Cruz 2016

According to Robert Costa of National Review magazine, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is considering a run for President in 2016.  He will make Hilary Clinton wish she was Secretary of State the day after the Benghazi attack on our diplomatic mission.  From the National Review article:

Behind the scenes, there is a palpable fear on the right that the GOP will nominate a moderate Republican in 2016. There’s also growing unease with the field of likely contenders.

Enter Cruz. His supporters argue that he’d be a Barry Goldwater type — a nominee who would rattle the Republican establishment and reconnect the party with its base – but with better electoral results.......“Conservatives think he’s a rock star. I hear about him from everybody.”......

That ideological purity and Cruz’s presidential maneuvers make aides close to other Republican contenders nervous. The backroom Republican consensus is that a Cruz insurgency would hardly be a quixotic publicity stunt. He’d outflank almost all of the other candidates on the right, and his debating skills, which once won him national awards, would be formidable. It doesn’t hurt that much of the media already hates him with a passion.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/347052/cruz-2016

Count me in! This is exciting!

I hear the bugle calling!  I "marched" with Goldwater in 1964 as a high school student. We didn't take the hill but one of our fellow "band of brothers" did when Reagan won in 1980. I think there is time for one more "charge" in this old soldier of the Conservative cause.

For more info on Ted Cruz's background here is a link to an excellent article. 

http://www.tedcruz.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ted-Cruz-profile-and-cover1.pdf

Tale of Two Spring Football Games in the State of Oregon

 

 

The University of Oregon Ducks had 36,588 fans at their Saturday April 27 Spring football game in Eugene.

 

 

The Oregon State Beaver had according to the Oregonian  a "(generously estimated) crowd of 8,263" , (yes 8,263) at their Friday night April 26 Spring football game in Corvallis.

Ducks Spring Football Game

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Oregon Ducks will hold their annual "Spring Football Game" to end spring practice.  After the game it will be four long months  till the first game on August 31st. Almost every year I take the 3 hour trip to from Medford to Eugene and 3 hours back after the game.  My wife thinks I am crazy to drive that far to see a glorified scrimmage. Last year over 44,000 Oregon fans showed up for the Spring Game. This year the Oregon Club of Southern Oregon is sponsoring a charter bus from Medford to the game.  The Spring game starts at 11AM and will be broadcast live on the Pac 12 Networks. (Which we don't get in Medford  because of Charter Cable) After the game those on the charter bus will cross the plaza from Autzen Stadium over to P.K. Park to watch the Ducks take on Stanford in baseball. That game starts at 2 PM.  After the baseball game we will head back to Medford on the charter bus.  While in Eugene I will make another pilgrimage to the Duck Store to see if there is anything I cannot live without. Hot dogs, peanuts, football and baseball!  I spend my winters after the bowl games looking forward to this game. What a great day to be alive! Go Ducks!

Congressional Chorus Cabaret Salutes the 70's

Our daughter lives in Washington D.C. and has, for  number of years, been a member of the Congressional Chorus. Here are some highlights from a concert they put on a few weeks ago. I remember the music as if it were yesterday.

Does the West have Will to Fight Evil

Columnist Ben Shapiro's column today:

No matter how difficult it is to accept, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not created by xenophobia or hate. He was created by a culture unwilling to defend itself, and he was seduced by an aggressively evil philosophy. Unless America finds the strength to defend her values, there may be many more Dzhokhars in our future.

http://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2013/04/24/the-boston-marathon-bombing-and-the-dangers-of-a-bored-society-n1576614

Richie Havens RIP

Richie Havens sings Dylan's "Just Like A Woman" at a Bob Dylan Tribute a few years ago.

Havens also appeared in the movie about Dylan's life "I'm Not There"(2007)

Dead at 72.

