Obama on Iran and Israel

Put this in the category, that is becoming a trend with the Obama Administration's foreign policy ,that it's better to be an enemy of the United State than a long standing friend.

According to The Jerusalem Post, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Obama "Enforcer" has said, according to sources in Washington,that the task of forming an international coalition to thwart Iran's nuclear program will be made easier if progress is made in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli TV stations had reported Monday night that Emanuel had actually linked the two matters, saying that the efforts to stop Iran hinged on peace talks with the Palestinians. The remarks were reportedly made in a closed-door meeting previous day with 300 major AIPAC donors on Sunday.

Of course, this this is bad policy for both the United States and Israel for three reasons:

1. Even if Israel were to make large concessions to the Palestinians this would not bring peace to Israel,the Middle East nor would it stop Iran from their progress toward nuclear weapons. Only destroying Israel will satisfy the Palestinians and Iran.

2. It is just as much in the United States interest to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program as Israel's. No amount of concessions by the Israel will cause the "international coalition" to do anything meaningful regarding Iran's nuclear weapons program.They just don't have the courage or will. They use the Palestinian issue as an excuse and cover for their unwillingness to act.This is a "smoke screen" by the other Arab countries, Western Europe, Russia and China.

3. Regardless of what Israel does or doesn't do the Obama Administration will not do what is necessary to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. The Obama Administration finds it much easier to pressure our friends than our enemies.

If Israel wants to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program they will have to do it themselves without any help from the United States.

Click on the title for a link to The Jerusalem Post news story.

DUFFIN' FORE THE DUCKS '09

Tonight I recived the following email from the Oregon Club of Southern Oregon:

DUFFIN' FORE THE DUCKS '09

Join the University of Oregon coaching and athletics staff in a great day of golf/fun and socializing on Friday, June 5, at Rogue Valley Country Club. Prizes awarded.

$195.00 for non Southern Oregon Duck Club Members and $160.00 for members. (Join now and save)

Entry fee includes, Golf, Tee Package, evening Dinner/Auction, Drinks on course, Pre-golf lunch Buffet, and an Oregon Duck apparel item.

Call Dave Schott at 773-3661 for reservations and more information.

Feel free to put a foursome together and register as a team. Or, invite your spouse to join you after golf for dinner by registering for the dinner/auction.

June 5
Brunch: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Shotgun Start: 12:30 pm
Social/Silent Auction: 5:30 pm
Dinner: 7:00 pm
Oral Auction: After dinner and coaches' remarks

I then recived a second email on the Dinner/Auction:

OREGON DUCK DINNER/AUCTION at Duffin for Ducks

Come have dinner with new Oregon Football Coach Chip Kelly on Friday, June 5, at the Rogue Valley Country Club.

This will be Coach Kelly's first trip to Medford as Head Coach. There will also be an oral and silent auction with lots of Duck Trips and fun items. $40.00 per person.

Call Dave Schott (541) 773-3661 for more information and reservations.

Feel free to forward this message to your Duck friends, or other local sports fans who would like to hear Coach Kelly in Medford.

Sounds like a fun time, Go Ducks!

The Weekend

This weekend had "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly:"

The Good, was my sister came down from Portland for a visit and we took her up to Callahan's lodge on Mt Ashland for lunch on Sunday. We don't get to see her very often and we had a good visit with her and her dog Obie. Thanks for coming down.
The Bad, was I missed going to the Oregon Duck Spring Football Game in Eugene. The weather forecast was for rain in Eugene and from reports from the game it was like a monsoon in the first half so I made the right choice but I sure miss Duck Football.To make up for missing the game I went over to my favorite music stores in Ashland on Saturday and got a rare Bob Dylan CD, "The Gaslight Tapes 1962." The CD is based upon a bootleg recording of an appearance at the Gaslight club in New York's Greenwich Village in 1962 before he became famous and is very good.
The Ugly, is the rain storm we had Saturday night. It poured very hard and the creek near our house got very high. It is now rainy here in Medford and we wonder where the beautiful Spring weather of last week went.

