On to the Rose Bowl !

Christmas is over and it's on to the Rose Bowl. Let's Go Ducks ! Win the Day and the game !

In other years when the Ducks have gone to the Rose Bowl I have been swept up in the hype. NOT THIS YEAR ! It's time for the Oregon Ducks to win the damn game ! LET'S GO DUCKS !

Rose Bowl January 2nd, Iowa Caucuses January 3rd...... Life is good !

Mitt Romney: "I believe in America!"

You, sir, are no Teddy Roosevelt

It upset me a few weeks ago when Barack Obama compared himself with one of my heroes. Today my candidate for President, Mitt Romney offers a rebuttal.

Mitt Romney:

Just a couple of weeks ago in Kansas, President Obama lectured us about Teddy Roosevelt’s philosophy of government. But he failed to mention the important difference between Teddy Roosevelt and Barack Obama. Roosevelt believed that government should level the playing field to create equal opportunities. President Obama believes that government should create equal outcomes.

In an entitlement society, everyone receives the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort, and willingness to take risk. That which is earned by some is redistributed to the others. And the only people who truly enjoy any real rewards are those who do the redistributing—the government.

Can you imagine Obama charging up San Juan Hill on a horse with bullets flying all around him. Me neither. Bully for Mitt Romney !

Christmas Bubble Lights

A repost from the last few years at Christmas.

I love Christmas lights and I particularly love Bubble Christmas Lights. When I was a little kid in the early 1950's one of my favorite things to do at Christmas was watch the bubble lights on our Christmas tree ... "bubble". Gradually as the 1950's led to the 1960's the bubble lights would burn out one by one. By the late 1960's we had a metallic tree with a color wheel shining on it. What where we thinking? Sometime in the 1980's I had a yearning for a return to the bubble lights of my youth. I searched and searched and they were very difficult to find. I finally found a string at a "Christmas Store" and we have been stringing it on our fireplace mantel for the last 20 or so years.. This year I put them on our tree and it really takes me back to my youth and they look great. We even went down to the store and bought more. They are now very easy to find. Some of them would not 'bubble" so I went "on line" and found out if you let them warm up and then unscrew them and shake them upside down they will start to bubble and it worked. Now I have 15 or so bubble lights on our tree and they are all bubbling. Merry Christmas

Home for the Holidays

One of the best part of the Christmas Holidays is having our adult children come home. Since they both live in the Eastern time zone we don't get to see them that often during the year. Last Saturday night we picked up our son at the Jackson County "International" Airport. He came in from Lexington Kentucky where he is working on his PhD in History. Tomorrow night we will go back to the airport to pick up our daughter who is coming in from Washington D.C.. I love this time of year and the trips to the airport !

Movie & TV Cowboys

If you grew up like me admiring the cowboy heroes of old movies and TV shows then click on the title for a real treat.

Be sure to watch till the end because he gives special honor to Audie Murphy.

McCain: Kim in 'warm corner of hell'

Senator John McCain speeks for me on the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong II

"I can only express satisfaction that the Dear Leader is joining the likes of Qaddafi, Bin Laden, Hitler and Stalin in a warm corner of hell,”

Writer Christopher Hitchens Dies

RIP you fought the good fight.

I have decided to take whatever my disease can throw at me, and to stay combative even while taking the measure of my inevitable decline. I repeat, this is no more than what a healthy person has to do in slower motion. It is our common fate.

Click on the title for a link to one of Christopher Hitchens writings on a young U.S. Army officer who died in Iraq. The officer never met Hitchens but was influenced by his writings. If you read anything about Hitchens read this article.

Time for Conservatives to Rally to Mitt Romney!

I don't know about you but this Conservative is getting tired of these Republican intramural squabbles. For this political junkie it has been fun but now the squabbles are beginning to be so petty they are distracting us from the real contest to save America by beating Barack Obama. Rally to Mitt and demand he pick a Conservative VP for the future.

The Republican Presidential candidates need to all campaign against Obama and not each other!

National Review: No on Newt!

National Review magazine has been my political compass for all of my adult life and I consider it the flagship of the conservative intelligentsia in this country. Founded by William F Buckley it led the Draft Goldwater movement in 1964. Today,it's editors came out against nominating Newt Gingrich as the Republican Presidential Nominee. The editors write in part:

....the White House seems winnable next year, and with it a majority in both houses of Congress, so that much of this conservative consensus could actually become law. A conservative majority on the Supreme Court, a halt to the march of regulation, free-market health-care policies: All of them seem within our grasp. But none of them is assured, and the costs of failure — either a failure to win the election, or a failure to govern competently and purposefully afterward — are as large as the opportunity.

We fear that to nominate former Speaker Newt Gingrich, the frontrunner in the polls, would be to blow this opportunity. We say that mindful of his opponents’ imperfections — and of his own virtues, which have been on display during his amazing comeback. Very few people with a personal history like his — two divorces, two marriages to former mistresses — have ever tried running for president. Gingrich himself has never run for a statewide office, let alone a national one, and has not run for anything since 1998. That year he was kicked out by his colleagues, the most conservative ones especially, who had lost confidence in him. During his time as Speaker, he was one of the most unpopular figures in public life. Just a few months ago his campaign seemed dead after a series of gaffes and resignations. That Gingrich now tops the polls is a tribute to his perseverance, and to Republicans’ admiration for his intellectual fecundity.....

Gingrich’s colleagues were, however, right to bring his tenure to an end. His character flaws — his impulsiveness, his grandiosity, his weakness for half-baked (and not especially conservative) ideas — made him a poor Speaker of the House. Again and again he combined incendiary rhetoric with irresolute action, bringing Republicans all the political costs of a hardline position without actually taking one. Again and again he put his own interests above those of the causes he championed in public.

He says, and his defenders say, that time, reflection, and religious conversion have conquered his dark side. If he is the nominee, a campaign that should be about whether the country will continue on the path to social democracy would inevitably become to a large extent a referendum on Gingrich instead. And there is reason to doubt that he has changed. Each week we see the same traits that weakened Republicans from 1995 through 1998:

"I’d vote for Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform; Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform is radical right-wing social engineering; I apologize for saying that, and no one should quote what I said because I was wrong; actually, what I said was right all along but nobody understood me. I helped defeat Communism; anyone who made money in the ’80s and ’90s owes me; I’m like Reagan and Thatcher. Local community boards should decide what to do with illegal immigrants. Freddie Mac paid me all that money to tell them how stupid they were."

Enough. Gingrich has always said he wants to transform the country. He appears unable to transform, or even govern, himself. He should be an adviser to the Republican party, but not again its head.....