Islamic Fascism

The late British author, Christopher Hitchens, and I didn't agree on a lot but I sure agree with his description of "Islamic Fascism" as follows:

"The most obvious points of comparison would be these: Both movements are based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind. ("Death to the intellect! Long live death!" as Gen. Francisco Franco's sidekick Gonzalo Queipo de Llano so pithily phrased it.) Both are hostile to modernity (except when it comes to the pursuit of weapons), and both are bitterly nostalgic for past empires and lost glories. Both are obsessed with real and imagined "humiliations" and thirsty for revenge. Both are chronically infected with the toxin of anti-Jewish paranoia (interestingly, also, with its milder cousin, anti-Freemason paranoia). Both are inclined to leader worship and to the exclusive stress on the power of one great book. Both have a strong commitment to sexual repression—especially to the repression of any sexual "deviance"—and to its counterparts the subordination of the female and contempt for the feminine. Both despise art and literature as symptoms of degeneracy and decadence; both burn books and destroy museums and treasures."

In the last century the democratic west lacked the will to fight Fascism until it was almost too late when Churchill gave England the courage to stand alone against it. In this century will the democracy wait till it is too late to fight Islamic Fascism. Will we wait till Iran has nuclear weapons as we did with North Korea?

At a Newstand Near You!

Just got a call from my wife at WinCo and she picked this up for me!! YES!

The Editors of Rolling Stone bring you the ultimate guide for any Bob Dylan fan. The Special Collector’s Edition includes a definitive list of the 100 Greatest Dylan Songs, as chosen by a panel of artists, writers, and Dylanologists. It also features over 40 years of classic Rolling Stone interviews, along with Dylan’s aphorisms, words of wisdom, and shifting opinions on everything from religion to the Sixties to being misunderstood. Plus, tributes from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bono, Lucinda Williams and more!

Barbarians at the Gates

William Kristol:

"How many times in the last century have these concluding lines of C. P. Cavafy’s famous 1898 poem, “Waiting for the Barbarians,” been quoted? How many modern intellectuals have pondered the subversive implications of that sophisticated question?

It’s an interesting question. But it turned out to be a hypothetical one. The 20th century didn’t lack for barbarians. Indeed, modern barbarism proved more dangerous than the old-fashioned kind. As Churchill put it in his great House of Commons speech on June 18, 1940, after the fall of France, rallying Britain against the National Socialist tyranny in Germany: “But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.”

Of course, Churchill and Britain—joined by the United States and the Soviet Union—prevailed. We averted a new dark age.

But we didn’t enter a new age of enlightenment. The Soviet threat replaced the Nazi one. The barbarism of Mao and Pol Pot matched the worst of what had gone before. And the end of the Cold War didn’t mean an end to the assaults on civilization—foremost among them the attacks of 9/11.

The bombs on Patriots’ Day in Boston brought a fresh reminder, if any were needed, that there are still those who would send us into a new dark age. And the trial of the murderer-abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia reminds us that other barbarous things are being done in our midst. So there are still, in the enlightened and progressive 21st century, barbarians at the gates—and, sadly, within the gates........."

The rest here:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/author/william-kristol

"we'll find 'em in the end"

"Seems like he never learns there's such a thing as a critter that'll just keep comin' on. So we'll find 'em in the end, I promise you. We'll find 'em. Just as sure as a turnin' of the earth." John Wayne in "The Searchers" (1956)

WANTED

 http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/new-higher-resolution-image-of-boston-marathon-suspect-emerges/?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes

TV Series "China Beach" Finally on DVD

Of all the TV shows I have watched through the years "China Beach" is the one I remember the most.  There was something about the eyes of  Army nurse  First Lieutenant Colleen McMurphy as played by Dana Delany that I can not get out of my mind. She and most of the other characters are staff at a Army hospital and rest and recreation area in  South Vietnam named "China Beach" during the Vietnam War.  The music soundtrack was from that era and was an important part of the show.  One of the reasons it has taken so long for "China Beach" to make it to DVD was getting the rights to all of the songs.  Time/Life has done that and the following is their press release:

From the moment China Beach debuted in 1988, with its iconic opening credits set to the Supremes’ “Reflections” as its theme song, it was hailed as groundbreaking television. In an era of testosterone-driven war movies, China Beach delivered a unique perspective: the Vietnam War through the eyes of women!





