This Really Touched my Heart

As part of the Vertical Day that is going on at www.mikehuckabee.com there is a post by James Robison titled A strong Pro-Life Leader. Now, from the title, one might think this is simply about the Pro-Life movement to not end a pregnancy. Far from it. Of course Mike Huckabee is an ardent pro-lifer, but he is more than that. His pro-life stance is for people to have a pro(positive) life, from womb to grave. I know the usual phrase is "cradle to grave" but I wanted to include womb due to the fact that is life also and Mike believes that. Anyways, here is the parts that really touched my heart.

• Gov. Huckabee can stand with unshakable resolve to face any enemy and any challenge, yet he is willing to listen to the opposition and, when appropriate, reason together to seek consensus. He welcomes open, focused debate to find the best possible solutions.
• The times demand that our nation's leader be able to communicate clearly with the American people, our allies and the world at large. The next president must be comfortable dealing with the press whether hostile or friendly, yet be determined to reach the populace when media bias misrepresents the truth.
• This governor has been popular in his own state with both political parties and people of all ethnic backgrounds. He received overwhelming support from minorities. Given his less-than-privileged childhood, he relates to those who struggle in life. Texas Governor Rick Perry told me personally that no one responded as effectively to the Katrina crisis as Gov. Huckabee. He was the ultimate example of crisis management and assistance. He is a true conservative with a heart to assist the helpless.
• Gov. Huckabee is exactly who he appears to be. There is no pretense. He is a strong pro-life leader who understands the importance of inspiring people to see the value of the innocent, unborn life so our country will want to protect every child. He has also established programs to care for children born into difficult circumstances. As he has indicated many times, we must not only care for the unborn, but those who face challenges after they are born.

Please check out the ENTIRE post. It is a must read!

Huckabee would revamp FEMA

From WCF Courier:

• DES MOINES --- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, speaking on the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday that federal disaster relief needs to slash bureaucracy and become more sensitive to victims' needs.
• "When you have a catastrophe, you shouldn't treat people like boxes. They ought to be treated with respect and dignity. You shouldn't put paperwork above people," Huckabee said in a telephone interview.
• One way to cut bureaucracy, Huckabee said, is to make the Federal Emergency Management Agency a free-standing agency that reports directly to the president, instead of its current status as part of the Department of Homeland Security.
• He said his state was overwhelmed by federal bureaucracy after Katrina. Basic decisions needed to go through several levels of approval, which caused a backup in the delivery of services.
• "I quit even expecting to get answers. In fact, that's what I said FEMA stood for: Forget Expecting Meaningful Answers," Huckabee said.
• "I told our people, 'We're rowing our own boat. We're going to get forgiveness, not permission. We're not going to sit around waiting on some bureaucrat in Washington to tell us what we can and cannot do. We know what we need to do,'" he said.

This folks, is proof what a true leader Mike Huckabee is. A true leader will put people and morals ahead of red-tape. A leader knows what is right and what is wrong. That is Mike Huckabee.

Remember, people of Michigan, if you have not signed up to come out to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, do so now. There is only 3 weeks left.

Huckabee Says Feds Bungled Response To Hurricane Katrina

Mike Huckabee was in New Orleans about the Katrina Disaster.

• Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee says the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina was marked by a lack of leadership and planning and guilt. Huckabee says the result was that money poured into the disaster area but not necessarily in the best way.
• Huckabee spoke at a daylong symposium at the University of New Orleans on lessons learned in the two years since Katrina struck. The former Arkansas governor decried the bureaucracy that has stalled the recovery of New Orleans. He says the government needs to put people first and paperwork second.

Click on this link to read the article and view the video.

Mike Huckabee Ain't No Sissy

I came up with the title of this post after reading an article in newsobserver.com from North Carolina. "Huckabee's faith moves him past hot button issues"

• WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee isn't what pundits would call a mainstream Christian conservative Republican.
  Sure, the candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination is a devout Christian. In fact, he's a Baptist minister and was the president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention before he served as the governor of Arkansas for 10 years.
  But ask the 51-year-old Huckabee how his faith affects his politics, and he skips over the standard hot-button issues of abortion, gays or whether people should say "Merry Christmas" or "season's greetings" -- topics that dominate talk radio and cable TV and thus define Christian conservatives to much of the country.
  Rather, he talks passionately about the morality of helping parents send their children to college, the need to observe the golden rule in handling Katrina refugees mistreated by an uncaring federal government, and the immorality of corporate chief executive officers getting multimillion-dollar bonuses while taking pensions and jobs away from workers.

I think it is more important for someone in government to care about these things. While abortion is a major issue, it does not affect everyday issues. Does who's gay or how holidays are wished put young adults through college? No. Does it help victims of natural disasters? No. Does it put dinner on the kitchen table of the workers of the big corporations? No.

• But he says his version of moral conservatism makes sense in governing, and it could appeal to a broader audience at a time when many Republicans have lost support from independents and moderate suburbanites.
  "It is an appealing message to a broader cross-section of the voting public, not just a litmus-test list," said former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, who recently endorsed Huckabee. "His sense of right and wrong is more than just a few issues."

David Beasley says exactly what I am thinking. Mike Huckabee is a multi-faceted candidate. He doesn't fit any mold. I think this is what scares some in the "party establishment," about him. They want some Pinocchio that they can mold, create and pull the strings. Well Mike ain't no sissy who will allow others to control him. There is no elitist Republican ventriloquist speaking behind Mike Huckabee. Soon, the noses of the "Pinochios" will grow long and the ventriloquists hands up the butts will be exposed. Then the American people will see who the true Conservative really is. And that person is Mike Huckabee.

