Now it is Governor Stevenson's turn in the presidential debate of 1952 to respond as to his vision of the future of the country.
"This is not the time for superficial solutions and everlasting elocution, for frantic boast and foolish word. For words are not deeds and there are no cheap and painless solutions to war, hunger, ignorance, fear and imperialist Communism. Intemperate criticism is not a policy for the nation; denunciation is not a program for our salvation. Words calculated to catch everyone may catch no one.
Where we have erred, let there be no denial; where we have wronged the public trust, let there be no excuses. Self-criticism is the secret weapon of democracy, and candor and confession are good for the political soul. But we will never appease; we will never apologize for our leadership in the great events of this critical century.
We glory in these imperishable pages of our country's chronicle. But a great record of past achievement is not enough. There can be no complacency perhaps for years to come. We dare not just look back to great yesterdays. We must look forward to great tomorrows.
What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important that what leads us--what convictions, what courage, what faith.
So I hope our preoccupation is not just with personalities but with objectives. The United States is strong, resolved, resourceful and rich; we know the duty and the destiny of this heaven-rescued land; we can and we will pursue a strong, consistent, honorable policy abroad, and meanwhile preserve the free institutions of life and of commerce at home.
What America needs and the world wants is not bombast, abuse and double talk, but a somber message of firm faith and confidence. St. Francis said: 'Where there is patience and humility there is neither anger nor worry.' "
Burt has a big smile on his face.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Sunday, August 18, 2019
XIX Amendment
Under the US Constitution ratified in June 1788, the right to vote was left to each individual state to decide. As an example, under the New York State Constitution of April 1777, "every male inhabitant of full age...shall be entitled to vote...if...he shall have been a freeholder (property owner)." By the 1820s, New York dropped the property ownership requirement.
In 1870, after the Civil War and the end of slavery, the XV Amendment was added to the US Constitution. It provided that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Thus, black men could now vote. But not white women, nor any woman.
Ninety-nine years ago today, on August 18, 1920, the XIX Amendment was added to the Constitution, providing that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." In Brazil, women got the right to vote in 1932.
When my mother (Margaret) was born in 1907, she did not have the right to vote. By the 1928 election (Herbert Hoover vs. Al Smith), I'm sure she voted. How did this change happen?
In 1848, a group of activists met in Seneca Falls, NY to discuss women's rights in the US. Borrowing from the words of Thomas Jefferson, they declared, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal..." These suffragettes wanted the vote for women.
When the XV Amendment was being discussed in 1870, women leaders, such as Susan B. Anthony, refused to support its passage because it neglected to give women the right to vote.
In 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was formed with Elizabeth Cody Stanton as president. Now, women argued that they deserved the vote because they were different from men. Women could create "a purer, more moral maternal commonwealth." Temperance advocates believed that women could create an enormous voting bloc on behalf of their cause: to outlaw alcohol in the US.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th Centuries, some western states started granting voting rights to women. However, eastern and southern states resisted. Women's groups mobilized, went on hunger strikes and picketed the White House. The Great War proved that women were just as patriotic as men and deserved the vote. Two years after the war, the got it.
As American women prepare next year for the 100th anniversary of the passage of the XIX Amendment granting their right to vote, I hope they will appreciate the sacrifices and hard work done by women in the past and will go out on election day, November 3, 2020, to show their appreciation by voting.
In 1870, after the Civil War and the end of slavery, the XV Amendment was added to the US Constitution. It provided that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Thus, black men could now vote. But not white women, nor any woman.
Ninety-nine years ago today, on August 18, 1920, the XIX Amendment was added to the Constitution, providing that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." In Brazil, women got the right to vote in 1932.
When my mother (Margaret) was born in 1907, she did not have the right to vote. By the 1928 election (Herbert Hoover vs. Al Smith), I'm sure she voted. How did this change happen?
In 1848, a group of activists met in Seneca Falls, NY to discuss women's rights in the US. Borrowing from the words of Thomas Jefferson, they declared, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal..." These suffragettes wanted the vote for women.
When the XV Amendment was being discussed in 1870, women leaders, such as Susan B. Anthony, refused to support its passage because it neglected to give women the right to vote.
In 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was formed with Elizabeth Cody Stanton as president. Now, women argued that they deserved the vote because they were different from men. Women could create "a purer, more moral maternal commonwealth." Temperance advocates believed that women could create an enormous voting bloc on behalf of their cause: to outlaw alcohol in the US.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th Centuries, some western states started granting voting rights to women. However, eastern and southern states resisted. Women's groups mobilized, went on hunger strikes and picketed the White House. The Great War proved that women were just as patriotic as men and deserved the vote. Two years after the war, the got it.
