I had an ordinary work week. Nothing to get me thinking, my wife just off surgery was my main focus. What to write as I woke this morning I pondered? I made egg salad, sliced the turkey for sandwiches. Checked my email and…. there it was the thing that made my blood boil and make the hair stand up.
I am a hockey fan and have been since I switched over from basketball in 1992, thank you Wayne Gretzky. In these times of everything politically correct, hockey has still been an arena where men can be men. I am not afraid to say that, women and men have physically different bodies. My wife was my first hire for my business because she works and works hard.
Before I digress too far, Kate Smith has now been added to the racist list. Let me ask a question, “Do you know who Kate Smith is?” “How has Kate Smith influenced your life?” “Do you care who Kate Smith is?” Kate Smith started her career in and about 1930 as a singer. She was not trained but had a beautiful voice. If you ever heard the song ” God Bless America”, that was Kate Smith. The song was recorded in 1938 I believe, so 80 years old. Being from South east Pennsylvania I am a Philadelphia Flyers fan and during their 1974 run as Stanley Cup champions she sang the song live during a finals game with the Boston Bruins. That song has been used for years as a rally cry for the Flyers during any playoff run. She even has a statue in her honor outside the stadium in which the Flyers play.
Here is what pisses me off. Someone, found the time to find songs she recorded in 1931 and 1933 that were actually racist. Hell I will give it to you, they happened. We know the one was not written by Kate Smith, the other, who knows. What was happening in and around those years….. the great depression. People jumped off buildings and others did what they could to survive. Did we discuss those issues, no. An offensive song recorded, your done!! The Philadelphia Flyers caved to someone, in my opinion, who is just looking for something to be offended about anything!! Hockey had no stand or sit for the anthem, no BU@#S*&T. The fan base of the Flyers is hardworking blue collar people who spend their hard earned money to cheer and or rain boo’s on the home town team. The mainstream media pays no attention to hockey, the hockey fans DO! Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” has no effect on 99% of this country. To the Flyers, who pays your bills, that is who you answer to. Does Peco energy service the rest of the country? Did Comcast tell you to cover up the statue? Start your own network, that will pay your bills. You have choices these days, in my opinion your fans will love you even more, grow some b@))s!!
Here is my take. Someone or someones are just sitting around spending their time looking for anything to offend anyone. The media is giving them the time and some of us continue to stand behind them. Where is David Hogg now? He is not so much the media darling now, is he? The #MeToo does not have the steam it once did. Where are those coming out? The Kavanaugh hearings changed the game. He was beaten down because of something he did in the early 1980’s. You are not qualified to be a Supreme Court Judge because of what you “didn’t do” in the 80’s. Isn’t this 2019? What were you doing in your twenties? Were you the pillar of the community? Which bar did you frequent and vent your frustrations? Did you spend all of your time helping others? Sherman burned down the South, what about that outrage? What about the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis, what about that outrage? What about the outrage for the Native Americans of our country, we slaughtered them unmercifully. The Japanese Americans interned during WWII, outrage? Irish slaves, outrage? Chinese slaves, outrage? Do I need to keep going? Hopefully you get the point. I say we open that same can on our elected officials. Kavanaugh, not elected but appointed had to endure this, what is in the closet of the folks in Congress who preside over this mess. I bet some of them would not be ” worthy of office” based on their past. The past is the past, that is why it is called the past. I am not the same person I was twenty years ago. I have different views and beliefs. Can we all learn from our past, yes. It is not something to run away from and erase. If you like the movie Suicide Squad, the perfect line is “Own that Shit!”