SENSITIVITY WATCH : Not Such a Hot Flash

We’ve got a hot flash for Mike Antonovich: You still need to apologize for the insult you leveled at fellow Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina on Tuesday and you need to do it directly, not through your spokesman.

At a recent open meeting, Supervisor Antonovich pointedly suggested to Molina--the board’s only female--that supervisors should not alter the county budget just because “someone has a hot flash.”

A hot flash is a sensation of heat produced by fluctuating levels of the hormone estrogen. Many women experience hot flashes during menopause.

Molina provoked Antonovich’s outburst by proposing reallocation of funds and criticizing anew past lavish spending by supervisors. When asked if his remark was sexist, Antonovich responded, “That’s a term we’ve used in this board room for years. You say that when someone has a crazy idea.”

No you don’t. Not only is the implication--that hot flashes are associated with mental or emotional instability--incorrect, it is offensive. Antonovich’s spokesman compounded the insult while expressing the supervisor’s “regrets” by denying that his statement represented an apology because “he did not intend the remark as an insult” to “Gloria Molina or women . . . .” Oh, sure.

Meanwhile, also on the apology front, Nebraska Democratic Sen. Bob Kerry’s personal and direct mea culpa Tuesday for a lesbian joke he told privately was most welcome. The whole incident demonstrated that, fortunately, the standard of appropriate political humor has forever changed.