As American women prepare next year for the 100th anniversary of the passage of the XIX Amendment granting their right to vote, I hope they will appreciate the sacrifices and hard work done by women in the past and will go out on election day, November 3, 2020, to show their appreciation by voting.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Bomb Scare at the Palestra
Until I moved to Philadelphia to be a student at the University of Pennsylvania, I was pretty ignorant about college basketball, which was not available on my TV. As our family had season tickets for the Syracuse Nationals (Nats) games at the Onondaga County War Memorial, I avidly followed the NBA. While a student at Oswego High School, I regularly attended Buccaneer home games.
I had been a college football fan prior to Penn, watching the Saturday afternoon game on NBC. Plus, I went to some live games, especially those at nearby Syracuse University.
I was at almost all the Penn home football games at Franklin Field freshman year, which was a disaster for the Red and the Blue. Then came basketball season and the Palestra, known as the Cathedral of College Basketball. Opened on New Years Day 1927, it "has hosted more games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other facility in college basketball."
I remember my first visit to the Palestra (on the Penn campus) on January 25, 1964, which was for the annual clash with Big 5 rival, the Villanova University Wildcats. We got clobbered, 72-48, but the atmosphere was electric. The Palestra was packed with screaming fans from both schools. There were actually two games that night as the arena was used as a home court for all five of the Big 5 schools, which included the Temple University Owls, the La Salle University Explorers and the St. Joseph University Hawks.
After that first experience, I regularly attended numerous double-headers at the Palestra during my four years at Penn. I saw many great visiting players, such as Princeton's Bill Bradley, Syracuse's Dave Bing and Miami's Rick Barry. I became a college basketball fan for life.
However, the double-header I and many others will never forget is the one on the night of February 20, 1965.
The opener pitted La Salle against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and their star player, Clem Haskins. After the Explorer's victory came the main event between two of the top ten teams in the country, St. Joseph's (19-1) and Villanova (15-3). The event had long been sold out. I was smart enough to have bought my ticket way ahead of time, for a seat high up on the east end of the building.
I remember the Wildcats jumping out to a quick 10-0 lead. But, the score was soon tied at 12. It remained a close game until halftime. Then, while many used the opportunity to visit the rest rooms or buy food, came a surprise from the student public address announcer.
There was a bomb scare at the Palestra. Everyone, about 9,000 fans, including me, had to evacuate the building and go out into the very cold night air. And we did, quietly and peacefully, nobody getting nervous or panicky. We stayed out for about 30 minutes before allowed back in by the police. I heard someone speculate it was a ploy for fans without tickets to get inside the Palestra to watch the second half of the very exciting game, in person.
The Hawks went on to win, 69-61. However, while not everybody who was there that night remembers the final score or who won, all remember what happened at halftime.
I had been a college football fan prior to Penn, watching the Saturday afternoon game on NBC. Plus, I went to some live games, especially those at nearby Syracuse University.
I was at almost all the Penn home football games at Franklin Field freshman year, which was a disaster for the Red and the Blue. Then came basketball season and the Palestra, known as the Cathedral of College Basketball. Opened on New Years Day 1927, it "has hosted more games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other facility in college basketball."
I remember my first visit to the Palestra (on the Penn campus) on January 25, 1964, which was for the annual clash with Big 5 rival, the Villanova University Wildcats. We got clobbered, 72-48, but the atmosphere was electric. The Palestra was packed with screaming fans from both schools. There were actually two games that night as the arena was used as a home court for all five of the Big 5 schools, which included the Temple University Owls, the La Salle University Explorers and the St. Joseph University Hawks.
After that first experience, I regularly attended numerous double-headers at the Palestra during my four years at Penn. I saw many great visiting players, such as Princeton's Bill Bradley, Syracuse's Dave Bing and Miami's Rick Barry. I became a college basketball fan for life.
However, the double-header I and many others will never forget is the one on the night of February 20, 1965.
The opener pitted La Salle against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and their star player, Clem Haskins. After the Explorer's victory came the main event between two of the top ten teams in the country, St. Joseph's (19-1) and Villanova (15-3). The event had long been sold out. I was smart enough to have bought my ticket way ahead of time, for a seat high up on the east end of the building.
I remember the Wildcats jumping out to a quick 10-0 lead. But, the score was soon tied at 12. It remained a close game until halftime. Then, while many used the opportunity to visit the rest rooms or buy food, came a surprise from the student public address announcer.
There was a bomb scare at the Palestra. Everyone, about 9,000 fans, including me, had to evacuate the building and go out into the very cold night air. And we did, quietly and peacefully, nobody getting nervous or panicky. We stayed out for about 30 minutes before allowed back in by the police. I heard someone speculate it was a ploy for fans without tickets to get inside the Palestra to watch the second half of the very exciting game, in person.
