New Pawlenty Video

I will say one thing, the Tim Pawlenty campaign puts out the best videos. My blog cuts off the right side of the video so don't blame that on the Pawlenty campaign. If you want to see the entire picture click on the title for a link to the video. Is it me or is Pawlenty emphasising the fact that his wife supports his campaign a dig at Mitch Daniels ? In any case a well done video.... listen for Rush !

Presidential Campaing 2012

Our son, on his own blog last week, posted a perceptive detailed analysis of the Republican race so for. With his permission I have posted it below with my own comments interspersed.

Presidential campaign hasn’t heated up too much, but there has been some new adjustments to my list of Presidential preferences.

#1) Tim Pawlenty. Previously in second place, but with Daniels bowing out T-Paw is now number one. Not the most exciting candidate, but his ability to climb to the top stems from solid all around credentials. He’s smart, experienced, and capable and lacks any glaring flaws. His cap and trade past will be an issue, but only minor. Right now he lags in the polls, but that’s only because it is early and he has low name ID. Baring another big time contender, the money folks and leaders will rally behind T-Paw and he should do well in Iowa.

I agree..... I like that Pawlenty is more "Sam's Club than country club"

#2) Mitt Romney. Previously third place, now he has bumped up to second place by default. Same baggage as before, but better than any of the other alternatives.

I agree but his own health care law in Massachusetts is a big hurtle for him

#3) John Huntsman. Didn’t make the list last time because he has been so low on the radar even I overlooked him. But, with Daniels declining to run, it’s time to place Huntsman at number 3 as an emergency quarterback. So far it doesn’t look like he has too many liabilities. He was appointed ambassador by President Obama, which may taint him as too accommodating to Democrats. I’m not sure Romney’s Mormonism was ever much of a liability for him, and I don’t think it will hurt Huntsman (former Governor of Utah). He’s still pretty unknown, so he could easily move up or down on this list.

Huntsman has no chance. Working for Obama as U S Ambassador to China .... no way the Republican party will nominate him

#4) New Gingrich. The fact that I had to recruit John Huntsman to take the number three spot should be an indication of where Gingrich stands. He walked back his criticisms of Paul Ryan by telling us he never said what we all heard.

Also, dead in the water.

#5)Gary Johnson. A number of his views go against much of the GOP, but at least he has executive experience and seems competent.

A very nice man..... but there is not room for two Ron Paul's

#6) Herman Cain. Probably the biggest let down from the previous rankings. He gives good sounds bites on fiscal issues, but has very little command of foreign policy issues. A serious presidential candidate should come into the campaign with a policy view towards Afghanistan and an understanding of various Middle East issues. On the bright side he owned up to his lack of knowledge on the concept of “right of return.” But, he’s been running for the last several months and should have boned up on that. Krauthammer is probably correct, Cain would get thrashed in a debate with Obama and it would be a drag on the GOP across the board.

I also like Herman Cain and there should be room for him in any Republican administration but I think the first debated was his 15 minutes of fame.

Wildcards:

Paul Ryan. If he enters the race he would skyrocket to the top of this list. For years Republican candidates have been trying to claim the mantle of Reagan. With everyone being a “Reagan Republican” the concept has lost all meaning. Paul Ryan seems to have his own magic, and carries an aura that seems to inspire the base akin to Reagan before he became the legend. As a protégé of Jack Kemp, Ryan seems to represent the best the GOP has to offer. At this point Ryan seems inclined to stay in the House of Representatives. So far he has denied any intention to run for the White House, but has opened the door somewhat in his wording. He has been under a lot of pressure to jump in the ring. We’ll see.

We can only hope

Chris Christie: His blunt style has enamored him with the GOP and his New Jersey constituents. Will this appeal to the broader nation? He seems pretty insistent that he’s not running, as per his blunt statement: (“What do I need to do short of suicide to convince you that I’m not running.”)

He won't run

Waiting in the wings: Sara Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.


I am still ticked that Mitch Daniels will not run. I guess the fact he won't run is proof that he does not have the drive necessary to be President. If the United States is in as much trouble has he believes then it is unconscionable for him not to put his country first. Every man in uniform has made the choice to spend long periods away from their family's and perhaps to never come home. Thank god there are Americans who will put their country first.

Memorial Day 2011

(The last of Torpedo Eight's planes take off from the USS Hornet,on June 4,1942, flown by squadron commander John C. Waldron with Horace Franklin Dobbs, CRMP, in the rear seat, a short time later they would both be dead along with the rest of the squadron)


This Memorial Day I want to remember the men of Torpedo Squadron 8 who all died at the Battle of Midway in the Pacific in World War II. Looking back at events that occured 69 yeas ago it's easy to think no other result could have occured but that is not the case and those men made a diffirence in the cause of freedom.