• During a recent Republican debate in New Hampshire, Huckabee criticized his fellow opponents of abortion for appearing to lose interest in children after birth and for not talking about problems such as homelessness later in life.

I am glad that someone is speaking out that pro-life is more than just what happens up until birth. How is it pro-life if life is not taken serious? When life after birth is not taken serious then it is just "talking points" spin and drivel.

• Huckabee started in politics as Arkansas lieutenant governor in 1993. He moved up to the top job in 1996 when the governor resigned amid a corruption scandal. Huckabee cut income taxes, expanded health care for poor children, boosted elementary-school education and was re-elected twice.
• He noted that he's solidly against abortion -- he signed a state ban on late-term abortions -- but stressed that the issue didn't come close to dominating his agenda.
  "I was consistent in my views and values as it related to social issues," he said. "But 91 percent of our state budget is spent on education, prisons and Medicaid. So it didn't make sense to spend 91 percent of my time on issues that didn't reflect my real job."

• Huckabee insists on other examples to illustrate how his faith affects the way he governs. Nothing got him as agitated as the thought of people losing jobs or pensions.
  When a CEO makes $100 million while his workers lose pensions or jobs, he said, "that is immoral. ... That's not free enterprise. That's theft."

This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the party. They try telling everyone that these fancy pants guys deserve all the big raises and whatnot, because he went to college and got a BS degree. I am not knocking down someone who went to college and studied to graduate. But there is such an imbalance in the pay between the "fat-cats" and the blue-collar people who are struggling to put dinner on the table and pay their bills according to which utility company is threatening to shut them off.

Some people may disagree with me and even call me a liberal. But I don't care. Personally, I think whenever these CEOs and executives get raises and promotions it's because they got a new mistress. And he needs more money to buy her a car, jewelry, fur coats or "set her up" in a condo. Maybe he has to pay hush money. It also could be that his wife has found out about said mistress and is threatening to call the best divorce attorney in town. So what does mister fancy pants do? He buys her something shiny to keep her quiet. These are the same people who talk about morality and purity. Ha-ha!

Sometimes I can see communism in both parties. One party says they want to take from the poor and take from the rich. And yet they want to stay rich. Why? Because they know more than everyone else. They deserve it. That is wrong. Then you have another party that wants to see a major schism in pay between the haves and have nots. Whenever anyone questions this they are told not to question. We are told they know better than the rest of us. This too is wrong. How I got off on a tangent about communism is beyond me?

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Book Report Intro

Like I said I would work on a book report for Character Makes a Difference. I did start reading it last night. For my first report I will set up the seen.

The book was originally published as Character is the Issue in 1997. It has been updated to include Hurricane Katrina and other current affairs. Even though it was originally wrote a few years ago it is still relevent. Character is the same yesterday, today and tomorow. He wrote it in 3 parts; Part 1: Character in the Furnace, Part 2: The Need for Character, Part 3: Selected Speeches & Commentary.

Mike starts off with an introduction about character. The first paragraph goes like this, "Responding to questions regarding his personal character, President Bill Clinton once told his audience that 'character isn't the issue.' Yet our character defines the world we live in. Our government, welfare programs, schools, and everything else in our lives are shaped and directed according to our character. It's claimed that 'you can't legislate morality,' but, in fact, every law in the country is a reflection of our moral values. We have laws against murder and stealing because we believe they are morally wrong. We used to have laws against abortion in most circumstances. When our moral values changed, the laws changed with them."

He goes on to talk about the character of those we elect. My favorite quote from the Introduction is, "And their character depends on you." He gives great encouragement to those who are bummed about the direction of the character and morality in the country, that there is something that can be done.

Truly, his story about how he got into politics is amazing. He was a Baptist preacher who felt God giving him direction to enter the political arena. Yet, he was a Republican living in a highly majority Democrat state. His reasoning for getting into politics was that he had the same values and character as his fellow Arkansans. Many of these Arkansans felt disillusioned that government didn't care about them.

He gives an explanation to the different sections in the book. The first is how character can overcome many crisis'. The second part is about why character is important and how both good and bad character can have positive and negative impacts in one's personal life. Then the third part is his previous speeches that show how character is directly related to public policy.

He ends off the Introduction inspiring readers to use their character in everyday aspect of one's life. Then he inspires his readers to be proud to proclaim their faith.

I will be blogging more on this book report within the next few weeks. So pull up your chair to the fireplace and get cozy as I make a virtual cup of coffee or hot chocolate for you. And enjoy the reading and atmosphere. And God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Blogger Call Part 2

I am taking a break from cleaning house. So I thought I would drop in a quickie about yesterdays Blogger's Conference Call with Mike Huckabee.

He talked about achieving energy INdependence. He would like to expand nuclear capacity in order to get off the dependence from our enemies. To read his full views on energy INdepence click here.

Another blogger asked about why Mike Huckabee felt that voters turned away from the Republican party, if it was strictly about Iraq? Mike answered that there were more reasons than just Iraq. He listed spending and corruption. (Note to self: In my shorthand I wrote "inc." i can't remember what that stands for.) Like myself, he feels there was somewhat of an arrogance and detachment in the party. He said also said that the government failed during the Katrina aftermath.