Shecky is in the house!

The National Prayer Breakfast has been held in Washington DC every year since before I was born. Billy Graham was a force in its early days, helping to convince President Eisenhower to address religious, social, and business leaders from around the world. Christians, Muslims and Jews gather to talk about faith – in one another, in community and in a higher power. Mother Teresa used the National Prayer Breakfast to condemn abortion as "a war against children." Bono spoke about how his personal spiritual journey led him to Africa to fight disease and hunger.

Want to know what President Donald Trump spoke about on Thursday?

•  He mocked Joe Biden's cognitive abilities. When the response was awkward, he went on to joke that Biden "had no idea he was President so he doesn't take it personally." 

•  He dismissed Rep. Thomas Massie as "a moron." Massie is one of Congress' most vocal advocates for the victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

•  He repeated lies about the 2020 election being "rigged" and admitted he had to win the 2024 election to salve his "big ego."

This was a prayer breakfast, not Don Rickles at The Sands. There was nothing humble, compassionate or reflective about his remarks. (OK, he did joke about whether he would make it to Heaven.)

He didn't take this opportunity to share firmly held beliefs because he doesn't seem to have any, except that he deserves praise and his enemies deserve derision. 

Don't take my word for any of this. Here is a transcript of your President's self-aggrandizing remarks. 

That was Thursday. But no one was talking about the Prayer Breakfast any more on Friday. Do you know why?

Trump's racist post about Obamas is deleted after backlash despite White House earlier defending it.

Isn't that a knee slapper?

Just to recap: He lies at a prayer breakfast where he celebrates his own ego and uses terms like "moron" to diminish others. He is unable to keep a civil tongue in his head for 30 minutes out of respect to religiosity. Then he shares a post where the Obamas are depicted as apes but insists he's done nothing wrong. That's just two days! I'm exhausted just watching him. I guess bile gives him stamina.

But at least he is cruel to people of color and the LGBTQ community. I guess as long as he hates who they hate, that's enough for 35% to 40% of our fellow Americans.

When are his "devout Christian" supporters finally going to have enough of this charlatan?

In the meantime, the rest of us have to stay alert and active. It's so easy to feel beaten down by all this hate. But we can't afford to. 

Combat Donald Trump with love. Let his supporters be motivated by fear and anger. I'm going to act out of positivity. I'm finding mid-term and special election candidates to support, giving money to organizations that protect the civil rights of those ensnared by ICE, and strengthening my ties to my own community.

My church has placed a refrigerator and a cabinet on the porch of the rectory. This is unrelated to the local food pantry. This is for those who can't/won't fill out the paperwork at the food pantry. They are either homeless or undocumented. Since ICE invaded Chicagoland, many have been afraid to go to their jobs and so food insecurity is a real issue. Now whenever I go to the grocery store, in addition to the beans or pasta I pick up for the food pantry,* I add ramen for the pantry on the porch. It feels good.

Don't let Donald Trump and MAGA beat you down. Live your faith. Find ways to respond that lift your spirits.

 

*Our food pantry serves people who are un- or under-employed and seniors for whom Social Security just isn't cutting it. This is important work and I'm happy to support it with cash and canned goods. But there's paperwork attached to getting the food. Clients need a photo ID with an address.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: You Make Me Feel So Young (1956)

 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This morning, do you feel younger or older than your years? I have a slow-healing bruise on my forearm and my knee is achy. Also, when I hear all the bitching that Bad Bunny is a "dumb" or "silly" name, I can remember people saying the same thing about The Beatles in 1964. It's like everything old is new again, and I feel every moment of my 68 years.

 

2) In this song, Frank Sinatra tells us that every time he sees his lover's grin, he's happy. What's something you can reliably count on to lift your spirits? Feeding the cats. They are so cute at mealtime! Chatting with me to make their menu selections known, herding me into the kitchen, supervising food prep ... I love how communicative cats always are individually, but at mealtime they coordinate and double team me. 

 

3) The lyrics mention hide-and-seek. What games did you play when you were young? I don't recall ever playing hide-and-seek. The games I remember were the outside games – SPUD and all the permutations of tag (stoop tag, freeze tag, etc).

4) Frank Sinatra was a fan of Campbell's chicken and rice soup, believing it helped his throat feel better after an evening of performing. Is Campbell's soup in your kitchen right now? Yes. BTW, in her memoir, Streisand repeatedly rhapsodized about her love of Campbell's Tomato Soup. The marketing whore in me sees a campaign here. Somebody should reach out to Katy Perry or Kelly Clarkson. Maybe Reba. If one of them will also swear by Campbell's, we've got some commercials to make.

 

5) Frank's favorite dessert was a slice of lemon ricotta torte. He believed every meal should include "a final flourish." Do you more often indulge in or skip dessert? I'd be more likely to skip the meal than the dessert.

 

6) At Sinatra's home in Palm Springs, CA, you'd find a less sophisticated dessert. He always kept Entenmann's Crumb Cake on hand for his young granddaughters. Share a memory of your grandparents. My grandpa thought I was pretty great. Every knock-knock joke I learned at school was hilarious. Whenever he saw me with a book or comic book, he'd ask me to read aloud because I was so good at it. Every little girl should have a cheerleader like my grandpa.

 

7) In 1956, when this song was popular, Frank was tooling around Southern California in a blue Continental Mark II. That model was known for its interior of hand-stitched imported Scottish leather. 70 years later, Scottish leather is still used in luxury cars because it's both soft and durable and the production methods minimize environmental impact. If you could splurge on something right now, what would it be? A luxury car, jewelry, travel, clothes, something else? (No responsible answers allowed!) A luxury 2026 BMW is about $100,000, which is an awful lot of money to imagine myself playing with. In fact, I can't. After all, I'm a gal who has $1.25 cans of Campbell's Chicken Noodle in my cabinet. So I'll imagine that I have approx. $10,000 earmarked for fun. I'd take myself on the TCM Classic Film Cruise. To have my own private, deluxe stateroom (with veranda) for five nights would be $8,650. That includes all the movies I can handle, plus meals. I'd have to fly to/from the port in San Diego, and I'm not going economy, so that's about $1,000. One of the ports of call is Catalina Island, a place I'm curious about. Ah, like the song says, I'm California Dreamin' on such a winter's day.

 

 
8) Also in 1956, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Forbidden Planet were popular at the box office. Do you have a favorite sci-fi movie? Not really.

 

9) Random question: What were you doing three hours ago? Taking a nap. Which was stupid because it's after midnight and I'm wide awake.