Movie "The Kingdom" ***** (5 stars)

To forget yesterday's Oregon game my wife and I went down to Medford's Tinseltown to see "The Kingdom" which is a very good movie and will eventually be added to my DVD collection when it is released on DVD. The movie is about an elite FBI team that is sent to Saudi Arabia after a terrible terrorist attack on an American Community of oil workers and their family's in an American compound that looks like a typical American suburb during a baseball game.This part of the movie is very powerful. The FBI team are to help the Saudi government find the terrorist. The movie is basically CSI meets Black Hawk Down. After I saw the movie I read a few reviews of it (for example the LA Times)and I see why I liked the movie so much..... the liberals hate it because it shows the Islamic terrorist to be the evil people they are and makes American bureaucrats look ineffective rather than evil in the war against terrorism. Now, if the Americans had been been the "bad guys" and the American government evil then the liberal film critics would have loved it..... think "Syriana (2005). Of course, many liberals don't even think there is a war on terrorism. The movie is very powerful and in my book is a classic.

MAJOR SPOILER don't read further unless you want to know how the movie ends.

At the end of the movie a young daughter or granddaughter (of an Islamic terrorist bomb maker who is killed by the FBI) is told by her mother " We must kill them all." earlier in the movie an FBI agent says the same thing to another FBI agent who had a friend killed by the terrorist attack on the American community. Liberals who are so sophisticated they don't believe in in such vengeance or soultions and the terrorist see them as weak and vulnerable because of it. The only way to stand up to them is to kill as many as we can find! This will be a very long war... and we need to get used to it ....or lose.

LET'S GO DUCKS!

It was a tough loss yesterday to the Cal Bears. They were on the national stage and they let is slip away. The positives were as follows:

1. The team played hard and if they can avoid mistakes are a very good team.

2. 59,000 + fans at Autzen, the largest crowd to watch a football game in the state of Oregon. It was very loud in the stadium and the fans were very much into the game from start to finish.

3. The Oregon fans looked tremendous on ESPN's Gameday.( I walked through that area on the way to the game and it looked like Woodstock on the day after)

4. Good weather for a football game. (It was very comfortable day to watch a game in the stadium)

5. Oregon is # 13 in the Coaches poll out today. ( #12 last week) The Bears are # 3.

6. Oregon is # 14 in the AP poll out today.

The important thing is for the Oregon players and coaches to rest a while (this is a bye week) and then get ready for Washington State at Autzen in two weeks. We still have tough games against U$C, Washington in Seattle, Arizona State, UCLA in Pasadena and the always tough Oregon State Beavers in the Civil War game. We also need some revenge against Stoops and Arizona. The Pac 10 is so competitive every team including U$C can be beaten on any Saturday so lets strap it on and take them as they come! We lost the battle yesterday and not the "war". The character of this team will be shown in the weeks to come. We can either fold as we did last year or battle back to a BCS bowl.The Ducks need a fighting spirit untill the last play of the Bowl game. People who I respect and who are close to the team think this team has the leadership and character to rebound unlike last years team. Let's hope so. LET'S GO DUCKS!

GO DUCKS!!!!

GAME DAY IN EUGENE ,OREGON. GO DUCKS!

John Ford At Fox DVD Collection (Updated)

Filmmaker John Ford will be honored in the fall with a lavish DVD collection of his early films made for 20th Century Fox. A 24 MOVIE BOXED SET The collection, which spans 1920-52, includes such classics as "The Grapes of Wrath," best picture Oscar winner "How Green Was My Valley," "My Darling Clementine" and "Drums Along the Mohawk." Twenty other films also will be included in the "Ford at Fox" set, 18 of which have never before been available on DVD

The $300 set,( $209.00 at Amazon.com) which Fox is preparing for a December 4 release,( just in time for Christmas hint hint) is believed to be the largest collection of films by a single director ever released in one shot. It's a far cry from typical DVD boxed sets devoted to a single director or actor, which generally include no more than four or five movies.

Many of the films have been painstakingly restored and remastered, said Steve Feldstein, senior vp marketing communications at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, with the oldest films, the silents, featuring new orchestral scores.

Ford's work influenced such contemporaries as Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles as well as such latter-day filmmakers as George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

"Ford at Fox" includes several of the director's early silent films, including 1920's "Just Pals," his first film for Fox, and "The Iron Horse," which in 1924 grossed more than $4 million to become the top-grossing film of its day. "Just Pals" is a rustic comedy set in rural America that stars cowboy actor Buck Jones; "The Iron Horse," about the 1860s construction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways, is the first film to feature legendary cowboy star George O'Brien.

The set also includes three films with cowboy hero Will Rogers (1933's "Doctor Bull," 1934's "Judge Priest" and 1935's "Steamboat Round the Bend"); 1937's "Wee Willie Winkie," which star Shirley Temple has said was her favorite early movie; and the James Cagney classic "What Price Glory" (1952).Exclusive to the DVD release is a new documentary from Ford historian Nick Redman. The set also comes with a hardcover coffee table book that includes rare, unpublished photographs from Ford's career, lobby card reproductions, production stills and an in-depth look at Ford's work.

Fox is getting some unsolicited promotional help from film festivals nationwide eager to screen the restored Ford classics. "The Iron Horse" will be one of the final films shown at the Venice International Film Festival, while the New York Film Festival will host the premiere of the newly restored "Drums Along the Mohawk," Ford's first Technicolor film. Scorsese will introduce the film.

