Time for Conservatives to Stand up to Newt !

After the reports of Newt's campaign sending out robo calls in Florida that say

As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed a bill paying for kosher food for our seniors in nursing homes. Holocaust survivors, who for the first time, were forced to eat non-kosher, because Romney thought $5 was too much to pay for our grandparents to eat kosher. Where is Mitt Romney’s compassion for our seniors? Tuesday you can end Mitt Romney’s hypocrisy on religious freedom, with a vote for Newt Gingrich. Paid for by Newt 2012.

I agree with conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin"

It is time for conservatives of good character to stand up to the candidate who has none. Pick a candidate or not. Root for Romney or Santorum. Even indulge in the fantasy that another candidate can come into the race to sweep Republicans off their feet. But please, it’s time to stop encouraging Gingrich. Nothing he has done in the past for the GOP justifies his current conduct.

For more information on the demagoguery of the Gingrich campaing:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/289740/newt-s-unorthodox-attacks-patrick-brennan

Time for Conservatives to Stand up and disassociate themselves from this demagogy.

MOVIE:"Inside Llewyn Davis"

The Coen Brothers are making a movie based on the 1960s folk-singer Dave Van Ronk and the New York folk scene of that era based in Greenwich Village. According to the website Chimesfreedom:

If you watched Martin Sorsese’s documentary about Bob Dylan, No Direction Home, you might recall that one of the most interesting interviewees in the movie was Dave Van Ronk. Van Ronk was a folk singer in Greenwich Village during the 1960s, and he was a friend and supporter to many of the singers who would go on to more fame than he achieved, such as Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Van Ronk passed away in 2002 while he was working on a memoir, which was then completed by his collaborator Elijah Wald. The book, which will be used by the Coens, is titled after one of Van Ronk’s nicknames, The Mayor Of MacDougal Street

I have the Sorsese documentary on DVD and have watched it numerous times and Dave Van Ronk does stand out.

Actors Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund and John Goodman have been cast. Shooting will start in early 2012 in New York according to the IMDB.com.

The picture above is of Dylan, his girlfrend Suze Rotolo and Van Ronk.

"The Kennedys" TV Mini Series

I highly recommend the TV mini series. now out on DVD, about the Kennedy family. It has the quality of the HBO series on John Adams. Greg Kinnear as JFK is great. There were times I had to keep telling myself it wasn't JFK. My start as a political junkie was during the Kennedy/Nixon campaign of 1960 so have some experience with the real JFK. Tom Wilkinson brings "old Joe" Kennedy to life. I have read many books about the Kennedy's but this movie brings it all to life. It starts from when "old Joe" was U.S. Ambassador to Great Briton before World War II and takes us through the assassination of Bobbie in 1968. This movie is more than a greatest hits type of movie but gets into the personality of the family members. The Kennedy family tried to suppress this movie because it doesn't sugar coat JFK's "skirt chasing" or other issues but in the end it is a sympathetic story of a family that faced many tragedies. As someone who always knew "Camelot" was a fraud I grew to like them more after watching this mini series. It shows two sons, Bobby and Jack, driven by their father and who always sought his approval. If you like history and politics this is a must see! It's available from Netflix both streaming and on DVD. I give it 5 stars !

Judy "blue eyes" in Medford Tonight

Yes, I know there is a Republican debate on too !! Judy Collins will will perform at the Ginger Rodgers Craterian Theater. Review tomorrow !

Review:

Before going to the concert last night I was talking with a co worker and she asked what concert I was going to and I said Judy Collins. Her reply was "who is that" ? I said a 60's folk singer and she said "I was born much later than that." I then said haven't you heard of the song "Both Side Now" and she said "no". I then said how about "Send in the Clowns" and she said "didn't Judy Garland sing that" ?.... and I gave up.

My wife and I arrived at the Craterian and waited a while in the lobby. They were selling Judy Collins latest CD album "Bohemian" (see cover above) and I bought it. It was personally autographed by her on the cover. We then ran into some fellow "ducks" and talked with them for a while about the Ducks and what else..... politics. We then went in and got our seats and listened to a 30 minute opening act which was "just OK." The guy was very good on the guitar but I was not a fan of his music.

