FDR…..COMMANDER IN CHIEF

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Enjoyed Sunday dinner at Roositca last night. The spaghetti special which includes a salad, three huge meatballs, two huge sausage links, and great bread for $14. A buy! I ate all the meat. Little of the pasta. Too much food for me.

The place was packed. A gold mine!

Guy de Boer came in with a big party. He stopped to talk with me. I asked about his sister Dawn who I had never met. However, we are friends via the internet. She lives somewhere in north Florida and edits my weekly KONK Life column. Guy said she is here with me. I want to meet her, I said.

Off we went to her table. We were both overjoyed to have finally met each other in the flesh. Dawn is a lovely person in every respect.

When I eat alone, I bring something to read. Generally, a newspaper or my tablet. Last night, it was the FDR book The Mantle Of Command I have been reading. I finished it while dining.

A great book! One of the best historical novels I have read. It covers a small time frame during World War II. Eleven months. From December 7th to the following November when the Allies successfully landed in North Africa in what was known as Operation Torch.

The book was written by Nigel Hamilton. Published this year. Would make a great movie!

The novel shows a side of Roosevelt not before seen. He was a hard ass do it my way leader. Forget the generals and admirals, he was the commander in chief. He conducted himself accordingly. Rarely did he have to pull rank. He was a smoothie who manipulated and turned people to his way of thinking.

Many tried to manipulate him, stand up to him. Each failed. Churchill, Marshall, MacArthur, and Stimson were no match. They opposed him, fought him. Went behind his back. None prevailed, whatever the issue.

Hamilton had some intimate relationships that assisted in writing the book.. While a student at Cambridge, Hamilton resided with Churchill’s parents. Hamilton spent hours discussing Churchill with his quasi grandfather Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. He also spent considerable time interviewing people who knew Churchill intimately. Churchill is a major figure in the book after Roosevelt.

This is the first book written from the perspective of Roosevelt as a controlling commander in chief. Not only of his generals and admirals, but also world leaders.

As he was to all Presidents he served under, MacArthur was a pain in the ass. Nevertheless a military genius. FDR kept him in line waiting for the American Pacific war to begin.

One thing reported about MacArthur in the book bothered me. Corregidor was about to fall. MacArthur would soon be ordered to Australia. The Philippine people and American troops were being brutalized by the Japanese.

Within days of MacArthur leaving and the Philippines falling into Japanese hands, the Philippine government gave MacArthur $500,000 which MacArthur was able to secure and get out of the Philippines. A sort of legal payment. The Philippine government was always rewarding people who helped them. This was the first time MacArthur was so rewarded.

Roosevelt was not happy about the payment and its acceptance. He kept quiet, however. He needed MacArthur for another day. The payment remained secret until 1979 when it first came to public light.

The payment did not appear proper in and of it self. It also did not look correct when men were dying in droves. Keep in mind Bataan and Corregidor.

There is a contrast. Eisenhower served under MacArthur in the Philippines from 1936 to 1939. He was a major at the time and acted as MacArthur’s chief of staff. Eisenhower was offered $60,000 from the Philippine government at roughly the same time as MacArthur received the $500,000. Eisenhower turned down the $60,000. He did not consider it in good taste.

Read the book. An interesting eye opener.

Enjoy the last day of your Labor Day weekend!

 

A NOTHING DAY

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Yesterday moved fast. The day seemed short. Before I knew it, bed time had arrived.

The reasons are obvious.

I slept later than normal. A sign I am enjoying the trip.

It took me four hours to do yesterday’s blog. It was a two-dayer. I must have been verbose. It ran 2500 words. My blogs are normally 300 to 800 words.

When I finished the blog, it was mid afternoon. I was hungry. Returned to Mezza’s. It has become a favorite place.

One of my favorite Key West meals is Cuban cheese toast with tomato. The absolute best! The butter helps.

Mezza’s menu listed a cheese tomato toast sandwich. Why not? It was not the same. Good. Nowhere as good as the Key West version, however. The sandwich consisted of two slices of white thin bread toasted crispy with cheese and tomato. Hot. Cheese was melted. Bread slices unusually large.

I was still hungry. I think it was actually that my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Milk shakes on the menu! I enjoyed a chocolate milk shake. Terrific!

From where I was sitting in Mezza’s, I had a clear wide view of the bay. So lovely! I wish everyone could see it. While sitting there, I observed another Key West familiarity. Weddings. Saw three brides and grooms taking pictures. One reason Nikos had no room at his cave hotel for me is that a wedding party has taken most of his rooms for the week.

I spent the next few hours sitting on my little balcony overlooking Back Street. The breeze coming off the ocean at me from three directions. I read. The latest Eisenhower book. One thing I have learned is that generals live like kings. Great residences and service. Especially when in a war zone.

Got tired. Took a two hour nap.

I was finally out at nine. Where to have dinner the issue. I saw a new restaurant on a side street. A second floor job. Subdued lighting. I walked over. It was a Cypriot restaurant. I had never experienced Cypriot food. So up I went.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my meal. Too rich. It stayed with me into the middle of the night.

No screwing around tonight. It is tried and true for me. Back to Taverna Katina!

Some observations.

Santorini has fishing boats similar to Amorgos. Basically converted row boats. They add a motor on the back. One man per boat. He will spend every day of his life earning a living this way. I took a pic or two of the boats. They were shown on Facebook yesterday.

I have come to the conclusion I have the only beard in Oia. Oia is the town in Santorini I am at. Not one beard have I seen other than mine in the mirror. Whether tourist or local. All clean shaven.

Age. I am constantly being made aware of mine. I think I am the only “old man” on the island. I have not seen one person that I would place in his or her late 70s.

I was only in Athens two nights last week. I would like more of Athens. I am trying to rearrange my schedule to be back there again for 2-3 additional days near the end of the trip.