Jack Kemp RIP 1935-2009

Sad news....... an American Patriot and all around good guy died today! This is what I posted here in January of this year:

It was announced today that former Buffalo Bill's Quarterback and Republican VP nominee, Jack Kemp, has cancer. After he retired from the NFL Jack Kemp served as a United States Congressman from Buffalo for nine terms and served in the cabinet of President George H. W. Bush as HUD Secretary. He was picked by Bob Dole in 1996 as his VP choice on the Republican ticket. I have always liked Jack Kemp. In 1980 I wanted Ronald Reagan to pick him as his VP choice. I supported him for President in 1988 when he ran for President in the Republican Primaries. I still have an autographed "Jack Kemp For President" poster hanging on the ceiling of our family room. I have always liked his positive optimistic brand of economic conservatism that reaches out to all Americans in an attempt to bring us together. I could never understand why he was not more popular in the Republican Party. Our family went see him speak when he came to Medford during the 1996 Presidential campaign.It's a shame he was not elected President or Vice President.

As a side note Jack Kemp and I share an admiration of Winston Churchill. A few month ago Greta Van Susteren of FOX NEWS visited his office and he has numerous statues of Churchill on display including one that looks like the one I purchased at Churchill's home,Chartwell, titled "Winston is Back."


My thoughts are with Jack Kemp and his family. He is a fighter and I know he will fight the cancer with a positive "can do" spirit he has exhibited his entire life.



"Democracy is not a mathematical deduction proved once and for all time. Democracy is a just faith fervently held, commitment to be tested again and again in the fiery furnace of history.”

Jack Kemp

My thoughts are with his family tonight.

UPDATE: This was posted on National Review's blog tonight:

Jack Kemp, R.I.P. [Rick Brookhiser]


Was there ever a man of such high spirits as Jack Kemp? Reagan was sunny; Kemp was a perpetual solar flare. He had an athlete's energy and an optimist's expectation that all would come out well. He also felt the respect for learning that only those who come to it late and under their own steam have. Ideas, he believed, really could save the world. Some of his ideas were half-baked—he put far too much credit in his friend Jude Wanniski—and his timing was bad. He offered himself in 1988 as Reagan's heir, but he was crushed between George H.W. Bush, who as Veep was the heir of record, and Pat Robertson, the GOP's Jesse Jackson, the cleric who wanted the White House because of who he was, not because of anything he had done. In Right Time, Right Place I tell the story of how John O'Sullivan and I went to DC to urge Jack to challenge President Bush for the nomination in 1992, but he had just been kicked in the head three years earlier, and had no desire to risk another drubbing. Bob Dole's picking Kemp as his runningmate in 1996 shocked everyone; his career had seemed over. He had a bad debate with Al Gore (Wanniski gave him terrible advice beforehand, which he followed). He was a great friend of National Review, and there was nothing more exhilirating than Jack at full speed: a combination of riding a great horse, and a roller coaster. RIP.

I think I will have a drink tonight...... I feel very sad.


UPDATE 2: From the Weekly Standard Blog:

Jack Kemp, 1935-2009
Jack Kemp--American patriot, fighter for freedom, apostle of opportunity, and a kind and generous man--has died at age 73. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his wife Joanne, and his children and the rest of his family. “He was a man, take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.”

Posted by William Kristol at 12:33 AM

UPDATE 3: From Matt Lewis at Townhall.com blog;

Whether he was leading the Chargers and Bills to championships in the renegade AFL, or promoting a wild new economic theory in the halls of Congress, Jack Kemp was a creative and optimistic man who left and indelible mark on America. For that, he deserves and induction into the conservative hall of fame along with Reagan, Buckley, Goldwater, and other titans of the movement.

Thanks for everything, Mr. Kemp -- you can be my quarterback any time, and I only wish that we were able to retire jersey numbers in politics.

To read more from Matt Lewis on Kemp click on the title for a link.


UPDATE 4:
Jack Kemp, RIP by Jonah Goldberg

When I was in college, Kemp was my guy. I remember writing Kemp/Powell '96 on a few desks. He was the first politician I ever met that was like a movie star to me. The highlight of my early career in Washington was sitting in his HUD office watching the elder Bush give his Detroit Economics Club speech on TV. As I grew older, my disagreements with the man emerged, but my fondness for his big-heartedness never faded. It seems to me that if the GOP needs a makeover, it could do a lot worse than embracing Kempism: A happy warrior love affair with ideas first and tactics second. Good ideas will find their tacticians. Tacticians cannot be relied upon to come up with good ideas.

Anyway, he lived a good and significant life and was well-loved. That's the most any of us can hope for.

ABC News "outs" two American Heroes in the War on Terror

ABC News "outs" two American Heroes in the War on Terror. These men were in the front lines and deserve thanks from a grateful nation. They kept us safe with their interrogation of enemy combatants. If either men is harmed their blood will be on ABC NEWS! These men are heroes! ABC NEWS is NOT!