Hint family... Christmas idea. ( Click on the title for a link to the Amazon.com page for this DVD set)

I Am Mighty Oregon

I posted this several years ago ( I am not the author) but I think it's appropriate to re post it what with the importance of Saturdays "shoot out" with the Cal Bears at Autzen and the fact that ESPN Gameday will be there. Two unbeaten and ranked teams meeting in a game that could determine a BCS Bowl. (It's a letter Coach Mike Bellotti read to the team in 2005.)

To Any Oregon Players Who May Read This .... I am sorry for the distraction you may face this week on account of the fans, the media and our hunger for another BCS Bowl. True Duck fans everywhere are behind you. This tribute is for you: I am Mighty Oregon. I am the 30 year old couple coming back to campus for the fist time with both little ones in tow. One wears her first green and yellow cheerleader outfit; the other wears #3 even though he's too young to understand why. I screamed IT NEVER RAINS AT AUTZEN STADIUM, even though you can see the thunderous clouds forming and know it will rain. God, I love this place. I am the 60 year old woman meeting her freshman grand-daughter who is now the 3rd generation of UO students in our family. Despite my age, I'd strap it on Saturday and hit someone if it weren't for my gender and this blasted arthritis. I am Mighty Oregon and I have always believed I was different. You can see it when you look up into the stands. My green is not the same as Miami's and my yellow is not that of Michigan. But the differences go much deeper than my colors. I genuinely believe in these things. To be a "real" Oregon man or woman speaks of character, not of geography. All are welcome to walk through my gates, not just the wealthy or the elite. The Big 10, Big 12 and the SEC may have their "nations," but we have always been family. We bleed green and yellow. Make no mistake...we loathe defeat, but even in defeat, we would rather be an Oregon Duck than anything else. We are family and you are the sons of Musgrave, Wilcox and Rashad (or Moore if you prefer). You come from a long line of brothers whose names include Fouts, Sirmon, Wheaton, Droughns, and Harrington. You will now add Clemens to that list as he has become a truly exceptional leader this season. It is a great heritage and you belong. So this Saturday, when the warm ups are over and the prayer's "amen" spoken, when you hear my thunder growing in the stands above you, when you stand in the tunnel and feel your heart pounding your chest, listen for my voice when you run onto my field. Behind the frenzy of the shakers and deafening roar, I will tell you something in a whisper you may miss. I will be telling you that you are my sons and I am proud of you for the way you wear the green and yellow, for the way you have stood up in the face of adversity and the way you have fought tooth and nail to win each game. I am telling you that you are my sons and I love you. To all of you Seniors - LET'S GO DUCKS!

ESPN Gameday Set In Eugene, Oregon

ESPN Gameday is coming to Eugene, Oregon for the college football game between the Oregon Ducks and the Cal Bears. To see pictures of the set being constructed on the South side of Autzen Stadium click on the title for a link to a blog sponsored by the Eugene Register Guard. The set is being constructed along the east side of the paved path that leads from campus to the stadium. It's at the junction of the foot path and a paved road(Day Island Road) that crosses the foot path just outside the woods and across from the south end of the dog park on the other side of the footpath. It's before you reach the wooden bridge as you near the stadium as you approach from campus.

As I have said before this is the way I walk when I go to games at Autzen. We park on the campus side of the Willamette river and walk over the footbridge over the river and through the woods. Now when we come out of the woods this Saturday we will see the ESPN Gameday set and behind it Autzen in all it's glory. It reminds me of the movie Camelot when King Arther meets his future wife Guinevere in the forest at the beginning of the movie and as they leave the forest they see Camelot in all it's glory. Now, just win the game! Go Ducks!

ESPN Game Day in Eugene Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. -- ESPN College GameDay will televise its nationally-acclaimed Saturday morning football show from the perimeter of Alton Baker Park just south of Autzen Stadium, according to University of Oregon athletic department officials.

The weekly college football preview show, which airs nationally from 7-9 a.m. (PDT), will precede the Ducks' home game versus California. Kickoff for the football game, which will be televised regionally by ABC, will be 12:30 p.m. (PDT).
The general public is encouraged to be a part of the College GameDay festivities, located across the street from the stadium south of Leo Harris Parkway, with the airing of short televised segments to begin shortly after 12:30 p.m. (PDT) Friday and extend until after the conclusion of Saturday's game.

Friday parking will be available to the general public in Lot 8 south of Leo Harris Parkway.

Saturday's production schedule will include live televised spots during ESPN's SportsCenter shortly after 6 a.m (PDT).

Admission to the entire ESPN production is free of charge.

In order to accommodate fans, the Autzen Stadium east parking lot will open at 5:30 a.m. rather than the normal four hours prior to kickoff only for patrons who hold parking passes for the football game. Special parking provisions for only the ESPN College GameDay production will not be available.

No overnight camping will be allowed on city or university property.

In addition, the LTD Sports Shuttles will stage a special shuttle to Autzen Stadium from the Valley River Center that will begin at 5:30 a.m. That route will run free of charge until 8:30 a.m. After that, the Sports Shuttles will resume their normal operation to and from Autzen Stadium from all 10 park-and-ride locations. Round-trip fare for the shuttles is $3.

The premier college football pregame show, which has aired weekly on ESPN since its inception in 1989, features hosts Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard, with the show initiating its tour from college campuses around the country in 1993.

"The War" Part 4-- Two Brothers

Walter Ehlers came back from Normandy with the Medal of Honor but without his brother. Tonight's episode of Ken Burns "The War" featured the story of Walter Ehlers who said in one of the talking head moments that he would have rather come home with out an arm or a leg rather than without his brother.

