The Doctor Weighs In

Cantor '08: the South's Best Hope?

Today the Republican Party sits in complete disarray, split between the pure secularism of the Neoconservatives and the latent anti-Semitism of the Religious Right. Is there a figure who can weave together these disparate tendencies for electoral triumph in '08? I submit there is ... I submit that Rep. Eric Cantor of Richmond is that very man ... and the *clear* choice for running-mate on the McCain ticket. His youth alone is enough to cause the Obama enthusiasts to shake in their Birkenstocks.

The loss of the South during the American Civil War is instructive with regard to the Middle East today. As the inspired anti-Stalinist Leon Trotsky stated long ago, a truly successful revolution myst be GLOBAL in scope ... and surrender is not an option.

COWARDICE IN HIGH PLACES
Consider the cave-in by advertisers and network executives over on-air remarks by Don Imus. In the Spring of 2002, James S. Hans said as much about "poet" Maya Angelou and no one batted an eye. Why? Because it was mere months after 9/11 when Americans still shared a sharper sense of priorities, back when America knew who the *real* enemy was (Palestinians, al-Qaeda, ad nauseam). Unlike most of the flavor-of-the-month club (read Obama, Obama, Obama), the Honorable Eric Cantor hasn't forgotten.

On the race issue in general, the positions of the highest exemplars of Hebrew-Americana (the late Irving Howe and CUNY Professor Michael E. Levin) aren't that far apart. It is folly to disregard differences in nature within the human species. No one with an elementary background in biology would deny the Negro's basic humanity, but those of us who, historically, have tried to help are treated increasingly to base ingratitude. Instead of "thank you," we are taunted instead with cries of "bloodsucker." Do we deny the Black Man's contribution to culture? Heavens, no ... but many of their most towering figures are either old or in the grave: Ornette Coleman was then, John Zorn is *now*.

THE EXAMPLE OF REAGAN
Political scientists agree that it was Ronald Reagan in 1980 who broke, once and for all, the Democratic Party's hold on the South. And it's no coincidence that Reagan was a great and dear friend to the Jewish people, appointing Elliott Abrams, a man who continues to serve this nation with honor. But that was nearly 30 years ago and the South longs for a native son on the national ticket with both unassailable conservative principals and a blood connection to Ancient Israel. Southerners and Judaics are, after all, a right and natural fit given our shared Old Testament values. And the symbolic value of Richmond, the city Eric Cantor proudly calls home, is not without significance:

"When the Civil War came, most Jewish families sent their sons to serve proudly in the Confederate Army. As the human costs of the war escalated, a section in Hebrew Cemetery on Shockoe Hill became the last resting place for many soldiers. They lie in the only known Jewish military cemetery outside Israel. The very unusual cast-iron cemetery fence was designed by Richmond artist William B. Myers and for years after the war the Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association decorated the graves of the fallen each May in a well-attended and moving ceremony."

The Jews have survived thousands of years of pain and invective, far beyond that of any Native American, Armenian or West African. Who has endured the hatred inspired by the notorious forgery known as The Protocals? Who continues to suffer the slings and arrows of the hoax circulating in many Christian Bibles as Revelation 3:9? They call us "Scythian," "Khazar" and every other infamy they can lay their imaginations upon, all without a shred of evidence. It is high time we had a standard bearer on the national ticket - someone less wishy-washy than the unreliable Joe Lieberman - a man unafraid to declare - in his bearing, if not in word - that the Ashkenazim are every bit as legitimate as the 25,000 Jews living in Iran, a nation that, officially, worships the G-d of Abraham, but - in fact - prays to the moon rock enshrined in Mecca.

In short, this is the time to let Candidate McCain know how you feel about Eric Cantor. McCain may have several paths to the White House, but Cantor represents the most reliably CONSERVATIVE one. Help keep the South solid by supporting a ticket that will work to protect and maintain our Judeo-Christian values and institutions, the very BEDROCK of our nation.

thank you,
Lynn Barco
former volunteer coordinator
The Museum of the Confederacy