As long as Jimmy Stewart wasn’t racist, or a polygamist or beat his dog, I’m OK.
(He was a good guy, wasn’t he? No don’t tell me if he wasn’t…)
When I learned that the man behind this exquisitely beautiful song:
is a virulent racist and antisemite.
Maybe FDR was pissed that Owens could outrun him.
Read this, you won’t be disappointed.
Too soon, man. Too soon.
IMO, the worst thing FDR did was executive order 9066, which authorized the internment of people of Japanese descent in the western states. There are many things I like about FDR, but that really puts a limit on my admiration. I knew about this long before I learned of his treatment of Jesse Owens.
I admire FDR, too, but another blot was his refusal to allow that boatload of Jewish refugees to settle in the US.
Piling on FDR some more, possibly because he’d been sexually harassed or simply found it distasteful back in boys school, as assistant secretary of the navy he ran an anti-gay sting operation. Later as president he specifically designed living quarters for navy women to lack privacy so as to inhibit lesbianism.
And although he grabbed ideas for plenty of recovery programs from Hoover along with the credit, he took Hoover’s name off of Boulder Dam until after FDR was dead.
Rats — sad to hear this, but good to know.
Beethoven versus Beethoven: Ludwig lost a bit of luster in my eyes when I learned of his contentious custody war with his brother Carl’s widow, Johanna, over his nephew, Karl. The dying Carl wrote, “God permit my wife and brother to be harmonious for the sake of my child’s welfare.”
But, Ludwig fought long and hard for sole custody. He produced no major works during the protracted legal battle. Beethoven’s intentions may have been good (Johanna had a checkered past for one thing), but denying a mother the right to see her child is petty and deplorable.
He’s still my favorite composer, however.