Never before released on DVD or VHS! You can now own the entire TV series with this deluxe collector’s edition housed in a beautiful display box. Includes 268 classic hit songs as they were played in the original broadcast.

This long-awaited set features over 10 hours of new bonus features, including a reunion with the China Beach cast, including Dana Delany (First Lieutenant Colleen McMurphy), Marg Helgenberger (K.C. Kolowski), Michael Boatman (PVT Sam Beckett), Robert Picardo (Captain Dr. Dick Richard) and many more.

And, you'll enjoy an exclusive booklet, "Tales from the Five & Dime,” with character bios, interview transcripts, letters from vets and much more
.

I can still remember the episode where LT McMurphy is trying to save the life of a American airman who has been brought to the hospital only to find the only thing holding his body together his is flight outfit.

From Wikipedia:

 

China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Đà Nẵng, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" in English by American and Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War. The ABC TV drama aired for four seasons, from 1988 to 1991....

the series looks at the Vietnam War from a unique perspective: that of the women, military personnel and civilians, who were present during the conflict.......

Set in a Vietnam locale nicknamed "Bac My An Beach" at the 510th Evacuation Hospital and R&R (the "Five-and-Dime" Rest & Recreation) facility, the cast of characters includes US Army doctors and nurses, officers, soldiers, Red Cross volunteers, and civilian personnel (American, French, and Vietnamese). The series also featured the experiences of the characters when they returned to the U.S., either on leave or at the end of their tour of duty. The show did not shy away from showing the gruesomeness of war, providing a very gritty view of the experience there. Unusual story-telling methods were sometimes used: scenes presented in reverse chronology; insertion of animated cartoons to express a character's state of mind; alternating between interviews with former military nurses and scripted scenes; and a visit by the cast to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.......

First Lieutenant (later Captain) Colleen McMurphy, USA; Catholic girl from Kansas and nurse with the 510th Evac Hospital in Vietnam during the late 1960s. A composite of various real-life Vietnam War nurses, the character illustrates their courage, kindness, and sacrifices during the war, as well as the severe emotional scarring of non-combatant personnel during and following military service; several episodes feature the veterans in their own words, intercut with the storyline.

Priced at $200.00 the price is high but there are 60 episodes of an hour each  and 2 episodes of two hours each.

http://timelife.com/products/china-beach-the-complete-series

Songs about Bob Dylan's Loves

For years Dylanologists have been trying to interpret the meaning of Bob Dylan's songs. They often do not agree. One of the ways to try and interpret some of his songs is trying to determine if he was singing about one of his girlfriends or wives. Sometimes the Dylanologist disagree and sometimes he may be writing his song about composits of several muses. Here is my best guess.

Echo Helstrom ( 1950's High School Friend from Hibbing Minnesota or collage friend Bonnie Beecher at the University of Minnesota)

    "Girl From the North Country"

Suze Rotolo (1961-1965 girlfriend in New York's Greenwich Village - Photo with Dylan above)

  "Don't Think Twice, it's Alright"

  "Tomorrow Is a Long Time"

   "One Too Many Morning"

   "Boots of Spanish Leather"

   "To Ramona"

   "It Ain't Me Babe"

    "Ballad in Plain D"

   Joan Baez (1963-1970s?)

  "Visions of Johanna"

  "Mama You Been on My Mind"

  "She Belongs to Me"

  "Queen Jane Approximately"

  "It's All over Now, Baby Blue"

 Edie Sedgwick  ( 1965 NY Model)

  "Just Like A Woman"

  "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat"

 "Like a Rolling Stone"

 Sara Dylan ( 1965-1977 First wife - maiden name Sara Lowndes)

 "Love Minus Zero"

  "We Better Talk This Over"

  Tangled Up in Blue"*

  "Simple Twist of Fate"*

   "If You See Her, Say Hello"*

    "Idiot Wind"*

   "You're a Big Girl Now"*

   "If You See Her, Say Hello"

