Did Jesus Listen To THIS Prayer? Huh?

This past Palm Sunday, Pope Leo stated that Jesus "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,” adding that God rejects the prayers of leaders . . . who have "hands full of blood."

The Pope went further in a sweeping condemnation with these words: "God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs."

Now listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio address and his fervent prayer to "Almighty God" on D day, June 6, 1944. Did God not "listen" to FDR's prayer? Did God not ignore the pleas of America and the allied nations? 

Again, here is the full text of the prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. 

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. 

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. 

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. 

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. 

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. 

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. 

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. 

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. 

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. 

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. 

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen."

Kid Rock Plays FDR's White House Grand Piano

Kid Rock playing President FDR’s Grand Piano at the White House.pic.twitter.com/j3KGeL1JTZ

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) December 28, 2025

About That New White House Addition . . .

The White House, gutted and expanded
during the Truman era.

OMG! Some people are getting apoplectic over the addition of a ballroom to the White House. 

These people obviously have no understanding of history and seem to be motivated solely by TDS -- Trump Derangement Sydrome.

Truth is, the White House has been a work in progress almost since it first opened and each president has left his mark on the executive mansion. Consider the following:

• The White House was opened in 1800 and just three years later, Thomas Jefferson added the East and West Colonnades. After all, Jefferson was the one who designed his own classic Monticello.
• The White House was nearly burned to the ground in the War of 1812 and subsequently needed to be almost completely rebuilt.
• The south portico was constructed in 1824 during the James Monroe administration. The north portico was then added in 1830.
• By the late 1850s a move was afoot to ditch the White House altogether and move the family residence to a new building as the offices were becoming overcrowded. But the Civil War and subsequent reconstruction squashed any further move in that direction.
• In 1881 President Chester Arthur ordered renovations and paid for much of it by auctioning off hundreds of original furniture going back the Madison era. Some of it has since been recovered, but apparently a majority of it remains in private collections.
• In 1902, Teddy Roosevelt decided to tinker with the building further, overseeing extensive renovations including removal of Victorian era stained glass. He also removed a staircase in the West Hall and moved executive office staff from the second floor of the residence into the newly built, single-story West Wing which enclosed the Jefferson West Colonnade.
• A few years later, President Taft added space to the West Wing, including the Oval Office. And you thought the iconic Oval Office was there all along, huh?
• In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt added the second floor to the West Wing and then relocated the Oval Office. Also under FDR, The East Wing was added in 1942 and has been used primarily as office space for the First Lady and as the visitor's tour entrance.
• The construction of a fourth-story attic during the Coolidge administration apparently took toll on the brick and sandstone structure built around a timber frame. By 1948, the house was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse, forcing President Truman to commission a reconstruction and to live across the street at Blair House from 1949 to 1951. The White House was essentially gutted, the interior was strengthened and rebuilt and the Truman Balcony was added.
• Then in 1962, First Lady Jackie Kennedy did an extensive decorative renovation of the interior focusing mostly on the public rooms.
• A decade later, Pat Nixon renovated a few more rooms while Richard Nixon ditched FDR's indoor pool to make room for a modern press room.

So, calm down all you Trump-hating history-deniers. The White House isn't going anywhere and it will still look like the White House that we all know and love. It's simply getting the addition of a brand new ballroom -- something that the White House has needed for decades and something that other presidents have longed for. AND not one cent of the costs will be paid for by taxpayer dollars. All of the funds are being privately raised and the architectural integrity of the White House will be preserved.

The White House is like America itself -- always changing and adjusting but retaining its essential character. Decades from now this latest adjustment is destined to be viewed as another outstanding milestone in the development of a beloved work in progress!

From FDR To Trump: Making Celebrity Tenable

The Emergence of the Age of Celebrity . . . 

It's 2025 and in the most recent battle for the presidency we had a certified celebrity (and former president) running against a wannabe celebrity who launched a pop up campaign built around imagery, sloganeering and cosmetic promises.

And we also witnessed the routing of a sitting president, triggered in part by an op-ed penned by the celebrity pal of the victim's former running mate. And the running mate was apparently part of the scheme.

How did we get to this point? How did the Presidency of the United States become celebritized?  Because, make no mistake, that's where we're at -- and perhaps now more than ever. Because, love or hate him, President Trump, has shown that he uses the mass media with all the star quality, shock value, and stagecraft of the most seasoned celebrities.

