me. i dont like her.

Batya said...

a, with Obama as US Pres, the world should be nervous, very nervous.

Keli Ata said...

I didn't recognize Kagan as a Jewish surname until I heard it mentioned on the news that she was Jewish.

While I tend to distrust anyone Obama nominates for anything, I'm a little worried about the Conservative response to Kagan's nomination--saying that if she's approved there won't be anymore Protestants on the Supreme Court.

I'm not sure if the Tea Party crew and Conservatives in general are up in arms because Obama selected her or because they don't want a Jew on the court.

Americans are trying to turn the Supreme Court in the Village People. We don't need diversity, we need sound and unbiased legal rulings on case laws. Period.

Keli Ata said...

That said: With the Jewish tide finally turning against Obama--even Charles Schumer condemning him for his mistreatment of Netanyahu--you have to worry about any Jewish person that cozy ups to an anti-Semite like Obama.

Batya said...

If I'm not mistaken, Kagan is a Russian way of writing Cohen, because the "h" in Russian is more "g."

Colony14Author said...

Kagan's religion is irrelevant, as if the fact that she is a lesbian. the problem is that she is a leftist with socialist leanings, who believes the Constitution is "defective," that traditional marriage has no "rational basis." She also did nothing to discipline Harvard Law School professors Lawrence tribe and Charles Ogletree after they got caught plagiarizing in books they had published. As Dean of the school Kagan should have tossed them out onto the street. But because they are both lefties she did nothing.

On the Supreme Court she will vote against American principles more often than not. She is as dangerous as Obama - perhaps even more so because she can't be voted out of office.

Read The Obama Timeline to learn how we got into this predicament.

Batya said...

Colony, unfortunately, American Jewry sees politics through very distorted lenses and no matter how problematic Kagan may be, will still feel proud that "she's one of us."

Keli Ata said...

Colony--you're right. Her religion has nothing whatsoever to do with her qualifications or suitability as a Supreme Court justice.

However, the mainstream media is making a bit to-do over the fact that if she's elected their won't be a single protestant on the court. Too many Jews and Catholics, they're implying.


It's perplexing and I really don't get why the media is making an issue about the religions of the justices. Very perplexing. Associated Press, CNN in particular are harping on this.


Batya--sad but true. Which is why I will post something critical of a Jewish politician--be it Bibi or Olmert--and then delete it because I feel guilty for bashing a Jew.

I'm a guilt magnet.

Bryan said...

Keli Ata, they made a big deal over Sonia Sotomayor bringing "diversity" to the bench, because "diversity" means that more points of view will be represented and that will mean more Americans will have a voice on the bench. How is a court made up entirely of Jews and Catholics (who together represent less than a third of the US population) giving a voice to the American people?

If gender and ethnic identity are important aspects of diversity, why isn't religion? And if religion is an important aspect of religion, why aren't the majority of Americans--who are Protestants--represented?

Batya said...

Keli, Bryan,
The "silent majority" Protestant has been losing out to the double-whammy of complacency and affirmative action. Minorities and women try harder, and minorities of the female gender even more. And Jews being such a tiny percentage of the American population is most disproportionately represented for all of those reasons.

Keli Ata said...

You should read the CNN and AP articles about it. It's all very strange.

Jews represent a small minority in the US so why is the liberal media arguing that three Jews on the court would be one Jew too many?

Sounds racist as all get out.


I'm not supporting Kagan's nomination but I do find the opposition to "another Jew" on the court racist.

Batya said...

Keli, good points. Have you written letters to the editor saying the same?

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
Yes, Kagan is a variation of Cohen. We have friends with that name. And yes, the Russian language frequently replaces an "h" with a "g".