No longer a jury of our peers
May 12, 2010
Supreme court nominee Kagan — who is replacing the only Protestant on the court — spoke at a funeral in 2008 and conveyed a “very strong sense of Jewish identity, a strong commitment to her history and her people and her background,” said Rabbi Yael Ridberg of the Reconstructionist West End Synagogue, where Kagan’s parents were active.
I wonder, who are Kagan’s people? Will the American population, which is only 2% Jewish, be her people? She will become the second Jewish judge on the Supreme Court. The U.S. is a majority Protestant population that now has no representation on the nation’s highest court.
I do not think that I am one of Kagan’s people. I am not a Jew, I did not grow up in a wealthy Manhattan family, I did not attend Princeton or Harvard. In fact, 98% of the American people do not fall into any of these categories. The fact is, Kagan has led a secular Jewish life and she is not one of my peers.
It has become painfully clear the Obama administration cares more about where you went to school and less about what the average American needs and wants. It has also become clear that the Obama administration will make the important decisions for us. We just need to work, pay our taxes and shut-up.
CJR