After a short brake Judy came out and gave a wonderful concert. She is 72 and looks great ! Her voice still can hit the high notes, and once warmed up, she is still a great singer. If you want a "perfect" rendition of her music listen to the CD because even as good as she is she isn't as perfect as she was at 25 or 45. On her first song, "Chelsae Morning," she had to start over because she just wasn't getting it right but she soared thereafter. Judy likes to talk alot between songs, talking about her family and the history of folk music and what it was like in Greenwich Village in New York in the 60's. She talked about meeting the singers of that era including a guy named Bob Dylan. She likes to drop a lot of names. She mentions how much she likes the Britt Festival in Jacksonville and wants to be invited back. Through the years we have seen her twice at Britt. Some people complain that she should talk less between songs but I love it. Sometimes her thoughts are somewhat "scattered" but it makes it all the more endearing. At a point or two I thought I was watching a Smothers Brothers show where they would start singing and then stop in mid song and start talking some more. The two high points for me were when she sang the Joan Baez song "Diamonds and Rust" about Baez relationship with Bob Dylan and when Judy sang "In The Twilight" a new song about her mothers final days. It was very very good and is found on her new album "Bohemian" released in the last year.She also sang "Both Sides Now." She sang from her new album, "Campo De Encino"and "Veteran's Day." I particularity enjoyed the combination of the songs "Leaving on a Jet plane" and Country Roads" and an Arlo Guthrey hit "City of New Orleans." She ended by singing the Judy Garland hit "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." She kept her political talk to a minimum but did make a snide remark about Sara Palin.
She received numerous standing ovations from a full crowd (first floor as far as I could see) who were very appreciative. She left me wanting more. I have listened to her new album today and it is one of her best ! I had previewed it on Amazon.com before the concert but that did not do it justice.

I noted from her concert schedule, on her website, that tonight she gives a concert in Bremerton, Washington and on Saturday in Durant, Oklahoma, and on Sunday in Austin, Texas. That is a lot of travel and singing for someone who is 72 and I couldn't help thinking during the concert we are witnessing something special that won't go on forever.

The Republicans’ Electoral College Newt-Mare

Regular readers of this blog may feel I am obsessed with New Gingrich but his being nominated by the Republican party is one of the biggest hopes Obama has of getting a second term and that scares me !

Click on the title for a link to Larry Sabato's state by state analysis of a electoral win by Obama if Newt his our nominee. I love his color coded maps of the states. In the past I have found Sabato one of the best. He is the head of the University of Virgina's Center for Politics and is a very frequent guest on Fox News with is political analysis.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the Presidency

If Newt Gingrich it the Republican nominee Sabato predicts Obama would win between 303 to 357 electoral votes in a landslide.

If a generic Republican (and Mitt Romney is about as generic as it gets) were the nominee of the Republican party the Republican would have 206 projected electoral votes with 85 a tossup. Obama would be short of election at 246. The tossups Romney would have to pick up to win are Ohio, Virgina, Florida and New Hampshire which would give him 270 and the Presidency. He also has a chance in Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and I believe in Pennsylvania and/or Wisconsin for cush.

Sabato's maps are much better at explaining this visually so click on the title for a look.

"RE-ELECT OBAMA: VOTE NEWT!" by Ann Coulter

Even Ann Coulter sees that nominating Newt would be a disaster

Romney is the most electable candidate not only because it will be nearly impossible for the media to demonize this self-made Mormon square, devoted to his wife and church, but precisely because he is the most conservative candidate.

Conservatism is an electable quality. Hotheaded arrogance is neither conservative nor attractive to voters.

Click on the title for a link to her entire column

The good news today is the latest polls from Florida show that Newt's surge has ended and is starting to go back down.

"William Jefferson Gingrich"

Conservative leaders are staring to speak out against Newt Gingrich:

Today it is R. EMMETT TYRRELL, Jr. founder and editor in chief of the American Spectator Magazine who writes:

Newt Gingrich is conservatism’s Bill Clinton, but without the charm. He has acquired wit but he has all the charm of barbed wire.

Newt and Bill are 1960s generation narcissists, and they share the same problems: waywardness and deviancy.....

Now he has found his key for hustling conservative electorate.....

Contending with Newt for the Republican nomination are Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney. All three are truer conservatives than Newt. I like them all. But John Bolton, former ambassador the United Nations, and John Lehman, President Reagan’s secretary of the navy, are for Mitt, and they are solid conservatives. Governor Christie and the economic pundit Larry Kudlow laud Mitt on taxes, on spending, and on attacking crony capitalism. Mr. Kudlow calls Mr. Romney “Reaganesque.” Ann Coulter seems to loathe Newt. That is good enough for me.

Back in 1992 I appeared with Chris Matthews on some gasbag’s television show. Was it Donohue? At any rate, I said candidate Clinton had more skeletons in his closet than a body snatcher. It was a prescient line then, and I always got a laugh. I can apply the same line today to Newt, though he has skeletons both inside and outside his closet.