As Republican primary voters consider their choices, they should ask themselves several questions: Which candidate is most likely to make the race turn on the large questions before the country, and not his personal idiosyncrasies? Which candidate is most likely to defeat Obama? Who could, if elected, form an effective partnership with Republican leaders and governors to achieve the conservative agenda? We will render further judgments in the weeks to come as the candidates continue to make their cases and are, just perhaps, joined by new candidates. At the moment we think it important to urge Republicans to have the good sense to reject a hasty marriage to Gingrich, which would risk dissolving in acrimony

In the end if Newt gets the nomination he will have my undivided support. Even with all of his faults, he is vastly superior to Barack Obama. I believe the Republican Party, my party, should nominate Mitt Romney. He is not as conservative as I am but he gives us the best chance to beat Obama and be able to serve as a competent President. America can NOT take four more years of President Obama. We need competence.

To read the entire National Review editorial click on the title for a link.

Wickre Duck Bowl History

I was middle aged before I went to my first Oregon Duck Bowl. I was too young to go the 1958 Rose Bowl or the 1963 Sun Bowl. To be more precise, my parents were not football fans and thus as a kid we did not go to either of those bowls. I did watch them on TV. All through my college years and young adult years I "swore" that I would go to any bowl to which the Ducks were invited. In those years based upon Pac-8 or Pac 10 rules Oregon was mostly limited to going to the Rose Bowl and Oregon had terrible teams in those years and thus received no invitations. That all changed in 1989.


1989 Independence Bowl Oregon 27 Tulsa 24 Won
That all chanced in 1989 when Oregon Athletic Director, Bill Byrne, agreed to buy 14,000 tickets to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport Louisiana in return for a bowl invitation. My 6 year old son and I flew to Dallas Texas and I drove a rental car from there to the game. With a windchill temperate of below zero we watched the Ducks, led by QB Bill Musgrave, come from behind to win the game. During the game I kept worrying that my wife would "kill me" if our son got frost bite. He didn't and that game became a bonding experience we will never forget.

1990 Freedom Bowl Colorado State 32 Oregon 31 Lost
The next year the entire family drove down to the Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, California. We went to Disneyland and had a great time at the Disneyland Hotel. The Washington Huskies were in the Rose Bowl that year and the fans we ran into treated the Freedom Bowl as a Junior Varsity (JV) game. This is one of the reasons I learned to hate the Huskies.The loss was very disappointing but at both the Independence Bowl and the Freedom Bowl you could see the thirst of Oregon fans to go "bowling" after such a drought.

1992 Independence Bowl Wake Forest 39 Oregon 35 Lost
Fortunately we had a tailgate party at home and watched this turkey on TV. Oregon led big time at half time and managed to lose the game in the second half.This game reinforced this Duck fans fatalism that no Duck lead is ever enough.

1995 Rose Bowl(1994 Season)Penn State 38 Oregon 20 Lost
Again the entire family drove down I-5 to this game and stayed at a hotel near LAX as part of an UofO Alumni "ground package" trip. It was over priced but we did get a bus ride to the game. We had a great time driving down I-5 to the game and passing other Duck fans in their "Ducked out" cars and vans. We met Ducks at every stop on the way down and back. We loved the Pep Rally at Century City, the day before the game, and it was fun just being at the Rose Bowl. It was a disappointing loss but it was the first time Oregon had been to a "big time" bowl and the entire state of Oregon was excited about the event. When we got home a friend gave my wife a tee shirt that said "I survived the Rose Bowl." Unlike our kids my wife is not a big football fan and dislikes crowds.

1996 Cotton Bowl Colorado 38 Oregon 6 Lost
We stayed home and watched this game on TV. This is where we learned to hate then Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel when Colorado went for a fake punt late in the game when Colorado lead Oregon by a big margin.

1997 Las Vegas Bowl Oregon 41 Air Force 13 Won
The entire family drove to Las Vegas for this game. On the way through the Mojave Desert a radio station was giving away Berry Manilow tickets to a concert at the MGM Grand as part of a promotion. The radio station broadcaster said that if you were near a specific exit to stop and show the DJ in the radio station van some Christmas item and they would give you two tickets to the concert. We were near the exit in the middle of "nowhere" and saw the van on top of the overpass and stopped and showed the DJ our cassette tape of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and got the two Barry Manilow tickets. We loved the game and my wife and daughter went to the concert. We stayed at the team hotel, the MGM Grand, and enjoyed touring the Vegas Strip.

1998 Aloha Bowl Colorado 51 Oregon 43 Lost
We had a Hawaiian Luau in our family room and watched the game on TV

1999 Sun Bowl Oregon 24 Minnesota 20 Won
We welcomed in the Millennium by watching this game on TV on the morning of New Years Eve day.

2000 Holiday Bowl Oregon 35 Texas 30 Won
What a fine game this was. Watched it on TV. Wish I had gone ! I love the play where our QB Joey Harrington catces a pass and runs it in for a touchdown.

2002 Fiesta Bowl(2001 Season) Oregon 38 Colorado 16 Won
Our son and I and some friends drove all the way to Tempe, Arizona in our van to watch this game. Had a great time and enjoyed New Years Eve on Mill Street in Tempe near the stadium. It was good to finally win a big time BCS bowl and to beat Colorado.One of my favorite Oregon games of all time.

2002 Seattle Bowl Wake Forest 38 Oregon 17 Lost
Our son and I and the same friends drove to Seattle for this game and it was one of the few time I was ashamed to be a Duck. It was obvious the team did not want to be at this "lower tier" bowl and put in little effort and it showed. To top it off it rained very hard as we drove back to Portland after the game to my sisters home.The rain felt like the tears of Oregon fans. We stopped at a fast food restaurant on I-5 after the game 45 or so miles from Seattle. It was full of Oregon fans and it was so quiet!It was like we were at a funeral.

2003 Sun Bowl Minnesota 31 Oregon 30 Lost
Watched on TV New Year Eve Day.

2005 Holiday Bowl Oklahoma 17 Oregon 14 Lost
The entire family had plans to spend Christmas at Disneyland and so we extended our stay in Southern California to go to this game. Stayed at the team hotel in San Diego and had a great time. It was on the waterfront and we went to the Duck pep rally, the parade and a tour of the navy aircraft carrier Midway which is now a museum. The Ducks almost pulled out a win at the end but no luck. It was fun for the entire family to again go on a bowl trip together since our kids were now adults and living away from home.It was strange when my kids bought me a beer in the
Gas Light district of San Diego.

2006 Las Vegas Bowl Brigham Young 38 Oregon 8 Lost
Watched this on TV and was very disappointed in the Ducks. Looked like they didn't care. I cared and it hurt.