My next stop is Amorgos. I will be there thursday. For three weeks. Love Amorgos! That is why I booked myself in there for such a long stay.

Enjoy your day!

A MASSAGE TO DIE FOR

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Yesterday afternoon was be good to Louis time!

I got a massage. First one in years. At the Pier House Spa.

Outstanding! I was so relaxed, I could not get off the table at the end. The masseuse covered me with a towel and left me to sleep.

The Spa is a separate building on the Pier House grounds. I fear if a sale of the Pier House is consumated, the new owners will turn it into hotel rooms. It would be a shame!

The Cleveland Indians’ Jacobs family presently own the Pier House. They made a mistake several years ago when they closed the restaurant and replaced it with rooms. The recession years of 2008 and 2009 followed and the rooms were not always occupied.

The Pier House restaurant was one of the finest in Key West. Fine dining. Inside and out. Both dining areas lovely. The food as good as the massage I received yesterday.

Many of us were unhappy to see the restaurant go.

Yesterday morning, I finalized the topics for last night’s blog talk radio show. The winners became the Boston bombing and not screwing up the case against the bomber by violating his Miranda rights, the media improperly describing the 19 year old bomber as a boy rather than a man, how what the NRA did 30 years ago impeded the recent Boston bombing investigation, and Cardinal O’Malley’s sermon to forgive the Boston bombers, something with which I could not agree.

I did Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou at 9 in the evening. Then to bed.

I have to go out tonight. The back has been keeping me in. It is 95 per cent better. I have a need to see Don, David, Hershel, Erika, and other friends at Don’s Place. I need to see my buddies at the Chart Room. Especially Emily. She has been on my mind the past few days. I think it is the popcorn she makes. Just the right amount of salt and oil.

Tom and Fran Dixon from Buffalo are due in today. They should be at the Chart Room at cocktail time.

Key West weather continues to be outstanding! 89 degrees yesterday. A touch of humidity. A cool breeze. This morning looks like it is the beginning of a similar day.

I am a sporadic book reader. I read every day. Rarely for long periods of time. That is where the sporadic comes in. Fifteen minutes here, a half hour there.

I am into the Eisenhower book Ike’s Bluff. The writer Evan Thomas has a unique talent for coming up with the right quote at the right time. Yesterday, it was Secret Police Chief Beria’s plans for the scientists if Russia’s atomic test failed in the late 1940s.

Today’s quote concerns John Foster Dulles. Dulles was one of our country’s foremost Secretaries of State. He served under President Eisenhower.

Dulles was ultra conservative. He had a physical problem. One eye twitched. It was not controllable.

There is an interesting happening regarding the twitch in the book. “Once, in a foreign hotel, with a twitch of the eye, he (Dulles) was said to have asked a room service waiter for some bottled water. The waiter returned with a tray of liquor. ‘No,’ said Dulles (another twitch), ‘I said I would like some bottled water.’ More minutes passed. A call girl arrived….”

Enjoy your day!

 

 

CONCH REPUBLIC WEEK

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It is that time of year again!

The Conch Republic celebration.

Festivities ongoing all week long. From my perspective, the best part of the week is the Great Sea Battle between the Conch Republic and the forces of the United States. The event takes place saturday evening off Schooner Wharf, the Pier House, and Ocean Key.

Pirate ships manned by pirate men and ladies will battle hopefully a Coast Guard cutter. The Conch Republic’s World War I biplane will engage U.S. Navy jets.

Each water vessel will try to drown the other with hosed sea water. The pirate ships will also pummel the Coast Guard cutter with  rotten tomatoes, eggs and heads of lettuce. The biplane will fly low overhead and bomb the Coast Guard cutter with rolls of toilet paper.

You cannot appreciate the nature of the battle until you have seen the toilet paper bombs unfurling as they fall toward the cutter.

If you are in Key West saturday night, go! Do not miss what I consider a spectacular experience.

It never rained yesterday. A weather forecaster I am not. The clouds lifted and it was another great Key West day. I hung around the house all day working on this evenings blog talk radio show and otherwise writing.

I snuck out for lunch at Blossom’s. Dee called and said let’s have lunch. I  had a desire for a Cuban cheese toast tomato sandwich. So did she. That was my day. I stayed in last night to continue being nice to my back.

My blog talk radio show this evening at 9. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

I plan on talking a bit about the Boston bomber and the way the federal government has been handling his interrogation and arraignment, his right to remain silent and right to an attorney. I think the government has been playing with dynamite.

I am happy to discuss anything else you good people would enjoy chatting about.

The live Boston bomber is 19. Many media persons refer to him as a boy. He is a man. As much a man as our young persons who are 19 and do battle for the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Our 19 year old male soldiers are always referred to as men. Why not this bomber?

I am reading a book about Eisenhower. It is entitled Ike’s Bluff. Written by Evan Thomas.

I am old enough to remember the fear we had after World War II and into the Reagan administration regarding Russia. Russia was our enemy. War could occur at any time. A nuclear war. It was a deep rooted genuine fear.

Stalin was the big boss in Russia during a part of the time. A key person in his administration was Beria, the head of the Secret Police.

Russia did not have the atomic bomb till 1949. Russia exploded an atomic bomb in August of that year. The Russian scientists who worked on the bomb would have been killed or imprisoned if the test failed.

The Eisenhower book contains a quote from David Holloway’s book Stalin and the Bomb. The quote reflects the Russian mind clearly. “…Beria was said to have adopted a simple principle: those who were to be shot in case of failure would now become Heroes of Socialist Labor; those who would have received maximum prison terms were to be given the Order of Lenin, and so on down the list.”

That’s it for now! Please join me this evening at 9 for Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

Enjoy your day!