Back to the beginning.

In the modern era of mass communication this all started with Franklin D. Roosevelt and the emergence of radio. In Roosevelt's day, radio was the most powerful medium imaginable. For the first time, the president could enter your living room and speak directly to you. You could hear his voice, live on the radio. His cadence, his tone, his feelings and his emotion became reachable, touchable, real. And FDR mastered the power of radio with his legendary fireside chats.

Radio is what they call a "hot" medium. It's intimate and engaging because it requires the listener to imagine the appearance, the movements and the mannerisms of the person whose voice comes through the speaker. FDR understood this and he tailored his messages warmly and informally as if he were having a conversation with one person, sitting right beside him.

Roosevelt also surrounded himself with famous friends. He welcomed the support of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, the most popular young movie stars of the era and he made sure to be seen not just with them but with the then reigning "King of Hollywood" Clark Gable as well as other stars of the 1930s and 40s. Roosevelt often colluded with the big Hollywood studio bosses and was regularly featured on the silver screen in the filmed Movietone News that was the in-theater precursor to television. FDR's face, his distinctive profile, his voice and his moving image were everywhere. He was the first celebrity president of the electronic age.

In the years that followed Roosevelt's death it was hard for any leader to match let alone eclipse his celebrity.  True, Harry Truman played the piano while Lauren Becall sat atop the spinet and swooned. And Ike brought an iconic smile and the first Madison Avenue produced TV spots to the presidency. But it wasn't until John F. Kennedy in 1960 that celebrity reached a new zenith in the oval office.

Few people recall that among his many other endeavors, Kennedy's millionaire dad, Joseph P. Kennedy was a Hollywood producer. The old man was determined that his strikingly handsome young son would become the leader of the free world. So John Fitzgerald  "Jack" Kennedy was given the moniker JFK and presented to the public via the best image-makers money could buy. He was dressed by the finest tailors, photographed by world renowned photographers, depicted in the most eye-appealing settings, seen with all the right people and armed with the words and witticisms of America's top speechwriters and wordsmiths. 

Just as FDR mastered radio, JFK was the first president to master  the world of television, a "cool" medium which perfectly suited Kennedy's magnetic presence. Of course, it helped that Jack Kennedy was also smart, charming and married to a beautiful, classy, worldly woman who gave birth to two adorable children. And it also helped that he hobnobbed with the likes of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack while she brought artists such as Pablo Casals into the White House to perform. They probably single handedly popularized the word glitterati. And all of this reached a dazzling crescendo on May 19. 1962 when Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" before a captivated crowd at Madison Square Garden. That was the night that celebrity and the presidency were as tightly bound as Marilyn and her dress. America was sumptuously seduced -- and that included the mainstream media which went so gaga over Kennedy that, even those who knew otherwise, fed the mammoth myth of JFK.

After that, it took another 20 years for America to crown its first genuine celebrity president by bringing an actual, verified, rock-solid Hollywood star into the White House. And, as the late producer, director and actor John Houseman would say, Ronald Reagan "did it the old-fashioned way, he earned it." Reagan served eight tumultuous years as Governor of California and didn't win the White House until his second try when he was nearly 70 years-old.

By the time he became president Reagan had been a celebrity for nearly four decades. He was comfortable with fame and all its trappings. Indeed, for the better part of his life, that's all he knew. On top of that, he had already mastered radio (he was an announcer and a sportscaster) the movies (he appeared in more than 50 films and helmed the Screen Actors Guild) and television (he hosted and appeared in a top-rated TV series). This made Reagan a triple threat and established him as The Great Communicator. 

And let's not forget that First Lady Nancy Reagan had herself been an actress and had appeared on stage and in the movies. So, this pair needed little or no media training, that's for sure. And while Hollywood stars and other celebrities remained within their galaxy, the Reagans were mostly unfazed by Tinseltown's glitz and glamour. They'd been there, done that. And this is precisely what set them apart.

As they sat in front of the tube each evening and ate their dinner off of TV trays, Ronald and Nancy Reagan wore celebrity like a set of snuggly jammies. In the process, they gave celebrity the one thing it most sorely lacked -- credibility! Knowingly or not, they opened the door to the possibility of a President Donald J. Trump.

