Wise Words From One Who Is Dearly Missed . . .

The Facts Tell The Story: It's Broken!

Our infrastructure is broken 
Years of inaction have allowed American infrastructure to degrade into a state of disrepair. With yesterday’s release of President Donald J. Trump’s Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America, the Administration is committed to reversing this sad course. 

Here are the facts:

• One out of every five miles of highway pavement in the United States is in poor condition. 
• More than 50,000 American bridges are rated as “structurally deficient.” 
• Commute times have increased every year since 2009—and more than 40 percent of urban interstate miles are congested. 
• Nearly 40 percent of Americans living in rural areas lack sufficient broadband access. 
• Lengthy reviews hold up infrastructure projects for years. 
• The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that failing to meet our infrastructure needs will cost us $4 trillion in GDP and 2.5 million jobs by 2025.

Read why now is the moment we must fix America’s failing infrastructure. 

Bonus read: “A Nation’s infrastructure is a measure of its greatness,” says Gary Cohn

An American budget 
Yesterday, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney released the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget for the U.S. Government: “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget.”
“As a nation, we face difficult times—challenged by a crumbling infrastructure, growing deficits, rogue nations, and irresponsible Washington spending,” Director Mulvaney said. “Through this budget proposal, it is clear that the President and this Administration are determined to reverse these trends.”

Seven things to know about the President’s budget:

• It provides for a robust and rebuilt national defense.
• It promotes a healthy American economy.
• It curbs wasteful Washington spending.
• It supports the President’s innovative infrastructure initiative.
• It secures our porous southern border and strengthens enforcement of immigration law.
• It keeps our commitment to improving veterans’ health.
• It combats the opioids epidemic.

Read more: “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget for Fiscal Year 2019”

Watch: Let the Games begin 
Vice President Mike Pence arrived in South Korea last week with Second Lady Karen Pence to lead the American Olympic Delegation for the 2018 Winter Games. He attended the Opening Ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Friday.
The Vice President met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in ahead of the Games, discussing how the United States and our global allies will continue to intensify a maximum pressure campaign on North Korea until it abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile programs once and for all.

“We will protect our peoples. We will defend our freedom. And together, we will forge a future of security, prosperity, and peace for both of our nations for generations to come,” the Vice President said.

Watch in 34 seconds: Vice President Pence leads the U.S. delegation at the 2018 Olympics

PHOTO OF THE DAY

President Donald J. Trump at an infrastructure initiative meeting  | February 11, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) 

POTUS TODAY

This morning, President Trump will host a meeting with members of Congress on trade. Later, the President will host a roundtable with the National Sheriff's Association. In the afternoon, the President and First Lady will host a National African American History Month reception.

Today, Vice President Pence will deliver remarks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Later, the Vice President will participate in the Senate Republican Policy Lunch.

You've Just GOT To See Them All Together!

😂😂😂😂. Retweet this so ALL of your friends see the comparison of Obama's portrait to previous Presidents! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/pUbzdRBOds

— Oliver McGee PhD MBA (@OliverMcGee) February 13, 2018

Have You Noticed How HUGE His Hands Are?

President Obama's official portrait was just unveiled at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery.

A Great Champion Of Israel Is Gone . . .

Former Philadelphia area Congressman Jon Fox has died.
Fox served in the United States House of Representatives for two terms beginning in 1995. Prior to that he served in the Pennsylvania State House, he was a Montgomery County Commissioner and an assistant district attorney in Montgomery County.
A champion of Israel, the Jewish community and human rights, Fox spoke out strongly for victims of Palestinian-Arab terrorism. In 1998 Fox introduced House Concurrent Resolution 220 “Regarding American victims of terrorism.” The measure passed 406-0. The resolution read in part:

“Whereas the traditional policy of the United States, reiterated by this Administration, has been to vigorously pursue and apprehend terrorists who have killed American citizens in other countries;
“Whereas numerous American citizens have been killed by Palestinian terrorists, most of them in Israel or the Israeli administered territories, including 9 since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, . . . it is the sense of the Congress that--
“(1) the United States should demand the prosecution of all suspected perpetrators of these attacks against United States citizens;
“ (2) the United States should seek the cooperation of the Palestinian Authority and all other appropriate authorities in the prosecution of these cases; and
“(3) the suspects should be tried in the United States unless it is determined that such action is contrary to effective prosecution.”

In support of another piece of legislation in 1996, Fox said on the House floor about Israel: 

“We here in America will show our support in every way possible, whether it is economic, humanitarian, in any way that Israel needs our help. It is our strongest ally in the Middle East, and a democracy that is so important to this country and the world's peace. We must be there to help them.”