Author Herman Wouk in his novel "War and Remembrance" has listed the members of torpedo squadron 8 and two other torpedo squadrons from the U.S.S. Yorktown and U.S.S. Enterprise and said this about the naval aviators that attacked the Japanese aircraft carriers that day

"So long as men choose to decide the turns of history with the slaughter of youths--- and even in a better day, when this form of human sacrifice has been abolished like the ancient superstitious, but no more horrible form--- the memory of these three American torpedo plane squadrons should not die. The old sagas would halt the tale to list the names and birthplaces of the men who fought so well. Let this romance follow the tradition. These were the young men of the three squadrons, their names recovered from an already fading record."

Wouk then lists the names and home town of all of the crew member in the three squadrons with those who died outlined in black. It is the most haunting section of his great novel.

All together, these three torpedo Squadrons lost 33 pilots and 45 radiomen-gunners that day. The slow obsolete American torpedo planes were slaughtered by Japanese Zeroes and AA fire. Herman Wouk had this to say:

"In a planned coordinated attack, the dive-bombers were supposed to distract the enemy fighters, so as to give the torpedo planes their chance to come in. Instead the torpedo planes had pulled down the Zeroes and cleared the air for the dive-bombers. What was not luck, but the soul of the United States of America in action, was this willingness of the torpedo plane squadrons to go in against hopeless odds. This was the extra ounce of martial weight that in a few decisive minutes tipped the balance of history."

A List of Fallen:

Lt. Commander John C. Waldron
Lt. Raymond A. Moore
Lt. James C. Owens, Jr.
Lt.(jg) George M. Campbell
Lt.(jg) John P. Gray
Lt.(jg) Jeff D. Woodson
Ens. William W. Abercrombie
Ens. William W. Creamer
Ens. Harold J. Ellison
Ens. William R. Evans
Ens. Henry R. Kenyon
Ens. Ulvert M. Moore
Ens. Grant W. Teats
Robert B. Miles, Aviation Pilot 1c
Horace F. Dobbs, Chief Radioman
Amelio Maffei, Radioman 1
Tom H. Pettry, Radioman 1
Otway D. Creasy, Jr. Radioman 2
Ross H. Bibb, Jr., Radioman 2
Darwin L. Clark, Radioman 2
Ronald J. Fisher, Radioman 2
Hollis Martin, Radioman 2
Bernerd P. Phelps Radioman 2
As well L. Picou, Seaman 2
Francis S. Polston, Seaman 2
Max A. Calkins, Radioman 3
George A. Field, Radioman 3
Robert K. Huntington, Radioman 3
William F. Sawhill, Radioman 3

Why WE MUST SAVE MEDICARE FROM BANKRUPTCY

By Florida Republican Senator MARCO RUBIO


For me, Medicare is not a political talking point. My parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1950s. They worked hard for over 40 years to provide their children the chance to do all the things they themselves could not. But they never made much money.

As a result, they retired with precious little in savings. Medicare was and is the only way they could access healthcare.

When my father got sick, Medicare paid for his numerous hospital stays. And as he reached the end of life, Medicare allowed him to die with dignity by paying for his hospice care.

Like most 80-year-olds, my mother has several age-related ailments. Without the access to quality healthcare that Medicare pays for, I cannot imagine what life would be like for her.

America needs Medicare. We need it to continue without any benefit reductions for those like my mother currently in the system. And we need it to survive for my generation and my children’s generation.

But Medicare is going bankrupt. Anyone who says it is not is simply lying. And anyone who is in favor of doing nothing to deal with this fact is in favor of bankrupting it. Medicare will go broke in as little as nine years. No one likes this news, but it is the undeniable truth. And the sooner we begin to deal with it, the better off we are all going to be.

My goals are simple. First, I will not support any plan that changes Medicare for people like my mother who are currently on the plan. We cannot ask seniors to go out and get a job to pay for their healthcare.

Second, any solution must solve the problem. We need to save Medicare, not simply delay its bankruptcy.

And third, any solution cannot hurt economic growth. At a time of high unemployment, Americans cannot afford to pay more taxes.

I will support any serious plan that accomplishes these three things. It does not matter to me if it comes from a Democrat or a Republican. Saving Medicare is more important than partisan politics.

Rep. Paul Ryan has offered a plan that would make no changes whatsoever for anyone age 55 and older. I support it because, right now, it is the only plan out there that helps save Medicare. Democrats oppose it. Fine. But, if they have a better way to save Medicare, what are they waiting for to show us? What is their plan to save Medicare?

Either show us how Medicare survives without any changes or show us what changes you propose we make. Anyone who supports doing nothing is a supporter of bankrupting Medicare.

Where is the House Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is the Senate Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is President Obama’s plan to save Medicare?

They have no plan to save it, and they do not plan to offer one. They have decided that winning their next election is more important than saving Medicare for my mother and retirees like her.

I have been in the Senate just long enough to be disgusted by the reality that Washington has too many people who think their personal political careers are more important than our country’s future.

Maybe the Democrats’ strategy to use Medicare as a political weapon will work. Maybe not offering their own plan to save Medicare will help them win seats in Congress and re-elect President Barack Obama. Maybe it is great for the Democratic Party. But it is terrible for people like my mother, and it is terrible for America.