Like Reagan, Trump was a celebrity for many years before he sought the presidency. And like Reagan, he was (and is) comfortable with his own fame. Like Reagan he was successful in several other endeavors before he sought the White House. Like Reagan, Trump had also been a TV host and star of a top-rated show. And like Reagan, Trump had sought the presidency more than once. Beyond all that, both men have been the target of an assassin's bullet and both men survived.

The difference is this: Reagan's incandescent star quality and charisma made him always somewhat distant. Now, Donald Trump has taken the credibility that the Reagans gave celebrity and he's made it familiar and accessible.  He's the everyman "star" who speaks in terms that everyone can understand. He's not celluloid; he real. Trump's authenticity is on display 24/7 for everyone to see. And Trump has weaved all this into a powerful movement based on the sort of bedrock faith that creates an army of true believers. 

Not since FDR has America seen this sort of trust in a singular, vivid, distinctive personality. Not since JFK have we seen this sort of affection for an imperfect but nonetheless compelling public figure. And not since Reagan have we seen have this sort of adulation. 

Of course, between Reagan's departure from office in 1989 and the emergence of Trump in 2016 we did have the era of Barack Obama. But for all its flash and graphic messaging, Obama's presidency lacked the depth of Roosevelt, the panache of JFK, the comfort of Reagan or the daring of Trump. Indeed, while Obama wrote about audacity, President Trump continues to define it.

Where does all this leave us? Well, we now know that celebrity, embodied by the right personality, is more than skin deep. It's more than surface celebrity. It's powered by ideas, aspirations and character. It reaches us on a visceral level. And all this is part of its allure.

Now combine this with power -- real power, as in the Presidency of the United States -- and you have something that's transformative.

Long Before There Was Elon, There Was THIS Man

This billionaire businessman was a pop culture icon and presidential chum who had an open invitation to the White House. Though he was never elected to any office, he headed commissions, set federal policy, directed various operations and played a critical -- even decisive -- role. Yet, while befriending and hosting the most influential people he also remained a distinct and somewhat quirky personality in his own right.

Sound familiar?

No, we're not talking about Elon Musk. We're talking about someone who came decades before Musk. We're talking about Barnard Baruch!

Bernard Mannes Baruch came to be referred to as an "elder statesman" because he was chummy with US presidents who frequently called upon him for his guidance. For decades, Bernard Baruch was also one of the country's richest and most powerful men. 

Baruch amassed a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange and was a devoted member of the Democrat Party who contributed generously to it. When Woodrow Wilson became president, Baruch became a White House insider and regular guest of the president. He was highly influential in the Wilson administration,  impressing the progersssive Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in World War I as chairman of the War Industries Board. He also advised Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference. He made another fortune in the postwar bull market, but wisely foresaw the Wall Street crash and sold out well in advance.

In World War II, Baruch then became a close advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the role of industry in war supply and he was credited with greatly shortening the production time for tanks and aircraft. Later he helped to develop rehabilitation programs for injured servicemen. In 1946 he was the United States representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, though his Baruch Plan for international control of atomic energy was rejected by the Soviet Union.

Like many bright and successful people, Baruch had his eccentricities and for all his high-level connections, in many ways he remained a maverick. His refusal to join any major Wall Street brokerage firm (though he could have been a partner at any of them) gave him the reputation as the “lone wolf of Wall Street.” And Baruch always claimed he received his greatest insight sitting on park benches in Washington and New York chatting with ordinary people. A famous Bernard Baruch quote goes like this: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” 

More fascinating background on Baruch: 

• Baruch played on an international stage. Winston Churchill sought out Baruch for investment advice and the financier happily obliged, even hosting Churchill at luxury hotels and providing an office for him when Churchill visited New York. They were lifelong chums.

• Baruch amassed a personal fortune of about a $230 million which would make him a multi billionaire in today’s dollars. At the age of 33 Baruch (a true wunderkind) was already worth $3 million, or about $81 million in today's dollars.

• Baruch was an ardent proponent of independent thinking and frequently spoke out against the conventional wisdom of the day. He counseled avoiding a herd mentality and thinking long range, beyond the moment.

• Baruch founded the Intercontinental Rubber Company of New York, which dominated the guayule rubber market in the U.S. with holdings in Mexico and elsewhere. His partners in the enterprise were big time operators including Senator  Nelson Aldrich, Daniel Guggenheim, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and George Foster peabody. 

• Baruch purchased approximately 16,000 acres of the former 18th century Hobcaw Barony, consolidating 14 plantations in South Carolina between the Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. He developed sections of the property as a winter hunting resort.

