{"id":23859,"date":"2020-09-09T15:09:45","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T15:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.francaisdeletranger.org\/en\/?p=23859"},"modified":"2020-09-14T11:38:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T11:38:29","slug":"mdfde-usa-saving-america-2020-here-is-to-you-drew-pearson-thomas-jefferson-mdfdefriendshipmercitrain75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.francaisdeletranger.org\/en\/2020\/09\/09\/mdfde-usa-saving-america-2020-here-is-to-you-drew-pearson-thomas-jefferson-mdfdefriendshipmercitrain75\/","title":{"rendered":"MDFDE\/USA: Saving America 2020: Here is to You Drew PEARSON & Thomas JEFFERSON! #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain75"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo NXP148-1\/8-NEW YORK: Columnist Drew Pearson (L) interviews former President Harry Truman (R) in a filmed television broadcast of Pearson’s Washington Merry-Go-Round recorded in 1954. UNITED PRESS TELEPHOTO. Courtesy of Elisabeth Jenssen Private Collection.<\/p>\n

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Latest News:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

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55 DAYS before the most important Presidential Election of our lifetimes… 55 DAYS before claiming our crushing Victory thanks to an EXTRAORDINARY #BidenHarris2020Landslide… Come on, let’s go for the win greatest patriotic <\/span><\/span>#TeamAmerica! E.J.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cDo you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people undunder the pretense of taking care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2015 Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI believe in fairplay and making Democracy live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the job of a newspaperman to spur the lazy, watch the weak, expose the corrupt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always tried to emphasize the personal side of journalism. It makes my points about clean government more effective and it does not put people to sleep the way some of my thumb-sucking colleagues do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2015 Andrew “Drew” <\/b>Russell Pearson (1897-1969)
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Dear Members of the MDFDE and Friends worldwide,<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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As the current U.S. Presidential race \u2014 truly a race between Good vs. Evil \u2014 enters its home stretch this week and the World, not to mention our anxious Allies, are closely watching to see how the United States, resisting against such unprecedented <\/span>un-American adversity, un-American propaganda spread right at home, will prevail in the face of ramping up fascism. Will defeat creeping authoritarianism to peacefully reclaim our Democracy this coming Nov. 3<\/span><\/span>…<\/p>\n

We The People, all fired up after celebrating Labor Day, the day we honor our union workers starting with our heroic, essential frontline workers facing the deadly corona virus night and day \u2014 and working harder than ever together, will free our AMERICA from the greedy hands of\u00a0 “fake saviors,” once called Communists, now leading a new #OligarchicColdWar against Humanity, Sciences, Culture and the Arts.<\/p>\n

We The People, will put an end to this on-going American tragedy menacing our Planet of more deadly pandemics and natural disasters while threatening our hard-earned liberties, undercutting our institutions, our values and diverse culture based on immigration by constantly prostituting our very own Founders’ Constitution.<\/p>\n

And so, in true American Spirit, I am pleased to share with you the following article \u2014 PEARSON RETURNS<\/strong> \u2014 written seventyt-three years ago this month by Drew Pearson, the most fearless and patriotic columnist of his time in Washington. A gentleman farmer, father of the American Friendship Train (1947-1948) from whom I draw my daily inspiration re: #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain75<\/strong>, our official French-American-Italian project celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the said Friendship Food Train in 2022…<\/p>\n

Yes, the very same controversial newspaper man, Drew Pearson, who took on first and finally brought down, over a period of years of investigative reporting (sorry, Hollywood, but it was not the equally legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow who did it), the infamous Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin, which culminated in a Senate hearing into charges against McCarthy, and finally a vote of censure by the Senate ending McCarthy’s power and prestige. Yes again, THE Sen. Joseph McCarthy whose prot\u00e9g\u00e9 \u2014 interesting enough\u00a0\u2014 was none other than the disgraced (and disbarred) attorney Roy Cohn, Mr. Donald Trump’s tutor.<\/p>\n

With so many similarities between The Pearson-McCarthy days and our current situation, especially in the way the Press finds itself constantly attacked by the present “Fake News” Administration…<\/p>\n

As\u00a0Drew Pearson, enlightened while touring Virginia on his summer vacation, reflected not only on our Founding Fathers’ heritage and the Constitution, but also on abusing Mother Earth, on teachers and education, what\u2019s amazing, in retrospect, is that his thoughts and predictions couldn’t be more accurate now than when he made them.<\/p>\n