Conservatives should not be surprised by the scandals that lie ahead, if they stick with him.....

By now we know. Character matters. Paul, Santorum, and Romney have it. Newt has Clinton’s character.

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

Newt’s doomed crusade !

S.E. Cupp, conservative columnist, speaks for me when she says "shame on us" for the Conservative Movement's apparent infatuation with Newt Gingrich. In a column subtitled, "The quixotic Gingrich campaign for the White House could sink the conservative movement." she writes in part:

In no measure does Gingrich fit what conservatives want in their candidate.

Tea Party voters want a small-government, anti-establishment Washington outsider. Gingrich fails on all three counts.

Establishment Republicans want an electable candidate. Gingrich fails here, as well.

Social conservatives want a candidate who reflects their family values. Um . . .

So if Gingrich fails to satisfy any of these impulses, I’m left to assume that conservatives are simply out for a good time. They want to be entertained by a Gingrich-Obama slugfest in the general election debates, and they are willing to sacrifice everything — their credibility, their values and the White House — to sit in the Coliseum and watch a Christian get devoured by lions.

Shame on us. The future of conservatism and the future of the country are bigger than debate-night hijinks. If we conservatives are willing to forgive Gingrich his transgressions, I’m not sure what separates us from liberals.

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

As a long time movement conservative I am embarrassed with this infatuation with Newt Gingrich and I can only hope it is temporary. If I make another charge for the Conservative cause you can bet it will NOT be with Newt leading it. We are better than that ! This man is a charlatan.

I would like to write on another subject but this man threatens the Conservative cause I have loved from age 16 and threatens to reelect Obama who has so damaged the country I have loved even longer. This battle is for the sole of the Conservative movement. I stand with the editors of National Review Magazine. See editorial below.

National Review "No" on Newt part II

National Review, the premier Conservative magazine, again today editorialized against the nomination of Newt Gingrich by the Republican party. Some quotes from the editorial:

.....neither Gingrich nor Romney can make the case that he is a purebred conservative or a world-beating political talent, both are now essentially relying on a negative argument: The other guy is unreliable and unelectable. There is enough truth in both indictments to explain the continued appeal of other candidates’ joining the race.

Among the present candidates, we continue to prefer Romney and Rick Santorum over Gingrich and Ron Paul
.......
Our opposition to Gingrich, by contrast, is not based on any philosophical disagreement. Among Gingrich, Romney, and Santorum, we find only minor ideological differences. None has been a consistent small-government conservative in office; all are running on conservative, and similar, platforms this year.

Thus it seems to us that the key question is which candidate can best make that platform a reality by first beating Obama and then governing successfully
.......
There is much more to general elections than debates, and there is much more to the presidency than giving speeches. On an intellectual level Gingrich knows this, but he has little experience either in contesting elections with large numbers of voters of varying views or in running large organizations. Romney has executive experience, unlike Gingrich or Santorum, and in past elections voters have seemed to value that experience.....Only Gingrich has never been elected to office from anything larger than a congressional district; only Gingrich has never had to reach beyond the Republican base vote to win an election......

Amid all the tumult of the last 18 years there has been this constant: Gingrich has never been popular. Polls have never shown more than 43 percent of the public viewing him favorably at any point in his career. Gingrich backers say that he is inspiring. What he mostly seems to inspire is opposition.

It should go without saying that Gingrich also offers more material than the other candidates for Democrats to drive his numbers in the wrong direction. Any Republican nominee will draw criticism for being too biased toward the rich. Not every Republican nominee will be attacked for cruelty in his personal life.

None of these candidates can be guaranteed to beat Obama (or run a successful White House), and under the right circumstances any of them could. For Republicans to choose Gingrich, though, would be a gamble, with everything from the Supreme Court to Obamacare to our nation’s alliances riding on the outcome.

To read the rest click on the title for a link

"cruelty in his personal life" "mostly seems to inspire is opposition" "would be a gamble" "has never been popular" Yes, it is all true !

Newt Gingrich:" I supported Rockefeller over Goldwater"

However in tonight's Florida debate he told a different story when he said : "I went to a Goldwater organizing session in 1964" in order to prove his "conservative" credentials.As someone who actually worked for Goldwater in 1964 I find this just one more example of why conservatives can not trust Newt Gingrich.

Liberal Washington Influence Peddler

According to the National Journal:

Freddie Mac paid the Gingrich Group up to $300,000 for the year, to "provide consulting and related services as requested by Freddie Mac's Director, Public Policy in exchange for which Freddie Mac will pay Consultant $25,000 per each full calendar month during which Consultant provides services," according to the 15-page contract.

