John Wayne and a Galaxy of Stars in a 1970 Tribute to America

Legendary actor John Wayne in a 1970 variety show he hosted celebrating America’s history. Many famous actors and actresses are featured in this video singing God Bless America including Ann Margaret, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, George Burns, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, Bing Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Lorne Greene, Bob Hope, Forrest Lewis, Dean Martin, William Shatner, Tom Smothers, and many more. If you enjoyed this video and want to see the entire show it is available on DVD: John Wayne’s Tribute To America.

Happy Canada Day!

To our much loved and admired neighbors to the north, happy 148th birthday.  Here is their great Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, wishing his countrymen a happy Canada Day.

and from the great Canadian blog, Piddingworth, the stirring and beautiful Anthems of Canada:

Pat Buchanan: Quo Vadis, America?

By Patrick J. Buchanan

“Natural law — God’s law — will always trump common law,” said Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and a Christian leader in her own right, “God will have the final word in this matter.”

But, for now, Justice Anthony Kennedy has the final word.

Same-sex marriage is the law of the land, as the right of gays and lesbians to marry is right there in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868. We just didn’t see it.

Tony Kennedy spotted what no previous court had detected.

The absurdity of the decision aside, it represents another stride forward for the revolution preached by Antonio Gramsci. Before we can capture the West, the Italian Marxist argued, we must capture the culture.

The Queen Responds to the Terrorist Assault in Tunisia

Saving Civilization: The Story of St. Benedict of Nursia

This is the amazing story of a young man scandalized by the moral decay of the world, who sought to live as a hermit in cave. Yet, God called him not to run away from the world, but to convert it through a renewal of faith, holiness, learning, and liturgy. 

This lecture was presented by Rev. Andrew Fisher on June 14, 2014, in a series of talks sponsored by the Institute of Catholic Culture at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Purcellville, Virginia.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult catechetical organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization. The Institute seeks to fulfill its mission by offering education programs structured upon the classical liberal arts and by offering opportunities in which authentic Catholic culture is experienced and lived.

Pat Buchanan: Love and Hate in Dixie

By Patrick J. Buchanan

“I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you.”

So said Nadine Collier, who lost her mother in the massacre at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, offering forgiveness to Dylann Roof, who confessed to the atrocity that took the lives of nine churchgoers at that Wednesday night prayer service and Bible study.

If there is a better recent example of what it means to be a Christian, I am unaware of it. Collier and the families of those slain showed a faithfulness to Christ’s gospel of love and forgiveness that many are taught but few are strong enough to follow, especially at times like this.

The Catholic Confederacy

The Confederate flag: a mixed history

From Church Militant
By Richard Ducayne

Google is world-renowned for having anything and everything on its website, but the best-known symbol of the Confederate States — the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, later adopted as the flag of the Confederacy — is now nowhere to be seen. On typing the search terms "Confederate Flag"  under the "Shopping" tab, results turn up nothing at all — just a blank screen. In the wake of the racially motivated shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, where a white man draped in the battle flag shot nine black victims in a church, major stores — including Wal Mart, Sears, K-Mart and e-bay — are also pulling similar merchandise.

The battle flag represents the Confederacy during the American Civil War, which is often taught as a war over slavery. But southerners claim slavery had little to do with it, and the war had more to do with preserving the South's sovereignty and with rebuffing Northern aggression. Where does the truth lie between these two extremes?

There are compelling arguments on both sides, but a few facts can be confirmed. Slavery in America was first legalized in the North — in Massachusetts in 1625 — and slavery ownership remained a regular practice in some northern states even throughout the Civil War. And it's a fact that most white southern families did not own slaves. After the South asked for the right to secede from the Union, President Abraham Lincoln's goal in launching the war was not to end slavery, as many think, but rather to preserve the Union.