Publicity poster, Casablanca (1942). Dir. Michael Curtiz.

I know that Sarah at Art Expedition intends to write about Casablanca for a Film Friday post, and I apologise for my poor form in preempting my hostess. I had in fact written an entirely different post, but it was about a comedy, and I’m not really in the mood for a laugh.

So, Casablanca. A man who’s doing ok in difficult times gives it all up — including the chance to be with the woman he loves — because it’s the right thing to do.

The film’s hero, Rick is complex; a tough-guy with a heart of gold, a man with a past, an American exiled in Europe. A crook. A mercenary. A lover. A man with power over other people’s lives who chooses to use that power to help rather than destroy.

The film was based on an un-produced play,

Three Republicans and one long time Republican who left the party have made very sober statements, with the last one being more of a stance. Let’s begin with General James Mattis, who served as Secretary of Defense under Donald Trump and resigned in December, 2018, with many Republicans pleading with him not to go. Note, former Chief of Staff, General John Kelly reinforced that Mattis was not asked to leave as mentioned in rebuttal by the president.

In an op-ed in The Atlantic, Mattis wrote “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”

Next, we have the words of Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska…

My great-uncle, U.S. Marine Corps Private William L. Brasfield, also known as Lee, died long before I was born, but I heard all the stories. As a young man, he enlisted because he believed that was what a patriot was supposed to do.

For a while, he wrote fascinating letters home to rural Alabama about the exotic places he had been. It was an adventure, not just a duty. Then, just a few months after Pearl Harbor, he was aboard the USS Houston (CA-30), which was deployed to escort and protect convoys carrying troops to Indonesia. By late February, 1942, the Houston was located in the Java Sea, where it and four other cruisers from Australia, the United Kingdom, and The Netherlands, and 10 destroyers became engaged in battle with the Japanese.

Early on the morning of March 1, after an arduous and commendable show of force that was later…