A Few Minutes with the Mayor – November 2020

Recognize this song title? It’s the song of every immigrant who ever came to America after leaving home, family and friends behind seeking a better life. Immigrants like Irving Berlin who wrote it, a Russian Jew escaping Russian tyranny… Einstein escaping German genocide… or Gloria Estefan whose father escaped Castro’s Cuba. Then there was my own father, one of millions of faces sailing into freedom under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

Despite what some in the news tell you, I would remind you that you were born free and this is your song, as well. You were born in a country where you could reach any height, go as far as your drive, your desire, and your dedication can take you. The people in Portland and Seattle would have you forget that. They are to be pitied. Ask the Poles, the Germans, the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the Russians, the Jews, the Catholics, all of whom crossed an ocean to come to America. Ask all those who came for a better life… a better life for themselves and their children.

Hear their voices, the sound of their song as they sang the lyrics to Adolph Hitler, to Benito Mussolini, to Tojo Hideki, to Joseph Stalin, and to all tyrants promoting government rule over the people instead of the rule of people over the government.

Listen to the spirit behind these words. Shame on all those who would condemn these words! This is the song of a great people who, on a global scale, never seen under any other flag, came to America.

 God bless America, land that I love,

Stand beside her and guide her

Through the night with a light from above.

From the mountains to the prairies

To the oceans white with foam,

God bless America, my home sweet home.

It’s Thanksgiving time once again. Be thankful for who you are and where you are. Don’t let people who hide their faces while burning down buildings convince you they are the moral voice of a “revolution.” They are the flotsam and jetsam of their own twisted, godless, and dark world. They are like the poor blowfish whose only defense is to look bigger than it actually is. Their message is hate, not love. In the end, hatred consumes itself. Love will always conquer hate.

On that note I will wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings as I prepare to leave office at year’s end. I thank you for allowing me to serve as your Mayor. I thank you for your support. To quote Lou Gehrig, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.” In the years to come, may the Lord bless you and bless this very special place we call home.