THE TORCH HAS BEEN PASSED TO A NEW GENERATION OF AMERICANS

John Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States this day in 1961. His acceptance speech thrilling.

One line of particular importance to present times…..”The torch has passed to a new generation of Americans.” Kennedy was the youngest candidate ever elected President.

Young and vital. He brought a freshness to Washington. His Washington became a modern day Camelot. The nation was excited.

America cries out for a new Kennedy. For a freshness to an antiquated Washington. The millennials demand it. Their participation in recent elections evidences it. It’s a new time.

In short, out with the old and in with the new.

On the Democratic side, it saddens me. Joe Biden would make an excellent President. I know the man. Our relationship goes back to Syracuse Law days when I was Chairman of the Board and he a U.S. Senator.

His time has passed however. The country requires fresh blood.

Ho, ho, ho! Syracuse did it again yesterday. Beat Pitt 74-63. Pitt was favored by 9 points.

Last week, a big victory over Duke. This week a consistent pattern exhibited. The team played well. The ball went in the hole! From way out to under the basket. The defense strong.

Hope we can keep it up!

After the game, I watched Trump’s speech. He said nothing new. He took the old and because of the volume of items involved made it look like he was making a fresh offer.

His lies continued.

Not one word spoken re the impact the shutdown is having on those federal employees not being paid. Reflected to me his lack of empathy, his I don’t care about others attitude, etc.

The Chart Room first last night. John bartending.

Not a pleasant time. John had his hands full. Four nuts. John handled the situations well. A professional at his work. The atmosphere however bothered me. The Chart Room not a place for the rambunctious.

Dorothy Downs and Carmen arrived. It was good to see Dorothy again. I had not heard from here in a while and assumed she had died. She lives in Miami with a condo in Key West. Wrote and said if you are alive write, I fear you are gone! Fortunately, she wrote!

Good company. A writer. Indian folklore and artifacts.

Stopped at Fernandy’s on the way home for a bite to eat. Cuban cheese toast with tomato. Sat a while and read the local newspapers.

The weather continues to be screwy. Heavy thunderstorms all morning. Seventy six the high today. However the temperature will drop to 56 in the evening. Tomorrow in the mid-60’s.

Audrey Hepburn was one of America’s finest actresses. She died at age 63 on this day in 1993.

Her background unusual.

Her father English and mother Dutch. She got stuck in the Netherlands when Germany invaded. Spent World War II in the Netherlands. Some of her family members were killed. A brother spent the entire war in a German concentration camp. Living conditions not the best. Food not plentiful.

She returned to England following the war. Modeled, played small parts in movies as a chorus girl and dancer.

While in Monaco, she was seen performing by the French authoress Colette. Colette had authored Gigi. It was being prepared for Broadway. She recommended Hepburn to play Gigi. Hepburn got the part. Opened on Broadway November 1951.

Hollywood was next to discover Hepburn. Her first movie was Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

She starred in the movie version of My Fair Lady.

In her later years, she spent much time as a Special Ambassador for UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund. She traveled worldwide on behalf of the organization and spoke before many groups including the U.S. Congress.

An interesting history. From the streets of the Netherlands during World War II searching for food to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

A bad scene 2 days ago at the Lincoln Memorial.

Nathan Phillips is a Native American and a Vietnam veteran. He had participated in the Indigenous Peoples March. The March ended at the Lincoln Memorial. He was standing playing a drum and singing in his native language a song of unity. He had marched in the parade many times before.

An anti-abortion march had taken place the same day. A March for Life Rally had been held. Participating in the March were students from the Catholic Covington High School in Pork Hills, Kentucky.

A group of male students confronted Phillips. Most were wearing red Trump MAGA caps. They began chanting ” Build the Wall.” They mocked Phillips. One walked up to Phillips and stood eye ball to eye ball with him, their faces one foot away from each other. The students, including the one in Phillip’s face, wearing “smirks.”

It was clear to Phillips and other observers the students were trying to instigate a conflict.

The situation is all over social media.

The Catholic High School apologized and advised it would conduct a thorough investigation which could include expulsion.

My friends, these young high school men learn such conduct from Trump. No other. If the President thinks/acts that way, why not me? It has to be correct if the President treats people in a similar roughshod manner!

I cherry picked a small quote from the 1/19/19 edition of the Justice Building Blog. It describes the conflict between Trump and Pelosi. It is written in football vernacular: “Pelosi has the home field advantage, having played in Washington for a few decades, while POTUS has some built in advantages (controls military transport planes) but the Speaker controls the money and money makes the world go round.”

Further, “Trump is a rookie, while Pelosi is the wily veteran who knows the rule book inside out. The Speaker will not cave, while POTUS is looking for a way out of the mess he created.”

