Assaults on Kate Smith and her statue are a case of political correction run amok | Dom Giordano

Now that the mob has pretty much moved on from its attacks on Kate Smith, allow me to commend several people for their actions during the assault and give you a guide to prepare for similar attacks on traditional Philadelphia and national figures and institutions.

First, I had the first interview with Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano that set off a media firestorm because of his insistence that this summer, the town would continue to play Smith’s “God Bless America” each morning.

Kudos also to The Inquirer’s John Timpane for his work in highlighting a 1945 radio recording in which Smith unequivocally condemned racial hatred and prejudice. Among other things, she said, “Racial hatreds — social prejudices — religious bigotry — they are the diseases that eat away the fibers of peace. “ This article is an important piece in bringing context and balance to Smith.

Also, this whole embarrassing episode encouraged me to rediscover Paul Robeson, the African American performer who also sang one of the racist songs attributed to Smith. Even though several things in the area are named after Robeson, I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves as one of the greatest Philadelphians of all time.

Meanwhile, I think another great Philadelphian’s statue and mural will be the next point of attack for the mob. Frank Rizzo’s statue is a mortal lock to be taken away by Mayor Jim Kenney and his merry band of progressives either after the Democratic mayoral primary in May or the general election in November. The mob will bathe itself in words such as inclusivity and tolerance as it gleefully bashes Rizzo supporters.

Rizzo will seem like a small battle alongside the mounting attacks on Christopher Columbus. Philadelphia still has a big Columbus Day Parade and a significant Italian American population. However, last Columbus Day weekend, we saw mounting attacks on anything Columbus-related. I’d make this a loser in a close call for the politically correct mobs.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has just started a new battle, with his order to remove the Mississippi state flag from Liberty State Park near the Statue of Liberty because a Confederate emblem is part of the flag.

“New Jersey’s strength is rooted in our diverse communities," Murphy said, "and the Confederate symbol displayed on the Mississippi state flag is reprehensible and does not reflect our values of inclusivity and equality.”

I think ultimately the pressure will ratchet up on Mississippi and they will change the state flag.

In the past week, there were rumblings about people wanting to remove the statue of Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners fame at the Port Authority terminal in New York because the TV character created and portrayed by Jackie Gleason frequently threatened to resort to domestic violence to settle things with his wife Alice.

There is also talk again of going after “The Star-Spangled Banner,” because of racist content in the third stanza.

There clearly is a never-ending supply of statues, songs, and people under intense review, as well as a mob of self-appointed virtue signalers who want to purify our society by destroying much of our history. They have almost made a hobby out of never-ending outrage.

Sports commentator Bob Costas, appearing on Bill Maher’s show last week, attributed much of this to a spreading perception that we’ve reached a golden era of sensitivity and that the feelings and trends of our time are the templates to be used to judge every other time. He cautioned that things may change, and that today’s judges might be harshly judged themselves in the future.

The wiser standard is to try to judge the public person by the standards of their time and to look at the overall contributions of their life. Those will be my standards this summer when I stand for the Pledge of Allegiance on Wildwood’s Boardwalk, then wait for the booming voice of Kate Smith belting out “God Bless America.”

Teacher-turned-talk show host Dom Giordano is heard 9 a.m. to noon weekdays on WPHT (1210-AM). Contact him at www.domgiordano.com On Twitter at @DomShow1210