The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-10
As Pegler Sees It
Copyright by King Features Syndicate, Inc
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9-The fault may
be ours, but it often seems to me that
the professional bleeding hearts deliberate
ly make it difficult for the right minded
element to understand them We hear
cerely wonder why young man so healthy
and pugnacious did not find place on
the dangerous Murmansk run or 60 out as
a driver with some French or British am
bulance outfit in the war. l know of an
old fellow, nearly so, retired from the sea,
who went back as the skipper of tanker
He was soon lost but he would snort at
anyone who said today that he gave his
| life for human freedom. He had read some
history and he was very practical man
and his idea was that if our side won, as
he was confident we would, his money
would keep him through comfortable old
age. The pay was high. He gambled and
lost. Nothing could be more idotic than to
suggest that he left his home and tied
loose into the dangers that soon killed him
to rebuke callous American Anglos for
calling American ItaloS rude names, which
seems to be Sinatras version of our war
aims.
Another I know, young musician blind
in one eye, joined up with the field service
and got medal from the Australians for
swimming some of their wounded across
cold river in Italy. He shares Sinatra's
feelings about the words "dago" and
"wop" but because he is young gentle
man, not for fear that Sinatra might slug
him when his head was turned. Being a
musician, he likes Italians and he thinks
Slnatra is neither a good musician nor
representative Italo-American. His reasons
were more spiritual than the old sailors.
He was young and strong his country was
in fight and so he went, half blind though
Sinatra was strong, even athletic but he had
a legal right to exemption and he took
full advantage of it. And yet, his au-
thorized biography tells us that he now
seriously thinks of inciting punches of emo
tlonal little girls to disrupt political meet
lngs IN the 1948 campaign whenever he
decides that speaker on a proposition is
un-democratlc. doubt that my one-eyed
young friend would stand for that He has
strong Ideas on strong-arm political meth
DDS.
sinatras first political demonstration
was made on the night that Franklin D.
Roosevelt was elected for his fourth term
IN 1914 In the company of Orson Welles
| and others he toured the circuit of expen-
slve New York saloons known as the milk
route and spent some time at the political
headquarters Of Sidney Hillman, which
got shrleklng drunk, and kicked up such
row In the Waldorf that house police
man was sent up to subdue him, and did.
Slnatra seems to have had hallucinations
Tor ne told a broadcaster that he had
banged on the door of one who had op-
Poseo roosevelt, intending to beat him up
| put, not finding him in, beat up mis- furni-
ture, instead. That was his first venture
and strictly imaginary into physical ter
| rorlSm. he seems to have enjoyed the fan
| tasy 1or the dream of leading girlish shock
troops developed later. 1t seems significant
Orson Welles.
Welles, though he too is young a1so was
entitled to exemption. Danny Kaye it will
be remembered, third furious theoretical
defender of human liberty, was denied per-
mission to 60 abroad as an entertainer
when his draft board held that his physical
condition and mental attitude were inap-
propriate.
| These very important people make them
selves difficult to understand.
| They seem almost frantic in their hatred
| of injustice and yet they let millions of
others, 18-year-old boys and old men of
family, do the actual fighting How could
men so ferocious restrain themselves?
Welles has seriously stated that he is not
a communist because he regards commu-
| nism as an enemy of democracy which he
| believes in. He is ready to spend enorm-
ously out of his earnings to defend the
freedoms through organizations which he
approves. He suffers badly from Asthma
and probably would have been culled even
| if he had ever managed to sneak into any
| of our fighting services. But he certainly
could have thumbed his way to Britain,
where thousands of asthmatics and cardi-
acs went through it all. Or he could have
hand, somehow.
Welles, like so many others. Sinatra.
Kaye, and Quentin Reynolds, has really
luxurious tastes. They are all fastidious
carriage trade. Mr.. Reynolds covered the
air-raids in London and cashed in on the
courage of the cockney in Hollywood and
in orations for cash at the groaning board
on the festive luncheon circuit. His check
for $4,000 for a few words of voluptuous
praise for the Garrison boys was paid for
ultimately in the war bonds bought by
soldiers who couldn't come back until it
nolds lives at the River House, the most
pretentious row of flats in the United
States He likes nice things, although he
may not have them long for he is more
a salesman than writer and recently he
was down to covering the hearings of the
committee on un-American activities as a
| reporter for Marshall Fields thing. That
| thing isn't the gravy train. There have
been reports in Hollywood that Welles has
florist fly his flowers out all the way
| from Southern france. mat PROBABLY is
distortion of the actual truth which is that
he does prefer and does enjoy beef steaks
which are flown to Hollywood from the
east. His asthma is such that he requires
large amount of protein. Western steaks
contain protein of a sort but not enough
or the right sort. The eastern steaks are
just right.
| Now some ignorant persons believe a
man with lots Of money should give liberal
ly to the poor as the price of a voice on
the subject of poverty. Mr.. Welles dis
agrees. That would be denial of freedom