I question the entire point of the Al Smith Memorial Dinner. First, the money it raises is minuscule compared to the abundant wealth of the Catholic Church. I was very insulted by Dolan describing how the $6 million raised would enable a "poor, black woman raising a child in the inner city" to send her child to one of their "excellent schools." This plays directly into Trump's characterization of the "inner city," a contemporary dog-whistle that went out of fashion in the 1960s. As to whether those schools are so great, they are well known for having out-of-date curricula with underpaid teachers and embarrassing dress codes that force young women and girls to wear short skirts on the coldest of days.  

Then there's the "honorable" Cardinal Dolan, who covered up the pedophilia scandal in Milwaukee by paying off priests and hiding money that might have been paid to children who were irreperably harmed. Al Smith was an unapologetic progressive and his memory is demeaned by this travesty.