The Hawks went on to win, 69-61. However, while not everybody who was there that night remembers the final score or who won, all remember what happened at halftime.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
I Got Nowhere Else to Go
An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 film drama which won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Best Music, Original Song, "Up Where We Belong," Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie (Music), Will Jennings (Lyrics). Debra Winger was nominated for Best Actress, which was won by Meryl Streep for Sophie's Choice.
Richard Gere plays the lead role of Zack Mayo, a recent college graduate who was reluctantly raised by his US Navy Seaman father after his mother committed suicide when he was a boy. As the story begins, Mayo enters the US Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School (Washington State) where he meets US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Foley (Gossett), his drill instructor, and Paula (Winger), his soon to be townie girlfriend.
Mayo is at the School to fulfill "his childhood dreams of becoming a Navy pilot as well as to prove to his father that he can make it and in the end (force) his father (to) have to salute (him)."
In the beginning all the candidates are shocked at the harsh treatment meted out by Foley. Such treatment is "designed to eliminate Officer Candidates who are found to be mentally or physically unfit for commission as an ensign in the United States Navy, which will earn them flight training worth over $1,000,000."
My brother Paul, who graduated from the US Naval Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island in 1960, related to me how difficult the treatment was.
"Foley rides Mayo mercilessly, believing he lacks motivation and is not a team player. (However), he also sees potential in Mayo."
During one particular inspection of the barracks, Foley discovers Mayo's side business of selling (to his fellow classmates) pre-shined shoes and belt buckles, things of value. As a result, Foley hazes Mayo for an entire weekend "in an attempt to make him Drop on Request (DOR)." In other words, to quit the School.
Foley: "Why would a slick little hustler like you want to sign up for a gig like this?"
Mayo: "I want to fly jets, sir."
Foley: "My grandmother wants to fly jets."
Mayo: "I wanted it since I was a kid."
Foley: "I'm not talking about flying. I'm talking about character."
Mayo: "I've changed. I've changed since I've been here."
Foley: "Ugh! You've just shined it up. Tell me what I want to hear. I want your DOR."
Mayo: "I ain't gonna quit."
Foley: "You're out."
Mayo: "Don't you do that. Don't...you...I got nowhere else to go. I got nowhere else to g...I got nothing else."
Foley, feeling Mayo's desperation, reconsiders his decision. Afterwards, Mayo demonstrates the potential Foley saw in him, becomes a team player and graduates from the US Naval
School as An Officer and a Gentleman.
Richard Gere plays the lead role of Zack Mayo, a recent college graduate who was reluctantly raised by his US Navy Seaman father after his mother committed suicide when he was a boy. As the story begins, Mayo enters the US Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School (Washington State) where he meets US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Foley (Gossett), his drill instructor, and Paula (Winger), his soon to be townie girlfriend.
Mayo is at the School to fulfill "his childhood dreams of becoming a Navy pilot as well as to prove to his father that he can make it and in the end (force) his father (to) have to salute (him)."
In the beginning all the candidates are shocked at the harsh treatment meted out by Foley. Such treatment is "designed to eliminate Officer Candidates who are found to be mentally or physically unfit for commission as an ensign in the United States Navy, which will earn them flight training worth over $1,000,000."
My brother Paul, who graduated from the US Naval Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island in 1960, related to me how difficult the treatment was.
"Foley rides Mayo mercilessly, believing he lacks motivation and is not a team player. (However), he also sees potential in Mayo."
During one particular inspection of the barracks, Foley discovers Mayo's side business of selling (to his fellow classmates) pre-shined shoes and belt buckles, things of value. As a result, Foley hazes Mayo for an entire weekend "in an attempt to make him Drop on Request (DOR)." In other words, to quit the School.
Foley: "Why would a slick little hustler like you want to sign up for a gig like this?"
Mayo: "I want to fly jets, sir."
Foley: "My grandmother wants to fly jets."
Mayo: "I wanted it since I was a kid."
Foley: "I'm not talking about flying. I'm talking about character."
Mayo: "I've changed. I've changed since I've been here."
Foley: "Ugh! You've just shined it up. Tell me what I want to hear. I want your DOR."
Mayo: "I ain't gonna quit."
Foley: "You're out."
Mayo: "Don't you do that. Don't...you...I got nowhere else to go. I got nowhere else to g...I got nothing else."
Foley, feeling Mayo's desperation, reconsiders his decision. Afterwards, Mayo demonstrates the potential Foley saw in him, becomes a team player and graduates from the US Naval
School as An Officer and a Gentleman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)