'Operation Hot Mic'

A little humor on a serious subject.

Time for Conservatives to Rally to Mitt Romney

The Leaders of the Conservative cause are starting to rally to Mitt Romney. Last week it was South Carolina  Senator Jim DeMint and Jeb Bush.This week it is Florida senator Marco Rubio and now congressmen Paul Ryan.  It's time for all Conservatives to join them to start the campaign against President  Barack Obama. The "hot mic" incident, where it was revealed that  Obama will, if reelected,  go even farther to the Left in appeasing  the despots of this dangerous world , should send a chill down the spine of every Conservative.   That combined with the huge debt that is swallowing us should sober us all up and demonstrate that  our differences are minor in comparison to the danger that hovers over the United States.

Preventing the reelection of President Obama will not be easy.  For all his weakness abroad he is a skilled  Chicago street fighter in domestic politics and will continue his class warfare in an attempt to stay in office.His allies in the public employee unions will spend  millions to keep their patron saint in the White House.

It's been said before, but this is the most important election in a long long time.  If  Obama is reelected there will be no going back. We will withdraw from leadership in a dangerous world and economically  there will be no return from the road to serfdom. We will enter a world were freedom will be gone and we will wish every day we could replay the election of 2012.

Mitt is not perfect and some of us have longed for others with better Conservative credentials.. They, for various reasons, have  elected to stand on the sidelines. Mitt Romney HAS been willing to lead and we should rally to him in this time of testing.

 Cross the line and stand with Mitt Romney!

Marco Rubio: I endorsed Mitt Romney because of Obama’s ‘hot mic’ moment

I am sure regular readers of this blog may feel like I have become obsessed by President Obama's whispered comments to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about being "flexible" after his "last election." It looks like I am not the only one.  Florida senator Marco Rubio says “It’s been weighing on my mind all week" and that is the reason for his endorsement of Mitt Romney. According to the Dailey Caller:

Mitt Romney can thank President Obama’s “flexibility” for Marco Rubio’s endorsement.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Sen. Rubio revealed that President Obama’s recent “open mic” gaffe with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sparked his endorsement of Mitt Romney for president Wednesday night.

“It’s been weighing on my mind all week,” he said.

 “I’ve never thought about this as a political calculation,” Rubio said of his endorsement. “I’m just sitting back here and watching a president that just got back from overseas — where he told the Russian president to work with him and give him space so he can be more flexible if he gets re-elected.”

“The stakes are so high. We’re not running against John F. Kennedy here,” he said.

“We have to win this election in November. We have to!” he averred. “If we don’t win this election in November — and we get four more years of Barack Obama — I don’t know what that means … But I know it ain’t good.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/29/rubio-obamas-open-mic-gaffe-prompted-timing-of-romney-endorsement/#ixzz1qXtxsEIe

As some one else tweeted me today,  Senator, "wecome back to the fight, This time I know our side will win." or

" I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

 

Mitt Romney: "a sad replay of Jimmy Carter's bungling"

Mitt Romney:

Sometimes it's the unguarded moments that are the most revealing of all. President Obama just had such a moment at the summit in South Korea. "This is my last election," Obama told Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, in an exchange that was inadvertently picked up by microphones. "After my election I have more flexibility."
But flexibility to do what? The president mentioned missile defense to Medvedev as one area where the Kremlin should expect more flexibility. This is alarming.
It is not an accident that Mr. Medvedev is now busy attacking me. The Russians clearly prefer to do business with the current incumbent of the White House.
And it is not hard to understand why. The record shows that President Obama has already been pliant on missile defense and other areas of nuclear security. Without extracting meaningful concessions from Russia, he abandoned our missile defense sites in Poland. He granted Russia new limits on our nuclear arsenal. He capitulated to Russia's demand that a United Nations resolution on the Iranian nuclear-weapons program exclude crippling sanctions.
Moscow has rewarded these gifts with nothing but obstructionism at the United Nations on a whole raft of issues. It has continued to arm the regime of Syria's vicious dictator and blocked multilateral efforts to stop the ongoing carnage there. Across the board, it has been a thorn in our side on questions vital to America's national security. For three years, the sum total of President Obama's policy toward Russia has been: "We give, Russia gets."
Russian intransigence has elicited no push-back from the White House. Indeed, as the conversation in South Korea shows, President Obama appears determined to ingratiate himself with the Kremlin. This, unfortunately, seems to be the real meaning of his "reset" policy. An outstanding example is the personal phone call that Barack Obama made to Vladimir Putin from Air Force One congratulating the Russian leader on his election as Russia's next president.
The call followed a declaration from the State Department that "the United States congratulates the Russian people on the completion of the Presidential elections." Given that the Russian elections were widely seen to have been compromised by fraud and intimidation, these words made a mockery of America's commitment to democracy and human rights. They undercut all those in Russia who are risking so much to struggle for the universal rights that we ourselves enjoy. They are a shameful betrayal of our country's first principles.
President Obama's conversation with Dmitry Medvedev raises questions not only about his policy toward Russia, but his entire foreign policy.
Would post-election "flexibility" lead him to reach out once again to the Iranian regime "without preconditions"? Would it lead him to resume pressuring Israel into making unilateral concessions to the Palestinians? Would it permit him to take an even softer line, if that is imaginable, toward the authoritarian regimes of the Castro brothers and Hugo Chávez? Would he further shrink our Navy and Air Force below the already-too-low force numbers currently planned? Would he pour more money into United Nations bodies that have recognized a Palestinian state and seem to spend an inordinate amount of their time and energy denouncing Israel?
In a self-governing country like ours, the people have a right to know what kinds of decisions are being taken in their name. The American people deserve candor. They also deserve a foreign policy founded upon our enduring principles and a recognition of our exceptional place in the world.
That is not what they are getting now. Unfortunately, what they are getting is a sad replay of Jimmy Carter's bungling at a moment when the United States needs the backbone and courage of a Ronald Reagan. In his dealings with the Kremlin, as in his dealings with the rest of the world, President Obama has demonstrated breathtaking weakness -- and given the word "flexibility" a new and ominous meaning.