In 1997, Fox took to the House floor again following a Palestinian-Arab bomb attack against Israeli civilians to say: 

“The failure again, Mr. Speaker, of the Palestinian Authority to contain terror and to work with Israeli authorities to maintain security for Israeli citizens is written in blood again of 13 bodies of today's attack. The use of terrorism as a tool to win concessions from the Israeli Government is unacceptable and it must be stopped. Mr. Speaker, we call on the Palestinian community to condemn this horrific attack and continued use of terrorism in the strongest terms.”

In 1995, when the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act was debated in the House before eventually becoming law, Fox said on the House floor: 

“In every other country across the world, the United States has its Embassy in the capital of the country; not so, of course, in Israel. This will send a clear signal to everyone around the world that we regard Israel as one of the most important allies we have, a country that has stood the test of time in its restraint during recent conflicts, not that long ago in the Middle East, a country that is the only democracy in the Middle East, a country that has been America's best friend. There is no better substantive or symbolic item that I think could come before this Congress today than to have us approve the legislation.”

Fox also used his position to rail against the transfer of missile technology from Russia to Iran in 1997: 

“Mr. Speaker, we in the House are persuaded that missile transfers from Russia to Iran pose a great threat to the United States and to our allies in the Middle East and Europe. We are especially troubled by reports we received to the effect that Iran is only 9 to 12 months away from achieving an indigenous missile capacity. We welcome the efforts undertaken with Russia to resolve this problem, but we cannot ignore the reports that we received that since Ambassador Wisner went to work on this problem, the pace of Russian transfers to Iran has increased rather than decreased. At this stage, we therefore feel compelled to act on this matter. Our legislation is based on a slightly different philosophy than the administration's diplomatic efforts. We are not seeking to coerce the Russian Government to do anything. Rather, we target our sanctions on the Russian entities that are making missile transfers to Iran. Most of these entities are interested in future business dealings with the United States, particularly in the area of aerospace cooperation. The point of our legislation is to tell these entities in no uncertain terms that continued dealings with Iran will be fatal to any future cooperation with the United States.”

In 1995, Fox introduced the State-Sponsored Terrorism Responsibility Act, which later became part of other legislation the following year. He had this to say about the measure on the House floor: 

“I rise in support of the foreign sovereign immunity amendments contained in this legislation. We must make foreign state sponsors of terrorism responsible for their actions. Recent events make clear now more than ever the grave threat posed by international terrorism to the interests of the United States at home and abroad. Outlaw states continue to serve as sponsors and promoters of this reprehensible activity, providing safe haven, training, weapons, and other support to terrorists. Terrorists are responsible for the deaths of our citizens and other innocent civilians in senseless acts of violence and the destruction of property throughout the world. You will recall, with horror and profound grief, the murders aboard the Achille Lauro cruise liner, the bombing of Pan AM Flight 103, the World Trade Center bombing and the four recent bombings in the State of Israel. The list of other such shameful and cowardly acts is endless.
“In addition to the horrible human and economic costs of terrorism, it is also a serious attack on United States foreign policy across the globe. Terrorist acts create instability, detract from our efforts to secure peace, and directly assault the United States and our closest allies. We cannot tolerate support for terrorism from foreign governments. No member of the community of nations should condone or assist such reprehensible violence. And no foreign state should be able to hide behind its immunity as a sovereign government to avoid having to pay the consequences of supporting terrorism. …
“We must make a clear statement that support for terrorism is unacceptable in the international community. Allowing lawsuits against nations which aid terrorists will allow us to increase the pressure against these outlaw states which would deprive our citizens, our Nation, and our allies of their freedom and safety.”

Jon Fox was a graduate of Penn State University and received his law degree from Widener University School of Law. He had served in the United States Air Force Reserve.

H/T: Philadelphia ZOA

The ONE Speech That Resonates Forever!

When we teach public speaking, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is one of the first things we teach.
Why?
Because it contains all of the essential elements of a great speech:
1) It has a clear central theme -- a central idea: That it falls to the living to honor those who have died for freedom and to keep the promise of freedom alive now and nourish it for future generations.
2) It also has a clear purpose: To remind us of the sacrifice of others in the name of freedom and commit us to its perpetuation and the preservation of our nation's ideals.
3) The speech is simply organized with a beginning that makes a vital link with its audience (Four score and seven years ago, our fathers . . . ) a substantial mid section containing its core message and a strong conclusion (. . . that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth).
4) Finally, the speech is brief and to the point. It's remarkably efficient.