UPDATE:

Notice the hypocrisy of the press. It was wrong to "out" CIA employee Valarie Plane but ok to "out" and harass these two heroes. I was thinking last night about Walt Disney and how I wish he could come back and clean house. ABC NEWS and ABC are owned by Disney.No Disneyland vacation for me.....sorry Mickey!


UPDATE 2:

The Weekly Standard on their blog point out that it is "open Season" on American warriors who fought in the war on terrorism:

ABC's Shame
ABC runs a report showing the names and faces of two CIA contractors who may have had a role in the waterboarding of KSM and Abu Zubaydah. The network apparently outsourced this report to a freelancer named Matthew Cole, whose record in Nexis includes just three bylines -- two stories for Salon (one of which about "how Bush administration aid to Pakistan helps fund insurgents who kill U.S. troops"), and one for the San Jose Mercury News just two days after 9/11 reporting "anxiety about a backlash" among Muslims, who assure the reporter that the attack "has nothing to do with Islam."

In other words, Cole is a left-wing partisan with questionable reporting chops. This is obvious from the quality of the story tonight. Cole repeats the now throughly debunked claim that Zubaydah and KSM were waterboarded 83 and 183 times respectively. He posts video of the two refusing to answer questions in what is staged as a faux perp walk with no discernible news value other than to portray them as criminals. And, most amazingly, Cole indicts the two men for not having any experience prior to their work for the CIA -- as though being "previously involved in the U.S. military program to train pilots how to survive behind enemy lines and resist brutal tactics" isn't relevant.

ABC's conduct here, exposing two men who will now become obvious targets for terrorists and left-wing extremists, is deplorable. Will the Obama administration investigate who leaked their identities? Or is it now open-season on Americans who were only doing what their government asked of them in order to protect their country from attack?

This will create a "chilling effect" in our intelligence community (CIA NSA Etc) that will take us back to the Church Commission days of the Carter Administration and will make us blind to the next terrorist attack. Maybe Western Civilisation has become too civilized to defend itself.

Oregon's Spring Football Game

Saturday, a friend and I, will drive the three hour trip up I-5 from Medford to Eugene to watch the Oregon Duck's Spring football game. This is basically an inter squad game that ends spring football practice. My wife thinks I am craze to drive 3 hours up and 3 hours back to see an inter squad game. I pointed out to her that last weekend 95,000 fans showed up in Columbus, Ohio for Ohio State's Spring game. There should be at least 10 to 20 thousand Duck fans at this game. While in Eugene we will check out the progress on the construction of "Matt Court" the new basketball arena. May also check out the new baseball field and of course a trip to the Duck Store to see if there is anything I don't already have. I will get a hot dog or two and check out how the team is doing. At a Spring game you can concentrate on watching the various positions such as QB or running back and not worry about who is winning or the score. A football game in May.... it will have to last me through the hot days of Summer. What a great way to spend a Saturday! Go Ducks!

Arlen Specter... Goodbye and Good Riddance! (Update)

I am a "Big Tent" Republican; but, as Senator Specter said in his announcement today that he he would become a DemocRAT, he knew he could not be renominated by the Republican electorate of Pennsylvania due to his vote in favor of Obama's big government spending "stimulus package." He therefore took the expedient option of switching parties. The Democrats now control the White House, both houses of Congress and have a veto proof Senate. They will deserve the credit if things go well and ........ By partisanship is dead in this country on foreign and domestic policy.

National Review's Editorial on Specter:

Arlen Specter belongs to a type familiar to Congress: the time-serving hack devoid of any principle save arrogance. He has spent three decades in the Senate but is associated with no great cause, no prescient warning, no landmark legislation. Yet he imagines that the Senate needs his wisdom and judgment for a sixth term. He joined the Republican party out of expediency in the 1960s, and leaves it out of expediency this week.

Those who attribute his defection to the rise of social conservatism are deluding themselves. It is not as though he has been a reliable vote for any other type of conservatism. He has stood apart from the mainstream of his party on welfare reform, trade, taxes, affirmative action, judicial appointments, tort reform, and national-security law. The issue that finally caused an irreparable breach with Republicans was the stimulus bill. Some Republicans are blaming Pat Toomey for pushing Specter out of the party by challenging him from the Right. But it is not Toomey’s fault that Specter is out of step with Pennsylvania Republicans. Whatever they think of the prudence of his challenge at the time he announced it, conservatives should be rooting for Toomey now.