I have read the contract and it is mostly "boiler plate" terms that are included in contracts of this type but gives little or no information as to what he did for the $25,000 per month. The agreement was signed on behalf of Freddy Mac by their chief lobbyist.

He gets $25,000.00 per month and the contract does not specify his duties ! I would like work like that !

There is nothing in the contract about Newt being a "historian" as claimed by Newt. He was being paid for his influence and anyone who knows how Washington works will understand that fact.

Newt during the debate tonight in Florida was asked what he had done for the Conservative cause and he started out by stating he went to a Goldwater speech. However as someone who actually worked for Goldwater in 1964 I found it interesting that Newt neglected to tell the American people he worked for Liberal Republican, Nelson Rockefeller, in his 1968 Presidential campaign, as a regional director as a grad student at Tulane University. Somehow that was skipped by "the historian."

Two Quitters

The voters of Alaska elected Sarah Palin to a four year term as Governor and she let the voters down by resigning half way through her term. She made a four year commitment she failed to honor. The voters of Newt Gingrich's congressional district in Georgia elected him to a two year term as their Congressmen. ONE DAY after he was elected Newt failed to honor his commitment and resigned from the United States House in disgrace. I will not support quitters or those who endorse quitters. Have they no honor. Unfortunately, we have become a "me first" society that even sometimes applies to some Conservatives.

We will always have the Rose Bowl 2012

This afternoon during the NFC Championship game, Oregon Duck fans learned via Twitter that Head Oregon Coach Chip Kelly is leaving for the NFL and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida. All across the Internet vie twitter, email, blog post and sports stories the news was spread much like the drums of old. The reactions of Duck fans was various from a sense of betrayal, sadness and resignation. At the least, it was a bad time being less then two weeks before "letter of intent day" for the new football recruits.How many will we lose? There was also wild speculation on who the Ducks will hire as our new coach. It seems the football season never ends.

However, inspite of it all, we will always remember what it was like to go to the Rose Bowl....... and WIN! Thanks for the memories Coach Kelly and best of luck at Tampa Bay. You will always be the coach who led us to that win in the Rose Bowl and you will always be a DUCK ! I will always remember you jumping in air when Oregon recovered a Wisconsin fumble near the Oregon sidelines.

Let's Go Ducks !



Middle of the night update:

Hey Chip, Was that a bad dream or what ! Or was it ?

Latest news is Chip changed his mind and is staying...... I don't know about you but I had a real night of resless dreams.

"The Obamas, feeling misunderstood, burrowed into “self-imposed exile"

Who would think I would ever be quoting Liberal New York Time columnist Marueen Dowd, but her column today is very true:

The portrait of the first couple in Jodi Kantor’s new book, “The Obamas,” bristles with aggrievement and the rational president’s disdain for the irrational nature of politics, the press and Republicans. Despite what his rivals say, the president and the first lady do believe in American exceptionalism — their own, and they feel overassaulted and underappreciated.

We disappointed them.

As Michelle said to Oprah in an interview she did with the president last May: “I always told the voters, the question isn’t whether Barack Obama is ready to be president. The question is whether we’re ready. And that continues to be the question we have to ask ourselves.”

They still believed, as their friend Valerie Jarrett once said, that Obama was “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”

To read the rest click on the title for a link

Her column explains why Barack made the following comment about the American People in 2008:

"And it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,"

On to Florida !

The results from South Carolina can help the Romney campaign if they take the following lessons from it.

1. Release the damn tax returns NOW!
2. Explain why Bain Capital did not load corporations with leveraged debt so they could take profits out of the business then cast them off. ( A formal report needs to be done and released to the press.... hire someone respected to do the report)
3. Show PASSION !!!!!
4. Promise to pick a Conservative as VP.
5. Get some conservative surrogates (NOT Sununu or Palenty)
6. Better debate prep.
7. BE BOLD AND ACT BOLD
8. Show that Newt is no Conservative.

Romney needs to show that he can take Newt out so we believe he can beat Obama

Final Moments of 2012 Rose Bowl

Memories to last a lifetime !

The Myth of 'Newt The Great Debater'

By Conservative John Ziegler in the American Thinker:

For example, let's take the most recent debate. Newt somehow got rave reviews for calling his ex-wife a liar (after saying that morning that he wouldn't say anything negative about her) and angrily lambasting the media for asking a legitimate question. CNN's panel universally praised Newt's answer as the highlight of the debate (this, despite the fact that he guaranteed that everyone in the country would know he has an ex-wife who hates him because the clip of him fuming was assured to get tons of airtime).

