Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Born Lucky

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

Editor’s note: Ahead of Father’s Day, please indulge my Father’s Day story: 

“Born Lucky”

They called me “Lucky” because if I hadn’t been born dead, severe cerebral palsy would have been enough to make things rougher than I could have imagined. The doctor who on gut instinct insisted my mother have a C-section named me, but I was truly lucky to have been born to the parents I was. 

Last Father’s Day, Dad called me to say he “never wanted kids” but was so happy I was his son. That says a lot considering he quit his job at 38, sold his companies and became a full-time dad — as he would tell me — because he knew his act of kindness was the only chance I had.  

From a young age, Dad always told me I was different. Clearly on the Asperger’s/autism spectrum as a young man, Dad refused to allow school psychologists to diagnose me with anything. Instead, he decided to “fix me.” Constantly bullied, Dad decided pushups would whip my 7-year-old body into shape that no schoolyard third grader would dare mess with — soon, he had me doing 200 a day.  

My diagnosis as having an IQ spread from genius on half of the tests to mentally retarded on others would have gotten me significant special treatment as that became en vogue during the late ‘80s and ‘90s. Dad believed a cruel world would not make such accommodations after graduating high school. He was right. 

Unable to read social cues, he would take me to dinners and watch me — during it, he would casually tap his watch, my signal to stop talking. Later, we would discuss what I had missed. Why a joke wasn’t funny. What I said was “off-rhythm.” Over time, he began to teach me the social cues most learn naturally. His many lessons came from his time as a door-to-door salesman and the techniques learned from “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

As I got older, the bullying became too intense in grade school, so my parents hired tutors to get me through fifth and sixth grade. Dad believed strongly in goals — both setting and achieving — his being the youngest person in history to start and sell a company for $1 million. In 1971, long before Al Gore “invented” the internet, Dad did it at 21. 

At 5, when I saw a story on the evening news about a 10-year-old who flew a small plane across the country … the goal became to beat him. At 8, Dad said OK to flying lessons, and at 11, I was the youngest to fly across the Atlantic. Along the way were some brutal lessons but ones that live on, like getting it right the first time every time or, in the words of my flight instructor, “People die.” That later saved my life as a foreign correspondent in Libya. 

Setting goals naturally progressed from his belief self-esteem is earned, not given. And in a similar way, he believed in brutal honesty. In seventh grade, I really wanted to become a tennis player — at the time, a girl I liked played tennis, and Dad had been great at the sport. After watching me at a tennis lesson, he told me, “You will never be able to play tennis. … I’ll support you and come watch your lessons, but you will always be awful.” 

That’s a far cry from the world we live in of participation trophies. He pushed me hard to find something I could be “great” at. Dad will tell you he believed fixing me was only possible because of my “intelligence.” I would counter that it couldn’t have happened without his love. 

Yes, I am lucky in so many ways — including having a dad with not only the love and dedication but ability to spend a decade-plus focused solely on me. 

People will take from this story many things — it’s not a prescription to help others, but perhaps it will give others hope or an idea. It’s not a social commentary, but it is my story — take from that what you will. Most importantly, it’s proof of what dedication and love can do.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad, and thank you.

The Debate of Our Time

Tom Brady’s Patriots Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony speech lays bare one of the biggest issues of this generation:

• Meritocracy vs. participation trophies
• Unrelenting hard work vs. just doing your best 

We first told you about the speech yesterday but didn’t realize the nerve it hit until today.

• Watch the whole thing here.

Why is it OK to talk about hard work, performance and results in sports but not in medical school, aviation or law school? 

If professors at major universities don’t grade inflate, they get fired. 

Robert Pondiscio (@rpondiscio) picks up this theme in his Free Press article, “How Public Schools Became Ideological Boot Camps.”

For example, if a teacher says, “Boys are boys,” they are burned at the stake. 

It’s all part of the same debate in America. 

Watch tonight: Former Patriots player Dave Nugent will come on to discuss why it’s still OK to celebrate greatness in sports, but on the field of life, there are different rules. 

Presidential Debate ‘What if?’ Game 

Joe Biden comes home from the debate in less than two weeks, but how does he come out a winner? 

Hans Nichols (@HansNichols) reports in Axios both Biden and Donald Trump are leaving things to the last minute.

• Thought bubble: One could argue that prep won’t change Trump nor can it prepare Biden. 

State of the Union Biden vs. Obnoxious Trump 

• There’s a lot to be written on and thought about Biden’s strategy 
• And on how to temper Trump so that he’s direct and succinct but not beating up Biden
  • Good luck disciplining or tempering Trump.
• Expectations are more important than performance.
  • Biden’s strategy will be to exceed the expectation of him as the drooling fool Republicans see him as, as laid out by devastating polling in a recent New York Post article.

Winner winner: What if Biden says to Trump, “You are a convicted felon, but it’s time to stop this, I am announcing a pardon”? 

• Biden wins the debate and the headlines
• Biden could then pardon his son
• Biden wouldn’t lose any votes – he might gain some

Watch tonight: We’ll have Chris Hahn on to discuss why Biden won’t do it and how Trump can win. 

Censoring Biden Videos

The same people who censored Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian disinformation now want to censor unflattering videos of President Biden. 

No, seriously … watch this clip of Biden campaign senior advisor Adrienne Elrod.

Warning: Disinformation is real, but Democrats are becoming like the boy who cried wolf – disinformation isn’t just stuff you don’t like. Nobody will care when real disinformation comes out. 

Faith in the Court

Sometime before July 1, the Supreme Court will issue its ruling in the Trump immunity case, which, no matter what they decide, will have major impacts on the presidential election and American history.  

It will also once again test America’s belief in the “rule of law.”

Sunny Hostin of “The View” said yesterday what a lot of liberals believe: that the court’s decision to protect the abortion pill “restores a little bit of (her) faith in the court.” 

• Fair question:  If your faith is based only on the decisions they make, is that really faith? 

Even President Biden recently bragged about “ignoring” the court on its rulings against his student loan forgiveness. 

The Biden campaign’s statement today said, “Trump’s Supreme Court justices have decided the gun lobby is more important than the safety of our kids and our communities.” What about respecting the rule of law? 

Fun fact: The Biden administration is upset at “Trump justices” overturning a Trump decision — talk about irony. 

Last thought: It’s funny that after the abortion pill decision, it was just “the Supreme Court,” but in coverage today, it’s all about “Trump judges.” 

Last question: When can we get back to respecting institutions? 

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.