Karl Rove: What Other Surprises Will Obama have after Relection?

Karl Rove

Mr. Obama has shown Russian leaders, and now the entire world, weakness.

He’s willing to bend to the demands of America’s international rivals as long as his appeasement becomes public only after he’s safely back in the White House for a second term. But he is apparently unwilling to share with the American people his “flexibility” with the Russians, perhaps concerned about the criticism such concessions to Moscow might draw from America’s European allies.
*********

The effects of Mr. Obama’s remarks in Seoul go beyond foreign affairs. If the president believes it is important to his reelection to conceal from Americans his response to Russians demands to halt development of a missile defense for Europe, voters have every right to ask: What other surprises does he plan to spring on us if he’s reelected?


This won’t all happen by itself. To make the most of Mr. Obama’s statement, Republicans will need to raise it again and again in speeches, ads, videos and debates......



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/03/27/why-obamas-open-mic-slip-could-seriously-hurt-his-reelection-hopes/#ixzz1qLOPeZHA





 

 

Hugh Hewitt:"The Appeasement President's Defining Moment"

From Hugh Hewitt's blog:

You have to look pretty hard to find any stories on President Obama's exchange with Russian President Medvedev. The president first tried a little humor and then went into full --"nothing to see here, I am a transparent guy-- mode with reporters, but the stunning exchange is just beginning to seep into the public's consciousness, and with it all the implications of President Obama assuring our Russian adversary that after the election is over, he can be more "flexible." Despite the protective ring thrown up around him by an admiring MSM, this spectacular display of duplicity towards the American electorate will not fade.... ************* Only the slobbering Obamians within the MSM don't seem to understand an enormous moment when it happens, so busy are they with their Etch-a-Sketch comments by a staffer and their zombie narrative about the GOP convention being brokered or some other nonsense. How to explain to them? Analogies might work if any of them have basic history down. Imagine Ike telling Molotov in '55 that he was facing his last election next year and that he needed some space, and the Soviet foreign secretary assuring him he'd transmit the information to Uncle Joe. Or JFK saying the same thing to Gromyko, he agreed to pass it on to Khrushchev. Or Nixon saying to Zhou forty years ago during his trip to China "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." And Zhou replying, "I will transmit this to Chairman Mao." Russia is our adversary, and on nearly every issue they are working to destroy our position in our world and subjugate former allies. They are arming Iran, have invaded Georgia, and are blackmailing Europe. What doesn't the president understand about Russia? Apparently everything. And what does President Obama plan to do vis-a-vis Russia if he is re-elected? You go ahead and guess because the MSM won't be speculating about what the president's clap on the arm was meant to convey. Between now and the election in November, Obama's allies will do their best to minimize then airbrush this astonishing exchange from the public's concerns, and the job of people concerned about America's standing in the world and the defense of our allies to keep bringing the public back to the fact that the president has committed to deceiving them --to the president of Russia no less. http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/33d90814-597d-467f-bb40-7de8300c2284

An Open Letter to President Obama Regarding “Flexibility”

The following is an open letter to President Obama from Mitt Romney's foreign policy team

Dear Mr. President,

We live in a dangerous world. American strength and American constancy are critical to the preservation of peace. Too often, the United States under your leadership has been neither strong nor constant. Your inadvertently recorded remarks to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in South Korea raise questions about whether a new period of even greater weakness and inconstancy would lie ahead if you are reelected.

Here is a transcript of the exchange, which leads us to a number of important questions that demand answers:

President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.

 President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…

           President Obama: This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.

President Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.

What do you mean by “flexibility?” Flexibility to do what?

In addition to these broad questions, your words to President Medvedev raise more specific questions on a range of issues.

Missile Defense: Your administration has cut our missile defense budget, linked the New START treaty to our missile defense capabilities, and abandoned plans for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic without extracting concessions from Russia. Should the American people expect more efforts to placate Russia by weakening the missile defense systems that protect us and our allies?

Iranian Nuclear Weapons: In your speech to AIPAC, you said you “don’t bluff” when it comes to the Iranian threat. But your administration has delayed and opposed crippling sanctions in its first three years, repeatedly talked down the effectiveness and advisability of the military option, and openly discouraged Israel from acting in its own self-defense. Would post-election “flexibility” lead you to revive your “no preconditions” engagement policy with the Iranian regime?


