October 2016 Alfred E. Smith Dinner Features Trump and Hillary Clinton

Held in New York since 1945, this annual event since 1960 features the Democrat and Republican candidates for U.S. Presidents in election years.

The 71st such annual event, just held in October 2016, featured U.S. President candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump flanking Archbishop Dolan, as a symbolic representation of how the Roman Catholic Church plays both sides of the mainstream political aisle.

See the New York Times video of the event:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004721088/watch-live-al-smith-dinner.html


Various accounts:

http://endrtimes.blogspot.com/2016/10/highlights-of-clinton-and-trump-at-al.html


http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-catholic-gotham-final-showdown.html

Who Was Alfred E. Smith?

The man who the Alfred E. Smith Dinner is named for.

A Roman Catholic politician in the U.S. elected Governor of New York and the Democrat Party candidate for U.S. President in 1928

An 'anti-prohibition' of alcohol figure who nonetheless helped lay the groundwork for the prohibition of other substances, such as with his participation in the smear campaign against cocaine.  Such disregarded the vast differences between the drug in ultra concentrated forms versus the dilute forms, thus establishing the market protection for Tobacco derived cigarettes via Rome's Pharmacratic Inquisition (see more) better known as the 'war on drugs'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Smith

Alfred Emanuel "Al" Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American statesman who was elected Governor of New York four times and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928. He was the foremost urban leader of the efficiency-oriented Progressive Movement and was noted for achieving a wide range of reforms as governor in the 1920s. He was also linked to the notorious Tammany Hall machine that controlled New York City's politics; was a strong opponent of Prohibition, which he did not think could be enforced, and was the first Catholic nominee for President. His candidacy mobilized Catholic votes—especially of women, who had only recently received federal suffrage. It also brought out the anti-Catholic vote, which was strongest among white conservative Democrats in the South.

As a committed "wet" (anti-Prohibition) candidate, Smith attracted not only drinkers but also voters angered by the corruption and lawlessness that developed alongside prohibition.^[1] Many Protestants feared his candidacy, including German Lutherans and Southern Baptists, believing that the Catholic Church and the Pope would dictate his policies. Most importantly, this was a time of national prosperity under a Republican Presidency. Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover, who gained electoral support from five southern states. Four years later Smith sought the 1932 nomination but was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, his former ally and successor as New York Governor. Smith entered business in New York City and became an increasingly vocal opponent of Roosevelt's New Deal.

Early life
Smith was born and raised in the Fourth Ward on the Lower East Side of Manhattan; he resided here for his entire life.^[2] His mother, Catherine (Mulvihill), was the daughter of Maria Marsh and Thomas Mulvihill, who were immigrants from County Westmeath, Ireland.^[3] His father, Alfred Emanuele Ferraro, took the anglicized name Alfred E. Smith ('ferraro' means 'blacksmith' or 'smith' in Italian). The elder Alfred was the son of Italian and German^[4][5] immigrants. He served with the 11th New York Fire Zouaves in the opening months of the Civil War.

Al Smith grew up with his family struggling financially in the Gilded Age; New York City matured and completed major infrastructure projects. The Brooklyn Bridge was being constructed nearby. "The Brooklyn Bridge and I grew up together," Smith would later recall.^[6] His four grandparents were Irish, German, Italian, and Anglo-Irish,^[7] but Smith identified with the Irish-American community and became its leading spokesman in the 1920s.

His father Alfred owned a small trucking firm, but died when the boy was 13. At 14 Smith had to drop out of St. James parochial school to help support the family, and worked at a fish market for seven years. Prior to dropping out of school, he served as an altar boy, and was strongly influenced by the Catholic priests he worked with.^[8] He never attended high school or college, and claimed he learned about people by studying them at the Fulton Fish Market, where he worked for $12 per week. His acting skills made him a success on the amateur theater circuit. He became widely known, and developed the smooth oratorical style that characterized his political career. On May 6, 1900, Al Smith married Catherine Ann Dunn, with whom he had five children.^[9]

Political Career

In his political career, Smith built on his working-class beginnings, identifying himself with immigrants and campaigning as a man of the people. Although indebted to the Tammany Hall political machine, particularly to its boss, "Silent" Charlie Murphy, he remained untarnished by corruption and worked for the passage of progressive legislation.^[9] It was during his early unofficial jobs with Tammany Hall that he gained renown as an excellent speaker.^[10] Smith's first political job was in 1895 as an investigator in the office of the Commissioner of Jurors as appointed by Tammany Hall.