2007 Sun Bowl Oregon 56 South Florida 21 Won Watched on TV.
This win helped heal the pain of the loss of Dennis Dixon to an injury in the Arizona game and the loss of the "Civil War" to the Beavers on our own field.
Watched on TV. Little did we know this would be Coach Mike Bellott's last game.

2010 Rose Bowl (2009 season) Oregon 17 Ohio State 26 Lost
The four of us took another "Road Trip" to this game and had a good time. We went to Disneyland and marched up "Main Street" with the Oregon Marching Band" and spent time in Old Pasadena. We cruised the Sunset Strip" and Hollywood Blvd.We attended a wet/cold pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier. The weather on game day was perfect but the loss was a bitter pill.

2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (2010 season) Oregon 19, Auburn 22 Lost
My son and I drive to Sacramento and took a flight to Phoenix for the game. Our daughter took a flight from Washington DC and met us there. We enjoyed the Pep rally in Scottsdale with 30,000 Duck fans. It was a lot of fun. Our daughter did not have a ticket to the game and was going to watch it at a nearby bar. However when we dropped her off to get a seat in the bar Stub Hub had a booth set up nearby and she was able to buy a last minute ticket. She has never told us how much she paid ! We all three then got together and celebrated her getting a ticket. We enjoyed the game but were disappointed when Auburn won it off a last second field goal.

2012 Rose Bowl (2011 Season)
Can you say "road trip"!Our son and I are driving down I-5 for the game and will meet our daughter in L.A. who will fly in from Washington D.C. This time we have tickets for all three of us. we are looking forward to the Oregon Duck pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier. Hopefully this time in sunshine. In my lifetime the Ducks have been to three Rose Bowls and lost all three. It's time they win the fourth... it's on my 'bucket list."

The 12 Days of "Bowl Season"

Tired of Christmas shopping in the freezing cold..... putting Christmas lights up in the freezing cold..... raking leaves in the freeing cold......

Click on the title for a link to "Fish Duck" for a great rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas."

It will bring a smile to your face :) Be sure to sing it out loud for your spouse so she will enjoy it too. :)

Just remember as "Fish" says: ".....the real holiday begins January 2nd."

The Three Musketeers Return !

This time they meet at the Rose Bowl ! "One for all and all for fun ..... and a Duck win"

Is Newt Like Churchill?

There is an interesting article today at the National Review online website comparing Winston Churchill with Newt Gingrich. I support Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination but could support Newt if he were to get the nomination. I don't view either as Conservative as I am, nor one being more conservative then the other. In fact, it could be argued that both are "Rockefeller Republicans." The difference is in their style and temperament. Mitt is the "conservative" safe choice. He is a thoughtful organized manager who would appeal to the majority of "moderate" Americans. Newt, on the other hand is exciting and dramatic. He with his oratory and ideas could inspire the country. The issue is whether he could manage the job of President. He didn't do a very good job when he was the Speaker of the House. Most of his Republican colleagues, from his time as Speaker, are not supporting him for President and don't in fact like him. He did a great job getting a Republican majority in the House but was a failure once in the majority. Yet, I have for some time, seen in Newt a Churchillian quality and parallel that is also seen by the author of this article.

In his National Review article Steven Hayward writes:

But before becoming prime minister, Winston Churchill was often dismissed in similar terms by members of his own party, who complained that “his planning is all wishing and guessing,” that he was “a genius without judgment,” and that he had been “on every side of every question.” His many non-fiction books were even characterized as “autobiographies disguised as history of the universe.”

***********

Two questions must be asked in order to judge whether Newt might have Churchillian qualities (both good and bad) once in office, or whether Romney’s predictable managerial qualities are more suited to the present moment.

The first question is whether we require someone utterly unconventional to match up to the circumstances of the moment.

***********

the second question. While Churchill never shed his weaknesses and defects, he did bring with him to office important lessons of his earlier failures in World War I, along with his serious study of history during his wilderness years. Though Newt wrote a book called “Lessons Learned the Hard Way,”

************

The next couple of months may well prove out the unplanned logic of our long campaign process. The debates, Newt’s strong suit so far, are about to give way to real voting, and to the week-by-week ground game that requires focus and consistency. Newt has a chance to prove conservative skeptics wrong about his constancy — the chance to win over skeptics in the face of so much evidence against him. The course of John Colville’s evolving assessment of Churchill in the 1940s is suggestive. Colville wrote in his diary the night Churchill became prime minister on May 10, 1940: “He may, of course, be the man of drive and energy the country believes him to be and he may be able to speed up our creaking military and industrial machinery; but it is a terrible risk, it involves the danger of rash and spectacular exploits, and I cannot help fearing that this country may be maneuvered into the most dangerous position it has ever been in.”

If you like history, Winston Churchill and politics click on the title for the complete article...... it is very good.

Will Newt Gindrich be called by to power from his "Wilderness years" ?

December 7th , 1941

" We are resolved that these dead did not die in vain"

DUCKS TO ROSE BOWL !

The Oregon Ducks win the first ever Pac 12 Championship game. The game was at Autzen Stadium, in Eugene, Oregon. They are again, for the third year in a row, Pac 10/ 12 Champions. On to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. LET'S GO DUCKS !!!!!!!!


UPDATE: Oregon will face the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl. Go Ducks beat the Badgers!

WIN THE DAY !

Game Day ! Let's Go Ducks !

Called to Duty

Time for a little perspective on what is important. The Eugene Register Guard newspaper invited local World War II veterans to come have their portraits taken to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The response was overwhelming. (See the photos and read and hear their stories in print and at registerguard.com in a special four-day package starting this Sunday, Dec. 4.)

This is a video of those picture taking sessions. Click on the title for a link to a better view of the video. Soon they will all be gone. This is a wonderful act and tribute. Thank you Register Guard !

Experience Autzen - Civil War 2011

You will want to watch this. It brought tears to my eyes. This is why I travel three hours to Eugene and three hours back to Medford each game day !

Click on the title for a better view of the video.

The Ducks have done it again !

No, I am not talking about their performance on the field. I'm talking about how they have sucked me into me being obsessed about them..... again ! Every year I tell myself to just sit back and enjoy the football season. It was easier after they lost their first game to LSU. I didn't have to worry about another trip to the National Championship. I even stayed home and watched a home game on TV. I went on the trip to Stanford half way expecting the Ducks to lose and told myself that would be "OK" as the trip was so much fun and I was going to see our daughter. Well, they beat Stanford and now are playing in the first ever Pac 12 championship and a right to go to the Rose Bowl ! Ever since I watched the Ducks, on TV, play in the 1958 Rose Bowl it has been a dream objective of this Duck fan. The family has made two trip there once in 1995 and then in 2010 (1994 & 2009 seasons). However, unless the Ducks beat a desperate UCLA team on Friday it will not happen. All I can think about is the game. Where is the perspective.... where is the "enjoy the journey". They sucked me in again ! The world and country may be going to Hell, but this week, all I care about is the Ducks. I can't even get excited about the Republican Presidential nomination race.