Contained within this speech is everything we need to know about public speaking: Understand your audience and appeal to that audience; know what you want to tell the audience and why you want to tell them this; make your message clear, simple and memorable; stick to the message; tell the audience what you want them to think, feel or do; end on a hopeful note.

And all of this is contained in a speech of less than 300 words.

Quite simply, it's a model speech.

But here's the incredible thing: The speech continues to have amazing relevance to the here and now.

Would we want anyone who fought for freedom on the battlefield to have died in vain, then or now?

Aren't there still warriors who are willing to make astonishing sacrifices for our country in the name of freedom and justice?

Don't we still believe in the core values so wonderfully expressed in the speech? 

The speech remains a bulwark for all of us. It's as if the Liberty Bell suddenly pealed again and said: "Hey, wake up! This is why we were founded. This is why our nation is all about. Democracy needs you. Answer freedom's call -- or perish. Do it now!"

As many times as we read the Gettysburg Address, we are still inspired.

A great speech, written and delivered by the single most compelling figure in all of American history. This is why Lincoln stands head and shoulders above all the rest.

Today And Always, A Hero For All!

Excerpts from Professor Walter Berns in a wonderful article that originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal:

Our extraordinary interest in him, and esteem for him, has to do with what he said and how he said it. And much of this had to do with the Union -- what it was and why it was worth the saving. . . .

It is not by chance that his best and most celebrated speech was delivered on a battlefield, on the occasion of dedicating a cemetery filled with the graves of patriots. I speak, of course, of the Gettysburg Address.
It is brief, a mere 272 words, and could not have taken much more than five minutes to deliver. In its central passage, Lincoln says, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." Well, what little do we remember?
We remember he said that this nation was founded in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and its principles. We remember this because of the unusual way he said it. Not 87 years ago, but "four score and seven." His Bible-reading audience assembled there (and afterwards) would surely have remembered what he said because in what he said they would have heard echoes of the 90th Psalm, where the psalmist says, "three score and ten," our years on this earth. . . .
This, too, we remember: Lincoln goes on to say that the brave men, living and dead, who struggled on this ground, this battlefield, had "consecrated" it better than he or anyone else could. Consecrated? Had made it sacred, a battlefield? As if they -- presumably the Union soldiers -- were fighting for the Lord? No, but their cause was great and noble.
We also remember Lincoln saying that their work was "unfinished," and that we, the living, should highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain and that this nation, "under God, shall have a new birth of freedom," and that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
What little do we remember? In a word, and despite what he said, we remember everything he said. And we remember it because he took great pains to say it beautifully. . . .

We say that a man can be known by the company he keeps. So I say that a nation, a people, can be known and be judged by its heroes, by whom it honors above all others. We pay ourselves the greatest compliment when we say that Abraham Lincoln is that man for us.

American History's Single Most Compelling Figure . .

In honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, today:

Tucked away in a corner of the nation's capital, on the grounds of the Soldier's Home, you'll find an historic spot that little known and rarely discussed or spotlighted.
Yet, it is a very important place in the history or our nation.
No, it's not a battlefield, though many old soldiers have spent their final hours there.
And no, it's not a monument as such but it does contain statues depicting a great leader and his horse.
It's Lincoln's Cottage and it's situated near the Petworth and Park View neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.

We recently visited this historic Cottage, which was built in the Gothic revival style and was constructed from 1842 to 1843 as the home of George Washington Riggs, who went on to establish the Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C.

We called an uber car from our hotel near the White House and were scurried off to the cottage, which really isn't a cottage at all but quite a large and impressive edifice that sits amidst tall trees with an impressive vista of open space beyond.

Lincoln lived in the cottage June to November 1862 through 1864 and during the first summer living there, Lincoln drafted the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. Mary Todd Lincoln fondly recalled the campus; in 1865, she wrote, "How dearly I loved the Soldiers' Home." One can imagine how green and breezy the cottage may have been in those days when it was clearly separated from the congestion of swampy Washington.

Poet Walt Whitman, who was living on Vermont Avenue near the White House in 1863, often saw the president riding to or from Soldiers' Home. He wrote in The New York Times, "Mr. Lincoln  generally rides a good-sized easy-going gray horse, is dressed in plain black, somewhat rusty and dusty; wears a black stiff hat, and looks about as ordinary in attire, &c., as the commonest man...I saw very plainly the President's dark brown face, with the deep cut lines, the eyes, &c., always to me with a deep latent sadness in the expression." Whitman quoted this article in his 1876 book Memoranda During the War, adding the phrase: "We have got so that we always exchange bows, and very cordial ones."