Reporters are lazily saying that the Democrats will now have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, but in truth whether that majority holds will depend on the issue. Specter’s defection by itself will not make it possible for Democrats to pass their bill to effectively abolish the secret ballot in unionizing elections, or to enact a cap on carbon emissions. We can safely assume that the Republicans’ task, already difficult, just got harder. They will have less room to play an inside game of parliamentary maneuvers, and will therefore need even more to appeal to the public at large. They will, that is, have to work to make bad ideas unpopular ideas as well. Which is what their principal task was already.

We are not sure why self-respecting liberals would vote to have Specter as their representative. Most Democrats believe the country is with them and Pennsylvania even more so; why not have a true believer in the seat? We rarely give Democratic primary voters advice and still less frequently see it taken. But here’s hoping that Pennsylvania Democrats become the second party to turn down Specter’s dubious services.

New DYLAN album:"Together Through Life" (UPDATED)

Bob Dylan's 33 studio album was released today. The pre release reviews are fairly good so this morning I stopped at Target and picked it up on sale for $9.98.

The following is from Wikipedia about the album:

Rumors of the album, reported in Rolling Stone magazine came as a surprise, with no official press release until March 16, 2009 — less than two months before the album's release date. Dylan produced the record under his pseudonym of Jack Frost, which he used for his previous two studio albums, "Love and Theft" and Modern Times. The album is rumored to contain "struggling love songs" and have little similarity to Modern Times.

In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan, published on Bob Dylan's official website, Flanagan suggested a similarity of the new record to the sound of Chess Records and Sun Records, which Dylan acknowledged as an effect of "the way the instruments were played." He said that the genesis of the record was when French film director Olivier Dahan asked him to supply a song for his new road movie, My Own Love Song, which became "Life is Hard" and "then the record sort of took its own direction."

Dylan is backed on the album by his regular touring band, plus David Hidalgo of Los Lobos[4] and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

UPDATE:

I had such a busy day I haven't had a chance to listen to the album in one sitting until tonight. What a great album, I love it! It has a bluesy, border town tired sound. In "feeling" I would compare it to Sinatra's "In The Wee Small Hours"(1955) Dylan's best in a long time. I like it better than "Modern Times"(2006)It's as good as "Time Out of Mind"(1997) if not better. There is not one song I do not like and it's heard to think of a Dylan Album I would say that about since "Blood on the Tracks(1974). None of the songs is great , it's just that they are all good.
A summary of some other reviews as posted on Wikipedia:

Reception has been favorable. The Daily Telegraph, Mojo, The Times and Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars out of 5. Describing the album as a "murky - sounding, often perplexing record" David Fricke of Rolling Stone writes, "Dylan, who turns 68 in May, has never sounded as ravaged, pissed off and lusty". BBC noted that the album is "a masterful reading of 20th century American folk, albeit shot through with some mischievous lyrical twists" and compares it to "some Chicago urban blues tribute". According to Mojo, "Together Through Life is an album that gets its hooks in early and refuses to let go". The reviewer described it as "dark yet comforting". Uncut' and Blender' gave the album 5 stars out of 5, saying that it was "unbelievably good." During the Flanagan interview, Dylan himself stated that "I know my fans will like it. Other than that, I have no idea". iF Magazine.com says it "explores the bluesy side of his skills in a slight, but delightful set of ten originals."[

Dylan is 68 and I'm getting there, maybe that's why I like it, he sounds like I feel.

"Growing up Buckley" by Christopher Buckley

Click on the title for a link to a long article, in the New York Times Magazine, written by Christopher Buckley about his parents who are now both dead. As a fan of William F Buckley I was both fascinated and appalled as I read the article. The article is an excerpt of a soon to be published book about his parents. He spills a lot of family secrets and I find it difficult to understand why he would tell the public such intimate details about his parents. For example, he describes how his father came to his college graduation and was bored after about 10 minutes and gathered up the family and friends and went out to dinner somewhere leaving Christopher alone after the ceremony. While he clearly loves his parents there is a "Mommy Dearest" quality to the article. Even for the sake of "history" or to sell a book why would you write such a book? Much better to have been a source for a book written by someone else who could write it with some perspective, and emotional distance. Will I read the book?.......YES. Apparently, at the urging of family he left out some "facts"..... he should have left out more!