Does anyone really believe that if a similar circumstance occurred against Obama that Newt would be let off the hook like that?

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Conservatives should be warned about what they are getting themselves in for if Newt is the nominee. Debate nights might be fun, but the hangover will last for at least four years.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/the_myth_of_newt_the_great_debater.html#ixzz1k3A6XPSU

America Hates Newt !

Don't belive me.... click on the title for a link.

Conservatives... Newt will Break your heart !

Newt Gindrich has no chance of beating President Obama and even if he did he would be a failure as President which would damage the Conservative cause I have spent my life loving. He is a slick talker with a lot of contradictory ideas and no follow through or discipline to implement them. I love it when he attacks the liberal media but that does not make a Presidency. He will lead us on one more charge but will abandon us and break our hearts and spirit as he did with his first two wives.

Early in this campaign I flirted with the idea that Newt was the man. However, as the campaign as progressed I have come to the conclusion this is the same old Newt who won reelection to the House of Representatives from Georgia in 1998 and ONE DAY after the voters had elected him to a new term he announced he was resigning from the House when it was clear his own Republicans would not reelect him Speaker of the House and he said "I'm willing to lead but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals. My only fear would be that if I tried to stay, it would just overshadow whoever my successor is." Well, you can't resign from the Presidency when the going gets tough..... oh wait Nixon did ! That turned out well for us didn't it? Newt is a disaster waiting to happen.

Romney and Santorum regardless of whether you agree with them or not, are men of character who will not lead the Republican Party off a cliff. Let Rick Santorum be the non Romney candidate. That way regardless of who gets the nomination we can't lose.

Obama's Choices Are Revealing !

Fred Barnes outlines how President Obama's decision on the Keystone oil pipeline tells a lot about him:

Here are a dozen of the choices represented by the president’s decision to turn down a permit for the pipeline.

1) The Middle East over Canada.
2) Unfriendly countries over a close ally.
3) Troubled ties with Canada over good relations.
4) A vulnerable oil supply over a secure one.
5) Higher oil prices over lower prices.
6) Spill-prone tankers over a safer pipeline.
7) China (who will likely get the oil) over the U.S.
8) Unavailable green fuel over a plentiful fossil fuel.
9) Ideology over prudence.
10) The political left over the center and right.
11) Partisanship over bipartisanship.
12) Liberal, anti-pipeline public unions over private unions seeking jobs.

Few of Obama’s decisions have been quite so revealing. There’s little doubt anymore about how Obama is running for reelection this year—it’s from the left.

Is Callista a "Chevrolet" ?

Newt Gingrich said at the time of his second divorce, according to Marianne Gingrich, his second wife:

“I can’t handle a Jaguar right now. All I want is a Chevrolet.”

At the time he was "dating" Callista and asked her to marry him before he told Marianne he wanted a divorce. She now says he wanted an "Open Marriage" where he would stay married to Marianne and "date" Callista.

Doesn't look like a Chevy to me.

Forgiveness is one thing...... trust is another. As much as I agree with Newt on the issues I can't trust him and don't want him anywhere close to the Oval Office. He was and is undisciplined.

Sending Oil to China and Losing 100,000 Jobs

President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone pipeline to send oil from Canada to Texas was met with disappointment by our friends north of the border.

According to Jake Tapper of ABC News:

(Canadian) "Prime Minister Harper expressed his profound disappointment with the news. He indicated to President Obama that he hoped that this project would continue given the significant contribution it would make to jobs and economic growth both in Canada and the United States of America.” Pointedly, the statement also says that Harper “reiterated to the president that Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports.”

“Diversify”? What does that mean?

It means Canada will explore selling more of its oil to Asia. As Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver told the CBC: “Our focus is, as you know, on diversifying our markets. We currently have one customer for our energy exports. That customer has said that it doesn’t want to expand at the moment. So it certainly intensifies the broad strategic objective of the government to diversify to Asia.”

In other words Communist China !

***********

Jake Tapper continues"

A we covered earlier today, the project would directly create an estimated 13,000 jobs with the Teamsters Union assessing more than 100,000 others support jobs would be created along the pipeline’s path.

In the middle of a deep period of recession and unemployment when we are dependant on energy from some of the woulds worst tyrants our President, in order to keep his environmental wackos happy, destroys jobs and energy Independence. Thanks a lot, Mr President !