  "Abandoned Love"

  "Down Along the Cove"

  "Wedding Song"

  "Tonight I'll Be Staying here With You"

  "On a Night Like This"

   "Something There is About You"

   "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"

  "To Be Alone With You"

  "If Not for You"

  "Time Passes Slowly"

  "Desolation Row"

  "Where Are You Tonight"

  "Love Minus Zero/No Limit"

  "Sara"

  ""I Want You"

  "Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands"

  "If Not For You"

  "Isis"

  "Lay, lady Lay"

Ellen Bernstein ( 1974 Columbia Records executive)

  "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go"

 

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

 *Blood on the Tracks (1975)

Erling Aadland, Professor of comparative literature, University of Bergen, Norway writes this about the 1975 album "Blood on the Tracks" about the breakup of Dylan's first marrage:

Most commentators insist the songs are highly autobiographical. Gill & Odegard write that they are the results of the failing marriage, and that in 1974, Dylan set a new standard “for confessional song writing, with an album whose personal revelations would remain half-hidden behind a screen of fiction [...] allegories, and shifting time scales” (2005: 28). Several also point out that in 1974, Dylan had an affair with Ellen Bernstein, an employee at Columbia Records, who visited him at his farm in Minnesota where he wrote the songs, and that she might be the model for the “you” in “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”. Dylan has said that he does not write “confessional songs” (The Biograph-booklet 1985: 51), but Williamson believes that “there’s no other way of describing Blood on the Tracks” (2004: 220).

http://www.statoil.com/en/about/artprogramme/perspectives/Pages/DylanAndLove.aspx

 

"Cruiser" International Cat of Mystery

I usually don't post on the blog things that happen at the office but this is funny.   We have an office cat named Cruiser that stays at the office 24/7.  My clients love to come and "visit" Cruiser and it makes them more relaxed visiting a lawyers office which can be stressful to some people  We also have as a sideline a video conferencing system set up in our conference room which we rent out.  . A video conference is set for next week between London England and Medford  and they wanted to do a test to make sure everything connected. The call is originating from London. Due to the time difference, they were going to call in at around 6:30 a.m. our time this morning. We arranged to leave the equipment on overnight so they could just call in. Well, Colette, the attorney I share office space with,  didn’t know about it because she was in trial prep yesterday. She was here early this morning working in her office and all of a sudden she heard Cruiser meowing and meowing. She called to him and then she heard strange meowing and went looking for him trying to figure out what had happened to him. When she walked into the conference room all of a sudden some guy from London started talking to her. He told her he was just testing and the cat  had sauntered by so he started meowing to the cat who answered him back. Cruiser plopped down in the doorway and apparently the camera was set up so they could see him.  Later we got an e-mail from the London contact who said he thought it was hilarious. So now Cruiser has a friend in London, England.

Movie:"Iron Lady" (2011)***** or Thatcher to Cruz

Tonight I re watched my blu-ray DVD of the movie the"Iron Lady" and what a movie it is. Here is a reworked post of my original review of the movie.

I loved The Iron Lady  and it  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. I knew then that most of the world under estimated her will of steel.

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, this happens to many of us including the greats such as Reagan and Churchill. Most of the time this happens 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.

After watching the movie I see a lot of Margret Thatcher in Ted Cruz the new Senator from Texas.

RIP Annette Funicello

"And now it's time to say goodby ........."

I am starting to feel real old!

RIP Margaret Thatcher

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” 

I will never forget her steel determination and courage in leading Brittan in retaking the Falkland Islands after they were invaded and occupied  by Argentina.

She and Ronald Reagan made a great team. We need that type of leadership today!

The greatest female leader of the 20th Century!

"They Were Expendable"(1945)

One of my favorite movies about World War II.
One of my favorite movies by director John Ford.
One of my favorite John Wayne movies.
Three for three is not bad. It's a movie I watch over and over and never get tired  of watching .