Medicare is going bankrupt. If something does not happen soon, in just a few years whoever is in charge in Washington will have to go to people like my mother and tell them we can no longer afford to continue providing her with the same Medicare she is used to.

We have always had intense partisan politics in America. But throughout our history, on issues of generational importance, our leaders have agreed to put aside politics for the sake of our country. Shouldn’t saving Medicare be that kind of issue?

I am ready to work with anyone in Washington who is serious about saving Medicare. I am open to any serious solutions they have.

We are running out of time to save Medicare for our parents and secure it for our children. If we fail, history will never forgive us.

MOVIE: "Sometimes A Great Notion" (1971)*****

Last night I watched, on Netflix streaming, the movie "Sometimes A Great Notion" (1971) which I first saw as a first year law student in Eugene, after I had gotten back from the Army, at a theater near The Vally River Mall. I actually went with a future U.S. Senator from Oregon and his then girlfriend. Too bad the movie's political point of view of 19th Century rugged individualism did not rub off on him. I loved it 40 years ago and I still love it. I liked it so much 40 years ago I actually saw it several times at the theater before it moved on to TV. The Netflix copy is in very good condition and the cinematography of the Oregon coast is beautiful. The movie is not on DVD and should be !

The movie stars Paul Newman as Hank Stamper; Henry Fonda as Henry Stamper; Lee Remick as Viv Stamper; Michael Sarrazin as Leland Stamper and Richard Jaeckel as Joe Ben Stamper.

Here is Wikipedias description of the Movie:

Sometimes A Great Notion is a 1970 American drama film directed by Paul Newman. The screenplay by John Gay is based on the 1964 novel of the same title by Ken Kesey, the first of his books to be adapted for the screen.

The economic stability of Wakonda, Oregon is threatened when the local logging union calls a strike against a large lumber conglomerate. When independent logger (jippo logger) Hank Stamper (Newman) and his father Henry (Henry Fonda) are urged to support the strikers, they refuse, and the townspeople consider them traitors. Hank struggles to keep the small family business alive and consequently widens the rift between himself and his complacent wife Viv,(Lee Remick) who wants him to put an end to the territorial struggle but is resigned to his doing things as he sees fit. Also complicating matters is Leland Stamper,(Michael Sarrizan) Henry's youngest son and Hank's half-brother, who returns home with a college education and experience in urban living. A heavy drinker, Lee eventually reveals he attempted suicide after his mother killed herself and has been suffering from deep depression ever since. Despite the fact he is uncomfortable living with a family he barely knows, Lee joins forces with them when they are forced to battle both the locals, who have burned their equipment, and the elements, which threaten their efforts to transport their logs downriver.

They filmed much of the movie on the Central Oregon Coast near Lincoln City and in fact the crew stayed at the Salishan Lodge while making the movie. In watching the movie 40 year later I was struck by how much the movie took me back to my youth and growing up on the Oregon Coast in Coos Bay/ North Bend as well as inland in Roseberg, all logging communities back then.It was fun to see actual logging trucks, log rafts, and hear terms like "jippo logger" and "choke setter". I believe in reforestation but the "tree huggers" have ended that way of life here in Oregon. The movie brought it all back!

WARNING SPOILER:

In the late 1960's and 1970's most movies were made from a liberal perspective about "doing your own thing" but this movie is about getting up every day and going to work and honoring your commitments. In the movie near the end the Paul Newman character has just lost his father and his cousin in fatal logging accidents, his wife has left him, the entire community hates him for his anti union stand but he is true to himself, and with the help of his half brother, floats his logs down the river to the mill to honor his commitment under a contract. As he pulls the logs to market he gets his father's arm and hand, which fell off in the logging accident, and mounts it on top of the tug pulling the logs and extends one of the hand's fingers as a gesture to the watching union men and their sympathisers, standing on the river bank, to tell them what he things of them !

My favorite line from the movie is when the Paul Newman character is told his wife is leaving him and he says defiantly:

"I don't tell other people what to do!"

"European Pub Crawl"

From Tim Pawlenty’s Twitter account:

@BarackObama sorry to interrupt the European pub crawl, but what was your Medicare plan?

My iPad 2

This year for my birthday my daughter and wife went together and totally surprised me with an Apple iPad 2. I absolutely had no thought of it for a birthday present. Quite frankly I didn't know that much about them. I am an Internet junkie and do not travel much. So I am usually home or at the office and I have Internet at both locations. iPods are very difficult to find in local stores so they bought it straight from Apple who shipped it from China (yes I know) and it arrived about 11 days after my birthday. They had a nice leather University of Oregon case for it that was wrapped up so I could unwrap it on my birthday. My wife and I then went down to our local Best Buy so I could see what they looked like and what they could do. I also bought a book at Costco titled "My iPad 2" that had wonderful instructions fully illustrated on how to operate it. While I was waiting for it's delivery I had to move most of my music from Windows Media Player to iTunes so when it arrived I could load my music on it. I like Windows Media Player so I have most of my music on both platforms on my desk top computers. I also need Windows Media Player for my MP3 player my wife got for me a year ago on my birthday. I have a lot of music so it took several days to load each of my CD's on the iTunes platform.

