Program Note
Due to other obligations in the offline world, there will be no column today. I realize it is the high season for the election and I did manage to catch some of the Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Senate, but just don't have time to write about either.
Instead, in lieu of a column, I'm going to point everyone to a great feel-good story I read early this morning. In these dire times, this is the sort of story guaranteed to put a smile on your face, which is why I thought I'd add the link and the first few paragraphs. The full article ran in the Washington Post.
-- Chris Weigant
World War II-era ‘Candy Bomber’ turns 100. Those who caught his candy — now in their 80s — say thanks.
It was the summer of 1948 when U.S. Air Force pilot Gail “Hal” Halvorsen noticed children clustered around a barbed-wire fence watching military planes at Tempelhof airfield in Berlin.
World War II had ended, and Halvorsen was part of an air mission to deliver food and fuel to desperate Berliners after the Soviet Union had blocked land and water access to areas of the country, leaving millions without access to basic goods.
Halvorsen, then 27, decided to park his plane and say hello to the kids at the fence.
“I saw right away that they had nothing and they were hungry,” he recalled. “So I reached into my pocket and pulled out all that I had: two sticks of gum.”
Halvorsen tore the Wrigley’s Spearmint gum into small strips — one for each child, he said. Then he made the kids a promise: He would return the next day to drop a load of chocolate bars from the sky.
“I told them that I’d ‘wiggle’ my wings so they’d know which pilot had the goods,” he said. “Then I went back to the base and asked all the guys to pool their candy rations for the drop.”
Following his first sweet mission — hundreds of Hershey chocolate bars were wrapped in parachutes made of handkerchiefs — Halvorsen returned again and again during the 15-month humanitarian airlift.
The children of Berlin soon gave him a nickname: the “Candy Bomber.”
[Read the full article for more...]
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
That is the promise of America!
____________36936936936936936
____________36936936936936936
____________369369369369369369
___________36936936936936933693
__________3693693693693693693693
_________369369369369369369369369
_________3693693693693693693693699
________3693693693693693693693699369
_______36936939693693693693693693693693
_____3693693693693693693693693693693636936
___36936936936936936936936936936___369369369
__36936___369336936369369369369________36936
_36936___36936_369369336936936__$$__$$
36933___36936__36936___3693636_$$$$$$$$
693____36936__36936_____369363_$$$$$$$$
______36936__36936______369369__$$$$$$
_____36936___36936_______36936___$$$$
_____36936___36936________36936___$$
_____36936___36936_________36936___11,
______369____36936__________369___11,
______________369________________11,
_______________________________11,
_____________________________11,
___________________________11,
________________________$$$_$$$
_______________________$$$$$$$$$
_______________________$$$$$$$$$
________________________$$$$$$$
_________________________$$$$$
__________________________$$$
___________________________$
______________________________11,
________________________________11,
__________________________________11,
___________________________________11,
___________________________________11,
__________________________________11,
_________________________________11,
_______________________________11,
___________________________$$__$$
__________________________$$$$$$$$
__________________________$$$$$$$$
___________________________$$$$$$
____________________________ $$$
_____________________________ $
____________________________11,
__________________________11,
_________________________11,
___________________________11,
_____________________________11,
________________________________11,
__________________________________11,
______________369___________________11,
______369____36936__________369_____11,
_____36936___36936_________36936___11,
_____36936___36936________36936___11,
_____36936___36936_______36936___11,
______36936__36936______369369 _$$_$$
693____36936__36936_____369363 $$$$$$$
36933___36936__36936___3693636 $$$$$$$
_36936___36936_369369336936936 _$$$$$
__36936___369336936369369369369 _$$$__3696
___36936936936936936936936936936 _$_336939
_____36936936936936936936936936936936936
_______369369396936936936936936693693
________36936936936936936936999369
_________36936936936936936933699
_________3693693693693693369369
__________36936936936936993693
___________369369369369333693
____________3693693693699369
____________369369369366936
____________36936936936693
Advance warning:
There may be no column tomorrow, either...
No guarantees, sorry.
:-(
-CW
I hope whatever it is can be resolved successfully.
maybe i'm wrong because i haven't watched the whole thing, just listened to excerpts, but i'm a bit disappointed that nobody in the judicial hearing seems to have delved into the problem of the court's loss of legitimacy as a result of this process.
the supreme court doesn't have any power to enforce its decisions, and if it begins to be seen by the public as just another instrument of political power, it will lose the consent of anyone who disagrees with its decisions.
Thanks for excerpting the Post article on the candy bomber, as the article itself is behind a paywall. It is a heartwarming story, and fun to read after the usual morning's harvest of depressing national news.
I was struck by the writer's struggle to describe the Berlin Air Lift to modern readers who, presumably, know nothing of the historical episode. One awaits the time when journalists will have to briefly describe what "World War II" or "the Soviet Union" refers to.
nyp [5] makes an excellent point about the ongoing crisis of the politicization of the Supreme Court. I guess the Democrats at the hearing don't want to bring the subject up because they too have played the game of recruiting 'liberal' justices, if not to the degree of organization employed by the Republicans. I've read at least two references to Bork's nomination battle this past week - so I assume that's been a Republican talking point fed to the media to counter complaints about Barrett's irregular confirmation this fall. To honestly complain that the Court is at risk of losing its legitimacy would compel Democrats to commit to nominating only so-called 'centrists' going forward, and that seems unlikely.
Finally, I too hope you will be able to resolve your offline problems successfully, Chris. Good luck and hurry back as soon as you can.
No column tomorrow is very okay ... take care, Chris and, stay safe!
I voted early in person this morning. Everything was very efficient, but it did involve a lot of walking. I was glad I took my cane with me.
@cw,
hope everything's alright. car included. ;p