Mount Virtus

Obscure question: What special connection does the name Katie Casey have to baseball aficionados today? Well, it was 100 years ago today (May 2, 1908) that America’s universal musical standard Take Me Out to the Ball Game was published. Jack Norworth penned the words; Albert von Tilzer the unforgettable melody.

To clear up the connection, Norworth’s and Van Tilzer’s Tin Pan Alley creation was written to be sung by a young female character:

Only a handful of fans realize that the two verses of the song are about Katie Casey (later changed to Nelly Kelly), a girl who was mad with baseball fever as she asked her young beau to take her to a ballgame rather than a show. This faint whiff of romance added to the song’s success on vaudeville, where singers (including Norworth’s wife and star, Nora Bayes), actors, even acrobats, incorporated the hit into their acts. Also adding to its immense popularity, the song was featured during intermissions at the early twentieth-century nickelodeons where it was accompanied by “lantern slides,” photos touched up with paint that provided the audience with a visual component to the song as the lyrics scrolled across the bottom of the screen. This way, when Katie Casey made the pitch to her date, everyone in the audience could respond in song: “Take me out to the ball game…”

Next time you’re enjoying America’s pastime at one of her beautiful ballparks, and you rise for that 7th inning stretch, think of Katie Casey and an enduring classic that has lived for a full century.

Of course, the question remains: Would Norworth’s and Von Tilzer’s character recognize the sport, and would she want to be taken out to the ball game today?

Today we remember the Last Supper and Christ’s betrayal. Though there are many passages to choose from, in particular I am reminded of the Savior’s ultimate example of service and his incomparably fervent prayer (both from the New American Standard Bible):

John 13:3-5
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

Luke 22:41-44
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.

It’s not often we get to wish one another Happy Leap Day - the only other time for this blog was in the very early days of its existence. So let’s celebrate the opportunity to catch our calendars up to the earth’s solar revolution schedule, and enjoy the irony of what this day means.

One of my favorite February 29 memories comes from my freshman year in college, walking to the buildings on “the Hill” and seeing homemade signs posted urging us to wish fellow student Sam a happy 5th birthday. No, Sam - whom I later got to know and appreciate for his good nature and good humor, not to mention his artistic and literary gifts - wasn’t some sort of amazing prodigy. He was what Wikipedia informs me is called a “leapling.” Another “leapling” is the legendary Al Gansee, who - depending on your reckoning - is either 80 or 20 today.

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be one of the more than 200,000 Americans who three-fourths of the time have to borrow somebody else’s birthday. Well, today, all ye leaplings, enjoy this day all your own. But does anyone know what else one is supposed to do to commemorate the quadrennial arrival of February 29?

Over at Pajamas Media, Scott Johnson eulogizes the late William F. Buckley, Jr.. First, probably his most significant accomplishment:

When Buckley founded National Review as the voice of the [conservative] movement, he performed two acts of statesmanship that were vital to the movement’s ultimate, if unlikely, success: he reserved exclusive ownership of the magazine to himself so as to prevent the kind of sectarian brawls that had killed other such magazines, and he prohibited John Birchers and other kooky anti-Semitic organizations from the magazine’s precincts.

Johnson also observes what is left undone:

Until [Buckley] gave up public speaking in 1998, his frequent campus speaking engagements were part missionary work, part performance art, and like nothing else available on the campuses he visited. In the decades following the founding of National Review, the conservative movement experienced successes that must have exceeded even Buckley’s visionary imagination. Yet the university remains almost entirely untouched by Buckley’s call to action. In fact, it understates matters considerably to say that circumstances on campus have not improved since the publication of God and Man at Yale in 1951.

Except for my quibble based on the fact that I distinctly remember attending a Buckley debate at Penn State in 2000 (after the 1998 cited here), I think this is a larger point that has been overlooked by some. While we certainly ought not diminish Buckley’s giant and consequential legacy, Johnson reminds us - in the spirit of President Abraham Lincoln - of “the great task remaining before us.”

As though a reminder were needed, El Presidente today focuses on a clash of politically incorrect student journalism and the university Free Speech police. While we mourn Buckley’s passing, the world keeps on turning.

Via K.J. Lopez at the Corner, news comes today that the great William F. Buckley, Jr., has passed away.

While very few writers and speakers have ever had a greater facility with the English language than Buckley did, there was much more to him than the elegance of his prose. He was an intellectual champion for conservatism long before there was any popularity to be gained by it. From his seminal book God and Man at Yale to his great legacy in the founding of National Review, he did as much as any American in the 20th century to advance the conservative cause through logical, forceful, and passionate argument, as well as through refined wit and good humor.

To get a glimpse of the man - his ideas and his rhetoric - you can search a comprehensive online database of Buckley’s writings and speeches - created by my alma mater Hillsdale College.

In November 2006 we lost the great Milton Friedman, and now Buckley. Together they represent perhaps the two greatest minds in the broader conservative movement and the two most influential voices for free markets, limited government, and personal freedom - not to mention the strong roots and high ideals of Western Civilization - America had in the 20th century.

It’s a sad day for the conservative moment and for anyone in this nation who respects a good, vigorous, civil, and intellectual policy debate. But condolences especially to his family and dear friends. I’m sure far more eloquent elegies will be written in the coming days, but wanted to add my two cents while the news is fresh on my mind.