Hoping you enjoy the reading… and some of Drew Pearson’s tips… Please stay safe Everyone and wear your mask! And last but not least… Please VOTE as early as you can for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris #TeamAmerica, our next President and Vice-president of the United States, this coming Nov. 3!<\/p>\n

Faithfully yours,<\/p>\n

Elisabeth Jenssen <\/strong>Founder & President<\/p>\n

Le Mouvement des Fran\u00e7ais de l\u2019Etranger (MDFDE) French & Francophones Abroad<\/p>\n

Chair, #MDFDEFriendshipTrainMerciTrain75<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proud member of Glenn Kirschner’s #TeamJustice<\/strong> @glennkirschner2\u00a0<\/a>& patron of his Podcast #JusticeMatters <\/strong>https:\/\/patreon.com\/glennkirschner<\/a><\/p>\n

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#GRATI<\/span>TUDE<\/span><\/h1>\n

#RESIS<\/span>TANCE<\/span><\/h1>\n

#Freedom<\/span>Of<\/span>The<\/span>Press<\/span><\/h1>\n

#MDFDE<\/span>Friendship<\/span>MerciTrain<\/span>75<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00a9 The Official French-American Project entirely conceived by Ms. Elisabeth JENSSEN to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Friendship Train and the Merci Train (2016- 2022). All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Chair,<\/strong> Elisabeth Jenssen<\/p>\n

Honorary President:<\/strong> The Comte Gilbert de Pusy La Fayette<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong> elisabeth.jenssen@francaisdeletranger.org<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Bell Syndicate, Inc. Released\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Friday September 5, 1947<\/p>\n

PEARSON RETURNS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drew Pearson<\/em>, Washington Merry-Go-Round columnist, returns from his vacation\u2026<\/p>\n

DREW PEARSON ON THE WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n

DREW PEARSON SAYS: FILLING THE SILO WAS A COLUMNIST\u2019S VACATION; VACATION TRIP TO VIRGINIA CONTRASTED PROBLEMS OF TODAY WITH THOSE OF FOUNDING FATHERS; HOW WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON WOULD HAVE COMBATTED COMMUNISM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(Ed. Note\u2013Drew Pearson, returned from his vacation, today reports on how he spent his time off.)<\/p>\n

Washington\u2013First I want to thank Bob Allen for the swell columns he wrote in my absence.\u00a0 They set a tough standard for me to follow, but enabled me to take the longest time off from the Merry-Go-Round since the whirl started.<\/p>\n

When I embarked on this period of idleness I thought I would be bored stiff.\u00a0 It turned out that I was not but my wife was.\u00a0 Reason was that I insisted on spending part of my vacation filling the silo.<\/p>\n

Silo-filling is a very dangerous period around our farm and anyone who comes to close is liable to get caught.\u00a0 One my son-in-law\u2013then a suitor for my daughter\u2019s hand\u2013found himself in the unhappy predicament of having to humor his prospective father-in-law by tramping down ensilage for a whole week inside the silo.\u00a0 Now that he has married my daughter, he is most careful to put a thousand miles between himself and the farm at silo-filling time.\u00a0 This summer, however, I caught my radio agent, Jackson Leighter, off guard and before he knew what had happened, he was inside the silo earning honest money.<\/p>\n

Although I have never put my wife inside the silo, she is never quite happy about silo-filling.\u00a0 This is not because she drives a truck from the cornfield to the silo, but because she would rather have me relax at Nantucket or the mountains.\u00a0 However, if we go to one of these summer resorts, everyone I meet wants me to predict who will be the next President or when we will fight Russia; while at the farm we are concerned with much simpler things\u2013such as how long before the people who moved into the haunted house across the road will see the alleged headless man who prowls up its stairs in the moonlight, and will hurriedly move away.<\/p>\n

VACATION IN VIRGINIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Only twice did I desert the silo.<\/p>\n

With most of us worrying about Communism and the jittery state of the world, I decided to visit the area which reared some of the men who made this country great\u2013Virginia.\u00a0 One visit was to the northern neck of Virginia\u2013the land of once great-tobacco plantations where George Washington and Robert E. Lee were born.<\/p>\n

Later I went to Williamsburg, scene of the founding fathers\u2019 earliest heartaches, where University of Virginia students are now reliving those heartaches in Paul Green\u2019s stirring pageant, \u201cThe Common Glory.\u201d\u00a0 And as I watched their portrayal of the trials of Thomas Jefferson, the doubting Thomases who scoffed that democracy could never live, the discouragement, the suffering, the determination which finally brought victory, I could not help but wonder what would happen to some of our founding fathers were they alive today.<\/p>\n