Israeli-Palestinian Dispute: According to the Palestinian foreign minister, your administration told the Palestinian Authority to wait until the election is over for further action on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Over three years you have pressured the Israelis to grant one-sided concessions to the Palestinians, demanded that Israel accept the 1967 lines as the starting point for negotiations, and lobbied Congress to restore U.S. taxpayer funding to a United Nations body that has recognized a Palestinian state. Will post-election “flexibility” lead you to undermine Israel further?


Iraq and Afghanistan: Contrary to the recommendations of your military commanders, you withdrew American forces from Iraq without leaving an appropriate training force behind. And contrary to the recommendations of your military commanders, you have begun to draw down American forces in Afghanistan according to a politically driven timetable that makes no strategic sense. Stability in both countries is now at greater risk. If you are reelected, would “flexibility” lead you to abandon completely American commitments, notwithstanding the enormous sacrifices American forces have made, and with little regard for our national security?

The Castros and Chavez: Your administration has relaxed sanctions on the brutal Castro regime in Cuba and has done little to counter the growing influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez throughout Latin America. Would post-election “flexibility” lead you to take an even softer line toward these authoritarian regimes?

Defense Budget: Your administration has proposed cutting $487 billion from the defense budget over 10 years and supports a budget process that may bring that number up to nearly $1 trillion. While spending explodes elsewhere in the budget, would post-election “flexibility” lead you to impose even deeper cuts that will cripple our military?

In a democracy, no issues are more important than those pertaining to national security. The American people deserve full and frank answers to these questions, or at least the same level of candor you have offered to Russia’s leaders.

Sincerely,

          Grant Aldonas
          Leon Aron

Cofer Black
John Bolton
Christopher Burnham
Eliot Cohen
Norm Coleman
Paula Dobriansky
Eric Edelman
Aaron Friedberg
Nile Gardiner
Kerry Healey
Kim Holmes
Robert Joseph

Robert Kagan

John Lehman

Kent Lucken

Mary Beth Long

William Martel

Tibor Nagy

Andrew Natsios

Robert O’Brien

Meghan O’Sullivan

Walid Phares

Stephen Rademaker

Mitchell Reiss

Daniel Runde

Daniel Senor

James Shinn

Kristen Silverberg

Clifford Sobel

Jim Talent

Ray Walser

Richard Williamson

Dov Zakheim

Roger Zakheim

Krauthammer: Obama Admitted To Medvedev That Second Term Will Be Hard Left

 Charles KRAUTHAMMER:

 I think that the key word here in that exchange was Obama saying to the Russians, 'this is my last election.' It's not just that 'I have another election and I'll be occupied with other issues, let's talk about this. It's a complicated want in December.'
'This is my last election.' That's his way of saying with a nod and a wink, 'Look, you guys have a free hand because you run a dictatorship, your elections are rigged. Well, ours aren't rigged, but once I get passed my last election, I'm unleashed. I can do anything I want.

And what he's saying is, 'you know that reset I began three years ago where I completely undermined our allies in Eastern Europe. I cancelled the missile defense system and I began a process in which our supremacy in missile defenses is now negotiable, which the Republicans have never allowed to be negotiable.'
'Well, after election day, I can't speak about it now of course because it's my last election and Americans won't actually like that -- after election day, I'll be open.'
This is a huge gaffe. it Etch-A-Sketch is a problem for Romney, this is the President himself saying, 'I'll be unleashed. I can govern hard left. I can do all this reset stuff in the future unmolested.' That's his way of telling people, 'you may have no idea what my agenda in the second term is going to be, but let me tell you, the Russians, it's going to be pretty hard left.'

Obama to Russians:"THIS IS MY LAST ELECTION. AFTER MY ELECTION I HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY''

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/president-obama-asks-medvedev-for-space-on-missile-defense-after-my-election-i-have-more-flexibility/

Did you notice President Obama used the term "my last election" to refer to the fact that after the election he would not have to worry about the American voter  and could be more flexible in dealing with the Russians on missile defense.  Why doesn't he go to the American people now and explain why he wants more flexibility?  Does he not trust them and thinks he knows better .  It seems like he trusts the Russians more than the American public.

At a time rogue states such at Iran and North Korea are developing nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them we need to be developing a missile defense systems  and not compromising them away to the Russians. He was telling the Russians to just be patient.  After he is no longer accountable to the American people he can divert the funds from missile defense to those domestic programs he cares about for his Democrat party constituencies such as public employee unions.

This is Obama in another moment when he didn't think he was being recorded:

"So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them"

Unlike Mitt Romney this "Etch a Sketch" moment came from President Obama personally! Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ripped President Obama as “a real ‘Etch a Sketch’ leader for suggesting he could switch his policy on missile defense after the election.

In the midst of an often tense discussion between the US and Russia over plans for a US-led NATO European missile defense system, Obama was heard asking Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for more time on the subject and promising he will have “more flexibility” following the election in November. The comments came across a live mic the two leaders did not appear to realize was on.

