Cantor Confidential

We now know that in 1973, the "private" Richard Nixon spewed racist and anti-Semitic garbage. I say "private" because we hear the pronouncements he made in the Oval Office thanks to the non-stop recording device in his office. Abortion is a good thing for interracial pregnancies (I assume he meant black men impregnating white women) and - oh, yeah - for rape. Nice. Should there be an increase in anti-Semitism, it would all be the Jews' own fault because they were complaining about the increase in evangelical missionary work in the US. Nice. Apologists are minimizing his spouting filth - at least about Jews - by remarking his loyalty to the State of Israel, as though being an anti-Semite and being a supporter of Israel are mutually exclusive. I disagree. I believe that "Rev." John Hagee is an anti-Semite because he truly believes that we Jews only exist to provide for his desperately anticipated Armageddon - and I believe that he loves Israel for the sa...

Yeah, I know - pretty ridiculous posting this with my profile picture as it is - I just haven't had a chance to change the picture. One week and 4 days into "healing," and Stan and I saw the orthopedist this afternoon. Stan first: he is healing nicely (which, I have learned, is relative term - as in, "relative to not going off the bike..." or "relative to not having our insides ripped out ..." or relative to not getting on a motorcycle in the first place ...") and progressing exactly as the doctor wants. His knee, which had previously resembled something you'd see in one of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" or similar slice-and-dice movies, is actually looking much better. Prognosis is good - and he has about 4-6 weeks of absolutely NO weight-bearing on his left leg. The doctor says he can go back to work as long as he's comfortable and doesn't put any weight on the left leg. Stan's aiming for a shortened day on Monday so he ...

I'm just wondering how some things - like language trends - work. 1. When did "pro-choice" become *not* pro-life and indeed, "pro-death?" Could it be said that Bristol Palin is pro-choice (meaning pro-death in some circles), having said, “It doesn’t matter what my mom’s views are on it. It was my decision.” 2. When did "pro-Israel" come to exclude people who have a different POV on the situation? 3. When did the charge of "treason" come to mean something to pin on people opposed to one president's policies, but not another's? 4. When did "wait and see" become wink-wink-nudge-nudge for "appeasement?" 5. When did "kol Yisraeil aravim zeh la-zeh" - all Israel is responsible for one another - become code word for racism? 6. When did being intelligent and having the ability to think something through become code word for elite, which has become code for evil? Just wondering. Thoughts are welcome.

No sooner had the weather turned decent than the local newspaper declared "Return of motorcycle season in Connecticut kickstarts old helmet law debate." And just as predictably, the online comments kickstarted the usual "evil nanny Government" responses. Here's how I responded: "You don't want to wear a helmet, jacket, whatever? Fine. But hear this: when you hit the road, your skin will be destroyed along with your limbs. Sound too dramatic? My husband and I were involved in an accident last week when a car turned left in front of us. My husband, the driver, "laid the bike down" and we - and the bike on top of us on its side - went skidding down the rode. My ankle is broken, his leg was badly broken (requiring surgery). The good news? Had we not been wearing helmets, reinforced jackets, heavy-weight pants and boots, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that we would have suffered much, much worse - trauma to our brains and internal organs, ...

Dolls 1: There she is, smiling, sweet, happy, clutching her live cabbage patch doll to her graduation cap and gown. Bristol Palin has become the poster victim (or child, depending on your outlook) for a variety of strange-bedfellow policies and has been exploited by just about everyone who claims to love her. Her situation is an oxymoronic contradiction: the abstinence-only mentality colliding with “it doesn’t work;” teenagers needing real, solid and correct information on contraception colliding with “well, maybe we did it unprotected sometimes;” so-called “family values” colliding with a father from the wrong side of the tracks; the need for children to have both fathers and mothers in their lives colliding with the reality of a politician’s power to “negotiate” the rights of a father; and the sad reality of a teenager colliding with the perfect picture-bite on the cover of People magazine. So what is the message our teens are getting from this bizarre, contradictory media circus? Un...

The parsing has begun. The President's opponents and his supporters are ripping apart his words and finding fault. I heard his speech, and I am impressed with his words, especially considering that the President was walking on eggshells. Ever since election day, the knee-jerk opposition one liner has been: "No." They call the President deluded, naive and anti-Israel, and gleefully shout "AHA! We KNEW he was a secret Muslim" (the absolute racism and bigotry of comments like these cannot go unnoticed) because he can speak about the Koran with some intelligence. Well, you know something? I want a President who is familiar with the holy scriptures of one of the world's major religions. The knee-jerk opponents condemn and belittle his speaking at Cairo University because Egypt is not a bastion of democracy. Absolutely true, and Egypt is one of our allies, and enjoys a relatively decent relationship with Israel. Israelis and Egyptians move peacefully in and out of...