Remember the serious Maine

Remember the serious Maine:

They finally got around to a debate in Maine. 

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/07/remember-the-serious-maine/

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They finally got around to a debate in Maine. I mean, a debate to select a Democrat candidate to run against Senator Susan Collins. As you remember, Platner, the guy who won the primary election, ran into a problem last week. He was great until he wasn't, as they say.

So the new faces came together, and we saw everything that is wrong with the modern Democrat Party. I remember when the Democrats had serious people running for office, not just those who hate Trump. Yes, we've come a long way from George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe. What's going on in Maine?

We can say some things about this debate.

1) No one broke through because it's hard to do that with so much insanity on stage:

The lack of fireworks marked a notable juxtaposition to Platner’s insurgent Senate campaign, which quickly captured Mainers’ attention last year and had observers hailing his political charisma.

With just days to campaign, the Senate hopefuls -- several of whom are fresh off losses in last month’s primaries for governor and House seats -- are scrambling to capture the energy that had coalesced behind the populist oyster farmer.

2) Not one candidate wanted to take on Platner or his base:

When moderators asked the candidates what ideas of Platner’s they’d carry forward in their own campaigns, they pointed to his progressive ideals without discussing his controversial exit from the race.

“What Graham talked about is something that I’ve been fighting for since I got into politics: healthcare, Medicare for all,” Jackson said.

Shah said there are “a lot of areas” where his and Platner’s policies overlap but said the most prominent was his call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Wood, who dropped his bid for Senate to instead run unsuccessfully for House before Platner’s exit, said the progressive’s campaign ultimately shifted his view on Israel’s war in Gaza.

Yes, they all ran against ICE and Israel's war on Gaza as they call it. No one really told the voters why they would be better than Susan Collins.

In the end, it will come down to this: We may disagree with Senator Collins but at least she looks like a U.S.. senator, and breaks with President Trump whenever she feels she has to.

In the meantime, we look to Maine and yearn for the days when Democrats used to nominate serious people who could speak two sentences without bashing Trump about everything. Such is the state of Democrat primaries.

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

Happy # 86 Joe Torre

Many years ago, I had a Joe Torre baseball card.   I had no idea that he'd go on to become a great major league manager, too.

Joe was born on this day in Brooklyn in 1940 and made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves in 1960.   

By 1964, he was an NL star hitting .321 with 20 HR & 109 RBI.    

The Braves traded Torre to St Louis after the 1968 season.   My guess is that they regretted that move for years.

In 1971, Torre hit .363 with 230 hits & 137 RBI.    It was one of the best offensive years of the post-war era.    It earned him an MVP and batting title.    In 6 years with St Louis, Torre hit .308 with 558 RBI.    He was one of the best hitters in the NL.

Torre started out as a catcher in Milwaukee but played most of his career between first and third base.

As a hitter, he retired with a .297 BA, 252 HR, 2,343 hits & 1,185 RBI.

As a manager, he won 2,326 games, 4 World Series titles and 84 post season games.

Joe was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

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

We remember John Glenn (1921-2016)

Future astronaut John Glenn was born on this day in 1921.   He died in 2016.

After NASA, he became a US Senator from Ohio and served with honor and distinction.  

Thank you for your service and a memorable life.

 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.

1936 and the start of The Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War broke out on this day in 1936 with a revolt by right-wing Spanish military officers in Spanish Morocco that spread to mainland Spain.    It lasted until 1939.   General Franco stayed in power until his death in 1975.

It was a conflict that would have ramifications in Europe and specially in Latin America.  Thousands of children were sent to Latin America and many never saw their parents again.   We saw horrific brutality from both sides in that conflict.  

Barry Jacobsen discussed the Spanish Civil War during our recent episode about World War II.    

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

Listen to "World War II: Hitler's Blitzrieg, Denmark, Norway & the fall of France" on Spreaker.

1936-39: A look back at The Spanish Civil War with Barry Jacobsen

1936-39:    A look back at The Spanish Civil War with Barry Jacobsen.......click to listen

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.

Listen to "The story of World War II with Barry Jacobsen, part 3" on Spreaker.

July 18, 1970: Willie Mays # 3,000

On this day in 1970, Willie Mays hit # 3,000 in San Francisco.    

He broke with the Giants in 1951 and the rest of the story is one of the greatest careers in baseball history:   .302 career average, 3,283 hits, 660 HR, 1,903 RBI, & the first 30 HR-30 stolen bases player ever.

In my book, the greatest CF ever and one of the top players of all time.  

He could do everything:   NL Rookie of the Year award in 1951, 20 All-Star teams, won two NL MVP & 12 straight Gold Gloves 1957-68.   

This is amazing:  Mays finished in the top-10 in the MVP voting 12 times in 13 seasons from 1954-66.    

And he made arguably the greatest catch in history in the 1954 World Series.

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

July 18, 1969: Chappaquidick and Ted Kennedy

On July 18, 1969, most Americans were tuned in to Apollo 11’s lunar mission.   