• Baruch was celebrated in the popular culture. He was portrayed in the movies Wilson and Funny Lady as well as in the drama Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years. He was also mentioned in episodes of the Donna Reed Show, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It To Beaver, the Patty Duke Show and Make Room For Daddy. Humorist Art Buchwald referenced Baruch in his book A Gift From The Boys.

• Baruch was a frequent visitor to the White House during the administrations of Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and even later during the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.  Baruch died in 1965. 

Note: Baruch was heralded in his day and amply praised by the media and the titans of that era. No one dared question the motives or the reputation of presidential best bud Bernard Baruch. My, how times have changed!

Yes, Joe Really Did Actually Say This!

 

It Was True Then; It's Even Truer Now!

1983: Sen. @JoeBiden calls FDR's attempt to pack the Supreme Court a "bonehead idea."

"It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make, and it put in question there for an entire decade the independence of THE most significant body... in this country." pic.twitter.com/MEPu0fMRG4

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 9, 2021

December 7: The Day That Lives 'In Infamy'

 

History - in every century,
records an act that lives forevermore.
We'll recall - as in to line we fall,
the thing that happened on Hawaii's shore.

Let's *REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR -
As we go to meet the foe -
Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR
As we did the Alamo.

We will always remember -
how they died for liberty,
Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR
and go on to victory.

*Music by Sammy Kaye, Lyrics by Don Reid

Anybody Aware Of This Historical Moment? Huh?

No, we're not aware of any such moment, either.
Because it never happened!

The Day A President Prayed Openly, Fervently . . .

As we observe the 75th anniversary of a fateful day and as we pause to give thanks for all of our blessings, it's a good time to remember President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Prayer for America and Our Troops delivered on D-Day. This is the same prayer that President Trump read from earlier today.

During a troubled time, in one of our nation's darkest hours, with freedom at stake throughout the world, the President of the United States begged God for his bountiful blessing on our nation and those who defend it so gallantly.

Here, in its entirety is FDR's prayer:

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

We Might 'Thrive'? That's Exactly What Happened!

Here's something that we wrote back in April, 2016 long before the stunning general election that gave us President Donald J. Tump.
We added some emphasis, shown in bold:

When a friend told me that Donald Trump was not qualified to be president because he had a "personality disorder," I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Yeah, The Donald is a near-hopeless narcissist. And that probably barely scratches the surface. So, why was I laughing? Because, what president hasn't had a personality disorder?

Let's review some of the modern inhabitants of the most powerful office in the world:

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A terminal "momma's boy," FDR was so dominated by and subservient to his mother that his wife, Eleanor was never able to break through the mother/son bond and establish her own identity within the family. On top of that, FDR was vain, secretive, manipulative and deceitful. Over his lifetime, he conducted numerous relationships with women other than his wife, including a decades-long dalliance with Lucy Mercer.

John F. Kennedy: No one (not even his wife and his closest associates) felt they ever got to really know JFK -- a man who was charming but nonetheless distant and somewhat detached. His best friend and longtime classmate, Lem Billings struggled to build a bond with Jack Kennedy only to wind up commiserating with JFK's wife about the conundrum that was Kennedy. In pain much of his life and riddled with drugs, Kennedy was incapable of intimacy and seemed to live for instant gratification via fleeting diversions such as sexual "quickies" with scores of women. He was notoriously promiscuous.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Crude, boorish, self-centered and verbally abusive, LBJ soared through periods of high accomplishment only to crash into a darkness that left him isolated for days at a time. The man required constant adulation but simply could not come to believe his own campaign slogans. Thrust into a world of high-charging, effete Ivy Leaguers, he constantly felt inadequate and routinely threatened to quit until he actually did exactly that in 1968, refusing to seek or accept his party's nomination for another term.

Richard M. Nixon: In modern times, has there ever been a more tortured soul (or more mendacious character) in the White House than Richard Nixon? Paranoiac, insecure, scheming and masochistic, Nixon followed one of the greatest triumphs in recent political history by thrusting us into a constitutional crisis that shook the very foundations of our government. Near the end, he roamed the halls of the White House in an alcoholic stupor talking to the portraits on the walls.

Jimmy Carter: A well-known micro-manager, Carter actually insisted on monitoring who was using the White House tennis court and when. Always, he retained the option to sign off on such use. Sanctimonious to a fault, Carter could be spiteful and frequently blamed others for his problems. When he found himself in a real jam in 1979, Carter pointed to the American people as the source of his troubles, declaring that we suffered from a "malaise" that had triggered a national "crisis of confidence."

William J. Clinton: Egocentric, reckless and often adolescent, Bill Clinton defamed the dignity of his office via dangerously promiscuous behavior and deceitful shenanigans that made him the first elected president ever to be impeached. He experienced periods of near-giddy grandiosity while avoiding (or conveniently compartmentalizing) some very grim realities. Even in the face of behavior that would have shamed a normal person, he continued to defy decency and common sense.

Why have I catalogued these?

Because, through it all the country survived.

And, each of these leaders had his own quite impressive accomplishments.  FDR gave us the New Deal and got us through the Great Depression and World War II. JFK triumphed in the Cuban missile crisis and inspired us to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. LBJ built the Great Society and signed landmark civil rights laws. Nixon opened the door to China and gave us the EPA. Carter successful brokered a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. And Clinton delivered welfare reform, kept us prosperous and left us with a budget surplus.

And did we mention that one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln was almost certainly bipolar?

People have flaws. They even have "personality disorders." But America is bigger and stronger than all that. We the people usually find a way to make our voices heard and get things done.

Which is to say, yes -- we'll be just fine if Donald Trump becomes president.  In fact, we may even thrive.

17 Things You May Not Know About Kate Smith . . .

Obviously, the Flyers and the Yankees never did their homework before deciding to banish legendary entertainer and American patriot Kate Smith from their midst.
Here are 17 things they didn't know (or chose not to acknowledge) about Kate Smith:

• No other entertainer raised more to support the US war effort during World War II. Kate Smith raised more than a half-BILLION dollars. And that was in 1940s dollars.
• During a time when African-American entertainers were rarely seen on TV, Kate Smith welcomed black entertainers such as the Billy Williams Quintet on her nationally-televised TV program.
• After the untimely death of Nat King Cole, Kate Smith joined entertainers Dionne Warwick and Sammy Davis, Jr. at a benefit concert to raise money for the Nat King Cole Cancer Foundation.
• Kate Smith performed more than 200 times at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, the center of African-American life in America.
• Kate Smith was recognized by the nation as a patriot and presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.
• No other performer introduced more songs than Kate Smith. She recorded more than 3,000 songs, introduced more than 1,000 and saw 600 of them make the hit parade.
• At the height of Kate Smith's career she repeatedly was named one of the three or four most popular women in America. In 1942, a nationwide poll listed the three most popular women in America as Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Hayes and Kate Smith.
• Kate Smith made more than 15,000 radio broadcasts and, over the years, received more than 25 million fan letters.
• President Roosevelt once introduced her to King George VI of England, saying: ''This is Kate Smith. Miss Smith is America.''
• For a time, Kate Smith had exclusive rights to perform ''God Bless America'' in public -- a song written by Irving Berlin which she introduced on Veteran's Day, 1938. She relinquished that right when it became apparent the song had achieved a significance beyond that of just another new pop tune.
• Kate Smith and Irving Berlin generously donated all royalties from God Bless America to the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. To this day, those two groups benefit from the song.
• At one point, popular sentiment strongly favored replacing The Star Spangled Banner with God Bless America as the national anthem. But Kate Smith refused to endorse the effort, deferring to tradition.
• Communists and socialists hated Kate Smith. In 1949, The Daily Worker, the official newspaper of the American Communist Party lambasted Smith after she called out repressive communist-controlled regimes in eastern Europe. Smith was undeterred and wore the criticism as a badge of honor.
• Kate Smith suffered the slings and arrows of fat-shaming most of her life but she never let it get to her. Still, there were days she cried quietly in the privacy of her dressing room.
• In 1962 Kate Smith fell into a long period of depression following the death of her mother, Charlotte and her long-time manager, Ted Collins. She did not emerge from this period until 1965.
• Kate Smith wrote two autobiographical books, 'Living in a Great Big Way'' in 1938, and ''Upon My Lips a Song'' in 1960. Both were huge bestsellers. 
• In 1965, after attending Roman Catholic services for 25 years, Miss Smith was baptized into that religion at her local church in Lake Placid, NY.

You can make a difference on behalf of the legacy of Kate Smith. Call the Flyers now at 215-218-7825 and let them know how you feel!