Mitt Romney's statement on the decision by President Obama:

“President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is as shocking as it is revealing. It shows a President who once again has put politics ahead of sound policy. If Americans want to understand why unemployment in the United States has been stuck above 8 percent for the longest stretch since the Great Depression, decisions like this one are the place to begin. By declaring that the Keystone pipeline is not in the ‘national interest,’ the President demonstrates a lack of seriousness about bringing down unemployment, restoring economic growth, and achieving energy independence. He seems to have confused the national interest with his own interest in pleasing the environmentalists in his political base.”

"Obama's One-Man Rule"

Michael Barone:

So Obama’s scorn for the truth in this regard is only a minor matter. His scorn for the Constitution is something else.

That scorn has been expressed most recently in his “recess” appointments of members of the National Labor Relations Board and the chairmanship of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The quotation marks are appropriate because when he made the appointments the Senate was not in recess as the Constitution requires.

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution says that presidential appointments must be confirmed by the Senate unless Congress provides otherwise. But anticipating that the government may need officials when the Senate is unavailable, the section further provides that “the President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of the next session.”

What constitutes a recess? Article I, Section 5 reads, “Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.”

The House did not consent to the adjournment of the Senate this year, so there is no recess, and hence no constitutional authority to make recess appointments

********

The Framers thought it more important to limit power than for government to act quickly. Barack Obama disagrees.

Republican presidential candidates have been praising the Founding Fathers. Obama has been defying them. Interesting contrast.

.

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

"Overall, Bain Capital’s record was extraordinary"

Steven Rattner, who served as counselor to the treasury secretary and lead auto adviser in the Obama administration writes in Politico:

Having spent nearly three decades on Wall Street, when it comes to Bain Capital, I feel equipped — some might say too equipped — to parse fact from fiction. (Full disclosure: In the post-Romney era, I worked with Bain Capital on several projects.)

Most important, Bain Capital is not now, nor has it ever been, some kind of Gordon Gekko-like, fire-breathing corporate raider that slashed and burned companies, immolating jobs wherever they appear in its path.

Wall Street has its share of the “vulture capitalists” that Texas Gov. Rick Perry enjoyed mocking in South Carolina earlier this week. But Romney was almost the furthest thing from Larry the Liquidator.
Instead, with modest exceptions (keep reading to learn more about these), Bain Capital was a thoroughly respectable — nay, eminent — investment manager that successfully discharged its responsibility of earning high returns for its investors by deploying capital in companies privately rather than by buying shares in the public market. (Hence the name, private equity.)
**********
Overall, Bain Capital’s record was extraordinary, among the best in the business
*********
What we know for certain is that Bain Capital more than fulfilled its responsibility to a gaggle of investors, who were mostly foundations, endowments, pension funds and the like.
*********
During the Romney years, Bain made 77 significant investments — and a number of smaller ones. It made billions for worthy investors and, yes, doubtless created some incalculable number of net new jobs for the U.S. economy

Read more: click on the title above

War is Hell

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, sent THE WEEKLY STANDARD an email commenting on the Marines' video as follows:

“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.

“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?

“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.

“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”

During World War II, some U.S. Marines, in the Pacific island campaign, would dig out the gold teeth of dead Japanese soldiers. The actions of the Marines then and now should be condemned and show a lack of command discipline. However, these things happen in war and have happened throughout out the history of war. Our native Americana's would take the scalps of other Indian tribes after combat. I wish it were not so but when you ask young men to be warriors they sometimes act as warriors who can not just turn it off like a light switch. I condemn the Marines and their officers for not having better discipline because they hurt the great majority of Marines that have served with honor and sacrifice.

John Bolton Endorses Mitt Romney

Tonight on Fox News former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, endorsed Mitt Romney. There is no one I respect more on foreign policy than Ambassador John Bolton. He is a hard core conservative and this is an important endorsement that brings real credibility to the Romney campaign. Bolton would be a great Secretary of State in a Romney administration.

Newt Gingrich & Michael Moore

Both left wing film makers!

"It's On to South Carolina for 'Kamikaze Newt'" according to the National Journal.


From the National Journal:

Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign may be going down in flames, but he’s determined to burn GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney as badly as he can before the crash. He could singe his future standing within his own party while he’s at it.

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

A political action committee backing Gingrich plans to flood South Carolina airwaves with ads claiming that Romney, as head of the Bain Capital private equity firm, looted companies and laid off employees.

Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire Las Vegas casino owner, gave $5 million to the pro-Gingrich PAC to help air the ads. The committee, Winning Our Future, run by former Gingrich aides, will also release on Wednesday a 28-minute video, "When Mitt Romney Came to Town," attacking the former Massachusetts governor’s record at Bain. A trailer of the video intones: “A story of greed, playing the system for a quick buck, a group of corporate raiders led by Mitt Romney--more ruthless than Wall Street.”

John Feehery a former aid to Newt writes:

“It was Churchill who said that revenge was best served cold. Becoming a kamikaze pilot in a fit of pique is hardly the best way to get revenge or to restore your political reputation.”

Romney Wins New Hampshire

Tonight Mitt Romney gave the best speech of his life. Thanks Newt ! His victory speech is as follows"

Mitt Romney: Thank you, New Hampshire! Tonight, we made history!

This state has always been a special place for our family. Ann and I made a home here and we’ve filled it with great memories of our children and grandchildren. And this Granite State moment is one we will always remember.

Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we go back to work.

We remember when Barack Obama came to New Hampshire four years ago.

He promised to bring people together.

He promised to change the broken system in Washington.

He promised to improve our nation.

Those were the days of lofty promises made by a hopeful candidate. Today, we are faced with the disappointing record of a failed President. The last three years have held a lot of change, but they haven’t offered much hope.

The middle class has been crushed. Nearly 24 million of our fellow Americans are still out of work, struggling to find work, or have just stopped looking. The median income has dropped 10% in four years. Soldiers returning from the front lines are waiting in unemployment lines. Our debt is too high and our opportunities too few.

And this President wakes up every morning, looks out across America and is proud to announce, “It could be worse.”

It could be worse? Is that what it means to be an American? It could be worse?

Of course not.

What defines us as Americans is our unwavering conviction that we know it must be better.

That conviction guides our campaign. It has rallied millions of Americans in every corner of this country to our cause.

Over the last six months, I’ve listened to anxious voices in town meetings and visited with students and soldiers. In break rooms and living rooms, I’ve heard stories of families getting by on less, of carefully planned retirements now replaced by jobs at minimum wage. But even now, amidst the worst economy since the Great Depression, I’ve rarely heard a refrain of hopelessness.

Americans know that our future is brighter and better than these troubled times. We still believe in the hope, the promise, and the dream of America. We still believe in that shining city on a hill.

We know that the future of this country is better than 8 or 9% unemployment.

It is better than $15 trillion in debt.

It is better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years – and the failed leadership of one man.

The President has run out of ideas. Now, he’s running out of excuses. And tonight, we are asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time.

President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial. In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him. This is such a mistake for our Party and for our nation. This country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy. We must offer an alternative vision. I stand ready to lead us down a different path, where we are lifted up by our desire to succeed, not dragged down by a resentment of success. In these difficult times, we cannot abandon the core values that define us as unique — We are One Nation, Under God.


Make no mistake, in this campaign, I will offer the American ideals of economic freedom a clear and unapologetic defense.

Our campaign is about more than replacing a President; it is about saving the soul of America. This election is a choice between two very different destinies.

President Obama wants to “fundamentally transform” America. We want to restore America to the founding principles that made this country great.

He wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society. We want to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity.

This President takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America.

This President puts his faith in government. We put our faith in the American people.

He is making the federal government bigger, burdensome, and bloated. I will make it simpler, smaller, and smarter.

He raised the national debt. I will cut, cap, and balance the budget.

He enacted job-killing regulations; I’ll eliminate them.

He lost our AAA credit rating; I’ll restore it.

He passed Obamacare; I’ll repeal it.

When it comes to the economy, my highest priority as President will be worrying about your job, not saving my own.

Internationally, President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. He believes America’s role as leader in the world is a thing of the past. I believe a strong America must – and will – lead the future.

He doesn’t see the need for overwhelming American military superiority. I will insist on a military so powerful no one would think of challenging it.

He chastises friends like Israel; I’ll stand with our friends.

He apologizes for America; I will never apologize for the greatest nation in the history of the Earth.

Our plans protect freedom and opportunity, and our blueprint is the Constitution of the United States.

The path I lay out is not one paved with ever increasing government checks and cradle-to-grave assurances that government will always be the solution. If this election is a bidding war for who can promise more benefits, then I’m not your President. You have that President today.

But if you want to make this election about restoring American greatness, then I hope you will join us.

If you believe the disappointments of the last few years are a detour, not our destiny, then I am asking for your vote.

I’m asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an American.

I want you to remember what it was like to be hopeful and excited about the future, not to dread each new headline.

I want you to remember when you spent more time dreaming about where to send your kids to college than wondering how to make it to the next paycheck.