Over in Chappaquiddick, Senator Ted Kennedy was attending a party with friends and campaign workers.  Here is the story:     

“Just after 11 p.m., Kennedy left the party with Kopechne, by his account to drive to the ferry slip where they would catch a boat back to their respective lodgings in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. 
While driving down the main roadway, Kennedy took a sharp turn onto the unpaved Dike Road, drove for a short distance, and then missed the ramp to a narrow wooden bridge and drove into Poucha Pond. 
Kennedy, a married man, claimed the Dike Road excursion was a wrong turn. However, both he and Kopechne had previously driven down the same road, which led to a secluded ocean beach just beyond the bridge. 
In addition, Kopechne had left both her purse and room key at the party.
Kennedy escaped the car and then dove down in an attempt to retrieve Kopechne from the sunken Oldsmobile. Failing, he stumbled back to the cottage, where he enlisted Gargan and another friend in a second attempt to save Kopechne. The three men were unsuccessful; her body was not recovered. The trio then went to the ferry slip, where Kennedy dove into the water and swam back to Edgartown, about a mile away. He returned to his room at the Shiretown Inn, changed his clothes, and at 2:25 a.m. stepped out of his room when he spotted the innkeeper, Russell Peachey. He told Peachey that he been awakened by noise next door and asked what time it was. He then returned to his room.”

To say the least, it became a huge scandal for Senator Kennedy.   It probably ended his presidential ambitions, although he did run against President Carter in 1980.

Kennedy died in 2009. 

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

July 18, 1969: Chappaquidick and Ted Kennedy

On July 18, 1969, most Americans were tuned in to Apollo 11’s lunar mission.   

Over in Chappaquiddick, Senator Ted Kennedy was attending a party with friends and campaign workers.  Here is the story:   

“Just after 11 p.m., Kennedy left the party with Kopechne, by his account to drive to the ferry slip where they would catch a boat back to their respective lodgings in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. 
While driving down the main roadway, Kennedy took a sharp turn onto the unpaved Dike Road, drove for a short distance, and then missed the ramp to a narrow wooden bridge and drove into Poucha Pond. 
Kennedy, a married man, claimed the Dike Road excursion was a wrong turn. However, both he and Kopechne had previously driven down the same road, which led to a secluded ocean beach just beyond the bridge. 
In addition, Kopechne had left both her purse and room key at the party.
Kennedy escaped the car and then dove down in an attempt to retrieve Kopechne from the sunken Oldsmobile. Failing, he stumbled back to the cottage, where he enlisted Gargan and another friend in a second attempt to save Kopechne. The three men were unsuccessful; her body was not recovered. The trio then went to the ferry slip, where Kennedy dove into the water and swam back to Edgartown, about a mile away. He returned to his room at the Shiretown Inn, changed his clothes, and at 2:25 a.m. stepped out of his room when he spotted the innkeeper, Russell Peachey. He told Peachey that he been awakened by noise next door and asked what time it was. He then returned to his room.”

To say the least, it became a huge scandal for Senator Kennedy.   It probably ended his presidential ambitions, although he did run against President Carter in 1980.

Kennedy died in 2009. 

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

 

 

President Trump and elections, Little Italy and Mayor Mamdani, Maine Democrat Senate is a clown show, and 1980 Reagan acceptance speech.

 President Trump and elections, Little Italy and Mayor Mamdani, Maine Democrat Senate is a clown show, and 1980 Reagan acceptance speech.

Arrivederci, Little Italy!

Arrivederci, Little Italy!:

The new mayor of New York has subtle ways of rewarding and punishing those who support him and those who don’t.

Click to read:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/07/arrivederci-little-italy/

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The “Mamdani-zation” of New York City, and perhaps the Democrat party, is alive and well. Don’t look now, but you may not recognize The Big Apple the next time you visit there.

Let’s check this out from Townhall:

New York City has long been celebrated as a city of immigrant neighborhoods. Little Italy, Chinatown, Harlem, Washington Heights, Brighton Beach - these communities tell the story of generations of newcomers who helped build America’s largest city while gradually becoming part of it.

That history makes one omission from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recently released map of immigrant communities particularly striking.

Little Italy wasn’t there.

Instead, the map highlighted a series of neighborhoods identified as “Little Pakistan,” “Little Senegal,” “Little Yemen” and even “Little Palestine.” City Hall defended the project by saying it was never intended to identify religious enclaves but rather neighborhoods with substantial foreign-born populations from around the world.

That explanation raises an obvious question: If the goal was to recognize immigrant communities, how does one leave out perhaps the most iconic immigrant neighborhood in New York City?

Little Italy is more than a tourist destination. It represents one of the defining chapters in the city’s history - a reminder of the millions of Italian immigrants who arrived in America, endured discrimination, built businesses and eventually became woven into the fabric of American life. Omitting it while highlighting far newer and, in some cases, unofficial neighborhood designations sends a message, whether intended or not, about which immigrant stories deserve recognition.

Yes, this is not about the story of immigrants who built New York City. This is about deleting those immigrants we deem oppressors and replacing them with the ones whom we designate as victims. Again, this is not about telling the history of New York City, but rather another “woke” attempt to rewrite U.S. history.

The mayor is obviously looking for an excuse, from saying that it was an administrative error to blaming it on Mayor Adams. He wants us to forget two things:

1.    Back in 2020, Mamdani, then a candidate for the New York State Assembly, was seen with a “take it down” sign in front of the Columbus statue; and

2.    The creation of all these communities is the mayor’s way of recognizing who voted for him. In other words, he probably swept the precincts in Little Senegal and Little Yemen, but didn’t do so well in the Italian American ones.

Again, this is about destroying the country’s history and replacing it with a woke version that distorts it. This is what communists do. We saw this in Cuba, where new history books were published, historical photos were deleted, and my parents did not recognize what the history teachers were teaching me.

Rewriting history is what communists do. So the Italians need to stand up, and someone in the Democrat party needs to say “enough is enough.”

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