Go Ducks....win the Day.... beat the Bruins!

Pac 12 Championship & "Slick Rick" Neuheisel

As a result of the Oregon Ducks beating the Oregon State Beavers in the Civil War game on Saturday 49 to 21 the Oregon Ducks are the 2011 Champions of the Northern Division of the Pac 12 in football and will host the first ever Pac 12 Football Championship in Eugene Oregon on Friday December 2, 2011, at 5 pm PST. The game will be broadcast live to the entire nation on the FOX network. The winner will go to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

UCLA is the winner of the Pac 12 South having backed into the Championship with a terrible 50 to 0 loss to U$C Saturday night when both Arizona State and Utah also lost.

There are many news stories out of Los Angeles that the UCLA coach, Rick Neuheisel will be fired after the Championship game for failing to win enough games at UCLA.

Oregon Duck fans have given Neuheisel the name "Slick Rick" for any number of reasons the following are just two examples:


Oregon fans learned to hate Rick Neuheisel when he went for a fake punt in the Cotton Bowl when his Colorado team lead Oregon with a big lead late in that game.He then went to coach for the hated Washington Huskies and led his players back out on to Oregon's midfield "O" after he had defeated Oregon for a little celebration and picture taking. No love lost there!

Thus Oregon fans have two goals in the Friday night game; one, to make the Rose Bowl and two, to watch "Slick Rick" shown the door by UCLA.

As the first Pac 12 Championship game I am excited to be living history by attending the game Friday night. My grandchildren, 50 years from now, will be able to say grandpa was at the first Pac 12 Championship game and it was in Eugene, Oregon at the home of the Ducks, Autzen Stadium.

Go Ducks.... Win the Day! Beat the Bruins.

CIVIL WAR WEEK 2011 (Part Six)

It's Thanksgiving Day and I can't wait for the "Civil War" game to start between Oregon and Oregon State on Saturday.

This game has been weighing heavily on my mind for at least three weeks. I believe the Oregon Ducks have across the board superior talent. On the other hand, the Oregon State Beavers have often beaten Oregon Duck teams due to more desire. Most of Oregon's players are from out of state and sometimes we have lost to the Beavers because of complacency and failure to realize how much the Beavers want the game. That could be the case on Saturday. Oregon State teams often come out like rabid dogs and play their hearts out.I respect them for that!I have been told that this Oregon Duck team has more of a "blue collar" ethic, than past teams, and they will need it on Saturday. In past years we have spoiled Oregon States bid to the Rose Bowl by beating them and they will be out for revenge. This year there will be no Bowl Game for them..... this is their bowl game. If we lose we will probably go to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. If we win we will host the first ever Pac 12 Championship Game the following Friday. The Beavers would feel on top of the world if they could deny us that chance. The winner of that game goes to the Rose Bowl. It would be their greatest game in history and they would remind us of that fact for the next 100 years ! We have only one mission and that is to beat the Beavers. The Vegas gamblers have Oregon favored but I don't believe it. Oregon players can NOT be overconfident!!!!!

We need to jump on them early and put a figurative stake in their heart early.



Thomas Hobbes once wrote that "the life of man,(is) solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Hobbes never won a "Civil War" game.... but he was dead on if you lose.

As former Oregon State football coach Dee Andros, once said about the "Civil War" "it's for the right to live in the State of Oregon."

Time goes so slowly waiting for the game.

Go Ducks! Win the Day!

An English Thanksgiving, 1942

Click on the title for an interesting story about Thanksgiving in England in the dark days of World War II. Early in the war Japan was still advancing across the Pacific and Germany held most of Europe. America was still gearing up for war and American soldiers were just beginning to arrive in England and introduced the American holiday of Thanksgiving to the English people who had been standing alone against the Nazi juggernaut.

In those dark days, Americans took special pleasure in displaying their homegrown holiday to the Mother Country. The English were dubious at first but slowly realized they were being invited to share in something very special.

Helping to win them over was an extraordinary act of generosity very much in keeping with the spirit of the holiday. Merchant ships had carried tons of frozen turkey across the submarine-infested Atlantic for the big day. Then the Yanks announced they would donate all of it to the thousands of British war wounded in hospitals. Instead they would dine on roast pork and eat plum pudding for desert, alas without the standard rum sauce.

To read the rest click on the title.



Happy Thanksgiving America !

Movies and the Holidays

It's almost Thanksgiving so let's take a break from the "Civil War" and Politics and write about movies released during the Holidays.

One of the best parts of the Holidays, along with collage football bowl games, is taking the family to the movies at a local theater. Hollywood likes to release good movies for the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year Holiday period because people have more time for going to the movies and in most parts of the country outside activities are limited because of the weather. After spending lots of time inside with relatives at home it is liberating to get out of the house and go to a movie.This year we are particularly lucky because so many good movies are being released. The following is the release date and names of some movies I would like to see.

November 11, 2011

"J Edgar"

Directed by Clint Eastwood with Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI. Hoover was one of my hero's growing up. Some conservatives have given the movie bad reviews for liberal revisionism of history .... the screen writer is a noted liberal but Eastwood toned him down a bit.

November 18, 2011

"The Descendants"

George Clooney as a father living in Hawaii trying to reconnect with his daughters. I have watched the previews and it looks good. Clooney for all his politic is a good actor and this looks like a good drama/comedy for an adult family to watch.

November 23, 2011

"My Week with Marilyn"

Yes, Marilyn Monroe during the time she spent in London filming "The Prince and the Showgirl" in 1957 as told by a Brit who served as her escort.

December 8, 2011

"New Years Eve"

Intertwined story lines on New Year's Eve like the movie "Valentines Day" from last year.

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Based upon John Le Carre's 1979 miniseries about Cold War espionage.Gary Oldman and Colin Firth. Saw the previews and it looks good if you like spy vs spy.

December 16, 2011

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"

Robert Downey Jr returns in a second movie about Sherlock Holmes. I like Holmes and I like Downey.

"The Iron Lady"

Meryl Streep as British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher. Wild horses can't keep me from seeing this movie. I love the "Iron Lady" who along with Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. She was and is one of my hero's.

December 23, 2011

"We Bought a Zoo"

Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in a movie about a family who moves to the countryside and buys a zoo. Directed by Cameron Crowe of "Elizabethtown" and "Almost Famous" fame. I will see almost anything directed by Cameron Crowe. He is on of my favorite of the current directors.

December 25, 2011 (Christmas Day)

"War Horse"

World War I drama directed by Steven Spielberg about a boy and his horse. This is a MUST see for me. Some say the battle scenes equal those of "Saving Private Ryan."