Walter Ehlers was born on a farm in Junction City, Kansas on May 7, 1921, and enlisted in the Army in October of 1940, along with his older brother, Roland. Both men were assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, 30th Infantry Regiment – Walter was trained as a mortarman, while Roland was a scout. In November of 1942 they shipped out for North Africa where they saw President Roosevelt up close when he reviewed the troops at Casablanca. Soon afterwards, both brothers were both transferred to the First Infantry Division, assigned to K Company, 18th Regiment, and fought at El Guettar, where their company held off a German panzer unit advance at great cost, and then helped push the enemy all the way to the Mediterranean. The Ehlers next fought in Sicily, and were subsequently sent back to England to train for D Day. Before the invasion, their company commander told the brothers that casualties for the invasion could be as high as 50 percent, and that the Army had therefore decided to separate them. Walter was promoted to sergeant, made a squad leader and transferred to L Company

Ehlers’ orders for D Day were to land on Omaha Beach and lead a 12-man reconnaissance team to the town of Trevieres about five miles inland. Ehlers’ landing craft let him and his squad off in water that was nearly over their heads, and they had to wade to the beach under heavy enemy fire. Under Ehlers’ leadership, the entire squad made it off the beach and up into the bluffs, where they captured a German pill box.
In the days following, Ehlers and his squad were engaged in a number of firefights in the Norman hedgerows. On June 9th they were pinned down, under fire from German machine guns as well as mortars. Ehlers began to advance on the enemy positions, but encountered four German scouts. He single-handedly killed all of them, then destroyed the machine gun nest and the eight Germans manning it. He went on to disable another machine gun nest that day. The next day Ehlers and his squad again were surrounded by the enemy, and Ehlers and one of his men covered the rest of the squad’s withdrawal until both were shot by a sniper. Although he was wounded himself, Ehlers killed the sniper and then carried his wounded comrade to safety.

By July, after a month of fighting, Sergeant Ehler's squad was holed up in an abandoned farm house when he received an unusual visitor. It was the company commander from his brother Roland's company. He came bearing sad news. Roland had died at Omaha beach. As his landing craft approached a mortar round had hit the ramp instantly killing the older brother. Walter was devastated. He saluted the officer and said, "Okay", then found a place of privacy to weep unashamed.


Ehlers rejoined his unit after he recovered, and fought through the rest of the Normandy campaign. He was wounded twice in the fall of 1944 – from aerial bombardment near Falaise, and from a mortar in the Hurtgen Forest. In November of 1944 he was on his way to rejoin his unit once again when he read in Stars and Stripes that the Army had decided to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in June in Normandy. He was promoted again, to second lieutenant, and given a 30 day leave – which meant that was home in Kansas during the Battle of the Bulge. In the spring of 1945, Ehlers led his platoon across the Rhine at Remagen, and was wounded again in April, when a new GI accidentally discharged his rifle, hitting Ehlers in the leg and hip. When the war in Europe ended, Ehlers was discharged and returned home to Kansas. He decided to move to California, got a job at the Veterans’ Administration, met and married Dorothy Decker. They have three children and 11 grandchildren.

(to read more click on the title for a link..... Walter is to his mothers right in the picture above)

The Retirement

Tonight after work we had a retirement party for one of the attorneys in our office. We have worked together in the same office for the last 18 years. One of my first criminal jury trials was with him when he worked for the DA's offices some 32 years ago. I was a young defense attorney and it was a DUII trial. Now he is leaving the private practice of law;. Oh, he will continue to work part time as a municipal court judge and do pro bono work for veterans but he is starting down the road to retirement. I will hate to see him go.
He is one of the most civic minded people I know. He is a former Navy JAG officer who has spent the last 17 year leading the effort here in Jackson County to help veterans of our armed forces who are down on their luck. Now, this attorney does have his faults.....he is a Beaver! ( Oregon State Grad) For the last 17 years we have had a friendly rivalry in the office. A rivalry that divides our State. I will miss talking to him each week in the fall about college football. Heck we talk college football all year round. For his retirement we went together and bought him a Oregon State Beaver watch. I did stick an Oregon Duck sticker on the back. The picture above is of John Wayne receiving his retirement watch in "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon." So long old friend.

"The "War" and "Babe"

Ken Burns got to me last night in episode # 3 of his documentary on World War II. I saw it coming in episode I, on Sunday night, but that didn't diminish the power of the segment . The segment was "Babe's" sister reading a letter she wrote to him in Italy on his birthday and was in my opinion one of the most powerful things I have seen on TV in a long time. Her voice says it all. "Babe" was an American soldier fighting his way up the Italian boot. He was from Waterbury Connecticut and from an Italian-American family. The set up to the segment was the reading of "Babe's" letters home through out episode's I, 2 and 3. Thanks Ken.

Academia's Ugly Blindness

Anyone who has read this blog over time knows I can't resist a article that uses Churchill to bolster it's argument. The following from the New York Post by Arthur Herman is no exception. ( click on the title for a link)

By ARTHUR HERMAN
Ahmadinejad: A thug — not a thinker.September 25, 2007 -- COLUMBIA University Presi dent Lee Bollinger yester day made some cutting criticisms while introducing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - but that doesn't make the school's decision to offer a platform to the head of a violent terrorist state any less abject, squalid or shameless.

"Abject, squalid, shameless" is how Winston Churchill described the resolution passed by Oxford University's prestigious Debating Union in 1933 - the year Adolf Hitler came to power - that "this House will under no circumstances fight for King and Country."

And Columbia's event, like the 1933 Oxford resolution, sent (to quote Churchill again) a "very disquieting and disgusting message" to friends and enemies alike.

Many American's won't see that; their blindness goes to the heart of the "red-blue" divide in our country - much like the one in '30s Britain that split men like Churchill from the exponents of appeasing Europe's dictators.