On Monday it arrived! ...... and I love it. I have loaded up many applications and organized them as follow:

Music:

1. iTunes from my CD library. It's a portable juke box with over 2000 + songs.

2. Pandora Radio from the internet programed to play my favorite kinds of music.

3. My favorite Bob Dylan web site.

4. I have also book marked "AllMusic" for it's vast info on music and artist.

Internet:

iPad can pick up the internet wherever there is Wi-Fi. I have Book Marked all my favorite web sites.

Travel:

1. Google Maps application.

2. "Yelp" Locate restaurants, hotels near where you are etc.

3. Live Tracking for airlines

News, Sport & Weather :

Applications for Drudge, Real Clear Politics, National Review online, Politico, The Hill, National Journal, USA Today, Medford, Mail Tribune, Fox News, etc.

Applications for the Weather Chanel and ESPN and College Football scores

Book Downloads:

1. Kindle

2. iBooks

3. nook and

4. OverDrive

I even downloaded a book from Kindle on the Music from John Ford Movies called "How the West Was Sung"

Movies:

1. Netflix..... I can stream movies and I tried it out on "Some Times A Great Notion" (filmed in Oregon) and got a great picture.

2. Internet Movie Data Base

3. John Wayne on DVD

4. The web site that lists all my DVD movies.

Pictures:

The iPad 2 has two cameras that take and store pictures that can be emailed

Email:

I have programed the iPad so I can send or receive mail from both of my email accounts.

To say the least, I have been having fun. I even downloaded a great picture of Monument Valley for my wallpaper.

Thanks, Girls, a great birthday present!

Speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a Joint Meeting of the United States Congress

I watched Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's powerful speech to a joint session of Congress this morning and it reminded me of another Prime Minister who addressed a similar joint session of Congress. Then as now, their small country was surrounded by an evil enemy that was trying to destroy their island of freedom. Then as now a man of of character and substance would step forward to rally his country and the United States to their cause. The first was Winston Churchill the one today is Benjamin Netanyahu.

Some excerpts from his speech:

Israel has no better friend than America. And America has no better friend than Israel. We stand together to defend democracy. We stand together to advance peace. We stand together to fight terrorism. Congratulations America, Congratulations, Mr. President. You got bin Laden. Good riddance!....

My friends, you don’t need to do nation building in Israel. We’re already built. You don’t need to export democracy to Israel. We’ve already got it. You don’t need to send American troops to defend Israel. We defend ourselves. You’ve been very generous in giving us tools to do the job of defending Israel on our own. Thank you all, and thank you President Obama, for your steadfast commitment to Israel’s security. I know economic times are tough. I deeply appreciate this...

Support for Israel’s security is a wise investment in our common future. For an epic battle is now unfolding in the Middle East, between tyranny and freedom. A great convulsion is shaking the earth from the Khyber Pass to the Straits of Gibraltar. The tremors have shattered states and toppled governments. And we can all see that the ground is still shifting. Now this historic moment holds the promise of a new dawn of freedom and opportunity. Millions of young people are determined to change their future. We all look at them. They muster courage. They risk their lives. They demand dignity. They desire liberty.

As the great English writer George Eliot predicted over a century ago, that once established, the Jewish state will "shine like a bright star of freedom amid the despotisms of the East.” Well, she was right. We have a free press, independent courts, an open economy, rambunctious parliamentary debates. You think you guys are tough on one another in Congress? Come spend a day in the Knesset. Be my guest...

But while we hope and work for the best, we must also recognize that powerful forces oppose this future. They oppose modernity. They oppose democracy. They oppose peace.


Foremost among these forces is Iran. The tyranny in Tehran brutalizes its own people. It supports attacks against American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. It subjugates Lebanon and Gaza. It sponsors terror worldwide.


When I last stood here, I spoke of the dire consequences of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Now time is running out, and the hinge of history may soon turn. For the greatest danger facing humanity could soon be upon us: A militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons.


Militant Islam threatens the world. It threatens Islam. I have no doubt that it will ultimately be defeated. It will eventually succumb to the forces of freedom and progress. But like other fanaticisms that were doomed to fail, militant Islam could exact a horrific price from all of us before its inevitable demise.


A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It would give terrorists a nuclear umbrella. It would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger throughout the world. I want you to understand what this means. They could put the bomb anywhere. They could put it on a missile. It could be on a container ship in a port, or in a suitcase on a subway....

As for Israel, if history has taught the Jewish people anything, it is that we must take calls for our destruction seriously. We are a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. When we say never again, we mean never again. Israel always reserves the right to defend itself.....

This is not easy for me. I recognize that in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the Jewish homeland. In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We are not the British in India. We are not the Belgians in the Congo.