Click on the link for a detailed analysis of the movie and why I love it!


http://hillplace.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=29

"April Love" (1957)

This is a re write of a posting I have posted for several year in April. The Movie "April Love" came out in 1957 and I can still remember watching Pat Boone walk down a country lane singing a song near the beginning of the movie. As a young kid, growing up in the 1950's in a small town in Southern Oregon, I though Boone looked so sophisticated,( ha). I saw it at a Saturday matinee . In those days, grade school children could go to movies themselves in small towns like Roseburg, Oregon. Every April I think of that movie and song. The Lyrics are as follows:

"April love is for the very young. Every star's a wishing star that shines for you April love is all the seven wonders One little kiss can tell you this is true Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet But April love can slip right through your fingers So if she's the one don't let her run away[Instrumental Interlude] Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet But April love can slip right through your fingers So if she's the one don't let her run away"

Pat Boone plays a JD (juvenile delinquent) who is sent to live with his relatives who own a farm in the country. He meets Shirley Jones and there   lots of singing . It is a sweet movie in glorious color. Everyone in the movie is nice and it's is a happy movie like a walk in a park on a sunny day. I wish they would put it out on DVD. It's not great cinema but it left an impression on me. Things were a lot simpler then.

TV News Story about our Son John Wickre

 

 

He became a marathon runner and lost over 100 pounds in less than one year . He was featured in a news story on WKYT TV in Lexington, Kentucky where he is a Doctoral candidate in the History Department of the University of Kentucky. Click on the link for the video.

 

March Madness: Ducks to Sweet 16

Ducks beat St. Louis University to make it to the Sweet 16 in Men's Basketball  How Sweet it is!

Ducks Win Pac-12 Tournament Championship

Ducks Win Pac-12 Tournament Championship in Men's Basketball and are going to the "Big Dance" (March Madness).Congratulations! Let's Go Ducks!

 

The Football team wins the Fiesta Bowl and now the basketball team is Pac-12 Tournament Champion in their win over UCLA tonight.

 

A good time to be a Duck!

Update from Oregon Live:

You have to feel good for Oregon's seniors today, and for a guy like E.J. Singler in particular — an Oregon prep product who decided to stick it out through the transition from Ernie Kent to Altman in 2010 when so many of his teammates left the program. Having watched his brother, Kyle, lead Duke to a national title, this has to be a proud time for Singler and his family. I'm sure they'll be excited this afternoon

.

This Conservative stands with Dick Cheney & Rob Portman

Over the years my opinion on gay marriage has been evolving as I have become friends and had dealings with a number of folks who happen to be gay. My children, who are not gay, but are conservatives, have demonstrated to me that this is a generational issue more than a partisan one.  The statement of Senator Rob Portman of Ohio today as quoted below summarizes what I believe.

Statement of Ohio Senator Rob Portman:

I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married.


That isn’t how I’ve always felt.......

Well-intentioned people can disagree on the question of marriage for gay couples, and maintaining religious freedom is as important as pursuing civil marriage rights. For example, I believe that no law should force religious institutions to perform weddings or recognize marriages they don’t approve of.



British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he supports allowing gay couples to marry because he is a conservative, not in spite of it. I feel the same way. We conservatives believe in personal liberty and minimal government interference in people’s lives. We also consider the family unit to be the fundamental building block of society. We should encourage people to make long-term commitments to each other and build families, so as to foster strong, stable communities and promote personal responsibility.


One way to look at it is that gay couples’ desire to marry doesn't amount to a threat but rather a tribute to marriage, and a potential source of renewed strength for the institution.


Over the past decade, nine states and the District of Columbia have recognized marriage for same-sex couples. It is understandable to feel cautious about making a major change to such an important social institution, but the experience of the past decade shows us that marriage for same-sex couples has not undercut traditional marriage. In fact, over the past 10 years, the national divorce rate has declined.


Ronald Reagan said all great change in America begins at the dinner table, and that’s been the case in my family. Around the country, family members, friends, neighbors and coworkers have discussed and debated this issue, with the result that today twice as many people support marriage for same-sex couples as when the Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law 17 years ago by President Bill Clinton, who now opposes it. With the overwhelming majority of young people in support of allowing gay couples to marry, in some respects the issue has become more generational than partisan.