State legislature
Smith was first elected to the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 2nd D.) in 1904, and repeatedly elected to office, serving through 1915.^[8] After being approached by Frances Perkins, an activist to improve labor practices, Smith sought to improve the conditions of factory workers. He served as vice chairman of the state commission appointed to investigate factory conditions after 146 workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Meeting the families of the deceased Triangle factory workers left a strong impression on him. Together with Perkins, Smith crusaded against dangerous and unhealthy workplace conditions and championed corrective legislation.^[10][11]

The Commission was chaired by State Senator Robert F. Wagner and co-chaired by Smith. They held a series of widely publicized investigations around the state, interviewing 222 witnesses and taking 3500 pages of testimony. They hired field agents to do on-site inspections of factories. Starting with the issue of fire safety, they studied broader issues of the risks of injury in the factory environment. Their findings led to thirty-eight new laws regulating labor in New York state, and gave each of them a reputation as leading progressive reformers working on behalf of the working class. In the process, they changed Tammany's reputation from mere corruption to progressive endeavors to help the workers.^[12] New York City's Fire Chief John Kenlon told the investigators that his department had identified more than 200 factories where conditions resulted in risk of a fire like that at the Triangle Factory.^[13] The State Commission's reports led to modernization of the state's labor laws, making New York State "one of the most progressive states in terms of labor reform."^[14][15] New laws mandated better building access and egress, fireproofing requirements, the availability of fire extinguishers, the installation of alarm systems and automatic sprinklers, better eating and toilet facilities for workers, and limited the number of hours that women and children could work. In the years from 1911 to 1913, sixty of the sixty-four new laws recommended by the Commission were legislated with the support of Governor William Sulzer.^[16]

In 1911, the Democrats obtained a majority of seats in the State Assembly; and Smith became Majority Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. In 1912, following the loss of the majority, he became the Minority Leader. When the Democrats reclaimed the majority after the next election, he was elected Speaker for the 1913 session. He became Minority Leader again in 1914 and 1915. In November 1915, he was elected Sheriff of New York County, New York. By now he was a leader of the Progressive movement in New York City and state. His campaign manager and top aide was Belle Moskowitz, a daughter of Jewish immigrants.^[9]

 Governor 1918-1928

After serving in the patronage-rich job of Sheriff of New York County, Smith was elected President of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York in 1917. Smith was elected Governor of New York at the New York state election, 1918 with the help of Murphy and James A. Farley, who brought Smith the upstate vote.
In 1919, Smith gave the famous speech, "A man as low and mean as I can picture",^[17] making a drastic break with William Randolph Hearst. Publisher Hearst, known for his notoriously sensationalist and largely left-wing position in the state Democratic Party, was the leader of its populist wing in the city. Hearst had combined with Tammany Hall in electing the local administration. Hearst had attacked Smith for starving children by not reducing the cost of milk.^[18]

Smith lost his bid for re-election at the New York state election, 1920, but was again elected governor in 1922, 1924 and 1926, with James A. Farley managing his campaign. In his 1922 re-election, he embraced his position as an anti-prohibitionist. Smith offered alcohol to guests at the Executive Mansion in Albany, and repealed the Prohibition enforcement statute: the Mullan-Gage law.^[19] Governor Smith became known nationally as a progressive who sought to make government more efficient and more effective in meeting social needs. Smith's young assistant Robert Moses built the nation's first state park system and reformed the civil service, later gaining appointment as Secretary of State of New York. During Smith's term, New York strengthened laws governing workers' compensation, women's pensions and children and women's labor with the help of Frances Perkins, soon to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Labor Secretary.

At the 1924 Democratic National Convention, Smith unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president, advancing the cause of civil liberty by decrying lynching and racial violence. Roosevelt made the nominating speech in which he saluted Smith as "the Happy Warrior of the political battlefield."^[9] Smith represented the urban, east coast wing of the party as an anti-prohibition "wet" candidate while his main rival for the nomination, California Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, stood for the more rural tradition and prohibition "dry" candidacy.^[20] The party was hopelessly split between the two. An increasingly chaotic convention balloted 100 times before both men accepted that neither would be able to win the two-thirds majority required to win, and so each withdrew. The exhausted party nominated the little-known John W. Davis of West Virginia. Davis lost the election by a landslide to the Republican Calvin Coolidge, who won in part because of the prosperous times.

