Yesterday’s purges, today’s primaries

Yesterday’s purges, today’s primaries:

Night of the Long Knives, redux.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/yesterday-s-purges-today-s-primaries/

Happy # 82 to Ron Swoboda

Ron Swoboda was born in Baltimore on this day in 1944.  He broke in with the Mets in 1965 and hit 18 HR as a rookie.   

Unfortunately for Mets' fans, Swoboda never really developed into a consistent power hitter:  .242 batting average, 73 HR & 344 RBI over 8 years.

Nevertheless, he will live in the hearts of Mets fans for one catch in the 1969 World Series.     It killed an Oriole rally and lives as one of the greatest catches in baseball history.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Happy # 63 “Blame it on the bossa nova"

Another one of those "time flies" posts:  Let's remember "Blame it on the bossa nova" by Eydie Gorme.  

Frankly, I don't remember this song but it was an entertaining and still gets a lot of airplay many years later.  It is a great dancing song!  I would file this one under "novelty pop songs"!

Eydie Gorme enjoyed a great career.  She recorded many songs with her husband Steve Lawrence.

Click here for the song.

"I was at a dance When he caught my eye
Standing all alone Lookin' sad and shy
We began to dance Swaying to and fro
And soon I knew I'd never let him go
Blame it on the bossa nova With it's magic spell
Blame it on the bossa nova That he did so well
Oh it all began with just one little dance
But soon it ended up a big romance
Blame it on the bossa nova The dance of love
Now was it the moon No no the bossa nova
Or the stars above No no the bossa nova
Now was it the tune Yea yea the bossa nova
The dance of love
Now I'm glad to say I'm his bride to be
And we're gonna raise a family
And when our kids ask How it came about
I gonna say to them with out a doubt....

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

June 30, 1936: "Gone with the wind" was published

Most of us have seen the movie but how many have read the book? 

"Gone with the wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published on this day in 1936.    

The book told the story of a woman caught up in the Civil War.    It was based on the tales and stories that she heard from her grandparents and other relatives, as well as from Confederate war veterans.

Was the movie better than the book?    In this case, the answer is yes but read the book anyway.   It will teach you a lot about life in the old South.

Mitchell died in 1949.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

Guest:   Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.    NY City earthquake and national socialism.  Impact on other primaries.  Iran and the price of oil keeps dropping.  Obama Care and no social security numbers............

 

The Obamacare numbers don’t add up...again

The Obamacare numbers don’t add up...again:

It turns out that the program sold as an efficient way to get healthcare to Americans is a cesspool of Social Security fraud.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/the-obamacare-numbers-don-t-add-up-again/

We remember Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011)

The great Harmon Killebrew, one of great baseball sluggers of our youth, was born on this day in 1936.   He passed away in 2011 of cancer.  He was 74.

Killebrew started with the original Washington Senators who became the  Minnesota Twins in 1961.  He won the AL MVP in 1969, played in the 1965 World Series plus the ALCS in 1969 & 70.

From 1964 to 1971, Killebrew and Tony Oliva, who usually batted in front of Harmon, were one of the best hitting combinations ever.   Tony won 3 batting titles and Harmon just hit a ton of home runs.   

We remember those "titanic home runs" that got lost in the clouds all over baseball parks.    Killebrew was indeed one of my all time favorite players.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The other Perón woman that history forgot

We all know the story of Eva (Evita) Perón, perhaps the most influential woman in modern Argentina. They made a Broadway play and movie about her! By the way, the movie did not misrepresent her beauty and class. She made a point to be super elegant because Evita knew that Latin women like their First Ladies to look that way. Sexist? No at all. I know my culture.

A few years ago, President Trump visited Argentina and then President Mauricio Macri. The Argentina media went crazy with Melania's look. In the end, Melania Trump and the other First Lady, Juliana Macri, stole the show with their fashions. It was a duel of First Ladies that Latin women could not get enough of!

We remember Isabel Perón, who became president of Argentina in June 1974 and overthrown in March 1976. 

The common denominator with the women was Juan Perón, husband and president. Isabel Perón was VP and assumed the presidency when President Perón died. Isabel was 36 years younger than Juan Perón. There was also a big age difference between Evita and Juan Perón.

Mrs. Perón's presidency was very difficult.  She was not able to form coalitions and the country's economy went from bad to worse. Frankly, I am not sure that any other person could have done any better. Argentina's economic problems came home to roost in the mid-1970s and threw the country into years of turmoil.  Her husband left her a mess and she had no chance to survive it.

Perón was overthrown in March 1976 and eventually moved to Madrid. She turned 92 a few months ago and has stayed out of public view.  I can't remember the last time that Isabel was in the news.

Who was the first female president of Argentina?  The answer is Isabel, not Eva, Perón. Of course, no one made a play about Isabel and that may explain that history has largely forgotten her.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

June 29, 1941: DiMaggio reached # 42

On this day in 1941, the amazing Joe DiMaggio singled in the sixth inning in the first game of a doubleheader to tie George Sisler’s A.L. consecutive-game hit record of 41 games. 

In the second game, he set the record at 42 games with a single in the seventh inning.   

What makes DiMaggio so great is that he’d play doubleheaders.  My guess is that the manager offered to give him a game off but he went out and played.

After getting # 42, his next goal was the N.L. record of 44.    As you probably know, he got to 44, 45 and finished at 56. 

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

1966: "Paperback writer" by The Beatles was # 1 this week

It's a shame that I did not save all of those wonderful 45 cover photos.   My guess is that this one is quite a collector's item.   After all, George and John are shown playing the guitar as lefties.  

"Paperback writer" was one of the group's finest 45's.   The B-side of "Rain" was a sign of things to come.   

The single were introduced on The Ed Sullivan Show in 2 fantastic promo films.    They were available on YouTube but no more.

The Beatles released 3 US LPs between Christmas 1965 and the summer of 1966.   However,  "Paperback writer", or the B-side of "Rain", were not included in the US versions of "Rubber Soul", "Yesterday and today" or "Revolver".     

Why wasn't this 45 included in the "Revolver" LP?   Good question because it fits that LP beautifully.   

By the way, the book below has "a song by song" story of every one recorded and released by the group.   It is a wonderful resource to remember all of those tunes that we listened to on vinyl many years ago.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog