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Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the only remaining presidential candidate of the two major parties to ignore an invitation
to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual Policy Conference last week.  What was he thinking?  (Photo/Mother Jones)

 
A resident of Hymietown
 
By Bjarne Rostaing
 
Presidential aspirants got a wonderful opportunity to kiss the AIPAC ring at their 2016 Policy Conference last week, and did so expertly.

It’s not as easy as it might seem, and groveling may be necessary, as with Lord Trump’s backing away from the ridiculous idea of neutrality in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

There is also the issue of how wet the AIPAC kiss should be, how long, how passionate… and how ridiculous.

The one thing that is absolutely unacceptable is to ignore the Policy Conference altogether, yet this is exactly what Bernie Sanders did.

The fact that he’s Jewish makes it all the more stupefying. Just keep campaigning? Is he mad? Has he lost his mind up there in the Vermont boonies?

But that’s what he did, and from this Sea of Tranquility rose a huge gaseous bubble no one wants to talk about because of the smell.

Being myself a resident of Hymietown — a/k/a New York, as Jesse Jackson so named it — I know lots of Jews, and I know that a lot of them aren’t crazy about AIPAC, the Israeli settlements, dual-citizen- ship, Bibi (Netanyahu), or the Israeli Prime Minister’s in-the-presidential-face address to the U.S. Congress a while back.

They know there’s a not so Silent Majority of the Non-Chosen that questions how much money should be pumped into that nation’s thriving economy, and that some of these natives are getting restless.

That is more than significant.

WHO KISSED THE RING BEST?

Still, it’s not easy to say who kissed the ring best.

These are our cream-of-the-crop politicians, and on any given day any of them could win the prize.

Hillary was the “professional,” touching all the bases, reminding everyone of her record at length. Inspiring she was not, but reassuring to the max.

Kasich, whose foreign policy is even more bellicose than required, spoke with more juice, and probably upped his rating.

But it was the Senator from Texas who reminded us why he is both a debating champion and a committed Christian of the new school.

Cruz drove home with passionate, scholarly excellence his commitment to Israel. It was impressive, and for once I believed he actually meant what he said.

But that Bernie — what was it in him that enabled him to ignore this ring-kissing?

Some sense that Netanyahu represents an arrogance that can’t be ignored? …or succeed long-term?

NUT-JOB ARABS AND RANDOM STABBINGS

Some sense that all the rockets those nut-job Arabs fire, and all the random stabbings, are meaningless?

An intuition that Israel has just lost too much support from the UN and the world generally, and from non-religious Americans in particular? That dual-citizenship is a two edged sword?

Whatever… Bernie no kissa da ring.

Thissa Bernie, he’sa been right a few times an’ he still there. Maybe take a look.

He’s no Muslim, Bernie Sanders — he’s a Brooklyn Jew with his feet on the ground. And his level of honesty is pretty appalling in a serious presidential candidate.

Appealing too, especially this election year.
 
bfrostaing@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
EDITOR’S NOTE: 

“Inside Pitch” is a Voice of Baltimore commentary/opinion column authored by various contributors, along with VoB editors and staff.  It has been a regular feature of this website since 2013.
 
Founded in the early 1950s, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (a/k/a AIPAC) is a lobbying group advocating pro-Israel policies to the United States Congress and Executive Branch. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations, it has over 100,000 members and 17 regional offices, and describes itself as a bipartisan organization.

Politicians addressing the 2016 AIPAC Policy Conference included Democratic and Republican presidential front-runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump; as well as Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat; and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a Republican. GOP Candidates John Kasich and Ted Cruz also addressed the conference.

^[3]  Bjarne (Barney) Rostaing is the author of Epstein’s Pancake, a novel published by St. Mark’s Press and available for purchase on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble — click here ^[4]  and  here ^[5].

He was an editor at the SoHo Weekly News, won a First Place AFI Award for a sports video, and worked with Uma Thurman in her film debut in “Kiss Daddy Goodnight” (1987).  As a sports writer, Rostaing exposed — in Sports Illustrated — the 1984 U.S. Olympic blood doping scandal.

His earlier works include Breeders (St. Mark’s Press/2011), a crime novel set in the world of horse racing; Phantom of the Paradise (Dell), based on the 1974 horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma; and Bill Walton’s Total Book of Bicycling (Bantam Books/1985).

Originally from Bantam, Conn., the “Red Diaper Baby” lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y.

To learn more about Epstein’s Pancake,  click here ^[6].