President Roosevelt’s announcement of D-Day, June 6, 1944

An evening pause: On this anniversary of D-Day, it is worthwhile to go back in time and relive that time to understand better what our country then stood for. Below is President Roosevelt’s radio speech to the nation, announcing the D-Day invasion and its apparent initial success. What is striking is that he spends little time talking about what happened, nor does he spend any time extolling the triumph of his administration. Instead, he humbly turns his speech into his heartfelt prayer for the lives of the soldiers, the people at home, and the people in Europe who are suffering under Hitler’s rule, reminding everyone of the nation’s real goal: “A peace that will let all men to live in peace, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.” He then ends the prayer with these words, “Thy will be done, almighty God. Amen.”

This speech tells us as much about the nation that Roosevelt lived in as it does about Roosevelt himself. He knew his audience, and he knew they believed deeply in freedom, truth, human rights, and moral commitment. He also knew they would be honored to join him in this prayer, with the same humbleness as he was expressing. He knew they would not be offended, whatever their faith, because the important thing was to have good will and to strive for a just conclusion of the war.

If only such things could happen today.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette.

The B-1 Lancer Bomber

An evening pause: One reason we have a Memorial Day is to honor those who have died to keep us free. We also remember them to remind us that the sacrifice was necessary.

I think it is long past time to repeat the same effort, no matter the cost, and use this plane’s payload a lot more than we are. There are people in the Middle East who are gleefully killing people for the sake of power. We should no longer tolerate them.

Hat tip Rocco.

R.E.M. – Losing My Religion

An evening pause: This kind of music video I really like: A live performance, filmed expressly for the video. No audience, no special effects, no fake cute story expressing the angst of adolescence. Just the musicians, their instruments, the words of the song, and the cameraman.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette.

Chito

An evening pause: Hat tip George Petricko, who noted, “Just when you think the whole world has gone rotten, you see someone like this.” I say, this is just one more testament to what is possible if you are humble and do the best you can, with what you have.

Jimmy Eat World – The Middle

An evening pause: I normally find myself very bored with “official” music videos. The stories are almost always the same, centered on the imagined profound angst of adolescent teen-age emotions. This video however does a nice job of mixing the music with the story, in a somewhat creative and different way, even if the angst is still the same.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette.

Pearl Jam – Alive

A evening pause: If you look closely, past the hard rock angst and anger and clothing and hairstyles and performance cliches, what you can see here are some very serious and skilled musicians.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette.

Such Great Heights

An evening pause: Unfortunately, I have no idea who the performer is for this gentle and very beautiful cover of a song by The Postal Service. She does not identify herself on her youtube webpage.

They will see us waving from such great heights,
“Come down now,” they’ll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
“Come down now,” but we’ll stay…

Hat tip Edward Thelen.

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