Music Collecting on CD

I have always been a collector of things. When I was very young I collected rocks and toy cars. When our son was growing up we collected football cards of Oregon Duck players. Now that my wife and I are "empty nestors" we have each taken up new hobbies. She is now into quilting and has turned our daughters old room into a sewing room. I have been collecting DVD movies and music on CD. When I was in high school, college , the Army and through law school I collected records of my favorite music. However, after the kids came along I got busy with other things and stopped buying music. Oh, I bought a few tape cassettes to play in the car but not much else. Well about the time the kids left home we got a car with a CD player and I bought a shelf CD player for next to my computer. I have now gone back to my hobby of collecting music but now on CD. My daughter accuses me of just converting my old record collection to CD and she may be partially right. As I have posted before I like 1960's folk and rock.I am a big fan of Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan.

Friday night I was watching the DVD I have of the movie "High Fidelity" (2000) with John Cusack and Jack Black. The movie is about Cusack's troubled love life. He is the owner of a record store in a poor section of Chicago. He and his two nerdish clerks are always talking about music and making lists . Cusack when depressed re organizes his record collection at home based upon his life. It is a very funny movie and I tend to identify with the characters. Remember the scene in "Dinner" when the Daniel Stern character gets mad at his wife for putting a record back on the shelf in the "wrong place"? Much to my regret, I have done the same thing with my wife and kids when they put a DVD back on the shelf in the wrong place. Sorry!In any case, after watching the movie "High Fidelity" I spent part of Saturday at a local used record store here in Medford that is so "rustic" my wife will not go in.They have a large section on "punk rock"!

"Shaun Harris" Album (1973)

Shaun Harris is a friend of mine. I have known him for over 15 years. I first met him when our daughters were on the same soccer team.He and I have lunch from time to time and have even driven to Eugene together to watch Oregon Duck football games on several occasions. I have always know that Shaun was in the music business in Los Angels, as some point in his life, and has been awarded a number of "Gold Records" for albums he helped produce but I never thought of Shaun as a performer. In the last few months I have have taken a real interest in Folk and Rock music from my youth. I had lunch with Shaun last week and asked if I could listened to some of his albums. He was kind enough to let me barrow some of his albums and I was very impressed at his singing ability. I particularly liked the "Shaun Harris" album from 1973 (see Picture above ). The album has an introspective soft folk/rock sound reminiscent of the later Beach Boys. I played it for my wife and she liked it too. I then took it to the office and all of my co workers liked it as well. I highly recommend it. Your can buy it on Amazon.com and even listen to part of the songs. Click on the title for a link to the Amazon.com page. This is how Amazon.com describes the album.

Shaun Harris was bassist, singer and founding member of the groundbreaking hydra-headed beast that was The West Coast Pop-Art Experimental Band. While the WCPAEB have rightly become the stuff of legend, little attention has been paid to Shaun's subsequent recordings in the early '70s. Until now. Together with former WCPAEB band mate and general all-round musical genius Michael Lloyd, Shaun cut an album's worth of his own compositions for Capitol Records in 1973 featuring star turns from the likes of Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and the ubiquitous Jim Gordon and Larry Knetchel. The album also features Shaun's brother and WCPAEB lynchpin Danny and was orchestrated by their father, the world-renowned composer Roy Harris. Shaun's memorable, hook-laden songs (akin to the softer side of the WCPAEB oeuvre) are set beautifully against a backdrop of Burritos-flavored country rock and layers of warm Beach Boys vocal harmonies. Contains the classic single 'I'll Cry Out', a high watermark in Harris' esteemed back catalog.

To read more about Shaun go to allmusic.com and type in his name to access his full biography and discography.

"Presidential Poison" (the criminalization of policy differences can go both ways)

Editorial from the Wall Street Journal:

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret.......

Mr. Obama may think he can soar above all of this, but he'll soon learn otherwise. The Beltway's political energy will focus more on the spectacle of revenge, and less on his agenda. The CIA will have its reputation smeared, and its agents second-guessing themselves. And if there is another terror attack against Americans, Mr. Obama will have set himself up for the argument that his campaign against the Bush policies is partly to blame.

Above all, the exercise will only embitter Republicans, including the moderates and national-security hawks Mr. Obama may need in the next four years. As patriotic officials who acted in good faith are indicted, smeared, impeached from judgeships or stripped of their academic tenure, the partisan anger and backlash will grow. And speaking of which, when will the GOP Members of Congress begin to denounce this partisan scapegoating?.....