“Pres Obama tells Medvedev he’ll be more “flexible” on missile defense – that’s a real “Etch A Sketch” leader!— John McCain

Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona on the Senate floor today:

Well obviously this presents a problem that is going to have to be discussed with the U.S. Congress if the president is in effect saying that he would like to make a deal to limit the U.S. defenses now but he would be accountable to the American public if they became aware of it before his reelection bid

Bill Kristol:

If one needed a reminder of why President Obama must be defeated in November, he provided it today in Seoul, where the end of his private conversation with Russian president Dmitri Medvedev was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room:




President Obama: "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space."



President Medvedev: "Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…"



President Obama: "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility."



President Medvedev: "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir."



"More flexibility." That means more accommodation to Vladimir Putin's Russia. It also means, I dare say, greater hostility to Israel, and, in general, a second term foreign policy more in line with Obama's original instincts (e.g., the Cairo speech), once he's free of the domestic political constraints that have brought him, to some degree, toward the center.



Yikes.

Romney on his way to 1144 Delegates

Now that the last primary is over for the month of March how is Mitt Romney doing? On March 15 I predicted he would have 563 delegates on his march to 1144 by the end of the primary season. He is ahead of schedule and after the Louisiana Primary tonight he has 575. Santorum won Louisiana with a total of 13 delegates. Mitt Romney picked up 7 for a net Santorum gain of 6. Santorum is running out of Southern states other than Kentucky and maybe North Carolina where he can win. Maryland, D.C. and Wisconsin up next where Mitt will win all totaled more delegates on his march to the Republican nomination. It's in the numbers !

Good Luck to Dick Cheney

New reports are that former Vice President Dick Cheney had a heart transparent today. Good Luck! American needs men like Dick Cheney. My thought are with him and his family

Is the Louisiana Primary "Garbage Time"

In football there is a term called "Garbage Time" to refer to a score by the losing team, late in the game, after it has already been decided. For example,a sports writer will may say: Oregon State scored a late touchdown in "garbage time" against the Oregon Ducks. Well, on Saturday Rick Santorum may score a late touchdown against Mitt Romney in "garbage time" in the Louisiana Primary.

On March 15, 2012, on this blog, I showed how Mitt Romney will get to the needed 114 delegates by the end of the Primary Season. I projected he would have by the end of March "563" delegates after Louisiana the last primary of the month. Well, even before Louisiana he now HAS 563 delegates so everything he gets on Saturday will be pure gravy. He only needs to get 25% of the vote to get his proportional share of delegates.

According to the various news organizations Mitt's totals are as follows:

CNN: 563
Real Clear Politics: 560
The Green Papers: 558
The Politico: 563
New York Times 563
Washington Post 563

While Louisiana has 46 delegates to the Republican Convention only 20 will be picked on Saturday in the primary. The rest will be picked at a state convention and not be bound by the primary.

According to The Green Papers:

20 National Convention Delegates are allocated proportionally to those Presidential candidates receiving 25% or more of the statewide primary vote. Fractional delegates are rounded to the nearest whole number (rounding rules to handle too many or too few delegates are unknown).
If no candidate receives 25% of the vote, the 20 delegates will attend the Republican National Convention officially unpledged to any candidate. These delegates will be elected at the State Convention where the participants at the State Convention will alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied.

As to the rest of the delegates according to The Green Papers:

18 National Convention district delegates-- 3 from each of the state's 6 Congressional Districts are elected in the Congressional District meetings. The participants at the State Convention alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied. These delegates are official designated as uncommitted. [Rule No. 19. (c) and 20. (a)]
20 National Convention At-Large delegates are elected according to the results of the primary. [Rule No. 19. (d) and 20. (b)]
5 National Convention delegates are nominated by the Executive Committee. These delegates are official designated as uncommitted. [Rule No. 19. (e) and 20. (b)]

So get the popcorn and sit back for the results on Saturday. Polls close a 6 pm PST. Again, the magic number for Romney is 25% of the vote in order to get some delegates.

For political junkies, such as myself, there will be 10 loooong days till the next primary on April 3 when we will have the District of Columbia, Maryland and Wisconsin with a total of 98 delegates. Romney was projected by me to win easily in D.C. and Maryland and I had projected him to run close in Wisconsin but to lose. The latest Rasmusen poll has Romney up by 13 in Wisconsin. What did I say about "Garbage Time"!

(Click on the title for a link to The Green Papers a virtual "gold mine" of information for political junkies.)

PS Some people like to leave a game during "garbage time" but I like to stay till the very end.

New York Times Review of Fort Apache on Blu-ray

Click on the title for a link to the New York Times review of the new blu-ray release of John Ford's "Fort Apache"(1948)

A few quotes from this fine review by Dave Kehr:

Fort Apache” is one of the great achievements of classical American cinema, a film of immense complexity that never fails to reveal new shadings with each viewing....

Ford treats his Apache warriors with sympathy and respect,.....

But watching the magnificent new Blu-ray edition of “Fort Apache” from Warner Home Video I was struck this time by the film’s reflective, inward quality, by its emotional climate of loss and uncertainty.....

A sense of stagnation and emptiness has settled in at Fort Apache, which the residents have attempted to fill with social ritual (the film contains two wonderfully filmed formal dance sequences) and domestic warmth.....