On one side of that chasm, there is outrage and incomprehension that anyone could extend an invitation to a sworn enemy of the United States to speak on an American campus (a campus, moreover, that bans its own military's ROTC); that the head of the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism attacks be welcomed anywhere in the city that was 9/11's principal target; that a Holocaust-denier be welcomed to a university that has so many Jewish students and alumni.

On the other side, again, there is incomprehension that anyone should be offended. And that is the problem.

President Bollinger argues that a university is above all a forum for hearing conflicting views and opinions - as if Ahmadinejad were some controversial social theorist, not the leader of the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. In other words, this is a matter of "free speech."

Yet the real issue is not about words but actions - actions with consequences in an ongoing conflict in which American soldiers are being killed and Iranian dissidents are being beaten and tortured every day. And what Bollinger's actions (as opposed to his words) reveal is that Columbia somehow considers itself neutral ground in the War on Terror.

The left in this country concluded long ago that this is not a war between Islamic extremist fascism and Western civilization, but a fight between Islamic "militants" and President Bush. The events of 9/11 never changed the left/liberal view that the real menace to world peace is the Bush administration and what Sen. J. William Fulbright used to call "the arrogance of American power" - much as British leftists in the early '30s assumed that the real cause of war wasn't men like Hitler or Mussolini, but capitalism and arms merchants.

One of the signs outside yesterday's events summed this view up nicely: "We refuse to choose between Islamic fundamentalism and American imperialism."

In short, too many men and women at Columbia (and on other U.S. campuses) see the War on Terror as something that they are free to judge and criticize as if it doesn't involve them.

Just as President Bush has the right to make his case, so the reasoning goes (yet when was the last time an administration official was given a major public forum at Columbia?), fairness demands that Ahmadinejad have the same right.

The left assumes this neutral posture puts them in the middle and keeps them safe. In fact, it leaves them nowhere.

Because what is actually at stake is whether these United States can stand together to condemn the head of a state that sponsors terrorism around the world and is killing American soldiers in Iraq, to send a signal to the people of Iran (and of Iraq) that we will stand firm against a corrupt and murderous Islamo-fascist regime.

Adolf Hitler got the clear message of the 1933 Oxford Union debate: We will not oppose you. Regardless of Bollinger's "tough questions" yesterday, Ahmadinejad the Iranian president is bound to use his speech to a hall of "open-minded" Americans as a major public-relations victory - and to see it as a clear sign that his enemy is divided at its heart.

As Churchill said, "There is no place for compromise in war. That invaluable process only means that soldiers are shot because their leaders in council and camp are unable to resolve."

He added, "In war the clouds never blow over; they gather unceasingly and fall in thunderbolts." It was the falling thunderbolts of Nazi bombs that finally convinced the appeasers of the '30s that they had been wrong. New York City has already gone through its Blitz. What more will it take before Bollinger and his cohorts admit their squalid mistake?

Arthur Herman's next book, a study of Gandhi and Churchill, is due out next spring.

PS See my update of my post below about arresting Ahmadinejad.... I am not the only person who things it might be a good idea!

ESPN College Gameday

It's Official, Gameday is coming to Eugene Oregon for the Oregon vs. Cal football game on Saturday. Click on the title for a link to the ESPN Gameday site . Watch this blog for more updates.

You are under arrest!

We should arrest this tyrant and send him to Club G'itmo where he will be treated humanly until the end of the War on Islamic Fascist. We should then put him on trial in a Nuremberg like trial for crimes against humanity. IF found guilty he should be hung. If the U. N. objects we can tell them if they want to move their headquarters to another county Bye...Bye. They did a lot to help our hostages in Iran..... NOT! Remember Iran held 44 members of our United States embassy staff hostage during the Carter Administration for 444 days (over one year) in violation of all diplomatic laws. An arrest would be fair pay back. We have NOT forgotten! Looks like he made a fool of himself at Columbia. However Hitler was made the fool (Charlie Chaplain)and still killed 6 million plus.

UPDATE: Is the Wall Street Journal reading this blog. Yesterday I suggested Ahmadinejad should be arrested. Then today Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal writes an article about what if Hitler had spoken at Columbia and ends with the statement:

So there is Adolf Hitler on our imagined stage, ranting about the soon-to-be-fulfilled destiny of the Aryan race. And his audience of outstanding Columbia men are mostly appalled, as they should be. But they are also engrossed, and curious, and if it occurs to some of them that the man should be arrested on the spot they don't say it. Nor do they ask, "How will we come to terms with his world?" Instead, they wonder how to make him see "reason," as reasonable people do.

Yes we would have been better off if Hitler had been arrested had he traveled to the League of Nations or visited Columbia University.

ESPN Gameday in Eugene this Saturday!!!

"Not so fast my friend"..... NO, it's true the Oregon Daily Emerald is reporting that Oregon Athletic Department Officials are confirming that the ESPN Gameday crew and show will be in Eugene Saturday September 29 for the Oregon Ducks vs Cal Bears in a crucial Pac 10 shootout. They have reportedly reserved 70 hotel rooms in Eugene. BTW the Ducks are rated # 11 in the nation Go Ducks!

IT'S OFFICIAL

EUGENE – ESPN College GameDay has confirmed it will produce its weekly college football preview show from the University of Oregon Saturday morning preceding the Ducks’ home game vs. California.

Kickoff for the football game, which will be televised regionally by ABC on ESPN, will be 12:30 p.m. (PDT).

The premier college football pre-game show, which has aired weekly on ESPN since its inception in 1989, features hosts Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, and will air live from 7 a.m.-9 a.m. (PDT). The show began producing the telecast from college campuses around the country in 1993.