Undeterred, Smith returned to fight a determined campaign for the party's nomination in 1928.

1928 election

Reporter Frederick William Wile made the oft-repeated observation that Smith was defeated by "the three P's: Prohibition, Prejudice and Prosperity".^[21] The Republican Party was still benefiting from an economic boom, as well as a failure to reapportion Congress and the electoral college following the 1920 census, which had registered a 15 percent increase in the urban population. The party was biased to small town and rural areas. Their presidential candidate Herbert Hoover did little to alter these events.

Historians agree that prosperity, along with widespread anti-Catholic sentiment against Smith, made Hoover's election inevitable.^[22] He defeated Smith by a landslide in the 1928 election, carrying five southern states in crossover voting by conservative white Democrats (since disenfranchisement of blacks in the South at the turn of the century, whites dominated voting.)

The fact that Smith was Catholic and the descendant of Catholic immigrants was instrumental in his loss of the election of 1928.^[8] Historical hostilities between Protestants and Catholics had been carried by national groups to the United States by immigrants, and centuries of Protestant domination allowed myths and superstitions about Catholicism to flourish. Native Protestants had viewed the waves of Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Italy and eastern Europe since the mid-19th century with suspicion. In addition, many Protestants carried old fears related to extravagant claims of one religion against the other dating from the European national wars of religion. They feared that Smith would answer to the Pope and not the US Constitution. White rural conservatives in the South also believed that his close association with Tammany Hall, the Democratic machine in Manhattan, showed he tolerated corruption in government (and overlooking their own brands). Another major controversial issue was the continuation of Prohibition, which was widely considered a problem to enforce. Smith was personally in favor of relaxation or repeal of Prohibition laws, as they had given rise to more criminality. The Democratic Party split North and South on the issue, with the more rural South continuing to favor Prohibition. During the campaign Smith tried to duck the issue with noncommittal statements.^[23]

Smith was an articulate proponent of good government and efficiency, as was Hoover. Smith swept the entire Catholic vote, which had been split in 1920 and 1924 between the parties; he attracted millions of Catholics, generally ethnic whites, to the polls for the first time, especially women, who were first allowed to vote in 1920. He lost important Democratic constituencies in the rural North and in southern cities and suburbs. He did carry some of the Deep South, thanks in part to the appeal of his running mate, Senator Joseph Robinson from Arkansas, but he lost five southern states to Hoover. Smith carried the ten most populous cities in the United States, an indication of the rising power of the urban areas and their new demographics. In addition to the issues noted above, Smith was not a very good campaigner. His campaign theme song, "The Sidewalks of New York", had little appeal for rural folks, and they found his 'city' accent, when heard on the "raddio," seemed slightly foreign. Smith narrowly lost New York state, whose electors were biased to rural upstate and largely Protestant districts. But in 1928 his fellow Democrat Roosevelt (a Protestant of Dutch old-line stock) was elected to replace him as governor of New York.^[24] James A. Farley left Smith's camp to run Franklin D. Roosevelt's successful campaign for Governor, and later Roosevelt's successful campaigns for the Presidency in 1932 and 1936.

Voter realignment

Some political scientists believe that the 1928 election started a voter realignment that helped develop the New Deal coalition of Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[25] As one political scientist explains, "...not until 1928, with the nomination of Al Smith, a northeastern reformer, did Democrats make gains among the urban, blue-collar and Catholic voters who were later to become core components of the New Deal coalition and break the pattern of minimal class polarization that had characterized the Fourth Party System."^[26] However, Allan Lichtman's quantitative analysis suggests that the 1928 results were based largely on religion and are not a useful barometer of the voting patterns of the New Deal era.^[27]

Finan (2003) says Smith is an underestimated symbol of the changing nature of American politics in the first half of the last century. He represented the rising ambitions of urban, industrial America at a time when the hegemony of rural, agrarian America was in decline, although many states had legislatures and congressional delegations biased toward rural areas because of lack of redistricting after censuses. Smith was connected to the hopes and aspirations of immigrants, especially Catholics and Jews from eastern and southern Europe. Smith was a devout Catholic, but his struggles against religious bigotry were often misinterpreted when he fought the religiously inspired Protestant morality imposed by prohibitionists.