This is the land of our forefathers, the Land of Israel, to which Abraham brought the idea of one God, where David set out to confront Goliath, and where Isaiah saw a vision of eternal peace. No distortion of history can deny the four thousand year old bond, between the Jewish people and the Jewish land.....

My friends, the momentous trials of the last century, and the unfolding events of this century, attest to the decisive role of the United States in advancing peace and defending freedom. Providence entrusted the United States to be the guardian of liberty. All peoples who cherish freedom owe a profound debt of gratitude to your great nation. Among the most grateful nations is my nation, the people of Israel, who have fought for their liberty and survival against impossible odds, in ancient and modern times alike.



I speak on behalf of the Jewish people and the Jewish state when I say to you, representatives of America, Thank you. Thank you for your unwavering support for Israel. Thank you for ensuring that the flame of freedom burns bright throughout the world. May God bless all of you. And may God forever bless the United States of America.

.

Winston Churchill had FDR in the White House, Benjamin Netanyahu's has..........

(Click on the title for link to the full speech)

FIGHT for FREEDOM Stand with Israel !

YOU CAN HELP DOGS FOR THE DEAF WIN UP TO $500,000!!

Dogs for the Deaf is a highly respected and internationally known non-profit organization in southern Oregon. This dedicated group rescues dogs from shelters, professionally trains them, and then places the dogs nationwide with people with a variety of disabilities including hearing loss, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, stroke, panic/anxiety attacks, etc.



These Assistance Dogs are placed free of charge with applications nationwide, and Dogs for the Deaf depends on donations from individuals, service clubs, people who leave bequests in their estate planning, and a few businesses and corporations for its funding. Dogs for the Deaf does not use any government funding for its work.



This special organization helps countless numbers of dogs and people. Now, it is our turn to help Dogs for the Deaf. With an opportunity to win up to $500,000 in the Chase Community Giving program, Dogs for the Deaf needs your votes through your Facebook account.



Voting begins May 19 and goes until May 25 at 11:59 p.m EDT. PLEASE VOTE to help Dogs for the Deaf.



VOTING INSTRUCTIONS: Visit www.dogsforthedeaf.org and click on the “Go Vote” link on our home page (you will be directed to our page on the Chase Community Giving site), “LIKE” Chase Community Giving’s page, and then cast your vote. Or, go to http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/ and cast your vote there.



Just think of how many more dogs and people could be helped. Your vote counts.

(Click on the title above for a link to vote)

Is it time for Minnesota Nice ?

Check out his very well done video put out by the Pawlenty Campaign on his formal announcement to run for President tomorrow.

Tim Pawlenty

No president deserves to win an election by dividing the American people - picking winners and losers, protecting his own party's spending and cutting only the other guys'; pitting classes, and ethnicities, and generations against each other. The truth is, we're all in this together. So we need to work to get out of this mess together. I'll unite our party and unite our nation, because to solve a fourteen-trillion-dollar problem, we're going to need three hundred million people."

Bob Dylan Turns 70 !

This week, Bob Dylan turns 70. Happy Birthday Bob.

"FOREVER YOUNG" by Bob Dylan

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

Mitch Daniels Will Not Run!

Sad news late on a Saturday night. Mitch Daniels issued this statement to an Indianapolis newspaper:

Over the last year and a half, a large and diverse group of people have suggested to me an idea that I never otherwise would have considered, that I run for President. I’ve asked for time to think it over carefully, but these good people have been very patient and I owe them an answer.


The answer is that I will not be a candidate. What could have been a complicated decision was in the end very simple: on matters affecting us all, our family constitution gives a veto to the women’s caucus, and there is no override provision. Simply put, I find myself caught between two duties. I love my country; I love my family more.


I am deeply concerned, for the first time in my life, about the future of our Republic. In the next few years Americans will decide two basic sets of questions: Who’s in charge here? Should the public sector protect and promote the private sector or dominate and direct it? Does the government work for the people or vice versa?


And, are we Americans still the kind of people who can successfully govern ourselves, discipline ourselves financially, put the future and our children’s interests ahead of the present and our own?


I am confident that the answers will reaffirm the liberty and vitality of our nation, and hope to play some small part in proving that view true.

In a separate email to student supporters who had started a draft Mitch campaign he wrote:

“The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate. In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all.

"If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry.If you feel that this was a non-courageous or unpatriotic decision, I understand and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise. I only hope that you will accept my sincerity in the judgment I reached."

This is a sad night for America ! It's past midnight here in Medford. I think I will have a drink.

Waiting for Mitch

The word is Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will make his decision on running for President by the end of May. While we are waiting here is an interesting article by Cheri Jacobus in The Hill.

A potential political rock star in the making, he is close to being known by a first name only, much like Cher, Madonna, Mitt or Newt....

My early take is that Mitch Daniels is the rare political candidate who looks better and better the more he comes into focus, rather than forcing us to reluctantly accept major flaws upon closer inspection. I think — I hope — I’ve got the prognosticator chops to make this call even before the hat gets tossed into the ring...

