madmarq

[Victor Shi @Victorshi2020]

Anyone from Illinois knows Gov. Pritzker is the real deal. This speech he gave at Northwestern’s graduation, where he reminded folks that the best way to spot an idiot is to spot the person who is the most cruel, is worth rewatching and sharing.

[Judianna @Judianna]

For all the fans of “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Jimmy Stewart . . .

Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in “The Philadelphia Story,” Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.

An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.

Stewart, however, wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.

Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.
Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.
But his wartime service came at a high personal price.

In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being “flak happy,” today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).

He was depressed, couldn’t focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.

As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.”

In 1946 he got his break. He took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The rest is history.

Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn’t acting. His PTSD was being captured on film for potentially millions to see.

But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.

When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight.”
This weekend, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” it’s also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!

Postscript:

While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father’s Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.

Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.
H/T @mustangmarine

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

Three thoughts this morning:

1) Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year will go down in history as one of the biggest fuckups & biggest miscalculations ever made by a major figure on the world’s stage.

2) Joe Biden’s response to Putin’s invasion, Biden’s strong defense of Ukraine, and Biden’s leadership in assembling a unified worldwide coalition to stand WITH Ukraine and stand AGAINST Russia will go down in history as one of the greatest defenses of freedom & sovereignty ever put together on the world’s stage.

3) The world is so fortunate Trump lost in 2020.

[madmarq @madmarq3]

@GeorgeMarquezzz be careful your peeps are from Iowa!!

[madmarq @madmarq3]

@GeorgeMarquezzz nope, just wear more clothes

[madmarq @madmarq3]

@DaynaECopeland

[Chip Franklin.com @chipfranklin]

Pregnancy begins with a penis. Regulate THAT!

[Vice President Kamala Harris Archived @VP46Archive]

Let me be clear: Each person has the right to make decisions about their own life—decisions such as the right to start a family, use contraception, and marry the person you love.

[madmarq @madmarq3]

@GeorgeMarquezzz no soup for you

[Sen. Bernie Sanders @SenSanders]

Insulin in the United States should not cost 10 times what it costs in Canada.

[Leslie Grahn @grahnforlang]

Been thinking of my WL colleagues who have been overwhelmed with planning this school year & racking my brains for a way I can help. What if I design some lesson ideas for you? Stand-alone, high-interest lessons, based on authentic resources, including all of the modes.

[Teresa Varley @Teresa_Varley]

Not that you need something else to fire you up today…but here it is anyway.

#HereWeGo

[Donhammed Trumpistan @TheRealDon85]

Bats now use the term "Trumpshit crazy".

[charlie.marq22 @CMarq22]

Rise and grind time baby🙏🙏💪

[Melanoma Research @MelanomaReAlli]

Such an important message!

[Rob @thegallowboob]

cutting bell peppers and adding googly eyes is bound to heal your soul a little, give it a try