R.I.P., William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008)

Diverting from our regular blogging fare on this Friday, we pause to remember the 46th anniversary of the decisive and destructive Battle of Cambria. It is also the 12th anniversary of the founding of Cambria Tours (Facebook account required to view page).

The ill-fated, crushing defeat of February 22, 1962, along the frozen pond and quiet streets of a midwestern hamlet, marked the ultimate demise of the small and short-lived Socialist Union of Al Gansee. It’s all chronicled in the biography of the quixotic and eccentric, Michigan-born dictator, Passion and Purpose: The Rise and Fall of Al Gansee. Rumor also has it that the battle’s story is being adapted into a screenplay. We’ll see if it goes anywhere.

Questions linger regarding how much of the story is a figment of the author’s vibrant imagination.

Maybe some of you get a paid holiday from work to celebrate the likes of Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce, Benjamin Harrison, Warren G. Harding, and Gerald Ford, but not this think-tank scribbler. Yet even though it’ll be like a normal day of work for me, that won’t stop me from wishing you all a very low-key, lukewarm, and laid-back Presidents Day. Happy Monday to the rest of us.

I launched Mount Virtus four years ago today. On February 6, 2004, I was a complete neophyte in the world of blogging. Today, I am practically a blogging grandfather, but far from the bigtime.

A lot has changed in four years. My how heady those early days were - ready to change the world, waiting for the 1,000th visitor, thrilled to receive a link or comment from anyone. (Someone noticed what I wrote?) Over the years, I’ve taken occasional breaks (never too long) from putting up posts here, and once or twice even contemplated letting it go. But here we are, two election cycles later, still hovered over my laptop, wearing my pajamas, typing away, trying to share a serious thought here and there.

Okay, time to ditch the sentimentality (not to mention the self-referential postmodernism) and move on to the practical lessons. Well, actually I’m too tired to talk about lessons, so here’s just just one: Persistence and continuity may not be enough to become a successful blogger, but they are needful if you wish to come close to ascending the blogosphere’s heights. (When I come close myself, I’ll let you know).

Four years old, how fast they grow up….

Tomorrow is the annual Blogs for Life conference at Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, DC, a somber commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the terrible and infamous Roe v Wade decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.

A provocative NewsMax essay today from Joseph Sobran summarizes three and a half decades of the debate:

Note the strange progress of the advocates of abortion. A generation ago, just before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that virtually all legal restrictions on abortion violated the U.S. Constitution, these people agreed that killing the unborn was evil; but they held that its evil might be minimized by legalizing and regulating it.

Then they shifted to what might be called an agnostic position: that nobody could say whether abortion is right or wrong — the question was always vague: “individual,” or “religious,” or something. Finally they arrived at a third position, flatly contradicting the first two: that abortion is a positively good thing, or as some put it, “a fundamental human and constitutional right.” Fundamental!

The more abortions, it follows, the better. At each step of the political battle, the reason is different, but the practical conclusion is the same. This is how the controversy has gone for a full generation now. At the same time, the anti-abortion side has never budged an inch. It is still exactly where it stood on Jan. 22, 1973. Neither its premise nor its conclusion has varied.

The pro-life movement has a long way to go, that’s for sure. The battle for hearts and minds is crucial. But, legally speaking, we should continue to persuade moderate-minded citizens that Roe v Wade should be overturned so states can decide this important question, and to elect officials who will nominate and confirm justices with originalist views of the Constitution who inevitably would make that happen. These are the next steps on which serious pro-lifers need to stay focused.

Merry Christmas:

1Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

4Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

5in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

7And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12″This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14″Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

15When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

16So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

17When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

18And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

19But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

20The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Psalm 28:6-9

6 Praise be to the LORD,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.

9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

May you have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday, a time of growth in your gratitude to God and others.

On this coming Veterans Day weekend, be sure to thank the troops for what they’re sacrificing for us. Go to America Supports You - and thanks to the NRSC for putting up a splash page that links to this tremendous site.

After you send a note of thanks to our troops, remember to thank a veteran. They have given so much for our freedom.

Though it coincides with the 2007 election, I’m taking a break from politics to commemorate this special day. Today - November 6, 2007 - would be my grandfather’s 100th birthday, were he still alive. A full century ago today, my Grandpa was welcomed to this earth.

I didn’t know him until he was over 70 years old, but only as time has passed have I come to appreciate him more fully. My Grandpa was a man with a tremendous work ethic and incredible moral character. He was honest to a fault. Faced with many difficulties, he showed remarkable loyalty and fidelity to his family. He saved his money, and used it wisely. Yet he was very generous, always willing to help his family or his neighbors. I never knew what to get him for Christmas. He never seemed to want anything.

My Grandpa was full of vigor beyond his years. At my age now, I couldn’t keep up with him. Well after 80, he would mow the lawn or fix something “for the old neighbor lady.” And he could get away with saying it because he always looked many years younger than his actual age. It’s a family trait, one whose benefits I look forward to reaping more in the future. My father is the same. And no one I’ve ever met has over-estimated my age by my appearance.

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy 220th Birthday to the U.S. Constitution today. We knew thee well.

Today also remains the bloodiest day in U.S. history - the Battle of Antietam, Maryland - a battle that played a crucial role in helping to ensure that our Constitution would better reflect the Founders’ ideals as laid out in the Declaration of Independence.

What do Americans know about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Civil War? I couldn’t bring myself to look for detailed evidence. I’d rather have a happy Constitution Day … and same to you!