But Ford, who was 54 when he filmed “Fort Apache,” is no less sensitive to the pull of tradition and the weight of the past. To look at the faces of “Fort Apache” is to see his life and already long career (over 100 features and shorts by this point, with some 30 more to go) passing by. Mortality lies in every frame....

As in his late masterpiece “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962) Ford acknowledges a need for heroes while undermining the notion of heroism...

Click on the title for the complete review.

John Ford was just a few years from his service in World War II, which he felt was the defining point in his life and gave it more meaning than any of his movies, must have personally felt the "loss", "uncertainty", "stagnation", "emptiness" and "mortality" described above. Most of the characters in Fort Apache are veterans of the the American Civil War where they had, for the most part, held higher rank, and so Ford identified with them.

After the war Ford bought some land and built a "club house" with pool & tennis court, parade ground, chapel, baseball diamond for his old unit, the Navy's (OSS) Photo Field Division, as a place for the former unit members to get together for reunions, birthdays,holidays and just good old plain drinking and cards. He wanted to keep the "social rituals" he learned in the Navy and which is shown in Fort Apache."

Time for Rick Santourm to End His Campaign

From the Romney camp:

Each day Senator Santorum continues to march up this steep hill of improbability is a day we lose to unite in our effort as Republicans to defeat President Obama,"

So as Senator Santorum continues to drag out this already expensive, negative campaign it is clear that he is becoming the most valuable player on President Obama's team.

Chris Cillizza:

watch for more major establishment figures to come forward to both support Romney and carry a more overt warning to Santorum about what his continuing on his current course could mean to his political future.

Will he show himself to be a Republican first of a sore loser.... the choice is up to him and his political future depends on it.

We Will Always Have Paris

Movie "Casablanca"(1942) Back in Theaters for one night only for the 70th Anniversary! I never tire of watching this movie. "Play it again Sam"!

UPDATE:
Went last night here in Medford, to Tinseltown and had a great time watching it on the big screen. Not as good a picture as my Blu-ray but still fun to watch it at a theater. On of my favorite lines: "Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win."

I Will Miss C-SPAN's Brian Lamb

It was announced this week that Brian Lamb, the head of C-SPAN, is stepping down. Brian is my favorite TV interviewer and he will be missed.David Brooks has a wonderful article about why he will be missed. Click on the title for a link.

Two quotes from the article:

The broadcast network interviewers ask mostly about emotions and feelings. On many of the cable talk shows, the host is the star so the questions are really rococo essays that render the answers superfluous. And when you cast your eye out to the broader culture, you see even more that curiosity about simple facts has been submerged amidst the more sophisticated interest in theory and perceptions....

Indeed, when you step back far enough you begin to appreciate that C-SPAN is so far out of tune with the times that it has become an intellectual counterculture. Especially on the weekends, the people who fill its screens seem quaintly and bravely out of step: the historian who has devoted her career to researching Pickett's Charge, the auctioneer who specializes in rare 18th-century books, the biographer who has spent years describing John Adams.

Movie: "Iron Lady" (2011) *****

This was a great weekend for movies. On Saturday we watched "My Week with Marilin" (2011) and I loved it. I give it 4 ****. We also watched "Anonymous" (2011) which I give 5*****. "My Week with Marilyn" is about Marilyn Monroe making a movie in England with Lawrence Olivier in the 1950's. "Anonymous" is about how Lord Oxford wrote Shakespeare's plays and used Shakespeare as a "front man". This is based upon the "Oxfodien" theory of Shakespeare scholars.It is hard to understand how Shakespeare, who was not a nobleman and had never been to Italy would have the knowledge to write these plays. In any case, it was a fascinating complicated movie that challenged the mind and I loved it. Both movies were from my Netflix account.

On Sunday we went to Tinseltown to see an actual "double feature" ( we only paid one price for both movies) of the "Iron Lady and "The Artist" (2011) 3 ***. The first was the "Iron Lady which I loved and brought tears to my eyes. One of my heroes is Margret Thatcher the first female British Prime Minster and the greatest since Winston Churchill.

My favorite part of the movie was the retelling of her role in the Falkland War against Argentina. At the time I followed the war intently and would get reports from the BBC on my short wave radio and had our extra bedroom made up into a "war room" with maps and the location of ships etc.

The sad part of the movie is that most of it is told in flashbacks from the near past as she is declining in mind as most of us do as we reach "the end". Unless we die a sudden death it happens to many of the greats such as Reagan and Churchill out of public view. As a reader of biographies I know that we all don't "live happily every after" which we were led to believe in the fairy tales of our youth.The end is often very bitter sweet. My wife was bothered by her conversations with her dead husband who appears like a ghost. I viewed it more as a dramatic devise to tell the story .... and what a story it is.

Her speeches on the problems of the U.K. are right out of what is happening in Greece and the United States today. The enslavement of us all by debt and the power of the "nanny state". Her battle with the leaders of her own Conservative party to push back on the "road to serfdom" or go along in a competent moderate managed way because that is the "politically smart" thing.

Meryl Streep deserves her Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Thatcher.