Mitch Daniels has a legislative record that sings to Republicans and independents.....

On the "issues" with Daniels wife who divorced him and left him with four young daughters and moved to Californian and married another man and then divorced him after three years and remarried Daniels, Jacobus writes:

However, once those personal life blanks are filled in, Mitch Daniels is romantic, strong, Father of the Year material, all rolled into one. While he doesn’t have the leading-man features of a Romney, Perry or Pawlenty, Daniels’s story more resembles a Lifetime Movie Channel offering than the life of a Midwestern politician.

To read the entire article click on the title for a link.

Obama Sells Out Israel

President Obama in his speech today wants an independent Palestine State (run by terrorist) on the border with Israel and that Israel would be reduced to an indefensible border based upon their border before the 1967 war. To quote the President:

The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.

This is a change in United Sates policy and would take all of Israel colored in brown above. NEVER!!!


John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tells National Review Online that he has concerns about President Obama’s speech this afternoon on the Middle East.

“Despite criticism of the Palestinians, the speech is also implicitly threatening to Israel,” Bolton says. “Remarks such as the references to the 1967 borders show Obama’s continuing lack of real appreciation for Israel’s security.”

Tim Pawlenty on Obama's speech:

President Obama’s insistence on a return to the 1967 borders is a mistaken and very dangerous demand. The city of Jerusalem must never be re-divided. To send a signal to the Palestinians that America will increase its demands on our ally Israel, on the heels of the Palestinian Authority’s agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization, is a disaster waiting to happen. At this time of upheaval in the Middle East, it’s never been more important for America to stand strong for Israel and for a united Jerusalem.

Mitt Romney on Obama's speech:

"President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus. He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends."

Charles Krauthammer on Obama's Speech:

What Obama did today is something that no American president has ever done, which is to endorse the return to the 1967 lines which as you said would reduce Israel to a country with a waist eight miles wide,” “Now, the reason this is odd is because you’d expect it to be at least in return for something. But the Palestinians in the two-and-a-half years of this administration have not offered them anything as a concession to Israelis. [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas has boycotted the negotiation and then a few weeks ago, he joined in government with Hamas, dedicated to extermination of Israel. In return for all of those and the Israel gestures, Obama makes the biggest concession of the entire Arab-Israeli negotiations in 50 years.”

Whenever Israel negotiates, there’s an asymmetry. It gives away a tangible asset — land in return for promises which are ephemeral. America looks at that and says, ‘Look, we understand and thus we will balance the risk by giving us American assurances that will help you because of the asymmetry in negotiations.’ In 2000 and before, Israel was preparing withdrawal from Gaza and it got explicit written promises from the U.S. government that it would not ask Israel return to the ‘67 lines and it would support Israel holding on to the close-in settlement as a new reality on the ground. But what Obama did today is tear up that agreement. If Israel cannot rely on the assurances of the United States, which is a way to balance the risks it takes and it cannot negotiate it – it has to wonder how much it can trust this American president.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/19/krauthammer-obama-speech-shows-he-has-sympathies-everywhere-except-israel/#ixzz1MuW0ldKg

"Mr. Nice Guy":Tim Pawlenty

Time Magazine has a lengthy profile on former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty who I have currently rated as the best choice for the Republican Presidential Nomination pending Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels, entering the race. A quote from a much longer profile:

Pawlenty has long argued that the GOP must remind Americans that they're "the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club." He grew up in South St. Paul, a blue collar town fragrant from the nearby stockyards and meatpacking plants. He was one of five siblings in a pro-union Catholic family. His father, Eugene Pawlenty — the name is Polish — was a truck driver who worked side jobs on weekends. (Including one cleaning meat hooks: "I tossed my cookies" at the stench when helping out one weekend, Pawlenty has recalled.)

In the 1970s, the meatpacking jobs dried up; his father would eventually lose his. Worse, Pawlenty's mother succumbed to ovarian cancer when he was just 16. On her deathbed, she insisted that Tim be the first in the family to attend college. He put himself through the University of Minnesota by working in a grocery store.

That story is crucial to Pawlenty's appeal, his supporters argue. "The guy has a genuine connection to average people," says his friend Vin Weber, a former Republican Congressman from Minnesota. "Every candidate I know tries to establish some roots in what I call real-world middle America. A lot of them have to invent it. With Tim Pawlenty, it's real. He is not a person who has lost his connection to the working-class folks he grew up with."

To read the rest click on the title for a link.

Oregon vs LSU (Sept 3,8 PM ET on ABC)

Watch the video..... it's a "religious" experience to this Duck fan !

At Cowboy Stadium in TEXAS

It's going to be a long long summer waiting for this football game. GO DUCKS !


UPDATE:

Tuesday ESPN GameDay announced that they'd start their tour of the 2011 college football season in Dallas, TX for the September 3rd match-up between Oregon and LSU at Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

THE DONALD...... not running !