Details surrounding the exact site of the production will be released early this week, with the general public encouraged to be part of the production free of charge.

It will mark the second Eugene appearance for the show, which includes features, predictions and highlights of some of this week’s top games from around the country, and the third time the Ducks have played a role in the network’s award-winning college football preview show. The production’s last Oregon appearance occurred in 2000 when it made its first-ever appearance in the Pacific Northwest on Sept. 23 prior to the Oregon-UCLA game.

Oregon and UCLA also were featured in 1998 when the show originated from the
Rose Bowl

Let's see,.... if ESPN Game Day stars broadcasting at 7 am.... that means we will need to leave Medford at 4am to get there in time to be on the show!! If I paint my face green will I have a better chance of a close up during the crowd shots? What kind of sign should I hold up? BIG TIME COLLEGE FOOTBALL. GO DUCKS!

"THE WAR" by Ken Burns

This weekend I am working on a scrap book of our August trip to Europe and will be listening on the Radio to Oregon's football game at Stanford (no TV); but, I am really looking forward to watching Ken Burns new documentary on World War II starting Sunday night at 8pm PST on PBS...... yes PBS. If it's as good as his Civil War Documentary it will be very good. I have the Civil War on DVD and will probable get "The War" on DVD too. I have seen a preview "on line" and was very impressed. I saw the book at Costco a couple of weeks age. There is also a CD of the sound track music.

The seven-part, 14 hours plus, documentary series,
directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history
and horror of the Second World War from an American perspective by
following the fortunes of ordinary men and women who get caught
up in the greatest cataclysm in human history.

Plans call for THE WAR to air over two weeks beginning on Sunday,
September 16 (four nights the first week and then three nights the second
week) from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

"The War" tells the story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four quintessentially American towns (including Sacramento). The series explores the most intimate human dimensions of the greatest cataclysm in history — a worldwide catastrophe that touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America — and demonstrates that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.

United States Senate Hall of Shame

"To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces."

Voting NO 25 (Senators who voted against the above resolution)

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 3

Biden (D-DE)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)(If you become President you can't duck the tough votes)

UPDATE From the New York Post:

"The Senate stood up Thursday for the honor of America's top commander in Iraq - with a few notable exceptions. New York Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer among them. The vote was 72-25 on a resolution to "strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of Gen. Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces."

Supporting such a resolution would seem like a no-brainer - especially for someone like Clinton, who's asking voters to trust her as commander-in-chief.

Unfortunately for her, the attacks in question come from the influential far-left activist machine of MoveOn.org, which recently took out a full-page ad in The New York Times calling Petraeus a liar and a traitor.

It was a baseless smear against a brave and honorable soldier, and Clinton should have said so from the start.

Why didn't she? Let's just say that MoveOn isn't the kind of group you want to cross when you're trying to win Democratic primaries.

Other Dem White House hopefuls faced a similar dilemma. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) also voted against the resolution; Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Joe Biden (D-Del.) were two of the three senators to skip the vote.

How pathetic.

Schumer is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which raises funds for Democratic candidates in Senate races. No surprise, then, that he's not about to cross MoveOn's powerful donor base.

The Dems' public line, of course, is that the resolution itself was a distraction from the serious business of the Senate.

But it's MoveOn's influence within the Senate's majority party that makes the ad such a grave matter in the first place.

MoveOn, is no dime-a-dozen fringe outfit. With 3.2 million members and deep pockets, it famously boasted after the 2006 election that it had just "bought" the Democratic Party."

Bob Dylan

I love Bob Dylan! You would thing someone with my political beliefs would not be a Dylan fan...... but not true ....... I love his music and his voice. I am the only person in my family that likes Dylan. When the kids were at home they and my wife would never let me play my Dylan Cd's or cassettes when they were present. Now, the irony of all this is an unnamed member of my family is going to see Bob Dylan live in concert. I have NEVER seen Dylan live in concert. I would really appreciate seeing Bob Dylan in concert. Is there no justice in this world. It reminds me of the fact that two unnamed members of my family got to go to the real Alamo in San Antonio and I who would really appreciate it have NEVER been to the Alamo. I guess life is not fair! Well, tell Bob "Hi" for me.

There is no option other than VICTORY!

The "cut and run" crowd lost another vote in the U.S. Senate today. The Senate blocked legislation Wednesday that would have regulated the amount of time troops spent in combat, a blow for Democrats struggling to challenge President Bush's Iraq policies.



The 56-44 vote was four votes short of reaching the 60 needed to cut off debate. It was the second time in as many months that the bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., was sidetracked. In July, a similar measure fell four votes short of advancing.

Failure of the bill was a sound defeat for Democrats, who have been unable to pass significant anti-war legislation by a veto-proof majority since taking control of Congress in January. Webb's measure was seen as having the best chance at attracting the 60 votes needed to pass because of its pro-military premise.

Stand firm America and take the battle to the Islamic Fascist in Iraq and Iran!