What with college football and basketball I may not be able to see all of these movies at the theater this Holiday season but those I don't get to see will make my Netflix Queue.

Republican Debate

50 years ago a nerdish kid in Junior High School (Middle School) was awarded the DAR Medal for "Excellence in History." 50 years later, last night, his adult children attended the Republican Debate held at the DAR Hall (Constitution Hall) in Washington DC. The nerd was me. I was not a very good student in Junior High but I did have a passion for history that continues to this day. Our children are together this Thanksgiving Holiday Week in Washington DC and were able to attend last nights Republican Debate. Their mother and I watched the debate on CNN intently trying to spot "the kids" but the camera shots of where they were sitting were just too distant and the picture too small. After the debate they called us with a "blow by blow" description of their adventure.

One proud Dad !


As to the debate I felt all the candidates looked good or better than their prior debate performances.There were no big winners or losers. Cain and Perry did OK but were out of their depth. Backmann and Santorum had their moments but in the end it was Romney and Gingrich who looked like they could lead this country as President.

I continue to support Mitt Romney as the best candidate to beat Obama and to lead a divided country in troubled times.

Civil War Week 2011 ( Part five)

Some interesting facts about the Civil War Game from Wikipedia:

1.The Civil War is the colloquial name for the annual college football game in Oregon between the Oregon State Beavers and the Oregon Ducks. First played in 1894, it is the seventh-oldest college football rivalry game in the United States.

2.The game was first played in 1894 and has been contested 114 times as of 2010.

3.The game was not contested in 1900, 1901, 1911, 1943, and 1944 and two games were played in 1896 and 1945.

4.The first reference to the "Civil War" name was in 1929 and came into common use in 1937. Prior to that, it was called the "Oregon Classic" or the "State Championship Game."

5.The University of Oregon holds a series lead of 57-46-10.

6. In an effort to mitigate rioting, the 1912 and 1913 games were played at a neutral site in Albany following riots after the 1910 game.

Some of my Most Memorable games:


1972: After a 30-3 UO victory at Corvallis, Ducks fans stormed the OSU field to take down goal posts; after taking down the south goalposts, Beavers fans attempted to defend the north goalposts, resulting in a large brawl. ( I was there after having returning to Oregon after two years in the army.

1992: Oregon won the game in a wind and rain swept game in Corvallis 7-0. (I took my two young children to the game. We were seated in the end zone under the Beaver scoreboard on open air bleachers. The wind would come up under the bleachers and blow our yellow ponchos up into our face. It was cold and wet ! At halftime the Ducks were ahead by 7 points and we took a vote to stay or leave and I lost and we headed back to our car. While walking back a Beaver STOLE the duck hat off of my then 8 year old son and disappeared into the rain. I learned then if I hadn't learned it before to hate the Beavers. We listened to the rest of the game on the radio as we drive back to Medford.)

1994: Oregon needed a win in front of a hostile Parker Stadium crowd to secure a bid to the 1995 Rose Bowl, but they trailed 13–10 in the fourth quarter. Duck quarterback Danny O'Neil took the Ducks on a 70-yard drive that culminated in a 19-yard pass to Dino Philyaw to give them the 17–13 win and their first Rose Bowl in 37 years.(I was watching at home on TV with my family and came close to a heart attack from the tension.... several times I had to go outside to "cool off." After the game I opend my bottle of Len Casanova Wine, personal autographed by the Oregon Coach who had last taken the Ducks to the Rose Bowl in 1958, and we all had a drink. )

2001: Oregon came into the game needing only a victory over their arch-rival for the team's first outright Pacific-10 Conference championship since 1994 and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl; the Beavers needed a win to secure a winning season. After OSU initially took a 6-3 lead into halftime, Oregon rallied behind a Keenan Howry punt return for a touchdown to give the Ducks a lead they would not relinquish, amidst a driving rainstorm. Final score: Ducks 17, Beavers 14.( I was there and after Howry made his touchdown the heavens opened up and it just poured very hard and everyone was ecstatic and were energised by the rain and I looked above into the pouring rain and celebrated with everyone else giving little care to the fact we were all getting soaked)

There are more games and more memories..... some good ... some bad..... and some sad.

Let's Go Ducks Beat the Beavers !!!!

CIVIL WAR WEEK 2011 (Part Four)

What would Civil War week be without this golden oldie photo.

Go Ducks Beat the Beavers!

CIVIL WAR WEEK 2011 (Part three)

Tomorrow, on Tuesday November 22 the Oregon Club of Southern Oregon will have their annual Civil War lunch at the Rogue Valley Country Club at 12 noon. For many years and for the last two years the lunch has been a joint lunch with the Oregon State Beavers. Not this year ! The Oregon Club of Southern Oregon asked the Beavers to join them for lunch; but, due to lack of enthusiasm for their team, the Beavers were unable to find enough fans who would attend !

Oregon Coach Chip Kelly will appear through the magic of video teleconferencing from Eugene.

Let's Go Duck..... win the day and beat the Beavers !

CIVIL WAR WEEK 2011 (Part two)

Who will represent the Pac 12 in the Rose Bowl? The winner of the Pac 12 Championship Game on Friday December 2nd, 2011. The game will be played by the winners of the NORTH and SOUTH Divisions of the Pac 12. This will be the inaugural game of the Championship. The games this week will determine the teams.


NORTH DIVISION

1. If the Oregon Ducks beat the Oregon State Beavers they will represent the NORTH DIVISION and will host the game at Autzen Stadium.

2. If the Oregon Ducks lose to Oregon State then Stanford will represent the NORTH DIVISION and will host the game at Stanford. Stanford has completed their Pac 12 regular season games and will play Notre Dame this week.


SOUTH DIVISION

According to TED Miller of ESPN

1.If UCLA beats USC next weekend, UCLA is the champion.

2. If UCLA loses and ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS beats California, and Utah beats Colorado, the ARIZON STATE SUN DEVILS are the champs (the Bruins lose a three-way tiebreaker due to a 2-3 divisional record versus 3-2 for the Sun Devils and Utes; ASU eclipses Utah due to a head-to-head win).

3.If UCLA loses and Arizona State loses, and UTAH UTES wins, the UTAH UTES are the champs.

4. If all three lose, UCLA is the champion


REMAING PAC 12 GAMES:

Friday, November 25th

A. Colorado at Utah

12:30 PM

Salt Lake City, Utah

FSN
************
B. California at Arizona St.

7:15 PM

Tempe, Ariz.

ESPN

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Saturday, November 26th

A. Oregon St. at Oregon

12:30 PM

Eugene, Ore.