Opposition to Roosevelt and the New Deal

Smith felt slighted by Roosevelt during the latter's governorship. They became rivals for the 1932 Democratic presidential nomination. At the convention, Smith's animosity toward Roosevelt was so great that he put aside longstanding rivalries and managed to work with William McAdoo and William Randolph Hearst to try to block FDR's nomination for several ballots. This unlikely coalition fell apart when Smith refused to work on finding a compromise candidate; instead he maneuvered to become the nominee. After losing the nomination, Smith eventually campaigned for Roosevelt in 1932, giving a particularly important speech on behalf of the Democratic nominee at Boston on October 27 in which he "pulled out all the stops."^[28]
Smith became highly critical of Roosevelt's New Deal policies and joined the American Liberty League, an anti-Roosevelt group. Smith believed the New Deal was a betrayal of good-government progressive ideals and ran counter to the goal of close cooperation with business. The Liberty League was an organization that tried to rally public opinion against Roosevelt's New Deal. Conservative Democrats who disapproved of Roosevelt's New Deal measures founded the group. In 1934, Smith joined forces with wealthy business executives, who provided most of the league's funds. The league published pamphlets and sponsored radio programs, arguing that the New Deal was destroying personal liberty. However, the league failed to gain support in the 1934 and 1936 elections, and it rapidly declined in influence. The league was officially dissolved in 1940.^[29][30]

Smith's antipathy to Roosevelt and his policies was so great that he supported Republican presidential candidates Alfred M. Landon (in the 1936 election) and Wendell Willkie (in the 1940 election).^[9] Although personal resentment was one factor in Smith's break with Roosevelt and the New Deal, Smith was consistent in his beliefs and politics. Finan (2003) argues Smith always believed in social mobility, economic opportunity, religious tolerance, and individualism. Despite the break between the men, Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt remained close. In 1936, while Smith was in Washington making a vehement radio attack on the President, she invited him to stay at the White House. To avoid embarrassing the Roosevelts, he declined.

Business Life & Later Years

After the 1928 election, Smith became the president of Empire State, Inc., the corporation that built and operated the Empire State Building. Construction for the building began symbolically on March 17, 1930, St. Patrick's Day, per Smith's instructions. Smith's grandchildren cut the ribbon when the world's tallest skyscraper opened on May 1, 1931, which was May Day, an international labor celebration. It had been completed in a record 13 months for such a large project. As with the Brooklyn Bridge, which Smith had seen being built from his Lower East Side boyhood home, the Empire State Building was a vision and an achievement constructed by combining the interests of all, rather than being divided by interests of a few.
In 1929 Smith was elected as President of the Board of Trustees of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University.^[31]

Like most New York City businessmen, Smith enthusiastically supported World War II. He was not asked by Roosevelt to play any role in the war effort.^[9]

In 1939 Smith was appointed a Papal Chamberlain of the Sword and Cape, one of the highest honors the Papacy bestowed on a layman. In the early 21st century, this honor is styled a Gentleman of His Holiness.
Smith died at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital on October 4, 1944 of a heart attack, at the age of 70. He had been broken-hearted over the death of his wife from cancer five months earlier, on May 4, 1944.^[32] He is interred at Calvary Cemetery.^[33]

October 20, 2016 Al Smith Dinner To Feature Trump and Clinton

 http://www.alsmithfoundation.org/the-dinner/

Found at the blog EndrTimes

Trump, Clinton to trade jokes instead of barbs at Al Smith dinner

FAITH 2016

Trump, Clinton to trade jokes instead of barbs at Al Smith dinner

By David Gibson | 24 hours ago

NEW YORK (RNS) This has been an unconventional election by almost any measure, with both candidates garnering record high negatives from the voters and political newcomer Donald Trump — a real estate and casino mogul — lowering the bar on almost every previous standard of acceptable campaign rhetoric.

But the Catholic Church likes nothing better than to stick with tradition, and so Trump, the Republican nominee, and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, will be headlining the glitzy Al Smith Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan next month to trade jokes (hopefully) rather than barbs in a custom that goes back more than 70 years.

“The presidential nominees will share the dais with Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and they will deliver the evening’s speeches in the spirit of collegiality and good-humor that has become a hallmark of the gala,” said a statement issued Tuesday (Sept. 27) by the New York Archdiocese and the foundation that runs the event.