The Football Weekend

This last weekend the Oregon Ducks beat Fresno State in Eugene 52 to 21 and as a result are now ranked 13th in the nation. My wife and I left Medford about 9AM on Saturday for the 4PM game. We got to Eugene and stopped by the UofO Bookstore on campus and then went by the Holiday Inn Express in Springfield about noon and they let us check in early. We had a lunch at a IHOP next door and then went to the game. I was able to get some tickets in the Club Seats at Autzen (middle of shaded section in picture) and we had access to "The Club at Autzen" which is very upscale large size lounge/banquet room behind the Stadium on that side. It's the only place on game day you can get mixed drinks and they even have an upscale Duck Shop. Normally you have to donate a lot of money to the Athletic Department to get the right to buy seats there.
The seats were on the 50 yard line and where theater type seats with a cup holder. We were about half way up the stadium on that side with a great view of both goal lines. I bought the tickets from a friend in Medford and sold my tickets in Section 13 to to another friend. After the game we took the footbridge back to the campus side of the Willamette River where we had parked our car. A very nice stroll on a nice day in Eugene. We had a late dinner at the IHOP next to our hotel and I watched a late game on ESPN to cap off the day. On Sunday we went to Best Buy (they don't have one in Medford yet!) and bought some DVDs and then went to the Oakway Mall and went to Boarders Books and did some shopping at the other stores. They have really fixed up this old mall into a very nice shopping area of which much is outside and it has a very nice court yard. We had lunch and some ice cream and took the three hour trip down I-5 to Medford. We had a very nice weekend. There is talk that ESPN Game Day will be in Eugene for their next home game against the Cal Bears in two weeks. Today it was anounced that ABC TV has picked up the game for broadcast. Go Ducks!

.

MoveOn.org's McCarthyism

In today's Boston Globe, Peter D. Feaver a political science professor at Duke University and who served on the National Security Council staff under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush has an excellent column on the new McCarthyism. He writes in part:

We may be about to witness a McCarthy-Army-Welch moment in the debate over Iraq. This time, the role of McCarthy is played by MoveOn.org, a liberal political group that launched its own attack on a respected US Army figure. In yesterday's New York Times, the day that General David Petraeus would give his long-awaited, congressionally mandated report on his military activities in Iraq, MoveOn.org ran a full-page advertisement that accused Petraeus of activities befitting a traitor. The advertisement alleges, without evidence, that Petraeus is not going to give his honest, professional assessment of the situation in Iraq but instead will be "cooking the books" to curry favor with the Bush White House. The heart of the advertisement is a juvenile pun on Petraeus's name: General Betray Us?

The MoveOn.org ad is vicious, and would garner comment even if it were merely one more primal scream in the coarse blogosphere debate over Iraq. But it is not an angry e-mail or blog entry. It is a deliberate attack on the senior Army commander, in a major daily newspaper, with the intention of destroying as much of his credibility as possible so that his military advice could be more easily rejected by antiwar members of Congress.

The attack was part of an elaborate effort to undermine public support for the Iraq war, and was foreshadowed by an unnamed Democratic senator who told a reporter, "No one wants to call [Petraeus] a liar on national TV . . . The expectation is that the outside groups will do this for us." The effort is funded by powerful special interests, and has all the trappings of a major political campaign.

When will Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama condemn this extremest group and refuse their support and RETURN their donations? To read the rest of the column click on the title for a link.

Have they no sense of decency, , at long last? Have they no sense of decency?

Have They No Shame!!

On Monday, MoveOn.Org – the Democratic anti-war group – has taken out a full page advertisement in the New York Times which says: “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?”

Hail to the Victors

<
OREGON 39 MICHIGAN 7

Listening to General Petraeus

Listening to Petraeus
The president had the courage to change course on Iraq. Does Congress?
BY JOHN MCCAIN AND JOE LIEBERMAN
Monday, September 10, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

Today, Gen. David Petraeus--commander of our forces in Iraq--returns to Washington to report on the war in Iraq and the new counterinsurgency strategy he has been implementing there. We hope that opponents of the war in Congress will listen carefully to the evidence that the U.S. military is at last making real and significant progress in its offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq.

Consider how the situation has changed. A year ago, al Qaeda in Iraq controlled large swaths of the country's territory. Today it is being driven out of its former strongholds in Anbar and Diyala provinces by the surge in U.S. forces and those of our Iraqi allies. A year ago, sectarian violence was spiraling out of control in Iraq, fanned by al Qaeda. Today civilian murders in Baghdad are down over 50%.

As facts on the ground in Iraq have improved, some critics of the war have changed their stance. As Democratic Congress man Brian Baird, who voted against the invasion of Iraq, recently wrote after returning from Baghdad: "[T]he people, strategies, and facts on the ground have changed for the better, and those changes justify changing our position on what should be done."

Unfortunately, many more antiwar advocates continue to press for withdrawal. Confronted by undeniable evidence of gains against al Qaeda in Iraq, they acknowledge progress but have seized on the performance of the Iraqi government to justify stripping Gen. Petraeus of troops and derailing his strategy.
This reasoning is flawed for several reasons.

First, whatever you think of the performance of Iraq's national leaders, the notion that withdrawing U.S. troops will "shock" them into reconciliation is unsupported by evidence or experience. On the contrary, ordering a retreat will only serve to unravel the hard-fought gains we have won.

The recent National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq was unequivocal on this point: "Changing the mission of Coalition forces from a primarily counterinsurgency and stabilization role"--the Petraeus strategy--"to a primary combat support role for Iraqi forces and counterterrorist operations"--which most congressional Democrats have been pressing for--"would erode security gains achieved thus far."

This judgment is echoed by our commanders on the ground. Consider the words of Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, who is leading the fight in central Iraq: "In my battlespace right now, if soldiers were to leave . . . having fought hard for that terrain, having denied the enemy their sanctuaries, what happens is, the enemy would come back."

In addition, while critics are right that improved security has not yet translated into sufficient political progress at the national level, the increased presence of our soldiers is having a seismic effect on Iraq's politics at the local level.

