Frank Sinatra - The House I Live In (That's America To Me).mp3
One of my first memories of going to the movies as a little boy was my sister taking me to the local theater at the end of World War II for Saturday afternoon cartoons and this short played of a bunch of kids of all different races fighting in an alley in New York City and Frank Sinatra came in, broke up the brawl and started singing this song.
It stuck with me in a way that still is at the heart of my political consciousness, proving how simple and unsophisticated I am.
I've put it up because I love it still (though the Paul Robeson version might be even better) and in hopes others will comment on what America means to them.
My belief is we can't get anywhere together unless we can talk about our basic principles and define what we mean by our words so we can begin to understand each other. Then, maybe just maybe, we'll we agree on more things than we disagree on.
So listen to Sinatra and speak your mind.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the Naitonal Enquirer.
I think the idea of democracy and america is an old fashioned one because I don't feel it has meaning anymore because politicians lie and hide facts and nobody votes or cares or even has any intelligence about the world. But no matter - if everybody else in the world hates us - I still have a sense of pride in our personal freedoms and I do love that song.
Thanks. Now I can't get the damn song out of my head!
What an excellent song. Thanks for that, Ron.