I want you to remember when you weren’t afraid to look at your retirement savings or the price at the pump.

I want you to remember when our White House reflected the best of who we are, not the worst of what Europe has become.

That America is still out there. We still believe in that America.

We still believe in the America that is a land of opportunity and a beacon of freedom. We believe in the America that challenges each of us to be better and bigger than ourselves.

This election, let’s fight for the America we love. We believe in America.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America

As for Newt, he has DISQUALIFIED him shelf for the Republican nomination by his attacks on the Free Enterprise System. He has proved, once again, he is an undisciplined person without core values. He has a vindictive personality and this is his last hurrah.Ditto Perry. They both make me sick! Who would have thought that the so called Conservatives would attack Romney from the left. Have they no shame!

Mitt Romney the Real Conservative

Jay Nordlinger of National Review Online:

Over and over, Romney defends and explains capitalism. And he’s supposed to be the RINO and squish in the race? That’s what I read in the conservative blogosphere, every day. What do you have to do to be a “real conservative”? Speak bad English and belch?

In the Saturday debate, Santorum knocked Romney for being just a “manager,” just a “CEO,” not fit to be president and commander-in-chief. This was odd for a couple of reasons: First, Romney did have a term as governor of Massachusetts (meaning he has executive political experience, unlike Santorum). And second: Since when do conservative Republicans denigrate private-sector experience?

About 800 times, Newt Gingrich told us to read a particular newspaper, to see what a capitalist meanie Romney was. What was the newspaper? The New York Times, of course. There’s a great slogan for our conservative visionary: “Read the New York Times!”

Now Romney has said, “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I want to say, ‘You know, I’m going to get someone else to provide that service to me.’” Simple, elementary competition. Capitalism 101. And conservatives go, “Eek, a mouse!”

I could go on: the $10 million bet, the pink slips, conservatives wetting their pants, over and over. They have no appetite to defend capitalism, to persuade people, to encourage them not to fall for the old socialist and populist crap. I fled the Democratic party many years ago. And one of the reasons was, I couldn’t stand the class resentment, the envy, the hostility to wealth, the cries of “Richie Rich!” And I hear them from conservatives, at least when Romney is running.

Go ahead, have your “bloodbath” in South Carolina. Make Romney the little guy in the top hat, from the Monopoly game. Have your Santorum, your Perry, your Newt. They may carry something like four states in the fall, but at least they’ve never sullied their hands with — eek! — business.

Perhaps after the election, while Obama is deepening the country’s poverty, Romney and others like him can find a party friendly to capitalism. We conservative Republicans turn out to be cradle-to-gravers, like everyone else.

Click on the title for the compete article.

"The Winter of our Ducks' Content"

(The Three Musketeers)

As usual Bob Welch of the Eugene Register-Guard writes it best:

And the Bard is right: UO’s 45-38 victory over the Badgers on Monday night promises to warm Duck fans with the balmy pleasantry of Pasadena through the dark, wintry months ahead.

Perhaps even beyond for those of us old enough to remember when pain wasn’t a last-second loss in a national championship game but a 14-game losing streak (1974-75) or shutting out Oregon State and still not winning (0-0 in 1983).

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

It’s Charlie Brown going to kick the football and, for once, Lucy not pulling it away at the last second.

With the exception of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl, that has happened in the four recent marquee bowl games the Ducks have played in: the 1995 Rose Bowl, the 2010 Rose Bowl and last year’s BCS Championship.

The hoopla. The hype. The game. The loss. The cold winters that followed each.

***********

Not now. Lucy’s reign is over.

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

What mattered was simply knowing that for one day, in a place that is to college football what Augusta is to golf, Oregon won the day.

Enabled some of us old-timers to check another item on our bucket list.

And staved off another winter of discontent.

To read the rest of his wonderful column click on the title for a link

OREGON DUCKS WIN ROSE BOWL 45 TO 38

At the end of a slug fest of a game, I looked around and after giving my two adult children hugs, told them to look around the Rose Bowl stadium as it would never be as good as this again (in being a sports fan of a team). It has been 95 loooong years since the Ducks last won a Rose Bowl. They did it in my lifetime. A day to remember and it was made very special because it was with my kids. Go Ducks..... you won the day!

With apologies to William Shakespeare:

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of Oregon Ducks;
For to-day those that were at the Rose Bowl with me
Shall be my brother and sister; be they ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle their condition;
And gentlemen and ladies from Oregon now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not there,
And hold their being a Duck cheap whiles any speaks
That stood with us at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2012.