Sanders, God and Trump

Readers of this blog know that among those that regularly comment here,  there is a wide range of opinion. A liberal leaning commenter justified CNN not covering the White House briefing, because Sanders told a Christian Broadcaster that she believed that God wanted Trump to be president. In other words, in his mind she admitted that she is crazy.

She didn't make that statement in a White House briefing as new government policy... It was rather a personal opinion, to another person of faith. While I do not share her opinion about Trump and God, I do believe that White House briefings need to be covered, if CNN wants to serve its public. Their editorial opinion of Trump's policies is irrelevant, regarding their responsibility to present news. If they editorially believe that the briefings more resemble propaganda than facts, that too is irrelevant. They seem to be on a moral high horse, commingling their opinion with what constitutes news.

I can appreciate that Trump and his administration present a challenge to the media. I cringe when Trump publicly disputes our own intelligence agencies. I'm not oblivious to his inappropriate and misinformed statements. However, he is the current president, and his office's news briefings are news. Time has shown us that every statement out of the White House has not always proved historically accurate. Roosevelt may not have been as surprised by the Pearl Harbor bombings as he proclaimed afterward, on the famous radio broadcast. We're in a different media age. Information is now transmitted instantly, from around the world. Informed citizens have a lot to absorb. I prefer my media sources to separate out their attitude, from the information they present as news.

Morning Call Joins News Ban

Last night on the Call website, in the top roll of articles was a commentary piece from the Washington Post.  The column, written by Erik Wemple,  justifies CNN not covering the recent press briefing by Sarah Sanders,  because of White House lies. He also cites frequent distortions and falsehoods.  If these are not justifications enough, he adds their bogus pronouncements and concludes that CNN's audience appreciates discretion in what news is presented.

Now, I understand that there is a history of tension between CNN and the Trump administration. However, with CNN's dominant position in media,  democracy would be better served by allowing the public to hear the briefings.  Instead, we have a major cable and internet provider deciding what is news worthy for us, with a major paper justifying the censorship. Then, that attitude is passed on to  minor markets,  like Allentown.

If Trump felt as if he was mistreated by the press in 2016,  he hasn't seen anything yet,  if he runs again in 2020.

Independents As Spoilers.

The Democrats are in a bit of a snit because Starbuck's Howard Schultz might run as an independent. They're afraid that such a run would siphon votes away from the Democrat candidate, and give Donald Trump a victory in 2020.

Neera Tanden, president of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress and confidante of 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, tweeted: "Vanity projects that help destroy democracy are disgusting. "If he enters the race, I will start a Starbucks boycott because I'm not giving a penny that will end up in the election coffers of a guy who will help Trump win."

It is a reality in two party America that independents can inadvertently act as a spoiler, but to suggest that such an effort destroys democracy is in actuality an assault on democracy in itself.

We could have better government on every level if we were not married to the two party reality. Note, I did not write two party system, because the Constitution never specified having parties, or the number of them.

Meanwhile, the Democrat pundits are suggesting that Schultz could best fulfill his hopes for America by not running,  but fund the get out the vote effort.

Political Prisoners In America

Although the first post of the week is usually on a Monday,  I went ahead and published on Saturday.  You can either scroll back to the previous post, Political Prisoners In American, or use the link.

Please place any comments on the original post.

Political Prisoners In America

Diviners of this blog know that I'm conservative, but not partisan.  I recently received a call complaining that my recent posts were too nostalgia driven,  with not enough local politics.  Although, I'm planning to address that complaint in the near future,  today's post takes us national.

As one who does not suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome,  I can still appreciate the theatrics of Trump ending the shutdown, juxtapositioned with the arrest of Roger Stone.  Add Stone doing the Nixon salute,  and the weekend was setup for liberal madness.  I almost expected to see dancing in the streets,  Rio style.  When Stone came out of his arraignment in Fort Lauderdale, and stated that his arrest was political,  while the liberals in the street were shouting lock him up, he seemed to have a point. When the FBI raided his house at 4:30AM, SWAT style, and CNN was there, Stone seemed to have a point.

As I write this early Saturday morning,  I'm sure that the writers at Saturday Night Live are up and at it also, unless they too were tipped off... then they probably started the rehearsals earlier this week.

Jennie Molovinsky Was A Quiet Neighbor

For nearly a hundred years the Wenz Memorial Company had a tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton.  Their parcel extended from Hamilton Street back to Walnut Street, across from the home of former mayor Joe Daddona.   Years ago, large granite slabs would be delivered by railroad, using the the Barber Quarry spur route.  During the Phil Berman era,  the facilities were also used to produce large stone sculptures.  Behind the office and production building, most of the property was used for storage of tombstones.  Some of the stones were samples of their handiwork, and others were old stones that had been replaced with new ones, by family members.  Such was the case with my great grandmother's first stone, which has laid at wenz's for several decades.  The row houses and their front porches on S. Lafayette Street faced this portion of Wenz's, and it was very quiet, indeed.

Some readers may have noticed that Wenz's has been demolished, and the parcel will now contain a bank,  Dunkin Donut, and Woody's Sport Bar.  The residents of Lafayette Street,  experiencing complete quietness for all these years, attended the zoning hearing as objectors.  Their previous view, a dark, quiet lot, would now be replaced with a lit parking lot, with bar patrons coming and going.  Although I will not comment on the zoning issues,  residents were supposedly told by the zoners that the development would improve their quality of life.  It's one thing to have the quality of your life degraded,  it's another to have your intelligence insulted, to boot.  Perhaps the zoners need some training in sensitivity.

reprinted from May of 2016

Ice Skating At Union Terrace

The skating pond at Union Terrace was a rite of growing up in Allentown.  Putting aside climate change, the pond was frozen every winter.  Maybe the park department intentionally slowed, or even shut off the flow of water.  A fire was kept burning in a metal barrel by the southwest corner of the ice rink.  Benches lined the south side where a kid could put his skates on.

While Albeth Ice Ring on the east side was a skating option for the serious skaters,  Union Terrace was the choice for us less graceful, but more interested in socializing.  There were no iphones or youtubes,  just kids interacting with other kids.

The center city and west end kids walked home from the pond.  There were no cell phones to call for a ride,  and nobody would want to be seen getting into their parent's car.

At that time the park department was a significant part of growing up in Allentown.  Come summer each part of the city had its own pool.  For some things, like Allentown and its park system, going backwards wouldn't be a bad thing.


molovinsky on allentown is published early morning every weekday.

The Sunday Drive

My family wasn't much for recreation.  My father worked six days a week, from early morning until early evening.  We did go for a long car ride on Sundays.  Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful.  Children were more content to sit in the back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.



Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction.  Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings,who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?

 Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had



my "coonskin" hat with me.  Fess Parker was a genuine American hero.  It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier.  The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner.  Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.



My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most.  Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong.  If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles.   They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100.  The building still exists and currently is a bank.  The family also owned another hotel on Route 309.  Both locations also operated adjoining Drive-In movies.



If my father headed north or east,  we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road.  Walp's was a much more urban place.   While Shankweiler's was an old country inn,  Walp's was built as a modern restaurant.  I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.

reprinted from September 2017