The Soldiers' Home stands on 251 acres atop the third highest point in Washington. The Home was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 7, 1973, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 11, 1974. In 2000, the cottage was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 11 Most Endangered list. Then about 2.3 acres of the Home was proclaimed a National Monument by President Bill Clinton on July 7, 2000. The National Trust took on the restoration which was completed in 2007.

The Cottage exterior was restored to the period of Lincoln's occupancy in the 1860s in a joint venture by the Philadelphia firm J. S. Cornell & Son, and Stephen Ortado, Historic Structures, according to the standards of the National Park Service. Today the property is leased by the National Trust for Historic Preservation through a cooperative agreement with the Armed Forces Retirement Home; and is managed by President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home, an independent 501(c)(3) charity.

President Lincoln's Cottage opened to the public on February 18, 2008. A reproduction of the Lincoln desk on which he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation was commissioned by the Trust for use in the Cottage. The original drop-lid walnut paneled desk is in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. The desk is the only surviving piece of furniture that is known to have been placed in the White House and the Cottage during the Lincoln era.

The adjacent Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center features exhibits about the Soldiers' Home, wartime Washington, D.C., Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief during the Civil War, and a special exhibit gallery. President Lincoln's Cottage and Visitor Education Center is open to the public for tours seven days a week.

Take a break from the usual tourist attractions in Washington and soak up the allure of the most compelling figure in all of American history as you climb the cottage steps and run your hand along the exact same bannister that Lincoln used. It's a rare treat!

We hope you enjoy these photos that we took during our recent visit.

THE Most Overrated Actors EVER . . . .

Who are the 10 most overrated actors and actresses of all time?
You might be surprised at who's been chosen.
Some of Hollywoods very biggest names are on the list -- some of the biggest box office draws. In fact, the compiler of the latest list says you have to be considered a great actor or actress to make the cut.
Now, remember -- the argument here is that these are not necessarily bad actors, but they are overrated -- there is a difference.
Here's the list (from least overrated to most overrated) as compiled quite some time ago by Breitbart's Hollywood page. I've placed an asterisk next to the ones I agree with:
10. George Clooney*
9. Dustin Hoffman*
8. Spencer Tracy
7. Katherine Hepburn
6. Gregory Peck
5. Leonardo DiCaprio
4. Bill Murray
3. Tom Hanks
2. Meryl Streep*
1. Jack Nicholson
Well, as you can see this is a very arbitrary list. And while I agree with the rating of Clooney and two others, I'm not sure I agree with the rest. I might adde people like Alec Baldwin to the list. He's not only overrated but overexposed.

I think the criteria here is this: Just because you're a Big Star and/or a Mammoth Personality, that does not necessary make you a great actor. By this standard, great actors would include only super serious actors of screen and stage in the tradition of Helen Hayes and Laurence Olivier. These are acTORS. They are arTEESTS.
To be sure, I've never been a huge fan of Tracy (without Hepburn) or Gregory Peck. But I don't think they were bad actors. And I totally disagree with the dismissal of Leo DiCaprio.
But that's what makes horse races.

The Secret Behind That Sultry, Simmering Song

It's one of the most famous moments in pop culture history.
Indeed, it's probably also one of the most memorable moments in the history of the American presidency.
Marilyn Monroe. JFK. Madison Square Garden. May 19, 1962.
At a big 45th birthday bash and fundraiser for the President, Marylyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday" -- or, to be more exact: "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."
Much was made about Monroe being late. But then again, she was always late -- notoriously late. And of course she was sensuously breathless -- or at least must people thought the breathlessness was part of a deliberate sensuality that Monroe produced just for this occasion; part of the act.
But now, the secret behind the breathless performance has been revealed.
Monroe was out of breath because she got lost on the way to the Garden's makeshift stage.
And she couldn't find the right door to make her grand entrance.
So, as she ran around trying to find the door she ran out of breath. Finally arriving on stage, she was unable to sing properly.
This is the way the story was told by actress Joan Copeland, who was there that night. Copeland says Marilyn was in a rushed state as she had missed her cue. She was anxious as well.
So, that's what produced the iconic moment. That and a flesh-colored, strapless, backless gown with 2,500 strategically placed rhinestones.
There was only one Marilyn. Only one JFK. And only one night like that.