Kate Smith – God Bless America
An evening pause: Though she made this Irving Berlin song her signature piece during World War II, the performance below from 1974 carries with it some grand history. In 1969 the management of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team had begun playing a recording of Smith singing God Bless America instead the Star Spangled Banner because they thought it might uplift the crowd, which seemed disinterested at the anthem at the start of games.
It worked, better than they expected. For some reason, the Flyers would win almost every time the recording was used. They didn’t do it every game, but often enough it would make a difference.
She finally did it live for them at the 1973 home opening, bringing down the house. The recording below was her fourth live appearance, and in many ways the most spectacular, game six of the Stanley Cup finals, the game in which the Flyers beat the Boston Bruins to win its first cup.
That the Flyers made Smith a non-person in 2019 for absurd accusations of racism, banning her song and removing her statue outside the stadium, was just one more example of the woke sickness and anti-Americanism from the left that too many have allowed themselves to bow to in the past decade. It is time for this to end.
Instead, it is time this weekend to celebrate the anniversary of this great country, that allows all people to flourish and pursue their dreams. As the opening verse says so poignantly:
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.
Written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant who also embraced this free land with all his heart.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Happy Birthday, America!
Kate Smith
God Bless America
from the film: This is the Army (1943)
https://youtu.be/SvUxPIoZf4g
5:06
“This Is the Army” (1943)
Warner Brothers
https://youtu.be/btT8oSVV_s4
1:54:44
->Directed by Michael Curtiz.
Starring George Murphy, Joan Leslie, George Tobias, Ronald Reagan and Alan Hale, with an ensemble cast including Charles Butterworth, Dolores Costello, Una Merkel, Stanley Ridges, Rosemary de Camp, Ruth Donnelly, Dorothy Peterson, Frances Langford, Gertrude Niesen, Kate Smith, and Joe Louis.
Berlin composed the film’s 19 songs and sang one of them. (near the end of the film)
The highest grossing Musical of all time until the 1954 release of White Christmas.
One of the top 40 all time grossing films, based on population & relative value of receipts.
Warner donated the entire gross-receipts to the Army Emergency Relief Fund, along with $1.5 million donated by the Red Cross.
The film is in the public-domain and may be utilized by all content-creators without fear of copyright-strike.
Meanwhile over at Ars, Eric Berger went full commie for the holiday. Sigh.
And yet, too many writers in the conservative press (Pajamas Media, Instapundit, Townhall, etc) continue to use Berger and ignore me. It is a mystery I cannot fathom. :)
I never did have any use for him.
Best wishes for a joyous and glorious celebration of America’s 250th anniversary from central Alberta here in the Great White North.
There were fireworks early this morning. A few hours ago, around midnight, I stepped out onto my balcony and saw the beginnings of an auroral display. I could see it extending towards the south past the local zenith, which meant that it was a biggie. (That explains why the radio bands below 30 MHz in my area were inactive earlier this week.)
Also, don’t forget that on this day in 1997, Mars Pathfinder successfully landed. One result of that event was that the Internet, as it was in those days, slowed down significantly as people looked for news about it.
One more cause for rejoicing. Today, movie actress Eva Marie Saint turns 102.
I remember some of the new reports of the Bicentennial observances 50 years ago.
Here in Canada, the CBC began its late evening TV news with a view of New York’s harbour, including a number of tall ships and fireboats spraying water in celebration.
That newscast ended with a tribute to America achievement, showing scenes of a number of your country’s accomplishments. That included Apollo 11, with a film clip of the view from Aldrin’s window and him calling out numbers which helped guide Armstrong. The background music for that was part of the main theme from the movie Patton.
Fifty years ago today I and approximately 20,000 brother and sister soldiers stood on the parade ground at Fort Lewis, Washington in a review celebrating our nation’s Bicentenial. At the key moment of the review, the 9th Infantry Division’s Adjutant General called out ‘Attention to orders’ and read a special order from Department of the Army
The following individual is promoted in the Army of the United States to the rank of
General of the Armies of the United States of America
Washington, George
Serial Number 000-00-001
Date of Rank 4 July 1776
It turned out that the Adjutant General of the Army found the highest rank Washington had ever held was Lieutenant General. In the two centuries since not a few men had become Generals, outranking him. Five – Marshall, Eisenhower, Bradley, Macarthur and Arnold – had attained the lofty rank of General of the Army, three -Grant, Sherman and Pershing – the stratospheric height of General of the Armies. Washington was buried further and further down the Army List. The G 1 felt this was terrible but what if…..He took his idea to the Chief of Staff and the appropriate bill was introduced into Congress and signed into law.
And so George Washington was advanced to being the senior member of the United States Army
FOREVER.
COL;
Great story & factoids!
——
Washington was an officer in the Virginia Regiment when he formally joined the British Army in 1754 but was never given a royal commission as he was a “provincial” officer and would always be subservient to a royal officer and had no chance of achieving by merit alone.
Then we have the Braddock Expedition which doesn’t go well, but he redeems himself in the French Indian War and resigns in 1759.
I love that picture of Kate Smith, she looks gangster with the hair, the glasses and how she is holding the mike.
Estes celebrates the 4th
https://www.space.com/stargazing/skywatching-kit/celebrate-250-years-of-america-with-the-estes-liberty-star-model-rocket
A private first
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/1-private-spacecraft-intercepts-another-on-space-forces-groundbreaking-victus-haze-mission
N95 mask encouraged for July 4 Washington DC National Mall fireworks
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/n95-mask-encouraged-for-july-4-washington-dc-national-mall-fireworks/ar-AA274DrG?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Not a sparrow falls from the sky without it being Trump’s fault
On Independence Day, an Englishman takes aim at ‘King Newsom’ and his court
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/on-independence-day-an-englishman-takes-aim-at-king-newsom-and-his-court-opinion/ar-AA27cxc9?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=LCTS&cvid=6a4980fac866494aafff3e049fc3e300&cvpid=5f8c46c5b8eb46a4bf46157e78500db4&ei=25
ON JULY 4TH: TYRANNY ALWAYS COMES IN THE NAME OF COMPASSION
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/on-july-4th-tyranny-always-comes-in-the-name-of-compassion
I made the mistake of looking at a CNN broadcast Friday night…hearing a fool go on about Michael Brown—but little reporting on this.
https://www.wbrc.com/2026/07/03/veteran-shot-killed-after-argument-with-woman-over-walmart-parking-space-authorities-say
I guess I can riot now.
As America wakes with its national hangover,…..it ate too much……drank too much….flirted too much….watched the fireworks….got caught in a thunderstorm….how did sand ever get THERE…..is subn burned …and had a great time!
Speak of a hangover:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/josephchalfant/2026/07/05/paul-pelosi-faces-potential-criminal-charges-after-hit-and-run-incident-n2678822
Ossifer? I’m not as think as you drunk I am.
Re: Eric Berger
(Sorry, I can’t get the nesting reply box to work.)
Eric has excellent sources at NASA and in the industry, and he’s always been what I might call directionally correct about commercial space (especially SpaceX) and NASA’s deep organizational dysfunctions, and for a long time that made him an unusual standout in space news media. This makes him essential reading for me.
But his politics are just what you’d expect them to be for a former Millennial newspaper guy. You see it peeping out a little more the last few years, for the obvious reasons. That essay was certainly guaranteed to get him a lot of love from the tankie Ars Technica readership, and it did.
Airplanes of Presidents
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x23vAdCYFNs