Chris Christie: Fear, Bravado And Leadership

No fear!
It's a very powerful message.
And it's a theme that runs throughout Chris Christie's compelling new bestseller, Let Me Finish.
Christie says this mantra is something he picked up from his mother, Sandy but even moreso from his Italian grandmother, affectionally known as Nani. Here's how Christie explains it:
Nani wasn't scared of anything. One of the most important things she taught me was never to be afraid. "Fear is your enemy, Christopher -- not your friend," Nani always told me, and she was living proof.
At key points throughout his life Christie says these words came back to him. And, in the face of various threats and challenges, he says he moved forward without fear.
But psychology teaches us that fear is a natural emotion and a survival mechanism. We're also told that what's known as the "flight or fight" response (in which we must make a quick decision to run away from or confront whatever threat we're facing) is an automatic, biochemical response that is crucial to our survival. It's even thought to be anthropological.
Psychologists even accept fear as something that is hard wired into our brains and most would tell you that feeling fear is neither abnormal nor a sign of weakness.
But what about obvious thrill seekers who seem to have no fear -- people like the late Evel Knievel, Harry Houdini and others? They actually deliberately put themselves at risk again and again and seemed to be fearless while doing it.
Well, those who have studied the human brain argue that a complete lack of fear could actually be a sign of serious brain damage. We know, for example, that teenagers sometimes exhibit a senseless lack of fear because their brains are still not fully developed.
So, what is this "no fear" stuff really all about?
Well, we suspect that it has much to do with the difference between having fear and showing fear.
If you show fear under certain circumstances or in reaction to certain people or certain events, you may be perceived as weak and you may exacerbate that situation or play directly into that person's hands.
It doesn't necessarily mean you're not afraid.
It simply means you are not signaling in any way that you're afraid.
This requires discipline, control and, if need be, a steely resolve. But not only must you not show fear but you must not show that you are suppressing the fear. In other words, you have to make your lack of showing fear seem perfectly natural.
Let's face it, we do not like our leaders to show fear because we know that showing fear in the face of a critical situation can be contagious -- it can trigger mass panic. We want our leaders to appear calm and steady in the face of danger.
We also want them to seem fearless in their dealings with those who might intimidate or threaten them or us. In this sense, our leaders act as a sort of guardian against would be antagonists or oppressors. If that means that those who would bully us must be met with a bit of bravado, then so be it.
Well, no one ever accused Chris Christie (or Donald Trump, for that matter) of not using bravado to ward off danger or subdue bullies.
And, after all, it was FDR, one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, who rallied a nation in its darkest hour by declaring: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." But here, it's worth remembering Roosevelt's entire quote, because it tells us much about the nature of fear and its relationship to decisive action, or lack thereof. Here it is;

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

And this leads to another pillar of Christie's approach to things as expressed in Let Me Finish.
In what could be a handbook on leadership, Christie maintains that, in key moments, the failure to decide -- and decide firmly and without hesitation -- is the road to ruin. When you hesitate or equivocate or vacillate, you show weakness. Here, a quote from none other than Rosa Parks comes to mind. Here's what she said:

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

OK, so maybe decisiveness (with a dash of daring) doesn't exactly do away with fear, but it certainly pushes it aside at just the right moment. And, that's the whole point, isn't it?

This Is ONE History Lesson You Won't Forget

They dismissed him as a grandstander and an outlandish poseur.
They said he was obstinate, unreliable, capricious and unnecessarily belligerant.
They sneered at him -- at first conspiring to prevent him from gaining power and later working at every turn to take it away. They called him a bully, a windbag and a war monger.
He could be bombastic and abusive to staffers and family members. He was difficult, demanding and vociferous. He was indulgent. His diet was dreadful. Sometimes he seemed contradictory.
Was he unstable? Depressed? Paranoid? Egomaniacal? Bipolar?
He sought and won early fame, loved the spotlight and eventually rose to the highest levels imaginable. He did this even though political party labels and doctrines meant little to him. Yes, he collected numerous enemies and the powers-that-be were often the objects of his disdain.
Who could we possible be talking about?
Well, look no further than the incredible, Oscar-worthy performance of Gary Oldmam in the mesmerizing new film Darkest Hour.
Yes, you might be surprised to discover that all these descriptions apply to none other than Winston Churchill, one of the seminal figures of the 20th century. And Oldmam's characterization of Churchill is a performance for the ages.