In the neighborhoods and villages where U.S. forces have moved in, extremists have been marginalized, and moderates empowered. Thanks to this changed security calculus, the Sunni Arab community--which was largely synonymous with the insurgency a year ago--has been turning against al Qaeda from the bottom-up, and beginning to negotiate an accommodation with the emerging political order. Sustaining this political shift depends on staying the offensive against al Qaeda--which in turn depends on not stripping Gen. Petraeus of the manpower he and his commanders say they need.

We must also recognize that the choice we face in Iraq is not between the current Iraqi government and a perfect Iraqi government. Rather, it is a choice between a young, imperfect, struggling democracy that we have helped midwife into existence, and the fanatical, al Qaeda suicide bombers and Iranian-sponsored terrorists who are trying to destroy it. If Washington politicians succeed in forcing a premature troop withdrawal in Iraq, the result will be a more dangerous world with our enemies emboldened. As Iran's president recently crowed, "soon we will see a huge power vacuum in the region . . . [and] we are prepared to fill the gap."

Whatever the shortcomings of our friends in Iraq, they are no excuse for us to retreat from our enemies like al Qaeda and Iran, who pose a mortal threat to our vital national interests. We must understand that today in Iraq we are fighting and defeating the same terrorist network that attacked on 9/11. As al Qaeda in Iraq continues to be hunted down and rooted out, and the Iraqi Army continues to improve, the U.S. footprint will no doubt adjust. But these adjustments should be left to the discretion of Gen. Petraeus, not forced on our troops by politicians in Washington with a 6,000-mile congressional screwdriver, and, perhaps, an eye on the 2008 election.
The Bush administration clung for too long to a flawed strategy in this war, despite growing evidence of its failure. Now advocates of withdrawal risk making the exact same mistake, by refusing to re-examine their own conviction that Gen. Petraeus's strategy cannot succeed and that the war is "lost," despite rising evidence to the contrary.

The Bush administration finally had the courage to change course in Iraq earlier this year. After hearing from Gen. Petraeus today, we hope congressional opponents of the war will do the same.

Mr. McCain is a Republican senator from Arizona. Mr. Lieberman is an Independent Democratic senator from Connecticut.

House Party in The Big House

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Oregon Ducks Beat Michigan 39 to 7 in Ann Arbor!!!!!

The Oregon Ducks humiliated the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor today in "The Big House" before 109,000 people of which by the end of the game most were the 20,000 + Oregon fans who had traveled to Michigan for the game. A good day to be a Duck.... a day to remember. Both of my adult children were at the game. Go DUCKS !!!!

( The picture above of me with my two children was taken a few years ago when Oregon played played and beat Michigan State in Autzen Stadium in Eugene... I am the one with the hat)

Friday Night Lights!

Tonight the South Medford Panthers will play Summit, a school from Central Oregon,
at Fred Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford.It's their first game of the season. My kids have long since graduated from South High but my wife and I will be there tonight cheering on the Panthers. There is nothing quite like small town high school football on a Friday night. If you have read the book or seen the movie or TV show "Friday Night Lights" you know what I mean. I will have my usual Hot Dog and soda for dinner in the stands as I watch the teams warm up. The Portland Oregonian Newspaper some time ago had an article on the best Football League in Oregon and talked about the Southern Oregon Conference ( name has now been changed to South West Conference) which has the major high schools in Southern Oregon. After picking the Southern Oregon Conference as the best in the state, the news story talks about the passion of football in Southern Oregon. With intangibles such as Spiegelberg Stadium and the unique small-town passion of schools such as Grants Pass and Roseburg. It talks about this part of the state being the "hotbed of the state community fan-wise. If you go to Grants Pass, you'll see a packed house. If you go to Spiegelberg Stadium, you'll see a packed house. "The support and passion from the fans is amazing..." It ends with the following quote: "when someone heard me say the other day that we're playing at Medford, they said,'Whoa, that's like Texas down there." Well, it may not be like Texas, but it's as close to Texas as you're gona get in the state of Oregon." (I wrote this post several years ago and it is a rewrite with a few changes such as who South is playing tonight but it is still true.) Go Panthers.

Osama Bin Laden's Mein Comp

According to the transcript of a statement released today by Osama Bin La there are two ways to end the war in Iraq:

"The first is from our side, and it is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you."

The second is to do away with the American democratic system of government. "It has now become clear to you and the entire world the impotence of the democratic system and how it plays with the interests of the peoples and their blood by sacrificing soldiers and populations to achieve the interests of the major corporations."

The Democracies didn't take Hitler seriously either until it was almost too late. This is a war against the west and our democratic way of life. We are in a war with Islamic fascist and we must fight it in Iraq and the rest of the world. There can be no retreat.

To "The Big House"

On Saturday the University of Oregon Ducks will play in Ann Arbor, Michigan the Michigan Wolverines at "The Big House." The largest college football stadium in the United States. Over a 100,000 fans will be there to cheer on their teams. I will not be there but both of my adult children will be there cheering on the Ducks. Our son will be traveling from North Dakota and our daughter from Washington DC. They both chose other colleges to attend and graduate from but I raised them to be Duck fans and I am proud they want to go to this game. I hope someday that we will all be able to return with the Ducks to the Rose Bowl. May they have a safe trip and lets hope the Ducks return to Oregon with a WIN. The game will be broadcast nation wide on ABC. GO DUCKS!!!

Thompson on Leno

Last night I watched the Republican Debate on FOX NEWS and liked Rudy Giuliani and also thought John McCain did a good job. I then stayed up late to watch Fred Thompson announce his candidacy on the Jay Leno Show. Thompson is still a little too "laid back" for my taste but he said one thing that sent chills down my back when he said:

"America has laid down more of its blood and treasure in the cause of freedom than all other countries combined."