I close with Greece. Specifically, Athens. I love Athens and every part of Greece. My several trips left me enamored with Greece and its peoples.

Anna was my travel companion on the Greek trips. She is a world traveler. She was in Camolgi on the Italian Riviera 2 months ago. Two months before in her Swiss chalet on the side of Mont Blanc.

She e-mailed some photos of Athens’ places I have frequented. Pictures of the Parthenon, of course. Always to be visited. My favorite Playka bar. And a photo of Trattoria Diodos where I danced with the men and broke dishes.

It was a very good time!

Hot Dog Church and the Gardens later today. Terri singing at the Gardens.

Enjoy your Sunday!

19 comments on “THE TORCH HAS BEEN PASSED TO A NEW GENERATION OF AMERICANS

  1. Lou, please do a little more digging on the Kentucky kid-Indian encounter. Relying on social media is how these stories get so distorted. The story is not as you reported here.

  2. Lou, so no comment on how it looked, with Pelosi trying to leave the country for a week, while 800,000 workers are unpaid? She should have stayed to negotiate. She looked pretty uncaring.

    • Not as bad as Senator Lindsey Graham’s trip to Turkey, on a Military plane, just a few days later, without a peep from the president or from any right wing press about how bad that looked, especially after the phony hand wringing over Pelosi’s planned trip. Talk about looking bad? Graham’s trip was a twofor foolish move.

      • Last time I checked, Pelosi was speaker of the house and in charge of holding a compromise vote. Graham is in the Senate, where they are waiting for a House vote. Hardly the same thing.

        Did Trump “call out” Pelosi for her petty canceling of the State of the Union. Yes. Good for him. Made her and Shiftless look like fools.

  3. Lou, I have been reading your blog for about 9 years now. I am seasonal Key Wester and enjoy your reports about your encounters as you run with a different circle of people than I do. Our political views are different but I try to respect your viewpoint to understand why many people share your views.
    What is beginning to bother me is your opinions become so extreme- encounter at Lincoln Memorial is a good example. You blamed the young man’s behavior entirely on Trump. Life is not so black and white- most of us are influenced by many factors and do NOT always agree with one party or another.
    The reality of most issues is in the middle

    • I too have been reading this blog for many years, probably 10 years now and I think Lou’s comments and opinions on the encounter at the Lincoln memorial were reasonable and not at all extreme. Anyone who actually watched the video of that encounter can clearly see that the student mob around the specific encounter with that native American, did NOT appear at all threatened or concerned about any attack on themselves whatsoever, as Fox News and other operatives on the right are now trying to spin this. These kids were laughing, jeerring and even taunting. Furthermore, they were all decked out in MEGA and Trump gear of some sort, looking as if they were trying to pick some sort of fight. Lou had this right, Trump’s message is at the root of out current division and problems. And NO, the reality on most issues is NOT always in the middle!

      • Your bigoted opinion about these high school kids is swiftly falling apart as the facts come out. You people are every bit as bad as you think Trump supporters are. Makes me sick

        • No, the rot, is the spin you are willing to inject on to what was a riot by some blindly lead MAGA boosters. A modern day “Hitler’s Brown Shirts” who came to Washington, in uniform, with a narrow agenda to pick a fight. Us “people” who you wish to categorize as bigots, are not what is actually making YOU sick. That comes from the HATE you have built by your cult like devotion to a very bad person.

          • Sorry, again you are wrong. I did not vote for Trump. But half the country did. This labeling of everyone who doesn’t agree with you is hurtful to this country. We are falling apart. You can’t continue to call half the country racist, bigot, nazi, etc. and expect to ever come together. You can’t defeat half this country. You are only angering half the country and guaranteeing that Trump will serve another term.

          • Yes, the country is falling apart and it IS a result of racism, bigotry and divisive denials of what is happening. Spinning what happened at the Lincoln Memorial by a bunch of Hitler youth type hooligans, apparently acceptable to a significant group of either ignorant or misguided people, is the cause of furthering the problem. Either that or you are a troll, interested in actively furthering the problem. Ignoring the problem is one thing, actively trying to spin it into something else is monstrous.

    • Trump owns more than this shutdown. Trump owns the turmoil and divisiveness and works hard to keep it stoked- I will enjoy seeing him go.

  4. Haha, as Bugs Bunny said, “what a maroon”. So according to this maroon, if you don’t agree with me, you’re a troll…or if not a troll, a monster.

    You’d be great on a debate team. Emotional response is always a winner against reason.

    • Comprehension problems AGAIN?

      NO, NO, NO, it’s not about a disagreement it’s not about your opinion! It’s about your attempt at DENIAL and Covering things up as if they didn’t happen the way you want them to.

      Emotion has nothing to do with this either, that’s just your non regents attempt to divert the issue when you are wrong on point.

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