The "Iron Lady and "Anonymous" will be on my DVD buy list.

Not on my DVD list is "The Artist"(2011) 3 *** winner of the Academy Award for "Best Picture". I thought it was a trite story told better in "Singing in the Rain" and I kept anticipating what was going to happen and kept looking at my watch and wondering how the vote was going in Puerto Rico and how many delegates Romney would get. I have watched many real silent pictures such as John Wayne's the "Big Trail" and some Directed by John Ford such at "The Iron Horse" which are much better. I did like the dog in "The Artist"

Retreat, Retreat, Retreat

Under President Obama's leadership the United States is in full retreat all over the world. Retreat in Iraq,retreat in Afghanistan,retreat in Syria,retreat in Pakistan,retreat in North Korea and retreat in Egypt. Our enemies watch and wait to fill the void !

Democracies never learn that weakness leads to war at the worst possible time.

The Grapes of Wrath on Blu-ray

John Ford's "Greaps of Wrath" will be relesed on blu-ray on April 3,2012.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

An "Oldie Goldie" post:

What better day to write about the soundtrack to Director John Ford's movie, The Quiet Man, which he made as a tribute to his ancestral home of Ireland.In some ways it was a "love letter." Of all the movies he made this is the one he loved and fought hardest to make. No one though it would be a hit and he had to agree to make another John Wayne western , Rio Grande,to compensate Republic Pictures Studios for the cost of the Quiet Man. Before production started on The Quiet Man he made Rio Grande with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara to test them out for their parts in The Quiet Man. They were magic together in both movies. In The Quiet Man, Wayne and O'Hara star in this movie of an American Boxer who returns to his family's home in Ireland and falls in love with an Irish lass.The soundtrack is available on CD and was recorded in Ireland by "The Dublin Screen Orchestra."A great soundtrack to a John Wayne movie.The movie was made in Ireland in the summer of 1951. John Ford won the Best Director Oscar for his direction and it also won a Best Cinematography Oscar.The Soundtrack was written by Victor Young. Ford insisted that the music aptly reflect the lush Irish locale and is full of Irish folk tunes.

If you watch Rio Grande, you will also note he tested some of the music for The Quiet Man in in that movie as well.

Now, we just need a restored copy of The Quiet Man on DVD, blu-ray would be great,because the present one is a poor transfer of the movie. In some ways the old VHS copy of the movie are better.

I can still remember watching this movie, for the first time, with my parent and sister, in the 1950's from the back seat of my parents car at a drive in theater. My dad liked the big fight at the end of the movie. I can still hear his laugh.

P.S. Director John Ford was in love with Maureen O'Hara and made Duke Wayne his "stand in" doing the things he wanted to do but was prevented because of his Catholic faith.

Just Too Good!

Republicans Mock Obama Documentary With the above Fake Movie Poster
“After four years, the only bad thing they found about their time in office was that it was just too good.” The 17-minute Obama “documentary” to be released today, but is already the subject of GOP ridicule. Those darn Republicans..... they have not sense of humor. (sarcasm)

(click on the title for a blowup of the satirical movie poster..... reading the small print is worth it)

How Mitt Gets to 1144

March 15,2012 Has 495 (According to Washington Post & N.Y Times)

Balance of March Primaries and Caucuses:

Puerto Rico all 23 (Winner takes all)
Illinois 30 of 69
Louisiana 15 of 46

Total end of March 563


April Primaries and Caucuses:

Maryland 37 of 37
D.C. 19 of 19 (Winner takes all)
N.Y. 65 of 95
Conn. 20 of 28
R.I. 10 of 19
Del. 10 of 17
Wisc. 15 of 42
Penn. 30 of 72

Total end of April 769

May Primaries and Caucuses:

Ind. 20 of 46
N.C. 20 of 55
W.V. 10 of 31
Neb. 15 of 35
Or: 16 of 28
Kentucky 7 of 45
Ark. 10 of 36
Texas 50 of 155

Total end of May 907

June Primaries and Caucuses:

California 120 of 172
N.J. 50 of 50 (Winner takes all)
Montana 15 of 26
N.M. 10 of 23
S.D. 10 of 28
Utah 40 of 40 (Winner takes all)

Total end of June: 1152 ...... Need for Nomination 1144.

In going over the list of the remaining states I have reviewed the Green Papers website as to the rules for choosing delegates in each state and have taken a conservative (cautious) approach. Mitt Romney will probable win many more delegates but this is almost a worst case scenario for him.As more Conservatives come to the conclusion Romney will be our nominee, and has the best chance of beating President Obama, I predict some states where Santorum is projected with a majority will tilt to Romney in May and June.

Dick Harter RIP

Former Oregon basketball coach Dick Harter, best known for coaching the “Kamikaze Kids,” passed away Monday evening at the age of 81.

Harter coached Oregon from 1971 to 1978 and went 113-81.

Harter came to Oregon in 1971 from Penn to take over a struggling Ducks team. He went 6-20 his first season and then had six consecutive winning years starting with a 16-10 season in 1972-73.

Harter’s teams were known for their tough defense and reckless abandon that earned the nickname, “Kamikaze Kids.”