In Darkest Hour we see England at a low point. Hitler is on the march; Chamberlain and his followers still favor appeasement and Churchill is sort of a lone wolf who almost single-handedly believes that England can save itself and Europe at the last possible moment. Though Paris has been captured and Dunkirk is about to fall, Churchill defiantly forges ahead, staring down Hitler and risking everything on one daring scheme after another.
For Churchill, it's a very lonely battle. But, in one of his most hopeless moments he finds allies where he always trusted he would find them -- among ordinary, everyday people on the subway. They understand him. They share his sentiments. They're unwilling to give up. And they cheer Churchill on, even as the elites continue to do all they can to rebuff him.
Yes, in this darkest hour, even Roosevelt and other world leaders turn their backs on Churchill.
This is a tale that involves the sheer force of will. And it demonstrates the sort of persuasive power that one person can wield and the the amazing transformation that one great leader can bring about.
It also demonstrates the frequent folly of conventional wisdom.
While members of the establishment tend to reinforce their own conception of things, visionary leaders build their own new constituencies. They do it by often working against the grain, charting new paths, searching out new openings and forcing others to see things in a new light. It can be a very solitary business at times but for those who are steadfast and courageous, the rewards can include the kind of near-mortality that few achieve.
We tend to forget all this.
We get caught up in the tidy world we want to see rather than the one that really exists.
Real leadership ain't pretty. It's not blow-dried or prissy or neat. Instead, it's often messy and disruptive and unsettling. And real leaders don't come in cookie-cutter versions. They're not necessarily effusive or cheery or even somewhat normal.
Abraham Lincoln was often moody and droll. Harry Truman was considered hopelessly uncouth. Andrew Jackson was rough-hewn and salty. Teddy Roosevelt was highly theatrical and self-absorbed. FDR was cunning, mischievous and inscrutable. And George Washington was actually a bit of a loner who preferred his own company to that of "bad company" and sought quietness "devoid of ceremony." None of them fit the mold. All had their own eccentricities and all left others sometimes feeling somewhat befuddled if not downright alienated.
So, take a step back, reflect on the human condition and consider the broad sweep of things.
Then, hurry out to see Darkest Hour and learn a bit from history.

Even 54 Years Later, It All Remains So Vivid!

Today marks the 54th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and we awash in related stories and personal recollections. It happens every year at this time.

As usual, people are recalling where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that JFK had died. For our generation, those retellings are as significant as the story I heard so many times from my mother about how she was at home on a stepstool hanging curtains in April, 1945 when she heard over the radio that FDR had died. She never forgot it.

But why should I tell you about where I was and what I was doing when on November 22, 1963 when I can tell you about the evening in June1960 when I met JFK.

Born nearly one-year to the day after the end of World War II, I was just shy of 14 when I was brought up to the dais at a Democrat fund-raising dinner in Camden to meet the man who would become the youngest president ever elected. I was a scrawny kid, less than 100 pounds with big ears and all the clumsiness of that dreadful phase between childhood and whatever. Sports held no interest for me. Politics was my baseball and this was as close to the World Series as I was gonna get.
At the time, Kennedy was still fighting for the Democratic presidential nomination and it was still not clear whether his own party would chose him as their standard bearer.
But the Democratic organization of Camden County was star struck and so was I. Forget that the New Jersey delegation to the Democratic convention was still technically committed to then Governor Robert Meyner as a favorite son. This night belonged to Kennedy.
Kennedy sat just to the right of the podium in Camden’s old convention hall, a former armory that had been dressed up for the occasion in bunting, flags, flowers and huge photos of Kennedy and other Democrat candidates. Security as we now know it was non-existent and local media jockeyed with dinner guests to get close to Kennedy. The scene was a bit chaotic as the dinner’s chairman struggled to establish order and get the evening underway.

But I was probably the youngest (and maybe the most ardent) Kennedy fan in the house and a local ward leader was willing to escort me right up to the man who commanded the spotlight so that I could shake his hand.