Dennis Byrne of Realclearpolitics.com described the moment as follows:

As Fred Thompson proclaimed his presidential candidacy on NBC's "Tonight Show," the most telling moment came when he sparked wild cheering as he spoke this truth: America has laid down more of its blood and treasure in the cause of freedom than all other countries combined.

Bingo

If Thompson's advisors don't know what his campaign theme should be, they know it now. It is, indeed, a grand and visionary statement that leaves all opponents of both parties quibbling in the dust over the details of public policy and personal qualifications.


Naturally, Thompson will be accused of trying to imitate Ronald Reagan. That's fine, because the former president in a time of deep national depression elevated America to, in no special order, victory in the Cold War, renewed optimism, economic prosperity and moral awareness. The rest of the details followed.

Jay Leno's audience may have sensed it. Fairly quiet from the beginning, the audience's sudden eruption of cheering and applause rocked the house. Maybe I'm naïve and the whole thing was scripted by Thompson's handlers and planted members of the audience, but I don't think so. The outburst seemed genuinely spontaneous, inspired by words that resonate with the pride that Americans feel about their role as the model and inspiration for a free world. Even if the audience response was scripted, Thompson's declaration of freedom had to stir millions of viewers across the nation.

America was not the first culture to come up with the idea of democracy, but it was the first one to make it work on a grand and stable scale, even before Great Britain figured out that it could govern itself without a monarch. From the French Revolution onward, the American blueprint-turned-prototype-turned-reality has inspired peoples to reject centuries-old notions that they were incapable of governing themselves. At base, it is this understanding that informs our policy in Iraq and the war on terror.

Thompson has enunciated a truth: Without us, other free nations are unwilling or unable to take the leadership in the worldwide struggle for freedom. While others will shrink from this reality, painting the sentiment as xenophobia, chauvinism, bellicose, blah and blah, the reaction on Leno's show reflects or plays on the deep feeling among Americans of just pride and earned obligation. An America withdrawing from Iraq and relinquishing its power to others less determined to preserve liberty is not an America we know. Nor is it the America we should become. This is an understanding that has been stewing underneath as the useless and negative chattering goes on in Washington and the "elite" media.

Thompson's message is an antidote to the nightly newscasts, in which the sole measure of the Iraq war's success or failure has become the number of American GIs killed. We would never have gotten beyond the Bataan death march if that were how we measured progress in World War II. Thompson's vision is what is required of an effective leader in a national crisis.

Thompson should have been at the FOX NEWS debate but what he said on Leno was music to my ears.

2008

Not only is it the start of the football season it's the start of the political party nomination season for President of the United States.Two of these three men, will be on the Republican ticket for President and Vice President in 2008. Mitt Romney , Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani . ( pictures may not be in that order) At this point I don't have a favorite and can support whoever gets the nomination. Although this is not an endorsement I believe Rudy Giuliani has the best chance of winning the nomination and of beating Hillery Clinton in the Fall. All three men are men of substance who can lead this nation in difficult times. The Republican Party is lucky to have these three able candidates.

The End of Summer

Labor Day Weekend always marks the unofficial end of Summer. This has been hectic Summer for us what with all the home improvement projects, our garage sale and the trip to Europe. I am now ready for Fall and football season. This last weekend (Labor Day) on Saturday I rode up to Eugene with a friend to watch the Ducks beat Houston. Oregon won but the game was closer than the 21 point lead Oregon had at the end of the game. Oregon's defense looked terrible. No run defense and no ability to pressure the QB. The offense wasn't much better . There was no passing game until the middle of the 3rd quarter. However it was a nice day in Eugene and it's always fun to get together with 56,000 other Oregon Duck fans. All the same old faces that are getter older where sitting in our section 13. Bobby DeBischop even returned to his old seat after being gone for a few years working as a side lines reporter for the radio broadcast of Oregon games. The baby that used to attend the games with him is now a young man. I even got the latest addition to the plastic cups that soft drinks are sold in for my collection.. This years model is a winner.

On Sunday I did my yard work early and washed the car. I then watched on DVD the episodes from the 1974 British documentary "World at War" titled "The Fall of France" and "Alone" both about World War II and the fall of France to the Germans and the British fighting on alone in the Battle of Britain. After my trip to England and France these episodes took on new meaning. I also re watched on DVD the HBO movie "The Gathering Storm" two times. Once, with the commentary track off and once with it on. This is an excellent movie about Winston Churchill and his "wilderness" years and part of it was filmed at Chartwell. It was fun pausing the movie and checking the picture book I bought at Chartwell to see what scene's were actually filmed at Chartwell and which were filmed in a studio. Even the studio mock ups of rooms in Churchill's home were very accurate although you could see differences. The film staring Albert Finney as Churchill and Vanessa Redgrave as his wife Clemmie is very well done and was obviously done with loving care. To finish off the day I watched Bogart in Casablanca.

On Labor Day (Monday) my wife and I went to Lowes for some indoor/ outdoor carpet for the outside entrance to our home. We were able to find some that didn't look like indoor/outdoor carpeting. You know, the fake green grass type. We then had a late lunch at a new restaurant called Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co. We were pleasantly surprised. The place is located on old highway 99 on the way to Central Point. It's located in a new building which is very spacious and well decorated with open beam ceilings. They have an extensive menu and the Pizza was very good. The pizza was baked in a wood fired oven. My wife liked her pot pie. The service was friendly and we will be back.

On Tuesday we had our Southern Oregon Duck Club lunch and several members are traveling from Southern Oregon to the Oregon/Michigan football game in Ann Arbor. I told them to watch for both of our kids who will be representing the Wickre family at the game. Go Ducks beat Michigan. I will be watching on TV.