The Oct. 20 dinner “honors a cause that transcends the polarizing political rhetoric of the day and exemplifies the vision of Gov. Alfred E. Smith, known as ‘The Happy Warrior’ for his ability to maintain his positive outlook even as he tackled the pressing social issues of his day,” the statement said.

The Oct. 20 dinner “honors a cause that transcends the polarizing political rhetoric of the day and exemplifies the vision of Gov. Alfred E. Smith, known as ‘The Happy Warrior’ for his ability to maintain his positive outlook even as he tackled the pressing social issues of his day,” the statement said.

The dinner’s namesake was the New York governor who in 1928 became the first Catholic nominee for president. Smith was known as a reformer and “man for the people,” but anti-Catholicism was still so virulent at the time and the pre-Depression economy of the 1920s roaring so fiercely that the Democrat was trounced by Republican Herbert Hoover.

A charitable foundation that takes his name was launched in 1946, two years after Smith’s death, and over the years its annual dinner has become “a ritual of American politics,” as historian Theodore H. White put it, where candidates of opposing parties would come together for a few hours of comic relief at the height of an intense campaign battle.

But the white-tie dinner itself has not been free of controversy, especially for its host. Dolan, for example, was excoriated by conservative Catholics in 2012 when he continued the tradition by inviting President Obama, whose stance in support of abortion rights and other issues outraged some.

READ: Cardinal Timothy Dolan defends Obama invitation to Al Smith Dinner

There was some precedent for Dolan to punt on an invitation to Obama: In 1996, then-Cardinal John O’Connor did not invite either of that year’s candidates because he did not want to give President Bill Clinton, an abortion rights supporter who was running for re-election, a church-sponsored platform that tends to show the candidates in a flattering light.

And in 2004, then-Cardinal Edward Egan did not invite either candidate, President George W. Bush or his challenger Democratic nominee, John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.

But Dolan is an outgoing personality who tends to prefer engagement to picking fights, and he also enjoys an evening that can showcase his own deft talent for quips.

Four years ago, Dolan defended himself from the critics, saying the dinner is a time for civility, engagement and dialogue — and raises money for needy children.

“Those who started the dinner 67 years ago believed that you can accomplish a lot more by inviting folks of different political loyalties to an uplifting evening, rather than in closing the door to them,” Dolan wrote at the time.

He added that he believed he was also following the example of Jesus, “who was blistered by his critics for dining with those some considered sinners; and by the recognition that, if I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I’d be taking all my meals alone.”

Whether Dolan will be criticized again this year, or in the same way, remains to be seen. The real interest may be on how the candidates comport themselves.

Trump has upended conventional Republican politics, especially its family values agenda: He is a thrice-married businessman with a legacy as a playboy and someone who has supported abortion rights and gay rights. He has made headlines by insulting ethnic and religious minorities, women and the handicapped, among others.

While Trump has said he will oppose abortion as president, many remain dubious, and some of his other statements have upset Catholic leaders.

Trump has also shown himself to be relatively thin-skinned when it comes to criticism or teasing, which is unusual for a candidate for such a high office, where calumny and comedy are daily fare.

And if Clinton is not quite the tummler that other candidates have been, she has shown an ability to tweak Trump, as she did in the first of three presidential debates on Monday night.


ABOUT DAVID GIBSON


David Gibson is a national reporter for RNS and an award-winning religion journalist, author and filmmaker. He has written several books on Catholic topics. His latest book is on biblical artifacts: "Finding Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery," which was also the basis of a popular CNN series.


Source

Al Smith Dinner October 20, 2011

The Vatican Goes For Both Sides of the Political Aisle

U.S.A.
Carvelle worked for the Democratic Party
Matlin worked for the Republican Party
Both recently received into the Roman Catholic Church

American Catholic.Org
http://www.americancatholic.org/news/report.aspx?id=3246#

Beth Griffin

NEW YORK (CNS)--Whoever commands the next congressional majority after the upcoming midterm election will discover that fortune favors those who put service and duty above party and self, according to Republican political consultant Mary Matalin.

She shared the rostrum with her husband, Democratic political strategist James Carville, at the 65th annual dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation held Oct. 19 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Matalin said the dinner is renowned as a festive gathering of political opposites for a good cause. Noting that Al Smith did not apply a political test to his friendships, she said she and Carville have learned by experience that "some of the dearest people you campaign hardest against over time might become family and friends."

She cited as examples former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton, who is now secretary of state.