Would they, for instance, be censored by the Rankin Committee on Un-American affairs?<\/p>\n

The leaders of the Revolution were rebellious radicals, determined to set up a new order.\u00a0 Jefferson not only proposed immediate freedom for the slaves, but proclaimed the inflammatory idea that all men were created free and equal.<\/p>\n

Most of the founding fathers were young\u2013in contrast to the older men who run our government today.\u00a0 And significantly, some of them were extremely wealthy.\u00a0 Jefferson and Washington, for instance, were among the biggest landowners in Virginia, with more than a hundred slaves on their plantations.<\/p>\n

REVOLUTIONARY FIRES<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the fire whick kindled the leaders of the Revolution, the thing that churned their souls, kept them fighting on through discouragement, starvation, mutiny was\u2013a cause.\u00a0 They were fighting not merely against England, but for a cause in which they devoutly believed.\u00a0 They were fighting to build and develop a new country\u2013a country where they could enjoy new freedoms, a new tolerance, new religious liberties.\u00a0 It was a great and sacred cause, and the souls of our founding fathers were aflame with winning it.<\/p>\n

Visiting in Virginia, browsing through the vistas of our glorious past, I contrasted those days when the nation was so weak no one expected it to survive, with the present when we have become the most powerful nation in the world\u2013so powerful that parts of the world fear us.<\/p>\n

One trouble with power is that along with it goes complacency. Power makes us too self-satisfied, too conservative, too cocksure and confident, too content to rest on our roars.\u00a0 That, of course, is the reason why empires rise and fall.<\/p>\n

That also is why we cease being inspired by crusades and causes, as were the founding fathers.\u00a0 We tend to be merely agin\u2019 things, not for building up new things.\u00a0 Our national motto becomes similar to that which hangs in the aisles of pullman cars after 10 PM: \u201cQuiet is requested for the benefit of those who have retired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, for instance, the American Legion adopted a resolution denouncing Communism\u2013a resolution with which I and most other people heartily concur.<\/p>\n

But if the founding fathers had had to cope with Communism, they would not have merely resorted to resolutions.\u00a0 Not only would they have denounced Communism, but they also would have written a bill of rights, a substitute of American ideals to combat Communism.<\/p>\n

HOW TO DEFEAT COMMUNISM<\/strong><\/p>\n

They would have recognized you can\u2019t fight Communism only with pious pronouncements and political arm-waving.\u00a0 You have to fight it with deeds.\u00a0 And we, as a nation, can\u2019t seat back and complacently enjoy the great fruits Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton won for us.\u00a0 We have to be just as vigorous, just as liberal, just as youthful in building on the foundation they have laid.<\/p>\n

They pioneered difficult, dangerous and exciting new frontiers.\u00a0 And sometimes we of the present generation conclude that aside from the Polar caps no more frontiers remain for us to explore and conquer.<\/p>\n

With the new atomic age, however, our vistas of exploration may be just as exciting, just as dangerous, and even more difficult.\u00a0 Furthermore we have wantonly squandered the great wealth left us by the founding fathers. We have allowed our forests to be stripped or burned, our priceless topsoil to run off into the ocean, our iron ore squandered in shot and shell over the battlefields of Europe, our petroleum parceled out until there is little left for posterity.<\/p>\n

So perhaps what we need to combat Communism is not so many resolutions showing we are again\u2019 it, but a new Jeffersonian declaration of American idealism showing that we are building something far better than Communism.<\/p>\n

And if Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were alive today, I suspect they would point to our schools and our underpaid teachers; they would urge more charity, education and tolerance between labor and management; they would warn us to put the same fervor they did into religious freedom and forget the Hitlerian prejudice with which some Americans have been contaminated; they would advise that building up great flood-control and electric-power projects is the sensible way to conserve our resources; and above all they would admonish that we not sit still, but march forward fervently to new frontiers as they did, in a never-ending demonstration of the fact that democracy works.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are just a few random vacation thoughts I wanted to get off the typewriter before I go back to Washington and the keyhole.<\/p>\n

Drew Pearson<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Copyright, 1947, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.)<\/p>\n

Related posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

MDFDE\/France-USA: ‘TIDE of TOYS’ 70th ANNIVERSARY: Here is To You, Drew PEARSON & THE AMERICAN LEGION! #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain70<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n