Mr. Obama is more popular than his policies, due in part to his personal charm and his seeming goodwill. By indulging his party's desire to criminalize policy advice, he has unleashed furies that will haunt his Presidency.

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


UPDATE

Further, as David Frum notes, the criminalization of policy differences can go both ways:

Obama is musing about extending the political reach of the criminal law. If he does so, he will find he has opened a new front of political warfare that will not soon end.
After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush drew a curtain of oblivion against all the errors and mistakes that had led up to the attacks. There was accusation and counter-accusation in the media, but at the official level there was no recrimination against President Clinton's decision not to kill bin Laden when he had the chance, no action against those who had failed to stop the 9/11 hijackers from entering the country.
If Obama proceeds to take legal action against those who did what they thought was right to defend the country, all that will change. Prosecutions launched by Obama will not stop when Obama declares "game over." If overzealousness under Bush becomes a crime under Obama, underzealousness under Obama will become a crime under the next Republican president.

( Me....ie Criminal Negligence)

A Timid Advocate of Freedom by Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney speaks for me and a lot of Americans when in an opinion piece posted on National Review Online he writes that President Obama has failed his early foreign-policy tests.

By Mitt Romney

At last week’s Summit of the Americas, President Obama acquiesced to a 50-minute attack on America as terroristic, expansionist, and interventionist from Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega. His response to Ortega’s denunciation of our effort to free Cuba from Castro’s dictatorship was that he shouldn’t be blamed “for things that happened when I was three months old.” Blamed? Hundreds of men, including Americans, bravely fought and died for Cuba’s freedom, heeding the call from newly elected president John F. Kennedy. But last week, even as American soldiers sacrificed blood in Afghanistan and Iraq to defend liberty, President Obama shrank from defending liberty here in the Americas.

In his first press interview as president, he confessed to Arabic television that America had “dictated” to other nations. No, Mr. President, America has fought to free other nations from dictators. And in Strasbourg, the president further claimed that America has “showed arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” London’s Daily Telegraph observed that President Obama “went further than any United States president in history in criticizing his own country’s action while standing on foreign soil.” Of course, it was not just the Daily Telegraph that was listening: People around the world who yearn for freedom, who count on America’s resolve and support, heard him as well. He was heard in China, in Tibet, in Sudan, in Burma, and, yes, in Cuba.

The words spoken by the leader of the free world can expand the frontiers of freedom or shrink them. When Ronald Reagan called on Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” a surge of confidence rose that would ultimately breach the bounds of the evil empire. It was the same confidence that had been ignited decades earlier when John F. Kennedy declared to a people surrounded by Communism that they were not alone. “We are all Berliners,” he said, because “freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s confident commitment, spoken as he led us into the war that would free millions in Europe, inspired not only Americans but freedom fighters around the globe: “The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.” Such words of solidarity, of confidence, and of unwavering conviction that America is indeed “the last best hope on earth” are what freedom’s friends would have expected to hear from our president when our nation was slandered. Instead he offered silence, smiles, and a handshake.

Even more troubling than what he has or has not said is what he has not done. Kim Jong Il launched a long-range missile on the very day President Obama addressed the world about the peril of nuclear proliferation. As one of the world’s most oppressive and tyrannical regimes is on the brink of securing the “game changing” capability to reach American shores with a nuclear weapon, the president shrinks from action: no seizure of North Korean funds, no severance of banking access, no blockade.

Not to be outdone by Kim Jong Il, President Ahmadinejad announced that his nation has successfully mastered every step necessary to enrich uranium, violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has signed. So, like North Korea, Iran will have changed the world’s equation for peace and security: It will be capable of devastating Europe and America, and of annihilating Israel. And as with North Korea, the Obama administration chooses inaction — no new severe sanctions, no hint of military options. Ahmadinejad can act with confidence that the forceful options once on our proverbial table have been shelved.

Vice President Biden was right that the new president would be tested early in his administration. What the world learned was not good news for freedom and democracy. The leader of the free world has been a timid advocate of freedom at best. And bold action to blunt the advances of tyrants has been wholly lacking. We are still very early in the Obama years — the president will have ample opportunity to defend America and freedom, and to deter nuclear brinkmanship. I am hoping for change.

— Mitt Romney, formerly the governor of Massachusetts, was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.