Matalin and Carville met while they were working for rival candidates in the 1992 presidential campaign. Matalin was deputy campaign manager for political operations for George H.W. Bush. Carville was chief campaign strategist for Bill Clinton. They were married in a civil ceremony in 1993.

The Al Smith dinner honors the memory of the former governor of New York, who was raised in poverty and was the first Catholic nominated by a major political party to run for president of the United States. Proceeds from the $1,500-a-plate event help needy children in Greater New York. The foundation distributed $1.7 million in grants after last year's dinner.

Matalin and Carville shared the three-tiered dais with New York's political and philanthropic luminaries, looking out over a sea of 800 formally attired benefactors in the grand ballroom of the storied hotel.

Following a meal of poached lobster and braised short ribs, they poked fun at themselves, each other and candidates in congressional and New York gubernatorial races. After a well received humorous riff aimed at both Republicans and Democrats, Carville announced in a Louisiana drawl, "There's too much low-hanging fruit here, folks."

Matalin said she was received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil this year. "Most converts go straight to confession," she said, "but I guess if you're a political consultant, you go right to a microphone."

She said that Carville has "been a big help in my spiritual journey--and not just in daily martyrdom."

Turning serious for a moment, Matalin spoke about the example New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan sets for his seminarians and said, "The church is filled with honorable, kind, self-sacrificing priests who are pure of heart--and thank God for every one of them."

She advised, "If you're looking for hope and change, you'll find a lot of both in the direction of Rome. It's the best kind of hope because it offers forever and the best kind of change because it happens in your own life."

Carville jokingly disputed that change is part of Vatican vocabulary, but he said to be Catholic is to believe in miracles. Specifically, he said the church "graciously welcomed me back into its bosom" after Matalin became a Catholic. They then had a Catholic wedding at St. Stephen Church in New Orleans this past April and he was astonished to learn from his sister afterward that his grandparents were married in the same church in April 1910.

In their talks, both Matalin and Carville got comic mileage out of raising their teen and preteen daughters. Matalin said the experience is "all about the peace process."

Al Smith's great-grandson, Alfred E. Smith IV, was the master of ceremonies for the event. He said Smith was a man of courage and principle, an independent thinker who was steadfast in his beliefs. The governor "wore his heart on his sleeve, not his ambition," said the emcee. "Had he not been so open about his religion, he might not have made himself such an easy target for the anti-Catholic bigotry that marred his presidential campaign."

Archbishop Dolan, host of the dinner, said he was lucky "because I get to spend a big chunk of my life visiting the children helped by the Al Smith Foundation-special-needs kids, homeless infants and their mothers, hungry kids, abandoned children, babies whose very birth is in question due to the poverty and struggles of the mother, kids fed, clothed, loved, embraced and educated because of you."

He acknowledged his predecessor, Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York, who was on the dais, and Cardinal William H. Keeler, retired archbishop of Baltimore, sitting at a table of honor.

The invocation was offered by Jesuit Father Timothy J. Cadigan, another great-grandson of Gov. Al Smith. Metropolitan Opera tenor Michael Fabiano sang the national anthem in perhaps the only October performance of that song not shortened by the cheers of baseball fans.

Dinner guests were entertained by the music of the Peter Duchin Orchestra, performed from a balcony overlooking the ballroom.

From Their Master

From Wispers in the Loggia

Quote of the Day

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/10/quote-of-day_17.html

"Senators, with your kind permission, I would like to offer you some advice in the political realm.

"Eight years from now, one of you will have had a great success as the President of the United States. And you may want to continue in that office.

"If such be the case, please give me a call -- I have a friend here in New York who is an expert at arranging this kind of thing...."

"Senator Obama, after working to organize a community in the troubled South Side of Chicago, you are looking to move up to Washington DC -- which is, of course, the capital of our nation. It may be an encouragement for you to know that, after working to organize a community in the troubled South Side of Chicago -- St Leo's Catholic Church at 78th and Emerald -- I was able to move up even higher: to no less than New York City, the Capital of the World.

"And, Senator, I'm still here after eight years."

--Cardinal Edward Egan
Archbishop of New York
63rd Al Smith Dinner
New York, 16 October 2008

PHOTO: AFP/Getty

-30-

So far I have not been able to find any news accounts or videos of Cardinal Egan's speech, but only those of Obama and McCain.

Apparantly there's a media blackout, asides from this above quote from Wispers in the Loggia.

