Huckabee is THE Conservative ...

I am a Huck-a-Fan. I've made that clear. I'm still working for the campaign, making phone calls whenever I can.

Huckabee won me over with his fresh application of Conservatism. I've been reviled as a Liberal in my own town because I supported teacher salary increases. I've written in support of tax increases.

And I stand by my tax increase stands. OVERALL taxes need to decrease. But when roads are deteriorating, when schools are falling apart, it takes MONEY to fix those things. SOMETIMES CONSERVATIVES ARE MOST CONSERVATIVE WHEN THEY SUPPORT A TAX INCREASE.

After all, Conservatives are not anarchists. We believe in less intrusion and less government. But most Conservatives SUPPORT good roads and bridges as indispensable to the Free Market Economy. And MOST Conservatives believe ONLY government is in a position to do this kind of building.

I AM a Conservative. The guiding principles in my political world view are self-sufficiency and small government. But as in anything, the Conservatives of the past believe THEIR conservatism is the only way.

Like the Princess and the Pea, the only thing that underlying principle works its way out into real living. Being hidebound to the past, rigid and inflexible, loses elections, stifles economies, locks out good ideas, strips the political discourse of the value of the underlying principles.

This is why I support Huckabee even through the complaints that he is a Liberal in Sheep's Clothing. He isn't, I'm convinced of it, and here's an article from The Conservative Voicethat states it just the same way... Please take a look and see what you think:

Huckabee: The New Face of Conservatism?

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This one made me cry...

Followed a link and saw this video on CNN. It's from KOMO TV4... From my hometown, Seattle.

Lyman, WA where this takes place is on the North Cascades Highway, one of the most beautiful roads in America... I don't know if I've ever been through Lyman, I had to look it up on the map.

Homecomings are always sweet, but please, look at this one and remember how much is given by some.

A Homecoming

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Comments PLEASE!! ...

Friends, Romans, Countrymen...

Take a look at this video of Jim Wallis on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Wallis is founder of Sojourners, a left-side Evangelical political and social action group. His viewpoints represent the majority view I came up against daily in my Christian University (Seattle Pacific) days.

Don't dismiss this out of hand, or too readily embrace it either. Chew on it, and then react here, if you would be so kind.

I'm still chewing on this myself, and I'm not ready with my own thoughts... But you can guess I soon will be.



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Judicial Restraint???...

There have been several news stories lately where judges have held defendants in their courts in contempt for some unusual reasons. The ones I most remember are where folks wrote something in the notation section of a check. In one case it was profane. In the other, I believe it was on the order of, "the judge is an idiot...".

In both cases, there were extra punishments... fines and maybe even jail time.

I squirmed a bit at that. Seems to me that if the defendant is paying the bill they can write just about anything except a threat on that check. No matter what the Supreme Court might rule on that, it just seems to me that it's simply an exercise of free speech.

What's next? If they don't like the check image I've used -- maybe I favor a rock band they find offensive, or I have a Christian theme -- can they hold me in contempt for that?

What's next?

I'll tell you what's next. No reading in the courtroom!

I had occasion to visit court today. I didn't do anything bad, I'm just trying to dig out of a financial mess and sometimes that means court. Today it did.

Knowing that the courtroom here in my town can be very slow, I took a good book. A book on making ideas "Sticky". It's a great read.

As I was unloading my pockets for the metal detector, the guard warned me, "Don't read that book in the courtroom."

I was shocked, and told him so. He told me it was the opinion of the main judge that reading a book in his courtroom is contempt.

"You can take that book in, but if Judge K******N sees you reading it, he'll hold you in contempt."

I wanted to say that I already hold that particular judge in contempt myself, but I didn't. I did say, "If he did that, I'd just have to fight it."

The guard raised himself up and said, "What did you say?"

I got ahold of myself and said, "Oh, nothing, I'm biting my tongue now."

So let me get this straight. An attorney can read a brief in court. A police officer can read and review notes for a trial he's waiting on. But I can't read a book?