That style led UO to three consecutive berths into the National Invitational Tournament in 1975, 1976 and 1977. Harter was named Pacific-8 Conference coach of the year in 1977. After Oregon, Harter moved to Penn State, where his teams compiled a 79-61 record over the next five years.

Harter, born Oct. 14, 1930 in Pottstown, Penn., went on to coach as an assistant in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.

He became the first head coach of the expansion Charlotte Hornets in 1988 and coached them for two and a half seasons before being fired in 1990 after compiling a record of 47-157.

I posted the following on this blog two years ago:

When I came back to the University of Oregon for law school, after the Army, Oregon football was not very good. However, in basketball it was the era of coach Dick Harter and his "Kamikaze Kids." Harter ran his team like a marine drill sergeant and his motto was "they don't know what hustle is until they play Oregon." Oregon would play tenacious defense and would dive for basketballs.Oregon fans and students would "pack the pit" as it was called and made a ton of noise and would rock the upper decks causing the scoreboard to rock along with the baskets. An opposing coach called we fans "deranged idiots" and we felt honored by the description.

It was during this time I met my wife to be. I spent the summer after my first year in law school as a law clerk here in Medford working for a law firm and met this cute legal secretary. Early on, she came to visit me in Eugene during a basketball weekends. I only had one student ticket to Mac Court so she agreed to type one of my class papers while I went to the game. I should have known then this lady was a jewel. I got to the game and bought a second ticket off another student and used the pay phone in Mac Court to call her and met her at the door with her ticket. After that we had many dates at Oregon basketball games until I graduated.

Some of my happiest moments, for those three years of law school, were watching Dick Harter coach the "Kamikaze Kids." I have a poster hanging in my offices commemorating them and it is personally autographed by by each including Dick Harter.Next to it is a one foot section of the old bench seating in Mac Court where they played.

Condolences to his family ...... Duck fans everywhere are thinking about Dick Harter tonight and we all feeling a lot older.

"they don't know what hustle is until they play Oregon."

Dick Harter

Korea.... the forgotten war !

Last night I watched on my Netflix streaming account the Korean War Documentary "Chosin" (2010) *****

It was a gut retching experience watching this documentary;, but every American should watch it.

In the winter of 1950, 15,000 U.S. troops were surrounded and trapped by 120,000 Chinese soldiers in the frozen mountains of North Korea. Refusing surrender, the men fought 78 miles to freedom and saved the lives of 98,000 civilian refugees. After 60 years of silence, the survivors of the Chosin Reservoir Campaign of the Korean War take us on an emotional and heart-pounding journey through one of the most savage battles in American history. Produced by Iraq War veterans Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler. Directed by Brian Iglesias. World Premiere at the 2010 GI Film Festival.

One fact I learned from watching the documentary was that some of the U.S.Marines that were thrown into the Korean War had not even been to boot camp. Some were reservist who had just joined and the Corps and because of lack of forces, due to the gutting of our Army and Marine Corps after World War II, we were forced to send unprepared troops into battle.

Democracies seem to do this over and over and never learn!

Counting Delegates II

This last weekend was a draw between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum

Romney

Guam 9
Northern Marianas 9
Kansas 7
Virgin Islands 7
Wyoming 2 (pickup of 2 for a total of 12
WEEKEND TOTAL 34

Santorum

Kansas 33
Virgin Islands 1
WEEKEND TOTAL 34

The Mainstream Media trying to pump up Santorum because they fear Romney as Obama's strongest opponent and like a "horse race" played that this was a big weekend for Santorum because he won Kansas but as the above shows it was a push!

The various media that are tracking delegates have different totals but the following are the totals for Romney and Santorum to date:

Real Clear Politics: Romney 453 Santorum 199
The Green Papers: Romney 435 Santorum 197
New York Times: Romney 454 Santorum 217
(1,144 to win)
For easy reference there are web addresses to cut and paste for each as follows:
REAL CLEAR POLITICS:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/republican_delegate_count.html

NEW YORK TIMES:
http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/delegates

THE GREEN PAPERS:
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/R-HS.phtml

Counting Delegates

As a political junkie one of my favorite pastimes is counting delegates for candidates seeking their party's Presidential nomination.It doesn't happen very often anymore because most nominations are won or lost in the first month or so of the primary season. Not this year..... at least not yet so I have once again started to "count delegates" for the Republican Presidential nomination.

I first started this hobby in 1960 when I was convinced John Kennedy would not be able to win the Democrat Nomination on the first ballot because LBJ, Humphrey, Stew Symington and other "favorite son's" had divided the delegates to prevent any one candidate from winning the majority. I had a delegate list state by state from Look or Life and Time magazine that convinced me the convention in L.A. would go to a second ballot. Well, this was my first lesson to not believe the Main Stream Media because as we all know JFK won it on the first ballot and went on be beat my boy hood hero Richard Nixon.

Four years later in 1964 I did it again with Berry Goldwater and started my own delegate count much earlier, and knew long before the Main Stream Media did, that Goldwater had a "lock" on the Republican Convention in San Francisco. The MSM was still trying to "pump up" Nelson Rockefeller and the late entry of Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania when I knew it was all over.

