 OCTOBER 1 • 2020 | 5

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for openers
Let’s Chill
A

s you’
re reading this, I’
m making final 
arrangements to be cryogenically fro-
zen until after the election. The only 
remaining decision I have to make is at what 
date in the future I should be 
thawed.
Should I wake up when a 
final result is in or would it be 
more interesting to wait 50 or 
100 years to see what shape our 
country is in? Considering how 
long the 2020 vote count could 
take, I’
m at high risk for freezer 
burn.
If I’
m thawed out only to find everything 
else is frozen, then I’
ll know the Lions finally 
won a Super Bowl.
With an epic election just a few weeks 
away, I recall a fond quasi-political moment 
from my past. My son and daughter were 
assigned to portray presidents Gerald Ford 
and Ronald Reagan, respectively, for a third-
grade classroom presentation. My kids shared 
the same teacher and assignment, albeit four 
years apart.
They dressed up as their Commander-in-
Chief and shared details of their policies and 
personalities during their time in office. My 
wife and I attended their classroom presen-
tations and let me say, we were a very proud 

First Family.
Their teacher has since retired, but can 
you imagine the challenge in today’
s raging, 
politically divisive environment of trying 
to prepare a third-grade student for such a 
presentation? Would it surprise you in the 
least if some parents objected to their child 
portraying a leader of a particular party or 
candidate?
For the last 30 years, I’
ve written unre-
strained but respectful political satire and 
parody for radio and print. It’
s always been 
even-handed, equal opportunity, bipartisan 
humor during a time when people still had 
the ability to laugh at each other and them-
selves.
But four years ago, prior to our last pres-
idential election, in this very newspaper, I 
begrudgingly started offering what was essen-
tially a disclaimer for my “humorous” polit-
ical musings. In the Oct. 6, 2016, JN I said: 
“I’
ve noticed folks are a having a tougher time 
laughing at political humor, but I hope you 
enjoyed what I considered a little bipartisan 
humor.
” It was as if I had the need to apolo-
gize in advance, which is really a speed bump 
on the road to creativity. 
I found some solace and hope in a Sept. 20 
op-ed for the Washington Post by U.S. Secretary 
of Labor Eugene Scalia, who wrote about the 

unique and enduring relationship between his 
father, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, 
and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“The two justices had central roles in 
addressing some of the most divisive issues 
of the day, including cases on abortion, same-
sex marriage and who would be president,
” 
wrote Eugene Scalia. “Not for a moment did 
one think the other should be condemned or 
ostracized. More than that, they believed that 
what they were doing 
— arriving at their own 
opinions thoughtfully and advancing them 
vigorously — was essential to the national 
good.
”
I would like to think I can continue to 
write humorously with that same freedom of 
expression. 
In the meantime, as for my impending 
cryogenically frozen journey, I have only one 
wish upon my revival — that I wake up to a 
country at peace — with itself.
Pardon me, I do have a second wish. I hope 
upon reawakening I don’
t go down in the 
record books as the first person to come out 
of suspended animation showing a weight 
gain. 

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting talent, 
speaker, and emcee. Visit laughwithbigal.com,“Like” Al 
on Facebook or email amuskovitz@renmedia.us.

Alan 
Muskovitz

Let’
s Return to Civility
Thank you for Seth Gould’
s guest column, 
“
A Call for Unity,” in the Sept. 17 of the 
Jewish News (page 5). In my mind, this was 
the best article in the paper. 
I used to be able to have good conversations 
with people who did not share my viewpoints 
as it helps me to either solidify my viewpoint 
or modify it according to other people’
s opin-
ions. However, this is no longer possible in this 
age where, instead of discussing issues, people 
seem to relish in name-calling and insults if 
you do dare to disagree with them.
I believe that people can have differenc-
es of opinion and both sides have rational 
reasons for their opinions. It does not mean 
that the other person is stupid or just doesn’
t 
understand. I am hoping that this is the year 
that we return to civility in our country. 

— Judy Ancell

Farmington Hills

Shame on Nessel
It’
s amazing what Noah Arbit, chair of the 
Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, will 
say to defend a fellow Democrat (Sept. 17, 
page 42). What Dana Nessel said in com-
paring Trump to Hitler was outlandish and 
inappropriate. 
 Arbit accused President Trump of dem-
agoguery, however. I hear false claims and 
promises by both parties to gain power in 
the upcoming election. He accused Trump of 
persecuting minority groups. Where is your 
proof, Noah Arbit? I think you need to study 
the real atrocities of Nazi Germany before 
you make these false comments to save Dana 
Nessel.

— Doreen Lichtman

Orchard Lake

Attorney General Dana Nessel’
s reported 
comments comparing Donald Trump to 
Adolph Hitler, whom she extolls as being 
able to read and write and brave, shows 
that she has little or no knowledge of the 
Holocaust. 
 Besides apparently not knowing about 
or dismissing the murder of 6 million Jews, 
Nessel, who is also Michigan’
s first openly 
gay attorney general, must not be aware that 
the Nazis sentenced some 50,000 gay men, 
most to prisons but about 5,000 were sent to 
concentrations camps. I don’
t see how any 
reasonable person could compare Trump’
s 
actions to Hitler. Even if Nessel despises 
Trump, this type of ignorant, if not insensi-
tive discourse is unbefitting of a high-level 
state official. 

— Lee Schostak

Beverly Hills

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