Donald Trump's statement issued today:

After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the Presidency. This decision does not come easily or without regret; especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country. I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election. I have spent the past several months unofficially campaigning and recognize that running for public office cannot be done half heartedly. Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.

I want to personally thank the millions of Americans who have joined the various Trump grassroots movements and written me letters and e-mails encouraging me to run. My gratitude for your faith and trust in me could never be expressed properly in words. So, I make you this promise: that I will continue to voice my opinions loudly and help to shape our politician’s thoughts. My ability to bring important economic and foreign policy issues to the forefront of the national dialogue is perhaps my greatest asset and one of the most valuable services I can provide to this country. I will continue to push our President and the country’s policy makers to address the dire challenges arising from our unsustainable debt structure and increasing lack of global competitiveness. Issues, including getting tough on China and other countries that are methodically and systematically taking advantage of the United States, were seldom mentioned before I brought them to the forefront of the country’s conversation. They are now being debated vigorously. I will also continue to push for job creation, an initiative that should be this country’s top priority and something that I know a lot about. I will not shy away from expressing the opinions that so many of you share yet don’t have a medium through which to articulate.

I look forward to supporting the candidate who is the most qualified to help us tackle our country’s most important issues and am hopeful that, when this person emerges, he or she will have the courage to take on the challenges of the Office and be the agent of change that this country so desperately needs.

Michell Malkin : "Now, if only Trump could fire Newt…"

Newt,Newt, Newt !

We always knew Newt Gingrich was a loose cannon but this takes the cake. On Sunday, Newt contradicted his past support for Representative Paul Ryan's Medicare plan and attacked it on on Meet the Press and also took shots at the Republicans in the House with this statement:

"I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate."

I agree with Congressman Ryan who said today: "With allies like that, who needs the left?"

It's one thing to take a principled stand on an issue. It's another to contradict yourself and take a shot at fellow Republicans. Newt is always a disaster waiting to happen. Self destruction is not pretty sight.

Charles Krauthammer told FOX NEWS, Bret Baier, that Gingrich “didn’t have a big chance from the beginning, but now it’s over.”

2012 Republican Presidential Nomination (UPDATE 2 & UPDATE 3)

Last night Mike Huckabee, on his Fox News show, announced he would not run for President in 2012. We are still waiting on Mitch Daniels the governor of Indiana.


RUN MITCH, RUN!

April 6, 2011 post with updates:

.

1.Tim Pawlenty Yes, the former Governor of Minnesota has impressed me in the last couple of weeks. He has a blue collar background and is Conservative and has the ability to come across as a nice guy. He has no major liability's and can unite the various factions of the Republican party. His drawback of lack of name familiarity will change as the campaign goes on.

2. Mitch Daniels The current Governor of Indiana. Daniels is a budget hawk and is very qualified to be President.If there was ever a time for a budget hawk it is now. He has done a great job in Indiana and is very plain spoken. His drawbacks are he may not want it enough and his wife may not want the spotlight of a Presidential campaign. Daniels could very well be my first choice if he runs.

UPDATE: Still Waiting on Mitch!

3. Mitt Romney I like Mitt Romney a lot. He looks Presidential and has great executive experience in helping troubled business and America is in trouble. I don't care if he is a Mormon (LDS) but a lot of people do and the Massachusetts health care law is an albatross around his neck. He is more liberal than I am and large sections of the Republican base may not accept him.

UPDATE: His speech on health care last week did not help. He has a reputation, fair or not, as a flip flopper and thus he has to defend the law on health care he helped pass when he was Governor of Massachusetts. He has put himself in a box. I don't think he can get out of it. If he repudiats the law he will be accused of being a flip flopper. If, he stands by it, as he is, he runs against the grain of the Republican Party and many indepedants. I predidt now, he is NOT going to get the nomination, and he was my first choice in 2008 ! Politics is not fair!

4.Mike Huckabee I like his ability to disagree but not be disagreeable. I have watched many of his shows on Fox News and he is a very likable guy. He is more conservative on social issues than I and less conservative on economic issues. While social conservatives like him the National Review conservatives can't stand him. There is also some concern that he doesn't have the "fire in the belly" that he had in 2008.

UPDATE: Gone, I was right he does not have "fire in the belly."

5. Sara Palin I love Sara but she can't win. I am bothered she quite as Governor of Alaska before her term was up and she is a "turn off" to independents who we need to win. I am also bothered that she is more interested in publicity then governing.The high pitch of her voice sends a shiver down my back. Margaret Thatcher had Lawrence Olivier work on her voice to lower it. Yes, Olivier was a Conservative party member.

6. Newt Gingrich The former Speaker of the House is very bright and very undisciplined. He has 100 ideas an hour and 5 of them are good. He is not trusted by the party and has personal baggage. We already have a professor as President and it has not worked out. In spite of all of the above I like Newt and in a crises he could be our Winston Churchill. Has no chance.