In 1968 I again did it for the race between Nixon, Rockefeller, and my new hero, Ronald Reagan, at the convention in Miami Beach.

In 1976 I kept a file box for the delegate count in the race between President Ford and Ronald Reagan. Each state had it's own index card where I kept the number of delegates for each from that state and a sheet of paper with all of the states listed and a total for each candidate. During the convention I took two large blackboards and pasted puzzle pieces of each state from a puzzle of the United States and kept track of the delegate count during the convention in Kansas City.

Now I get to do it again in 2012. I printed off a chart from Real Clear Politics and have projected how many delegates each candidate will get in the primaries and caucuses to come and predict that Mitt Romney will win it on the first ballot and is close to having a lock on it. I learned in 1960 if you come to the convention leading and close to a majority you can always get the extra you need through a little old fashioned American political horse trading.Larry Sabato said essential the same thing this morning in a tweet.

Larry Sabato

Who has the best job on America? I can make a good argument that is is Professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. I am a political junkie and I can't get enough of him this political season. He is head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
According to Wikipedia:

Larry Joseph Sabato (born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, and director of its Center for Politics. He founded Sabato's Crystal Ball, an online newsletter and website that provides free political analysis and electoral projections. He has been called "the most-quoted college professor in the land"[1] and a "pundit with an opinion for every reporter’s phone call."[2]

I get his free Internet newsletter "Crystal Ball"; I read his numerous "tweets" (does he ever sleep); and watch him on FOX NEWS. I love his irreverent and informative tweets particularly during Presidential debates and on nights while watching election returns. I print off his newsletter and highlight key points with a yellow highlighter and put it in my "Election" three ring binder.
He is not always right in his political analysis but he is so much better than what passes for political analysis today. I truly do not know what his personal political views are! He ranks up their with Britt Hume and Pat Caddell for people I highly respect in interpreting political events. He does have one of the best jobs in America !

SUPER TUESDAY

Around our house Super Tuesday is as big as Super Sunday. We bought some frozen TGIF BBQ buffalo wings for Super Bowl Sunday and then had too much food so I saved them for tonight. Why isn't Super Tuesday a National Holiday? It will be a long night because I will not be able to sleep till we get a declared winner in all 10 states including Alaska which will come in late.

Poll closing times according to PST:

4:00PM: Vermont, Georgia,Virgina

4:30PM: Ohio (the big one)

5:00PM: Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee

6:00PM: Idaho

7:00PM: North Dakota

8:00PM: None

9:00PM: Alaska

Predictions:

Romney: Vermont, Virginia, Massachusetts, Idaho (Won all)

Santorum: Oklahoma

Gingrich: Georgia

Too close to call: Ohio,Romney Won) Tennessee, North Dakota, Alaska (Romney Won)

UPDATE:

Mitt Romney won 6 of 10 ( Vermont,Virginia,Massachusetts,Idaho,Alaska and the "big enchilada" Ohio)

Time for the Republican party to unit behind Mitt!

btw the "buffalo wings" were good last night and my head did not hit the pillow until Alaska was called for Romney at 11:46 PM PST.

Romney recites 'Davy Crockett' Song

Yes, Mitt and I are two aging "baby boomers" lost in the 1950's !

When my kids were very young I would sing the "Ballad of Davy Crockett" to them at bed time because other than "The Star Spangled Banner" it was the only song to which I knew all the words. My Kids, now that they are grown, claim I made up my own version but I tell them there is more than one version ie Fess Parker version vs Bill Hayes

According to Wikipedia:

During the Davy Crockett craze in 1955, three recorded versions of the Ballad of Davy Crockett were in the top 30. Hayes' version was the most popular, and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks.

*********

The first recording of the song was made by Fess Parker, quickly followed by versions by Bill Hayes and Tennessee Ernie Ford (recorded February 7, 1955). All three versions made the Billboard charts: Hayes' version made #1 on the weekly chart (from March 26 through April 23, 1955) and #7 for the year, Parker's reached #6 on the weekly charts and #31 for the year, while Ford's peaked at #4 on the weekly country chart and #5 on the weekly pop chart and charted at #37 for the year.

The 1950's "Davy Crockett fad" was one of the first fads to be enthusiastically embraced by the post war "baby boomers". More would come, such as hula hoops, Rock N'Roll, Elvis, the Beatles, and Woodstock, but first there was Davy Crockett. I had my coon skin cap and there was a whole counter at our local department store with Davy Crockett paraphernalia. I awaited each week to see if the Disneyland TV show, on ABC TV, had a new episode of "Davy Crockett." I could not believe he would be killed at the Alamo ! It was the first time I had heard of the story of the Alamo and it would be a story that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

It was the first time I had thought of men dying for freedom and that there are some things worth dying for !

Thanks, Walt Disney!

A Love Story

"I think there’s one word that would be high on my list of a few words you would describe Mitt with. It would be trust. I think the qualities Mitt would bring to the Oval Office would be integrity, intelligence, an ability to see a problem and see a solution and make people recognize that he has those leadership qualities that would unite many people."

- Ann Romney

The Romney campaign is smart to get Ann more "out there" and this ad is very well done with old home movies.