When I met him, I instantly knew there was something different.
He didn’t seem full of himself like so many public figures. In fact, he seemed somewhat shy and awkward. He lowered his shoulders a bit and thrust his hands into the pockets of his pin-striped suit jacket. He looked away for a moment and appeared lost or detached, almost to the point where I wanted to help him. So many people were trying to get his attention. Amidst it all, he appeared to be holding something back.
But then he looked down at me and took my hand and smiled. The eyes, the hair, that smile, those teeth, the voice with its distinctive accent – in no time at all I came to understand why so many others were captivated by JFK. This man was magnetic. And he seemed to be completely without hubris.
I’m sure I told him how much I admired him and how much I wanted him to be elected. And I’m sure he thanked me and left me with some encouraging words. But I couldn’t tell you what was actually said because I was in the zone. I was enveloped by the magic of it all.
Turning to leave the dais, I took one last look over the hall from that vantage point. And at that moment I knew instinctively that politics was really show biz and that in just a few moments John F. Kennedy would have to perform. He was The Star and he would have to meet the ceaseless expectations of yet another hungry crowd.
Still nostalgic for FDR, this audience wanted an updated version of all that charm and sophistication – someone who would not merely lead them but who would now inhabit their lives through the miracle of television and become almost like a member of the family.
So, JFK would do for TV what FDR did for radio. He would turn it into a potent tool to achieve a history-making victory in November.
And that’s how most people came to know Kennedy, through television. He was uniquely suited to the medium because as I noticed on the evening I met him he was cool, unassuming and incomplete. Each person was free to complete that part of him that was hidden from view. This is the perfect persona for a medium that feigned intimacy.
Charles deGaulle once said that a leader must always retain an element of mystery. “There can be no prestige without mystery,” he explained “for familiarity breeds contempt.”
JFK knew the secret that we call charisma. He never allowed us to become too familiar.
And his untimely death seals that in perpetuity.

Note: the photos that you see above and below were taken by me on that night in 1960 when I met John F. Kennedy.

What The Hell Happened On The Way To Work?

I’ve always loved parades.
And I’ve attended many of them in my time.
But one parade above all others stands out in my memory.
I was just a kid at the time but I’ll never forget the big parade in my hometown to celebrate jobs. Sponsored by organized labor, the parade marched down Broadway in Camden (NJ) to herald the construction of the NS Savannah at Camden’s 273-acre New York Shipbuilding Corporation.
Above all, Camden was a blue-collar town. And it was solidly Democrat and pro-labor.
Employment was always the defining “bread and butter” issue for Democrats. And keeping people working and creating new jobs – good jobs – was the essential mission of the Democratic Party. Indeed, “jobs” was the party’s mantra and Democrats rarely spoke on any issue without mentioning jobs.
With Labor Day here once again, I think of that day in Camden so many years ago.
What happened?
What went wrong?

And how did Donald Trump become the champion of gritty workers and on-the-line laborers? How did the Democrat Party of FDR, JFK and LBJ lose working people?

Well, for one thing, Barack Obama's record on the economy and jobs was dismal. Job growth was atrocious; more people dropped out of the labor force than ever before; the number of people on food stamps skyrocketed and GDP growth (such as it was) was embarrassing.
Also, more than 50 years after Dr. King's famous I Have A Dream speech the black unemployment rate never really improved under Obama. The unemployment rate for African Americans soared to twice the national average and more than double the unemployment rate for whites.
But nobody on the left seemed to want to talk about these failures – not the liberal establishment, not the Democratic leadership and certainly not the labor movement.
Obama always argued that the economy was in a ditch, claiming “we’ve gotten it out of the ditch and want to put it in drive.” But the car never really seemed to be moving -- not the way it should be; not the way Reagan got it moving ion the 1980s; not even the way Clinton got it moving in the 1990s.

Democrats and Big Labor wanted to talk about wedge issues such as the so-called "war on women" as they immersed themselves in the popular culture and the rotting realm of identity politics.

And then there was the biggest debacle of all : Obamacare. Originally, Big Labor got a pass on that. But there was an inherent phoniness about it all and it Obamacare caught up with us. Now, it's imploding.

Even Hillary Clinton got mired in identity politics, fake news and phony issues. She stumbled badly and deservedly suffered a stinging defeat.

There was a time when Democrats labor leaders were close to the people. There was a time when they actually worked alongside the people that they represented. Those days seem long gone.
And all of this has been happening as union membership has steadily dwindled.
When the Savannah was built in Camden, labor unions represented a third of all workers. By 1983 the number had fallen to 20 percent. And by 2008 it was down to 12 percent and it has pretty much continued to drop since. What’s more, the average age of union members seems to be getting older. The largest unionized age group is workers aged 55 to 64. 

Why can’t the Democrats turn any of this around?
What happened to one of the central promises of traditional liberalism – jobs?
These are questions worth pondering this Labor Day.