UPDATE: Attacking the Republicans in the House is no way to get the nomination. Big mistake! I repeat he has no chance. Sometimes I think some of these candidates are angling more for Fox News show than the nomination

7. Haley Barbour Former lobbyist with a southern drawl. No chance.

UPDATE : Gone !

8. Michele Bachman Congresswoman from Minnesota needs more seasoning.

Also Ran:
Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain

The Future and VP Candidate: Marco Rubio.... Freshman Senator from Florida has Reagan's way of describing the American Dream !

The Joker is Wild:

Donald Trump !!!!!!

UPDATE 3 : Trump the "joker" will not run !

"Demagoguery 101" By Charles Krauthammer

“I’m going to do my part to lead a constructive and civil debate on these issues.”

— Barack Obama, speech on immigration, El Paso, May 10


Then in the same speech he said this about Republicans:“Maybe they’ll need a moat,” he said sarcastically. “Maybe they want alligators in the moat.”

The El Paso speech is notable not for breaking any new ground on immigration but for perfectly illustrating Obama’s political style: the professorial, almost therapeutic, invitation to civil discourse, wrapped around the basest of rhetorical devices — charges of malice compounded with accusations of bad faith. “They’ll never be satisfied,” said Obama about border control. “And I understand that. That’s politics.........This impugning of motives is an Obama constant...... El Paso was simply an attempt to gin up the Hispanic vote as part of an openly political two-city, three-event campaign swing in preparation for 2012.

To read the rest of the Mr Krauthammer's column click on the title for a link)

65 is more than a Speed Limit

This weekend it will have been 65 years and 9 months since VJ Day (Victory over Japan on August 14,1945). Thus, this week the first "Baby Boomers" will turn age 65 and will become qualified for Medicare. Here is a quote from a news article by Barbara Marshall of the Palm Beach Post:

They're big, self-entitled and appear poised to start sucking down federal benefits like a college student on free beer night.

The first wave of baby boomers — those Americans born during the sharp rise in births that lasted from 1946 until 1964 — starts turning 65 in 2011, making them eligible for Medicare, then full Social Security benefits beginning in 2012.

Just as they forced societal changes from infancy on, boomers will radically change retirement, demographers say..... 40 percent of those still working say they'll never retire.

To read more click on the title for a link.

Fish Food & The War on Terror.

Bin Laden declared war on us in 1998. But it was not until 9/11 that we took him seriously. At which point, we answered with a declaration of war of our own, offering the brutal, unrelenting, and ferocious response that war demands and that police work prohibits....It’s clear there was no intention of capturing him. And for good reason. Doing so would have been insane, gratuitously granting him a second life of immense publicity on a worldwide stage from which to propagandize.

We came to kill. That is what you do in war......


Al-Qaeda is not subsiding on its own. It is not retiring from the field, having seen the error of its ways. It is not disappearing because of some inexorable law of history or nature. It is in retreat because of the terrible defeats it suffered once America decided to take up arms against it, a campaign known as the War on Terror.

Charles Krauthammer

Our" Friends" in Pakistan

Since Osama Bin Ladedn was found and shot dead in Pakistan our "friends" in Pakistan remind me of Captain Renault from the Movie Casablanca who was "Shocked, shocked" that gambling was going on in Rick's Cafe American.

From the Movie Casablanca:

Captain Renault"I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

Then the report today that the Pakistan government has arrested 40 people suspected of having links to Osama bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad reminds me again of Captain Renault when he said:

"Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects."

To our "friends" in Pakistan we will not forget this for a long long time. This is NOT the beginning of a beautiful friendship !

Pac-12 Strikes it Rich with New TV Deal !

The Pac-12 has worked out a deal with ESPN and Fox Sports worth 3 Billion (with a "B") over 12 years to broadcast football and basketball games. Click on the title for more information and links. A Pac-12 Network is also in the works. Will this mean Oregon can get out of it's crummy deal with Comcast where many Oregonians can't watch Oregon Sports programing? Let's hope so ! Go Ducks!

We got him ...........DEAD!

Osama bin laden has been killed by the United State and it has his dead body! It's a good day !

"Seems like he never learns there's such a thing as a critter that'll just keep comin' on. So we'll find 'em in the end, I promise you. We'll find 'em. Just as sure as the turnin' of the earth."

John Wayne in the Searchers as quoted on this blog some years ago.

Tourist at the fence of the White House are singing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America."

UPDATE: A head shot and a United States Navy Seal pulled the trigger!!! Better yet,Osama bin laden knew before he died that an AMERICAN pulled the trigger.

MOVIE: Atlas Shrugged Coming to Medford Cinemark

There is a print ad in today's Medford Mail Tribune newspaper that Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged (Part1)" is coming to Medford, Oregon's Cinemark Tinseltown on Friday May 6th for a limited engagement of 1 week only.
Starting time are 12:25 pm, 2:50 pm, 5:15 pm, 7:40 pm and 10:50 pm.

We never needed it more!