To celebrate Purim, one must go to hear the Scroll of Esther recited in the synagogue twice; once at night and once on the day of Purim (Jewish holidays start the night before). It is customary to dress up in a costume; it always cracks me up to see normally sane and sober judges, accountants, lawyers, doctors, professors, and other friends of mine dress like clowns, hippies, rock stars, burglars, etc. It is also required to gift your friends with bags containing at least two different kinds of goodies, and to donate charity to feed the poor. One overriding theme of Purim is to display wild joy at being saved from extermination; this takes many forms, but one of them is to put people on. By writing an article about a President Sanders (it should never happen to anyone!) and having vicious antisemites such as Tlaib and Omar in important cabinet positions, this article is such a put-on, it truly reads like a Purim spiel (a comically ridiculous Purim tale).
Wonderful commentary! As a Christian who grew up in a largely Jewish area and has studied the Hebrew Bible, I knew about Purim (Esther, Ahasuarus, Mordecai and Haman) and the tradition of costumes, but not the Purim spiels — thank you! And happy Purim!