PDQ, I think I understand what you are saying.   I'm not sure though that somebody like that other guest who took time out from writing his manifesto to post on Mudcat is really somebody on "our" side.   That poor guest needs to realize that the world is different from the one inside his tar paper shack.

Trees have to bend in order to survive.

McGrath - I'm glad he didn't retire.   Hope was known for quite a bit more than those early movies. You have to judge a man as a whole, not just a small part. His U.S.O. tours and his charity work make up a part of his picture.   His work on radio really helped set the stage for variety shows that would follow both on radio and TV - and I'm not talking about just the ones he did. His style and format were often copied.   While he may not have authored all his own jokes, his delivery made them his own.

Hope poked fun at everyone, including himself. His jokes were corny at times, and I would not classify him as a political humorist, but he did let the right have it just as much as the left. He was not mean spirited by any means, even though some may have hinted at that in their posts. Hope helped us laugh at ourselves. As I said earlier, he was able to do this during the dark hours of WWII and that is probably an often overlooked accomplishment.

I don't know how true this is, but I just heard on the radio that knowing the end was coming, his wife asked him where he wanted to be buried.   His answer was "surprise me".

Ron