John McCain is a class act

rememberng our men and women in service and John McCain

For those of you who didn’t hear Senator John McCain’s inspiring and heartfelt remarks:

Remarks
from Senator John McCain

November 4, 2008

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could.

And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I am especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate’s family than on the candidate, and that’s been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength. Her husband Todd and their five beautiful children with their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don’t know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I’ll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I’m sure I made my share of them. But I won’t spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

___________________________

Thank you Senator McCain!

Roger Freberg

2008 has a new President and many lessons from history

Lessons of History
Some of us are waking up to the thrill of victory and others of us are struggling with a post election hangover. My candidate lost the election, but not my respect nor my admiration for him.

Looking back, I am very glad we had President George Bush in office over the last 8 years, let’s hope the new president is half as successful. Regarding President Bush, I was touched by a reflective article in the Wall Street Journal written by none other than one of John Kerry’s lawyers. Simply stated, he was horrified at the poor treatment of President Bush by the press.

Here it is to read.

History when viewed in contrast is revealing. President Reagan enjoyed a true mandate, although he never had the congress he needed to implement his plans so he appealed very successfully to average Americans in his weekly radio address. In those days and until the mid 1990’s, Congress had been in Democratic Control for 50 years or more. Republicans were shown as blue states with Reagan and it is amusing to remember how Democrats balked at a ‘socialist’ red color linked with them at the time.

Our soon to be new president Barack Hussein Obama has much to prove — not to me — but to those who voted and put their faith and hope in him. Time will tell. I am reminded of a quote that I keep on my blog:

“Nearly all men can stand
adversity, but if you
want to test a man’s
character, give him power.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Roger Freberg

Voting is fundamental

Harley has my vote, too!

I remember voting in my first Presidential election, it was for Nixon. Laura and I were engaged and she was so very kind to help me fill out my suggested voters pamphlet. It has been like this ever since … talking, discussing and continually growing closer.

I even ran for some elected offices, won some and lost some, and although I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘fun’, it was an educational experience most people avoid. On a small scale , I had the chance to witness some of the best and worst of our political system, the media and people.

Change is the nature of history and writing it is always an active, creative and some times revisionary process. Although I have an obvious preference for president, I also realize that things will be different regardless of who wins. We have been on this trajectory for a long time. I remember seeing the cornerstone to some of our nation’s most historical buildings being removed (the White House, for example) because — by tradition — cornerstones were laid by Mason’s … not favored or remembered anymore by the rewriters of history. History was erased. This happened — believe it or not — during Ronald Reagan’s era, who himself was a Mason.  We are constantly changing.

I am encouraged by the voting precinct we visited to vote this morning, there was actually a long line. Democracy is fragile and easily manipulated… but it is one of the only private way for average citizens to have a voice, be it a small one.

Enjoy, support and protect the process. VOTE

Roger

I know where the White House Cornerstone is…do you? write me and I will tell you … roger@frebergsports.com

Thanksgiving is coming and so is a great pumpkin pie

Turducken is a family favorite

Now that Halloween is over , we can begin to think about the next holidays. Obviously, one of the most popular holidays celebrated by most Americans is the colonial tradition of ‘Thanksgiving.’ It is that time of year when family and friends get together to celebrate the happiness of the past year and anticipate the possibilities of good things to come.

No one can talk about Thanksgiving without those wonderful words like: turkey ( we like Turducken or Ostruducken), feast, cranberries, creamed potatoes , stuffing and various desserts.

For dessert, everyone has their favorites: apple pie, rhubarb pie, chocolate pie, pecan pie and of course my personal favorite the ‘pumpkin pie.’

If you ever chawed into a raw pumpkin, it’s kind of like taking a swig of raw vanilla extract, it is definitely not what you were expecting! So what makes a pumpkin pie so special? The secret lies in the spices and in the crust.

First, there is a prepared spice blend called ‘Pumpkin Pie Spice’ that generally contains some of the following: Nutmeg and mace, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and allspice , cloves. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are the most commonly used spices… and they are cheap. If you really look around you’ll find some recipes calling for small additions of other spices like cardamon. However, with a little practice, i am sure you can come up with a version that will make everyone smile.

As for the crust, you can’t beat a Crisco/ butter blend crust with a bit of mace…

The season of cooking has begun. How will you make yours special?

Roger

Halloween is a time for random kindness

Halloween is a time for all children

Oddly enough, one of my fondness memories of my childhood was the random kindness shown by neighbors and strangers at Halloween to me as a child. I remember when all of us children ran from home to home looking for treats and finding many treasures and a few ‘tradable items’ that we intended to pass off to someone else. Chocolate and anything even remotely related was viewed with great acclaim with smiles, screams of laughter and smiles from ear to ear!

We had more trick or treaters this year, so we’ll just have to get more chocolate next year!

BTW, Happy Halloween, Joe. I remember your kindness to me all those many years ago. I know you are in a good place.
Roger