ABC
********

B. Louisiana-Lafayette at Arizona (el stinko game)

1:00 PM

Tucson, Ariz.

No one would put this on TV

*********

C. Washington St. at Washington

4:30 PM

Seattle, Wash.

Versus

**********

D. Notre Dame at Stanford

5:00 PM


ABC

**********

E. UCLA at USC

7:00 PM

Los Angeles, Calif.

FSN

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Friday, December 2nd

PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TBD at TBD

5:00 PM

FOX

CIVIL WAR WEEK 2011

"No time to wallow in the mire"

Here in Oregon this is Civil War Week. The week of the game between the Univeristy of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State University Beavers. The game will be on ABC TV next Saturday in Eugene at Oregon's Autzen Stadium. The game will be on ABC TV at 12:30 PST.

Someone said the "Civil War" game "is for the right to live in the State of Oregon" or at least the right to live in the State of Oregon with your head held high. This is one of college footballs oldest rivalries. The oldest west of the Mississippi. Here in Oregon, Ducks and Beavers can be found in most offices, families and neighborhoods. It's brother vs brother, neighbor vs neighbor and coworker vs coworker so it truly is a Civil War. These two teams and their fans do not like each other.

One of my favorite Civil War stories is from World War II. One of the Band of Brothers featured in the HBO mini series, Don Malarkey, is a University of Oregon alum. His studies were interrupted by World War II and he was in the paratroopers in England preparing for the D-Day landings. Eisenhower and Churchill came to view his unit before the beginning of the invasion and Ike asks Malarkey what he did before the war. He said he was a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, and Ike asks him who won the last Oregon vs Oregon State Football game. Of course Ike played football for Army at West Point.

It is fun to walk around the tailgate parties before the game because you see Ducks and Beavers together. There is a scene in the movie Gettysburg where a confederate general tells a British Army officer who is there as an observer just before Pickett's charge that "All Virginia is here today". At each Oregon vs Oregon State Football game I like to think "all Oregon is here today."
Jon Wilner, of the San Jose Mercury news in California rates the rivalry football games in the Pac-10 and rates the "Civil War" game as the #1 rivalry game when he writes:


1. The Civil War.

These days, Oregon-Oregon State has the best combination of passion, significance and competitiveness.

The passion takes the form of hatred — much closer to the Arizona-ASU situation than a healthy dislike.

OSU looks with jealousy at its richer, more-famous, more hip neighbor and wonders what might have been if Phil Knight had gone to OSU. The Ducks hate OSU because they’ve been told to hate OSU for decades.

The games are usually high scoring, although not always close, and the home team has dominated this decade.....


Without question, Oregon and Oregon State have been the most successful natural rivals in the conference in recent years. And that makes the Civil War the league’s best rivalry.

I first learned to hate the Beavers in the late 1960's when the Beavers, regularly under coach Dee Andros,( The Great Pumpkin) beat the shi* out of Oregon Duck Teams and did it with such relish.


A number years ago Dee, long retired, not too long before his death, came to a joint Duck/Beaver "Civil War" lunch in Medford and gave a passionate speech about the "Civil War" game that made me want to strap on a helmet and start playing right there. When Dee Andros walked into the banquet room he was wearing a god awful bright orange blazer and a black and orange striped tie. A local young TV sports reporter, who had probably just moved to this area, walked up to him and asked him if he was an Oregon State fan ..... it brought a smile to my face.

(Dee Andros was a veteran of World War II where he served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was awarded the Bronze Star and spent more than a month under heavy fire on Iwo Jima. He was present at the famed moment when Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima.)

In my lifetime I can remember twice when the Duck were denied a trip to the Rose Bowl because of a loss to the Beaver..... The first, was in 1964 when I was in high school and listened to the game on a transistor radio at a speech tournament I was competing in. The Beavers won and went to the Rose Bowl. The second, was in 2000 when I spent part of the game at a hospital with a dying relative.

This has been a bad season for the Beavers and they would dearly love to knock the Ducks out of the first ever Pac 12 championship game which will determine which team from the Pac 12 will go to the Rose Bowl. A win by them will make their season and Oregon fans will hear about it from our Beaver "friends" for the next 12 long months.
Oregon with all of our success should remember they hate out guts ! After they lost to Stanford the Beaver fans chanted "Beat the Ducks" as Stanford walked off the field at Oregon State. Win the game and Oregon will host the first ever Pac 12 Championship to determine who goes to the Rose bowl

Just remember Ducks, the Beavers will come at us like mad dogs !

Let's go Ducks Win the Day!

Go Ducks beat the Beavers.

LET'S GO DUCKS !!!

On Saturday the Oregon Ducks will play the U$C Trojans at Autzen Stadium on ABC TV at 5 PM PST. Let's win the Day.

UPDATE:

Rather than celebrating tonight the Oregon team and fans should view the loss of #2 Oklahoma State to Iowa State as a cautionary tale about over confidence. Just win the Day!!!!!

No More New Music CD's After 2012 ????

According to the website "The Digital Bits" most new music albums will no longer be issued on CD's after 2012 as the music companies are going to go almost exclusively to downloading from iTunes and Amazon etc.

It seems the online magazine Side-Line is among a number of publications reporting that all the major music industry labels are preparing to abandon the Compact Disc format by the end of 2012, in favor of download/streaming only releases via iTunes, Amazon and other digital music services

Click on the title for more information. I will miss the CD cover art and the ability to display your CD on shelves and to organize them on shelves. Fortunately I have most of the music I love already on CD's and organized on shelves above my home computer. Yes I also have my music on my iPad, Mp3 player, Microsoft Media player and Apple iTunes on my office and home computers. However, it's like a book library I like the feel and look of CDs. You can put your hands on them and a crash of your computer will not destroy your library of music. I will probly in many cases, after the stop making new music CD's, download them and burn them on CD's. However the cover art always looks better on a purchased CD than when printed off my printer.

Fort Apache on Blu Ray 2/21/12

Good news ! The first of John Ford's Calvary Trilogy , "Fort Apache" staring John Wayne and Henry Fonda will be released on Blu Ray DVD on February 21, 2012. Can "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" be far behind for Blu Ray releases??? Something to look forward to after football ends with the Super Bowl !

ESPN Gameday & Oregon vs Stanford (UPDATED)

I have been looking forward to a trip to Sanford University for the Stanford vs Oregon football game for some time. However,sometimes reality does not match your anticipation of an event. Not this time. We had a great trip to the San Francisco Bay Area this last weekend.

THE TRIP DOWN

On Veterans Day (Friday) my wife and I left Medford on a bus chartered by the Oregon Club of Southern Oregon with 42 other Duck fans for Stanford. We stopped at a gaming casino for an hour for lunch near Corning, California. We then worked our way through the heavy traffic in the Bay Area and arrived in Palo Alto, at Dinah's Garden Hotel. Our daughter met us there. She lives on the east coast and flew into SFO and got a rental car and was already at the hotel when we arrived.

