MY SAY: REMEMBERING BETTER “TIMES”
To those who complain about the NY Times but continue to subscribe I say…”get over it and stop reading it….” I did and other than a peek at the obituaries I don’t miss it…..rsk
There were exceptions in high editorial positions even during the “worst of times.”
Abraham Michael Rosenthal, who became know as “A.M.” or “Abe” to his friends was was the executive editor (1977–88) and columnist (1987–1999). His columns “On My Mind” were critical of the left and supportive of Israel. He was edged out in 1999 and wrote columns for the New York Daily News until 2004. He died in 2006.
William Safire, who died in 2009 joined the New York times in 1973 as a political columnist after a stint as President Nixon’s speechwriter. He never failed to defend Israel, especially during the Lebanon War when the media went viral with criticism. Among his many bon mots he called Hillary Clinton “a congenital liar.”
Here are his words in 2002 in a column entitled “The Israeli Choice” (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/25/opinion/the-israeli-choice.html)
”
I’m a shtarker. This Yiddish word, rooted in the German stark, ”strong,” is defined by the lexicographer Sol Steinmetz as ”a strong-minded person willing to wield power.”
This week, 300,000 members of Israel’s hard-line Likud Party will choose as their candidate one of two shtarkers: Prime Minister Ariel (Arik) Sharon and Foreign Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu.
The dovish Labor Party last week swung far left: its candidate, Amram Mitzna, promises to divide Jerusalem, uproot all settlers and re-offer all other concessions Yasir Arafat spurned two years ago. Likudniks scorn him as ”Yossi Beilin with a beard,” a reference to the ever-hopeful architect of the Oslo disaster.
That means that the party of the shtarkers will win the parliamentary election in January. But which shtarker will be in charge, and does it matter?
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