Flanking Their Master

From Wispers in the Loggia

It's On / At The Al

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-on.html

The speeches have begun; livestream of the Al Smith Dinner is rollin'...

In the presence of Katie Couric, Brian Williams, both New York senators, the state's governor and the city's mayor, the widow and son of Tim Russert, Dennis Sullivan, a cast of thousands and -- in his last turn as its host -- Cardinal Edward Egan, the Al Smith showdown went off with lots of humor and without incident earlier tonight.

Lest any doubt remained of the draw of the evening's joint keynoters -- both presidential candidates, in their final pre-election meeting -- this 63rd Dinner pulled in over $4 million for New York's Catholic Charities, more than double last year's take for the Tony Blair-headlined soiree.

Video, etc. to come.



PHOTO: AFP/Getty


http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/10/once-more-with-humor.html

Just a reminder that -- fresh off their tense final debate (fullvideo) -- the presidential contenders will make their last joint appearance of the campaign at tonight's Al Smith Dinner in New York.

Now in its 63rd year, the white-tie barb-fest at the Waldorf-Astoria benefits Catholic Charities of the Big Apple archdiocese. Hosted by Gotham's cardinal-archbishop -- who, in one of his last major appearances before retirement, will be flanked by John McCain and Barack Obama at the center of the traditional multi-tiered dais -- the event takes its name in tribute to the son of the Lower East Side tenements who rose to become the Empire State's governor, and in 1928 the first Catholic nominated for the presidency.

Beyond sold-out, this year's dinner has far exceeded its $2.5 million goal thanks to its joint keynoters:

Political heavyweights will pepper the dais: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Former Gov. George Pataki, former Mayor Ed Koch and Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau will be there, too.

When [Al] Smith [IV] approached then-McCain adviser John Weaver about the Republican nominee appearing, "He said, 'We'll be there.' I said, 'I haven't given you the date yet.' He said, 'Doesn't matter.'"

McCain spoke at the Al Smith dinner in 2005.

Getting Team Obama to commit was slightly more work: "My line to them was, 'I know you're coming. You know you're coming.'"

McCain and Obama will each deliver 15-minute talks.

Appearing at the Al Smith dinner is a tradition for presidential candidates, with both major nominees typically attending in an election year.

"They say Jack Kennedy won the [1960] election at the Al Smith Dinner," Smith said in his office at St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers, which features an array of Gov. Smith's photos and an Obama bobble-head doll.

In 2004, Democrat John Kerry - a Catholic - was not invited, presumably for his pro-choice stance on abortion. As a result, President Bush also did not attend.

Alfred E. Smith, the nation's first Catholic presidential candidate back in 1928, died in 1944. The first dinner in his honor came a year later at the behest of then-Archbishop Francis Spellman.

Since then, it has become one of the premier fund-raisers for the Archdiocese of New York.

Last year, with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair headlining, the dinner raised $1.8 million for charity, Smith's great-grandson said.

From 9pm Eastern (0100GMT), the dinner and speeches will be shown/streamed live on C-Span and Sirius Satellite Radio's The Catholic Channel.

In other campaign news from the church beat... presumably for purposes of, er, emphasis, one US bishop has taken to employing the Democratic nominee's middle name.

PHOTO: Reuters

http://www.alsmithfoundation.org/thedinner.html

Tony Blair and Cardinal Egan

According to David Icke

Middle East 'peace' envoy Blair launches attack on Iran

Blair still serving his masters at the Church of Babylon

Jesuit front man Cardinal Edward Egan praised Mr. Pawn's speech and his effort to 'fight extremism'.

Lying to start a war that has killed the best part of a million people and imposing sanctions that killed at least half a million Iraqi children does not constitute 'extremism' then?

Go on chaps, have a good laugh, hilarious isn't it?

'Tony Blair today compared the threat of Muslim extremism to the rise of fascism and warned that Britain must not waver in its fight against terrorists. The former prime minister also criticised 'some of our own circles' for arguing that the West had provoked Islamist groups to commit terror acts.

In his first major speech since leaving office, he also condemned the 'demonic skill' deployed by Muslim extremists and singled out Iran for backing and financing terror to destabilise other countries. At the prestigious New York charity event, Mr Blair received three standing ovations during the evening, was joined by New York governor Eliot Spitzer, mayor Michael Bloomberg and News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch.'

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http://www.davidicke.com/content/blogcategory/30/48/