Dry Bones THE OF HOLIDAY
SUKKOT

Opinion

Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us .

Editorial

Campaign Countdown

T

he debates between Gov.
Jennifer Granholm and
Republican challenger
Dick DeVos generated their share
of heat. News media reports
even characterized some of their
exchanges as "nasty."
The main themes of the
30-second campaign ads were
reiterated. The accusations that
Granhoim "lost" a new Honda
plant to Indiana. That DeVos
had "exported" Michigan jobs to
China.
Both are fairly standard
attack ad hyperbole and really
shouldn't be taken seriously by
an informed voter. But there are
important things to watch for in
the final weeks of the race
for governor.
It doesn't take a degree
in political science to
understand that in the
Michigan of 2006, the
economy is the essential
issue. People are fright-
ened and they are looking
for leadership, some indication
that the state's chief executive
knows where the leverage points
are for change.

From DeVos, look for specifics
on how the governor may have
failed to take advantage of her
leadership role. What more could
she have done when the state
economy went into the tank? Did
she work as effectively as she
might have with the Republicans
who control both houses of the
state Legislature? Can she point
to any substantive achievements?
From Granholm, watch for her
take on how business experience
is a poor preparation for public
service. Does DeVos under-
stand the difference between
maximizing profits for a private
enterprise and governing for the
benefit of an entire state? How

These issues can be expected
to take up the lion's share of
the debates. But there are other
issues that concern Jewish vot-
ers, and most of them revolve
around the social and religious
agenda.
DeVos made the closest thing
to a blunder in the campaign
by seeming to express support
for local school boards deciding
on whether intelligent design
should be taught in science
classes. His views on abortion
rights and separation of church
and state also may trouble
Jewish voters.
Will there be an attempt
to clarify his stands on these

FOR THOUSANDS OP
GENERATIONS, THE
JEWISH PEOPLE HAS
WITHDRAWN FROM THE
OUTSIDE WORLD TO SIT
IN LITTLE HUTS CALLED
SUKKAS

AND THIS YEAR WE
SHOULD GATHER IN
THE WARMTH OP OUR
CULTURE AND ENJOY
THE VIEW INSIDE.

SOMETIMES THE
WEATHER OUTSIDE IS
PLEASANT AND SOME-
TIMES IT'S NOT. „

/1=//fe
BECAUSE THIS YEAR, z,
OUTSIDE, A GREAT
STORM IS BREWING.

DryBonesBlog.com

It doesn't take a degree in political science
to understand that in the Michigan of 2006
the economy is the essential issue.

will he deal with the bureau-
cracy, and what specifically can
he do to turn the state's economy
around?

issues? Granhoim herself came
under fire from some Catholic
organizations for support of
abortion rights in 2002. Has

she modified that position at
all? And how will an expected
U.S. Supreme Court decision on
partial-birth abortion impact
Michigan?
Some expansion and clarifi-
cation are necessary before we
head to the voting booth next
month. The rest of the campaign,
including one more debate, will

give the candidates the oppor-
tunity to do that. Hopefully, they
will generate a bit more light
than heat. 11

E-mail letters of no more than 150

words to:

lettersc, thejewishnews.com.

Reality Check

Welcome To Grouchy Town

S ometimes when I think
about Detroit what
comes to mind is an old
movie, Casbah. Charles Boyer
plays the role of a thief who can-
not return to his beloved Paris. So
he consoles himself by reciting
stops on the Metro from memory.
Invalides ... Latour-Maubourg
... Ecole Militaire ... Champs de
Mars.
I walk the blocks of my child-
hood in similar dreams. I can
reel off the progression of Detroit
streets running from Chicago
Boulevard to Davison or from
Livernois to Greenfield, with far
more assurance than the name of
the street two blocks away in my
subdivision.
I don't believe these are just
meaningless rambles along the
sidewalks of nostalgia. Maybe it's
a way of holding on to something.
When Hudson's turns into

Marshall Field for five minutes
and then suddenly ifs Macy's, you
begin to feel that all the things
that once made Detroit Detroit,
and not a half dozen other hard-
used rust belt towns, are slipping
farther away.
Big things like the Bob-Lo
boats and Tiger Stadium; little
things like kids yelling "Help the
Poor" instead of "Trick or Treat"
on Halloween and asking for
"pop" instead of "soda."
National media, franchises and
mergers keep turning somewhere
into everywhere. About the only
place you find strong regional
traditions anymore are at college
football games. When you see the
Boomer Sooner wagon rumble
down the sidelines at Oklahoma,
or the Tennessee crowd sings
"Rocky Top',' you are glimpsing a
living slice of local color.
That's why I tend to get grouchy

when someone doesn't
get it right.
A recent newspaper
article, for example,
described an address
on the 3000 block of
Monterey Street in
Detroit, as being "right
around the corner"
from Central High
School.
That would be some
corner. The address is somewhere
between Lawton and Wildemere,
a good four blocks from the
school. I know. I walk them in my
dreams.
I think that is among the
reasons behind the growing dis-
satisfaction with the local daily
papers. Their news operations
are increasingly in the hands of
executives from somewhere else
who do not know the territory or
the texture of this city, the things

that make it different
than just another
link in their chains.
To be truthful, it
doesn't take all that
much to make me
grouchy, these days.
Almost any little
thing will do. That's:
one of the benefits
of getting older. You
don't need an excuse
to express your dislikes.
I don't like the music they
play at Pistons games. I think it's
the sort of thing that would be
defined as torture if played inces-
santly for prisoners of war.
I don't like movies in which
digitalized special effects are more
important than plot or character
development. That cuts down my
film-going schedule by about 95
percent.
I don't like people who become

celebrities because they make
fools of themselves on reality TV.
I don't like most TV commercials
either because they're loud and
stupid.
The hard truth of the matter
is that the people responsible for
these things don't care what I
think. The world is now ordered
for the sensitivities of 18-24 year
old males, which I haven't been
for a long time. The fact that they
seem to behaving a lot more fun
than I did when I was 18-24 years
old makes me even grouchier.
Opera ... Pyramides
Palais
Royal ... Pont Neuf.
Tuxedo ... Elmhurst ...
Monterey ... Richton.
Move over, Monsieur Boyer.
There's room for both of us. 7

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com.

October 12 0 2006

25