Bail for Jews with means

Debbie Schlussel has herself in knots over this story about the U.S. Attorney's office in Cedar Rapids seeking to deny bail to Sholom Rubashkin, who stands accused of multiple counts of violating federal statute on hiring illegal aliens in the now-defunct Agriprocessors plant.

I am NOT--nor is this Rubashkin dude--a citizen of Israel. I don't hold dual citizenship, nor do most Jews in America--5.2 million of us.

And, aside from that, America has an extradition treaty with Israel and for the most part has returned defendants to justice here. On the other hand, we have no such treaty with Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Somalia, and all of the other Muslim countries with a few million living here. Many Muslim criminals have fled to those countries to escape justice here.

No, we are not. But I know that, if I so desired, I could become a citizen of Israel yesterday if I had the means. And Schlussel must be aware that this sort of thing has happened before. Whether or not Israel complies with an extradition, it is a pain in the ass. And I am sure that if Rubashkin made it to Israel, it would be more than difficult to get him out.

I hate that our immigration laws were enforced on the back of the kosher industry. But the Rubashkins have themselves to blame for this crisis. And we consumers of kosher food are the ones who suffer. Meanwhile, Schlussel saves venom for...Muslims. This is the sort of bigotry that antisemites use against Jews, and if you can read her blog without barfing, it is there in spades.

But apparently, right before we start celebrating the mighty Channukah story, the Justice Department bigots don't get this. With a ton of Muslims fleeing to Arab countries every time they commit a crime, who is the Justice Department seeking to deny bail for? The Jews, that's who.

Yes, that's right: treat me special because I'm a Jew. We're so downtrodden in this country that we reserve the right to take on another citizenship when we are accused of crimes that we obviously committed.

Look, the WSJ and Schlussel may think that this applies to all Jews. No. Just Jews with means and clear intent. I don't think that the State of Israel would be interested in granting sudden citizenship to Americans accused of crimes. Sheinbein's case was complicated by the fact that he was already Israeli. Rubaskin's case is ocmplicated by the fact that he is no ordinary shmoe, and has means and connections. Don't worry, Debby, you and I are just ordinary shmoe Jews. We'll get bail if we're arrested.