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Ronald Reagan...

I suppose I'm not a good Conservative. I don't think Ronald Reagan was a full-blown Conservative.

In some ways, I'm not sure he was effective as a governing President.

GASP.

When I run for office, this blog is going to haunt me! My politically/academically trained daughter tells me a politician must avoid thoughts that can't be expressed in a few words or less. This is that kind of thought. So here goes!

Reagan did an incredible job shifting the political center. The Left had moved the perceived center a good deal to the left from Roosevelt to Carter.

Reagan WAS the GREAT COMMUNICATOR. His articulation of Supply Side Economics (aka Voodoo Economics) made it a de facto understanding in the American thought process. More revenue WAS brought in by cutting taxes and rewarding economic growth.

BUT Reagan accepted huge deficits. The Left was right about that. He did not use his bully pulpit to argue against Big Government. That has always seemed his lazy legacy.

Perhaps he did not think he could argue against Communism, argue to cut taxes AND argue to cut government. Actually cutting government is the touchiest of all of those. It's where you make liars of most any screaming Conservative.

And so Reagan ended up talking the talk but not much walking the walk, in this observer's opinion.

The consequence is we still have huge government. Clinton actually did more to cut entitlements than Reagan did.

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Shaking off the "L" word...

Well, that's it. Mike Huckabee isn't a real Conservative. Fred Thompson told me so.

Funny how these things work. Back when Thompson was weighing his options an independent analysis mentioned he might well have trouble with "real" conservatives. That author declared him a southern moderate.

Now he's the real-deal -- according to Fred.

Huckabee is now a Liberal -- according to Fred.

Why? He questioned our foreign policy a couple of weeks ago. Huckabee said we were arrogant in some ways.

Actually, Huckabee is the Conservative on this... The world has shifted.

As much as I'm a Bush supporter, the truth is that the Bush White House has adopted in many ways a Liberal Wilsonian foreign policy -- Nation Building, making the Middle East a place of Democracy.

It's called "Wilsonian" hearkening back to the First World War. Remember the cry, "Make the world safe for democracy!"?

Here's the shift: Liberals are arguing for a more isolationist less intrusive foreign policy.

It's not the first time. In a sense the Conservative push to attack Communism was Wilsonian. The Liberal response was Conservative isolationism.

It can be argued that Iraq AND the war against Communism in South Korea and Vietnam all had clear and compelling national interests. In that way, the nation-building, Wilsonian policy becomes a Conservative policy. These things just aren't pure.

And that's EXACTLY the point!!! Conservative and Liberal are shifty labels. I've been called both. Any thinking person will be.

As an aside, this, I believe, is the problem with Ron Paul... He's so incredibly doctrinaire that he ceases to make sense.

I come back to my undergrad Math degree. In math theory there's a proven principle that has VERY broad application.

In systems -- descriptions how things actually work -- any system is contradictory. A closed system (a system that claims to be the ONLY system with ALL the right answers) is shaky, falls apart, doesn't work.

An open system (one which understands that there is no absolutely PURE answer) is strong, consistent, resilient, effective.

That's what drew me to Huckabee... exactly because there are places where he understands a rigid adherence to an ideology falls in dust under pressure. But at the same time, holds strongly to central tenants as a guiding star.

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Just a bit down...

Primary Day was completely amazing. The Primary party, I even donned a suit. And the boys and I wound up in the slush directing traffic. And it was great.

It's back to work, back to things that aren't near as fun. But they DO pay the bills.

I made some efforts to get involved with the SC campaign. We'll see where that goes. There's a part of me -- and I wonder if it's a responsible part or a part that just loves adventure too much -- that wants to run away and join this circus called politics.

Regardless, for those who believe with me that Gov. Huckabee is our best choice for President, volunteer your phone, your voice and a couple of hours on your weekend. Check out this link:

Phone Calls for Huckabee

Then check out THIS link:

Huck's Army

There's more out there... some sane, some not ... ah well, that's Politics!

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