I am sure President Obama loves America but he is used to being around people who hate America and not standing up to them!

MOVIE: "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 the 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 Roseberg, 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 is car racing and 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.

Oregon Duck Season Football Ticket

Today I renewed my season ticket to Oregon Duck Football games for 2009. Of course, I had to take out a second mortgage on our home (attempt at humor). The fans in section 13, are the best fans at Autzen Stadium. (Just behind the Oregon bench on the 30 yard line.) Go Ducks

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON'S 2009 FOOTBALL SEASON SCHEDULE

Thu, Sep 03 Boise State at Boise, Idaho 7:15 PM ESPN

Sat, Sep 12 Purdue, Eugene, Ore. TBA ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 (or vs. Utah)

Sat, Sep 19 Utah Eugene, Ore. TBA ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 (or vs. Purdue)

Sat, Sep 26 California, Eugene, Ore. TBA ABC, ESPN or ESPN2

Sat, Oct 03 Washington State, Eugene, Ore. TBA

Sat, Oct 10 UCLA at Los Angeles, Calif. TBA

Sat, Oct 24 Washington at Seattle, Wash. TBA

Sat, Oct 31 U$C, Eugene, Ore. TBA ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 Sat, Nov 07 Stanford at Palo Alto, Calif. TBA

Sat, Nov 07 Stanford at Palo Alto, Calif. TBA

Sat, Nov 14 Arizona State, Eugene, Ore. TBA

Sat, Nov 21 Arizona at Tucson, Ariz. TBA

Thu, Dec 03 Oregon State, Eugene, Ore. 6:00 PM ESPN ( "CIVIL WAR" at home his year)


A total of 7 home games with at least 5 on national TV and probably more to be scheduled

The Spring Game is Saturday after next on May 2, Road Trip!

GO DUCKS!

Hot Time in Medford!

Sunday it was 83, today it is predicted the high will be 89, 90 on Tuesday and 86 on Wednesday. It will not last, and it will drop to the 60's by the end of the week.Got a lot of yard work done yesterday and even washed the car. Beautiful morning out there today. It's only April!

Janet Napolitano: Looking for "man-caused disasters" in all the wrong places

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano SHOULD BE FIRED!


This is what she told the German magazine Der Spiegel

In my speech, although I did not use the word 'terrorism,' I referred to 'man-caused' disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.”

And what "risks" is she looking at...... You and Me ........that's who!


Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin in Thursday's Washington Times wrote:

"What and who exactly are President Obama’s homeland security officials afraid of these days? If you are a member of an active conservative group that opposes abortion, favors strict immigration enforcement, lobbies to protect Second Amendment rights, protests big government, advocates federalism, or represents veterans who believe in any of the above, the answer is: You.”

I no longer have any confidence in the Department of Homeland Security and many American feel the same way.......that's scary and why she must go!

Another President from Illinois

"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

Abraham Lincoln

MOVIE: "STATE OF PLAY" ****

Tonight my wife and I, after work,went to Tinseltown here in Medford to watch the new movie "State of Play". The movie is a political thriller reminiscent of those types of movies from the 1970's. I liked it a lot. The movie deals with the death of a congressional staffer for a United States Congressman. Much of the movie was filmed in Washington DC and deals with a reporter (Russell Crowe)for a Washington Newspaper (read Washington Post) who along with a female blogger for the newspaper attempt to solve the crime and and end up in a world of political intrigue. The best part of the movie deals with the world of Newspapers and their role in society. Read a review from National Review Online, by clicking on the title for a link, that gets it about right. We both liked the movie and recommend it.

Pictures That Make Me Sick!

"CELEBRATE DIVERSITY"...........EXCEPT FOR:

EXCEPT FOR: veterans, small-business owners, practicing Catholics,Christians, gun owners, talk-radio listeners, tea-party attendees, Texans, smokers, limited-government proponents, pro-lifers, libertarians,taxpayers, NASCAR fans, Boy Scouts, oil-company employees, secure-border advocates, capitalists, global-warming agnostics, Cuban refugees, school-choicers,Republicans, conservatives,. . .

By Peter Kirsanow on National Review Online.(with some additions by me)

DHS "hit job" on Conservatives

United States Senators Coburn, Brownback, DeMint, Burr, Murkowski, Inhofe, and Vitter have sent the following letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday concerning the DHS conservative hit job:

April 16, 2009

The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary
The Department of Homeland Security
310 7th street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20528-0150

VIA FASCMILLE

Dear Secretary Napolitano,

We write today concerning the release of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” prepared by the Extremism and Radicalization Branch, of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division.

