Opinion

Dry Bones ,‘'NmIfirEfif

Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us .

USING OUR HEZBOLLAH
ARMY IN LEBANON WE
WILL CHANGE THE
ARAB WORLD

THE ARAB MIDDLE 7
EAST WILL BECOME
MORE DIRECTED, MORE
ORGANIZED,

Editorial

Granholm's Challenges

I

n the climate of economic
uncertainty and anxiety
that defines Michigan in
2006, it would be gratifying to
give an enthusiastic endorsement
for the gubernatorial election.
Gratifying, but not possible
this time around.
In her four years in office,
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has yet
to exhibit the sort of leadership
her supporters had anticipated.
Some of this was a product of
the legislative branch being in
the hands of the opposition, and
some was the result of the mas-
sive restructuring of the automo-
tive industry. But that blime only
goes so far.
In stressful times, a chief
executive has to be more than a
political technician. People are
looking for reassurance, some
indication that tomorrow will
be brighter. Teddy Roosevelt
referred to it as the "bully pulpit,"
using a position of authority to
rally spirits and create a sense of
purpose. Granholm didn't take
advantage of that.
She exudes charisma in
personal meetings and is cer-

tainly among the most intelligent
people ever to hold the office in
Michigan. But somewhere along
the way, the connection got lost.
Much of this can be traced to the
fact that chief executives are only
as good as the people around
them. The governor has precious
few stars in her administration.
The responsibility for that falls
back on her. In trying to please
varied constituencies with her
appointments, she ended up
pleasing almost no one. As a
consequence, she has few solid
accomplishments to point to,
which is probably why her cam-
paign was based almost wholly
on attack ads.
Yet Dick DeVos has given us
little substantial evidence that he
can improve on her performance,
and a few unsettling indications
that his social agenda is too
heavily influenced by the reli-
gious right.
DeVos touts experience as a
businessman as his chief quali-
fication. He is correct in saying
that the state's business climate
is not what it should be and that
too much time has been squan-

dered getting it right. He also
is on the mark in charging the
governor with being painfully
slow off the mark in allocating
resources for the 21st Century
Jobs Fund, a vital $2 billion,
tobacco settlement-funded pro-
gram designed to nurture new
and high-tech companies.
But it doesn't necessarily fol-
low that business is the best
training ground for political
leadership, especially a business
that he did not establish and
build himself. It also is not at all
clear that DeVos understands
the difference between running
a business and dealing with
entrenched bureaucracies and
politicians with other agendas.
This is no time for on-the-job
training for a political neophyte.
His proposals have been woe-
fully short on specifics; and
when he gets outside his pre-
pared message, he has stumbled
badly, especially when asked
about issues of social policy. His
stands on stem-cell research, use
of school vouchers and church-
state separation give us concern.
Granholm has fallen short in

UNDER OURS LEADER-
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WILL BECOME MORE.. .
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a number of ways. But the 21st
Century Jobs Fund is, in fact,
gathering steam, with 61 pro-
posals offering employment to
3,100 people now being funded.
We also are willing to trust her
capacity to learn.
With the hope that four years
of experience has been the best
teacher, we endorse Jennifer

Granholm in the Nov. 7 general
election for a second term as
governor. II

it was by mistake,
but I doubt it. It was
the only trophy I
ever won and I miss
it intensely.
I spoke recently
to the Eddie Lake
Society — and
you'd have to go
back 60 years to
remember when he
played shortstop in
Detroit. This is a group of base-
ball diehards who meet every
month to talk and remember.
Jim Northrup is part of the
group, the man who got the
hit that won the 1968 Series; a
memory for a lifetime. I sat in
the press box, where no cheer-
ing is allowed, and when the ball
cleared Curt Flood's head I per-
mitted myself a small, "Oh, my
God" and prepared to write the
lead to my story.

It went something like: "You
people in Windsor looking across
the river for Detroit this morning,
don't bother. Because it isn't there.
It's seven heavens high, where all
dreams come true:'
Not bad for a punk kid; and my
current effort on the '06 Tigers,
Out of Nowhere, is now in local
bookstores.
I went to one of the playoff
games with the Yankees this time,
and a guy who looked to be about
20 was seated next to me. After
every Detroit run he insisted on
high-fiving me, with a slap so
enthusiastic I thought he was
going to take my arm off
He had never seen the Tigers
win anything before. That's worth
a sore shoulder. 7

Send letters of no more than 150

words to:

Ietters@thejewishnews.com.

Reality Check

Our Game, Our Team

T

he closest friends I ever
made were the ones I
played ball with.
As a kid on the Detroit fields of
endless summers at Central High.
As a college student in Saturday
morning games at Schulze
Elementary. As a member of the
Free Press team in the Monday
night Weary Wordsmith League
in Dearborn.
My father once told me the
only thing he minded about
growing old was that he couldn't
play ball anymore. I understand
completely, and, besides, he was
twice the player I ever was.
All my old ball-playing pals
were in touch during these last
weeks as the Tigers made their
miraculous run. The game gath-
ered us again from across the
country through the Internet, just
as if we were back at Schulze 45
years ago.

When my old friends and I
send e-mails now the talk is all
of prostates and hips, illness of
a mate, retirement, narrowing of
options. But these Tigers let us
be young again for a little while,
cheering wildly for the team of
our childhood. And I knew that
the shouts of joy in their family
rooms when Magglio hit his pen-
nant-winning homer were just as
loud as in my own.
We were in it vicariously, and
that's the wonderful thing about
baseball. More people understand
the game because they've played
it on some level. Once it gets a
grip on you, it never lets go.
The only stab at novel writing
I've ever made involves a softball
team playing in a neighborhood
that very much resembles the old
Central area in the early 1950s.
Write about what you know, is
the advice given to most writers. I

know about thi.
I haven't played in
more than 10 years,
since I was in an over-
40 pickup game behind
West Hills Middle
School on Sunday
mornings. When I
was still hurting on
Wednesday night, I
figured that I'd had
enough. If your mind
tells you to stretch a single into
a double and your body tells you
that you're insane, it's time to
quit.
I suppose there is something to
the male bonding business. I've
played in games that ended in a
fistfight, and I was the first-base-
man on the team that won the
1976 Weary Wordsmith champi-
onship, a link all of us cherish.
I saved that trophy for years
until Sherry threw it out. She said

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com .

October 26 • 2006

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