My wife and daughter retired early and so I met some friends at the adjacent Trader Vic's for a late dinner.

ESPN GAMDAY







All the way from Medford I hauled a telescoping 13 foot painting pole to be used for a flag pole for use at ESPN Gameday. My daughter and I got up early about 5 AM to make the trip over to the Stanford Campus for the 6 AM national live broadcast of the ESPN Gameday show. Our daughter drove her rental car with myself and two other fans and we arrived just about 6 AM. We walked over to the show and I waved my Oregon Duck flag for the two hours of the live broadcast. Our son in Kentucky and my wife back at the hotel called us on our cell phones to let us know they saw the flag. I could also see it on the giant big screen they have at the show. My friend Bob brought us some hot chocolate and we had a GREAT time. The Stanford fans are a mellow bunch and their was a lot of good natured rivalry between the two groups of fans. Both schools bands were there and while it had rained the night before the weather was prefect for the live show. Lot's of Oregon fans were there with crazy signs ! Our daughter had a sign that said "The ducks don't need Luck!" (For non football fans the star QB for Stanford is Andrew Luck)




DINA'S GARDEN HOTEL




After the show we went back three or so miles to the hotel and got my wife and the three of us had breakfast at the hotel restaurant in a sea of green and yellow. A Stanford couple came into the restaurant and their eyes got very large looking at all the Duck fans.

Dinah's Garden Hotel is a very unique place and I would highly recommend it. It is not your cookie cutter hotel. The grounds are a very tropical with lush foliage and a meandering water pond between the buildings. There are Japanese bridges over the pond and lots of real ducks that populate the pond and walk right up to the slider from your room to your patio. One duck even wandered into our room. I kiddingly told the front desk crew it was a nice touch bringing in all of these live ducks for we Duck fans. After breakfast we went back to our room to rest up for the 5 PM game.




PRE GAME

The bus we came down in took us over to the Stanford campus about 2:30 pm . We got parked and my wife, our daughter and my friend Bob and I went on a tour of campus. We saw lots of Duck fans and were able go by the Hoover Tower of the Hoover Institute a conservative "think tank" on campus. The tower is named after President Herbert Hoover. Stanford has a beautiful large campus and must spend a fortune on landscape maintenance. All the building are in a early California style with red tile roofs.

We then walked by a lot of tailgate parties for both Oregon and Stanford fans. Stanford is known for their fancy wine and cheese tailgaters parked in a grove of trees.

THE GAME




The game was broadcast on ABC TV nationwide starting at 5 PM. Stanford the leader of the Pac 12 was favored and it was their time in the national spotlight. Their QB, Andrew Luck was the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. The Oregon Ducks won the game 53 to 30 !!!!!! Games like this are the reason you go to games. There were a lot of Oregon fans that made the trip south and a lot of Duck fans from the Bay Area. Going to an away game creates a lot of camaraderie for the visiting teams fans. I have been going to games for many years and this was one of the most exciting of my lifetime. Games like this is the reason you go year after year. I yelled and yelled as did most other fans to support the team as the "12th man." I got the most excited when Oregon's defence would sack the Stanford QB. Our daughter got as excited as I did and even my wife, who is not a fan of crowds, had a good time.After the game I called our son in Kentucky who watched the game on TV.
When the bus got us back to the hotel we had a drink and late dinner at Trader Vick's to celebrate the victory.



Early Sunday morning I got up to say good by to our daughter who was taking an early flight out of SFO back to the east coast for work on Monday. I walked her to her rental car and waived good by. With her living on the east coast we don't get to see her as often as we would like and it was special that she could join us for he weekend. Fortunately it is not too long till Christmas when she will make a trip home to Medford. The only down side of the weekend was our son in Kentucky couldn't join us. However, he too will be home for Christmas and he and I have plans to go to an Oregon Basketball game in the new Matt Court in Eugene.


BUS TRIP HOME

Sunday on the way back a bus load of happy fans stoped at the In-N-Out in Redding California. This is the northern most In-N-Out restaurant in California. There are none in Oregon. They make some of the best burgers in the world and Oregonians whenever the go to California plan at least one stop at an In-N-Out. We got to the restaurant and there was a line of Duck fans out the door. It was like Eugene after a game.We got in line and got our burgers and the line still ran all across the parking lot. We saw some people from Medford we know and then the Oregon band drove up in two buses and the line got bigger. On the way back to the bus a local reporter from a Redding TV station interviewed my wife and I on the game and the reason so many Duck fans had converged on this fast food restaurant. This morning I got an email from someone I know in Chico, California, who said he saw the interview on the local TV station.

U$C UP NEXT

Next Saturday we play the U$C Trojans at Autzen. Time to put Stanford behind us and move on to the Trojans. Win the Day! Let's Go Ducks.

Debate History

Presidential debate History was made last night in the CNBC Republican debate from Michigan. As a political junkie I have watched virtually every Presidential Debate since they started on TV with the Nixon/Kennedy Debates in 1960. Last nights memory loss by Texas Governor Rick Perry was the most embarrassing moment in all of those debates both for the general election and the primary debates for the nomination in either party. I found it personally difficult to watch... as I felt for the guy. I have been there many times when the mind just will not spit out the information you know is in your brain. I have the excuse of calling it a "senior moment" or a "brain f...." with people I know.

I watched President Gerald Ford tell a national audience in the Ford/Carter debate in 1976 that Eastern Europe was not under the control of the Soviet Union.

In 1980, I watched the Reagan/Carter debate when Jimmy Carter was asked a question about a treaty to limit nuclear arms. Seemingly out of nowhere, Carter said, "I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day, before I came here, to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought nuclear weaponry –- and the control of nuclear arms."


Last night was much worse because Perry has had other bad debates and this just confirmed what many people believe about him..... ie he is not very bright or interested in policy and is not fast on his feet. He just lost his talking points. Even if you like Rick Perry and rationalize that this happens to all of us, now and then, there is the sick feeling, in the pit of your stomach, that this guy would be in over his head in a debate with President Obama. Perry may go on in the campaign but he lost the race last night.

The clip of Perry in last nights debate will be shown and used as an example of a debate "slip up" for generations to come.

My bet is the non Mitt Romney crowd will now coalesce around former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. For me, my candidate, Mitt Romney did a very good job last night.


Update:

The following Michael Barone comments on the debate echos my thoughts when he writes:

Gingrich had an electrifying interchange with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo when she asked him to give his solutions on health care in 30 seconds. As an infrequent CNBC viewer, I have to ask, Is Bartiromo always this obnoxious and ineffective at the same time?