The process of citizens persuading fellow citizens is how consensus is built and enduring change is forged. That’s why I believe change should come about through the democratic process in the states. Judicial intervention from Washington would circumvent that process as it’s moving in the direction of recognizing marriage for same-sex couples. An expansive court ruling would run the risk of deepening divisions rather than resolving them.


I’ve thought a great deal about this issue, and like millions of Americans in recent years, I’ve changed my mind on the question of marriage for same-sex couples. As we strive as a nation to form a more perfect union, I believe all ...ought to have the same opportunity to experience the joy and stability of marriage.

There is much that unites the Conservative/libertarian cause. We should not let our difference on Gay Marriage divide us or cut us off from those who share most of our views on  free enterprise, limiting government power, personal responsibility,  individual freedom, a strong defense  and the fight against the evil forces in the world. It comes down to an issue of freedom of the individual. People should be judged by their character and not their sexual orientation.

 

Douglas MacArthur relevant Today!

With a new Douglas MacArthur movie opening this week-end  nationwide, Tommy Lee Jones as MacArthur, it's appropriate to remember what  William F. Buckley had  to say about General Douglas MacArthur in 1964:

MacArthur was the last of the great Americans. it isn't at all certain that America is capable of producing another man of MacArthur's cast. Such men spring from the loins of nations in whose blood courage runs: and we are grown anemic. That is why so many have spoken of an age that would die with MacArthur. An age when, occasionally, heroes arose, acknowledging as their imperative the Duty, Honor, and Country which MacArthur cherished, but which the nation that rejected him has no stomach for, preferring the adulterated substitutes of the Age of Modulation, approved by the Pure Food and Drug Act and adorned by the seal of Good Housekeeping magazine

MacArthur grew up on the American frontier on a U.S. Cavalry post where his father was stationed.  His father had won the Medal of Honor in the American Civil War. (As an aside, Douglas loved John Ford westerns about the U.S. Calvary.) The main point is, Douglas was not that far removed from the frontier spirit that created this country.  It is therefore relevant that I think that some of the new leaders of the Republican party are Cuban decedents of those who where willing to flee  a tyrant and make a new start in America  and "in whose blood courage runs...." Too much of  present Republican leadership is from the "Age of Modulation".  America rejected MacArthur but some times, in times of major crisis, democracies  will turn to bold leaders such as England in 1938 turning to Churchill,  and will seek those "in whose blood courage runs."

Senator Ted Cruz

Last night during the Rand Paul filibuster on the Senate floor Senator Ted Cruz came to the aid of Senator Paul and gave, with a few notes, a great speech I will not soon forget. He quoted Ayn Rand, Shakespeare (Band of Brothers speech from Henry V) Barry Goldwater, Supreme Court Justice Jackson, from the movie Patton and finally Ronald Reagan's 1964 speech in support of Barry Goldwater.

 
While watching the filibuster on CSPAN I was doing some household chores but when Senator Cruz started to speak I stopped doing anything else and was inspired in a way I have not been inspired since Ronald Reagan gave that speech in 1964. I saw that speech as a high school teenager and now many years later I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. He is a intelligent, knowledgeable, well educated and inspiring Conservative that can give a great speech off the cuff. As I sat at my computer I was moved to tears as he spoke of freedom and that America is its last best hope on earth.

 
I was blown away when Cruz, who's parents escaped from Castor's Cuba, acknowledged Florida Senator Rubio, whose parents were also emigrants from Cuba when he started to  read the following from Reagan's 1964 speech:

 

Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to." And in that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.

Maybe it takes recent emigrants to America who have escaped tyranny to remind us how fragile freedom his in the history of the world

 
Since the election I and many conservatives, have become dispirited and fatalist that Americas' best days are behind her. Senator Cruz changed that. It was a transformative moment in American political history.

 
I stand with Senator Ted Cruz!