Mats Normann responds to me in a dignified manner: >>And I am tired of hearing these flimsy excuses for Wagner's views. > >Is your famous wife having menstruation today so you have to dump off >your frustrations to me? [Sorry to have missed this, Don. -Dave] Why do I have the impression that Mats is the frustrated one? Seems to me that Mats needs to concentrate on his own cycle; my wife's is none of his business. Is my lovely wife really famous? We both thank Mats for giving her this special designation and anticipate the arrival in the mail of an honorary plaque or at least a gift certificate for feminine products. Mats and I agree that Wagner's music stands on its own, and that it is appropriate to enjoy and hold his music in high esteem regardless of his personal views and traits. Where we part ways is that I think that bigotry overwhelms just about any other trait a person may possess, while Mats feels that Wagner may well have possessed *positive* traits that, at least partially, offset the negative ones. What might these positive traits be? Did he dedicate his life to those needing charity? Did he routinely risk his life to save the lives of others? Sorry, he didn't do anything or possess any traits that hold a candle to the significance of being a bigot. Mats also indicated that I must be "narrow-minded" for stating that I am intolerant of bigotry and not interested as to how or why a person is a bigot. If that's being narrow-minded, I more than welcome the title. Until there's a "cure" for bigotry, persons in the targeted groups need to protect their rights, not concern themselves with the poor misguided bigot. These types of individuals might be neurotic, genetically coded to be bigots, and struggling within themselves. It doesn't matter - without an antidote, only the actions count. That's being practical, not narrow-minded. Don Satz [log in to unmask]