She came across as a very unpleasant person.

John Ford Honored by Stamp

In 2012 the United States Postal Service will issue a stamp honoring film director John Ford. When Orson Wells was ask to name the great film directors he said "John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford." As a kid growing up in the 1950's and 1960's no film maker shaped my view of life more than John Ford. Even without knowing who was directing the movies his movies left an impression of what was important in life. "How Green Was My Valley", the Calvary Trilogy (Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande) "Drums along the Mohawk", "Young Mr Lincoln," "They Were Expendable", "My Darling Clementine", "The Quiet Man" and who could forget "Stagecoach." I watched many if not all of these movie at the Drive In Movies with my parents. Just last night I re watched "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" on DVD and gained new insights as to the movie and Ford.

The stamp series will also honor Directors Frank Capra,Billy Wilder and John Houston.

Frank Capra with his "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" and 'It's a Wonderful Life" both with Jimmy Stewart were films that have stayed with me through the years. I never tire of watching them.

For more information click on the title for a link to directedbyjohnford.com the only site on the web dedicated to film director John Ford.

DUCKS WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!! WASHINGTON WEEK Part VII

The Oregon Ducks beat the Washington Huskies 34 to 17 in Seattle tonight at the "Mistake by the Lake" to set up next weeks showdown between Oregon and Stanford at Stanford in the Bay Area. ESPN Gameday will be there!!! Go Ducks beat Stanford and win the Day!

It was fun to see the Husky fans desert their team in the fourth quarter as they headed for the exits. This is the 8th game in a row now that the Ducks have beat the Huskies. Life is good!!!

WASHINGTON WEEK Part VI

GAME DAY! Oregon Ducks vs Washington Huskies at 7:30 pm PDT on Fox Sports Northwest/ Root TV.

Oregon expects every Duck will do his duty ! Win the Day .....Beat the Huskies...... Let's Go Ducks !

"High Tech Lynching"

I am supporting Mitt Romney but it brings my blood to a boil watching what is happening to Herman Cain by Liberals,the Liberal Media and people hiding behind the press as "Anonymous Sources".Unless a person is willing to step forward I give absolutely no credit to what they whisper to a friendly member of the press.

The same people who protected Bill Clinton and called his accuser's who did step forward, with allegations of physical abuse,"trailer park trash" and "bimbos" are now going after a Black Conservative just as they did against Clarence Thomas. It will not work .... it will not stand !

Former Senator Fred Thompson wrote yesterday at National Review online:

To many people, not just Republicans, this is just another instance of dirty Washington politics indulging itself, obsessing over trivia while Rome burns. Cain, a very intelligent conservative, upsets the liberal paradigm of what African Americans are supposed to believe. Many Cain supporters involved in the tea-party movement have themselves been called racists in the recent past. Now, with the economy in the tank, the nation broke, the European Union on the verge of throwing the entire Western world into recession if not worse, and former Democratic senator and governor Jon Corzine’s company having “misplaced” $200 million of investors’ money, our burning national issue is whether Herman Cain made some improper remarks over a decade ago.

Click on the title for a link to the rest of Senator Thompson's column.

UPDATE:

Just got this email from someone who read my blog post above:

I saw your blog. I'm not sure if you saw the CNN interview, but they had the accuser's lawyer on the show the other day and they asked him several times if he thought what Herman Cain did amounted to sexual harassment. Each time the lawyer danced around the question saying "I believe my client has brought these accusations in good faith." Not even her own lawyer was willing to stand up and explicitly say that what he did amounted to sexual harassment. Then, they go through the trouble of getting a waiver on the confidentiality agreement, and upon the conclusion tell us they won't go into the details. Also the Politico weasels tell us that they decline to give the details out of "sensitivity" to the alleged victims. I can't think of a more bull-sh*t excuse than that. All of this seems to indicate that the accusations and details leveled at Herman Cain are so petty and benign that it would embarrass the weasel Politico reporters and accusers to detail.

That's a good point.... the liberals can do more damage by leaving it to our sweet imagination than giving us the real ambiguous details.

WASHINGTON WEEK Part V

Last season the rivalry between the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies became even more heated when the Washington Athletic Director insulted the Oregon Ducks while attending last years game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Here is my post from last year outlining the insult and it's repercussions:

Want to know why I hate the Huskies so much..... well their Athletic Director just gave us another reason that will last long after this season is over. He was interviewed on Husky Radio at the game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene and this is what he said:


Mahler to Woodward:
“What do you make of this place? When you come down here, you see the new baseball field, you see the brand new turf, you see the atmosphere. And don’t know if motivation is the word but obviously this is kind of where Washington wants to be, ranked #1 in the country and have all eyes on them.”

AD Woodward:
“Sure, it’s not really where we want to be Softy, because it’s an embarrassment what their academic institution is, and what’s happened to them as far as their state funding has gone. In my mind it’s a wonderful athletic facility but they’ve watched it at the expense of the university go really down.
“The athletic facility is impressive. The fans at Oregon should get down on their hands and knees at night to Phil Knight and pray to him because this is an incredible facility he’s built.“


He tried to clarify the statement today but it didn't work. The man is a clear example of an arrogant Husky JERK that we have known for way too long.

Oregon beat his team 53 to 16

UPDATE:

After a very weak "if I offended anyone" type apology yesterday the Washington AD Scott Woodward was ORDERED by the University of Washington President to PERSONALLY apologise to the Oregon AD and the Oregon President for his comments.

Last week a sports reporter for the Oregonian wrote that the rivalry between Oregon and Washington was for old timers like me. Well, thanks to Mr Woodward I think we can keep it going for another 50 years. The old grudge about the 1948 Rose Bowl was getting a little old anyway. I really HATE those guys!

Go Ducks .... win the Day beat the Huskies.

WASHINGTON WEEK part IV

Click on the title for a great TV ad for Saturday's game between the Ducks of Oregon and the Huskies of Washington. These teams and their fans don't like each other !!!!

"The Perry Paradox"

DANIEL HENNINGER of the Wall Street Journal makes a telling point about Rick Perry when he writes today:
.....

Texas' pro-business bias goes back about 175 years—and never died. "It's just that they believe in the whole Horatio Alger myth down here," said Mr. Booth. "It's hard to understand if you haven't lived here."

And so Perry's Paradox: Rick Perry is a success because he nominally presides over an American tiger state, a genuine free-market economy that doesn't much need—or want—his tender loving care. If the job before us is unwinding an unimaginably vast, smothering national government, is Lone Star Gov. Rick Perry the man for that job?

This much is obvious: Texas, not California, better be the American future.

To read the rest of this excellent column click on the title for a link.