While we agree that we must fight extremists who are both foreign and domestic we are troubled by some of the statements your department included as fact in the report titled above, without listing any statistical data to back up such claims.

First, your report states that “Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists…” without listing any data to support such a vile claim against our nation’s veterans.

Second, the report states that the millions of Americans who believe in the Second Amendment are a potential threat to our national security. Why? Do you have statistics to prove that law-abiding Americans who purchase a legal product are being recruited by so-called hate groups?

Thirdly, the report states that those that believe in issues such as pro-life legislation, limited government, and legal versus illegal immigration are potential terrorist threats. We can assure you that these beliefs are held by citizens of all races, party affiliation, male and female, and should not be listed as a factor in determining potential terror threats. A better word usage would be to describe them as practicing their First Amendment rights.

Also, you list those that bemoan the decline of U.S. stature and the loss of U.S. manufacturing capability to China and India as being potential rightwing extremists. We would suggest that the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in the manufacturing industry to foreign countries are not potential terror threats, but rather honest Americans worried about feeding their families and earning a paycheck.
In closing, we support the mission of DHS in protecting our country from terror attacks and are proud of the many DHS employees who make this possible in conjunction with our state and local law enforcement. We ask that DHS not use this report as a basis to unfairly target millions of Americans because of their beliefs and the rights afforded to them in the Constitution. We also ask that you provide us with the data that support the unfair claims listed in the report titled above and to present us with the matrix system used in collecting and analyzing this data?
Finally, we look forward to your prompt reply and we offer our assistance to DHS in our shared effort to fight terrorism both home and abroad by using data that is accurate and independent of political persuasion.

FREEDOM !!!!

"The globe is hearing a deeply pessimistic view of what America was and is."

As usual Victor Davis Hanson writing in National Review on line has an excellent analysis of the Obama Administration and their dealing with foreign governments.

Given Obama’s performance on his recent trip, three developments were quite astounding.

First, despite this fresh climate of atonement, there was a complete absence of a single apology from any other foreign leader —.......

Second, there was no other example of “He did it!” about supposedly inept predecessors.......

Third, we saw no concrete evidence of any help — or hope and change — from any foreign leader. Zilch. There were expectations of American concessions, but nothing new or helpful from anyone else......

At present the world is watching, probing, and digesting the Obama presidency. But it has already concluded that Obama is nourished by applause and will work to maintain it — not merely for personal gratification, but because he realizes that loud public endorsement is essential to his perpetual candidacy, given its absence of experience and sagacity.

Those abroad are also reassured that the American media, so heavily invested in hope and change, will do almost anything to transmogrify American embarrassments into Obama successes. Meanwhile, the contours of the new world order are clear. Iraq’s democrats are snubbed; Iran’s cutthroats are courted. A Saudi royal receives a bow; the British queen, a presumptuous squeeze — while her prime minister receives unplayable DVDs.......


In short, we have a return of Jimmy Carter’s postnational idealism, but this time with the charismatic face of a Ronald Reagan. For 40 years we have had well-meaning moral equivalence, utopian pacifism, and multiculturalism taught in our schools, and we are now learning that all that was not just therapy, but has insidiously become our national gospel. The world is hearing a deeply pessimistic view of what America was and is — now offered in mellifluous cadences by a messianic president who not so long ago in more unguarded moments called for more oppression studies and reparations.

President Obama will get his much-needed praise and adulation abroad, and Americans will finally be somewhat admired for a while. And thereafter, there will be real hell to pay — either abject U.S. appeasement as the world heats up, or some sort of frantic eleventh-hour hyper-response to restore stability and lost deterrence.

Just watch.

(To read the entire article click on the title for a link.... the above are just small excerpts of a much longer article)

Medford, Oregon Tea Party

Just got back from the Medford, "tea party" on the front steps of the Jackson County Court House. There was a very large crowd that spilled across the street to the lawn of the old Carnegie Library. There were a lot of signs and placards of people protesting the increase in government and taxes both on the national and state level. Most of the signs and placard's were home made. A local radio personality with an amplified sound system got the crowd wound up with a message of how proud he was to be an American. The group formed earlier this morning in a parking lot in downtown Medford next to a Chinese restaurant and marched the 8 to 10 blocks to the Courthouse. We are silent no more!