Blogger's Call Part 1

This morning I participated in another Blogger's Conference Call with Mike Huckabee and his guest was Senator Bob Kleg of New Hampshire. Mike Huckabee is thrilled to have him on his team. I am rather tired, just got home from work a few hours ago. So I will be writing this in parts.

As I have stated I didn't get to watch the debate or record it, I am still kicking myself over this. I was able to pick up on what was being said. He wished that there were more questions about issues that the American folk talk about around the dinner table, like education, economy and healthe care. He was grateful that bloggers talk about these issues and get the word out to the viewing public.

One blogger asked Mike a question about No Child Left Behind Innitiative. His answer was that education should be primarily left up to the states. Although he still feels that The No Child Left Behind Innitiative did bring up the school standards in the states. He feels that testing is vital in finding out how well the kids are learning. He said "It's like going to a ball game and there's no scoreboard." He compared turning the numbers on a scoreboard like seeing the test results. While Governor of Arkansas more got done in five years than all that was done in the past fifty years in Arkansas schools. Teacher's pay and standards became more competitive. He said that too many kids are putting their heads on their desks and taking the most expensive naps because they are bored. That is why he is so passionate about music and arts. Music and arts help kids to learn with their right and left brains. When kids learn with both sides of their brains their test scores go up in math and science. It will also enhance them with team work and leadership skills, which is essential.

He also believes that education should be focused on in the campaigns and it should be on the minds of all the candidates. While I don't have kids, as an American voter and taxpayer, I think focusing on education is important. These kids are the future of America. I don't want kids taking naps on my tax dollars. If these kids don't get a good education they will be on government assistance after they graduate. Thus, after I pay for their naps I pay for their food and nessicities. So I am glad he is focusing on education.

Well yawl, I am tired and need to sleep, so I shall go now. I will blog more later.

Watching the debate ADD style

I was sleeping during the debate and forgot to set my VCR. I am watching it on the Internet. Not too much excitement. The sound is horrible, so I can only pick up half of what is being said. It is hard for me to focus on anything Sam Brownback says, due to that chartreuse tie. What was he thinking? Mitt Romney reminded me of a manipulative woman, with his chin tucked towards his chest, sly smile and batting his eyelashes. I liked Tommy Thompson's intro, "I'm Thompson, Tommy, the candidate, not the actor." I like Mike's intro, "...I'm from Hope, you may have heard of it. All I can say is give us one more chance." Most of the candidates had the same answers about Iraq. Mike Huckabee seemed to make the most sense. He explained that we in the west don't understand how determined some groups in the middle east are. He said that, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." He says we need to realize the determination of the factions. I think that sums it up pretty well. That was from Part 1 of 4 parts CNN has on their website. I will be watching the other parts soon and blogging about them. I will write more about this soon.

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Holy !#@!@#!!

I was in the middle of customizing my blog and I am watching FOX News. President George Bush is Prague Czech Republic. For quite a long while now there has been talk about missile defense shields in Czech Republic and Poland. Now the Russians are saying that if the US puts missile shields on Czech Republic or Poland they will point missiles at Europe. At this moment the President is speaking.
President Bush is currently talking about East/Central Europe and Germany overcoming the communist regimes. "In the end it was the people...." He is explaining how Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul helped the people seeking freedom. Speaking of extremism, he says freedom will prevail. "Human freedom is the only way to preserve human rights." He is encouraging people to join those fighting for freedom and allow for the defense shields.

Mike Huckabee at House Party in N.H.

On Sunday, June 3 Mike Huckabee attended a house party at the farm-home of Roger and May Pat Jackson, where he spoke about border control and tougher trade negotiations.

The majority of the attendees said that of the policies Huckabee proposed border security is the most important.
What are people saying of his visit?
"His answer on immigration was good," said Bruce Jackson, 23, a firefighter from Auburn. "He wants to close down the borders and track what is going on."
"He was quick on his feet and knowledgeable," , says Mary Pat Jackson

Talking about American businesses and international trade, he says this, "there is no free trade without fair trade,"

Roger Jackson, who is employed at Merrimack Street Volvo in Manchester, liked these ideas. He said that the domestic automobile industry is dire straights because it builds health care and retirement into the prices of its vehicles, expenses not always included in foreign vehicles.

He also touched on the subject of energy dependence. "The U.S. is being held hostage to foreign oil," he said.
From Fred Noyes of Epson, "I thought he failed to address geothermal resources. This country has volcanic heat beds that can be converted to steam and electricity," said Noyes who asked the candidate to consider this.
"He promised me he would look into it," he said.

Read the full story in the Union Leader.


I would like to get a little off track for a moment and speak from a Michigan perspective regarding the auto industry. Roger Jackson's comment above got me thinking. I grew up near Flint, Michigan. As most people know this is where General Motors got it's start. And of course Ford got it's start in Detroit. In fact, Flint's nickname used to be Buick City. A good majority of the kids I went to school with had fathers who worked in the General Motors plants and mom was a homemaker. Many of those kids, or at least the boys, figured they would follow their fathers into the "shops." By the time we started graduating high school this was not the case.
If you talk to the Democrats and Democrat voters in Genesee County they will tell you that the "Big wigs" in Detroit are evil and greedy. Talk to the Republicans and Republican voters in the county and they will tell you that the UAW is evil and greedy. Talk to me... I will tell you both sides got greedy.
Look at the picture in my header. That photo was taken at the Sloan Museum in Flint, Michigan. The 1955 Chevy Bel Air in the background, there is a 75% chance that my grandfather had his hand on it as it was rolling down the assembly line.
Fifty years ago and longer GM needed so many workers that they couldn't find enough locals, so they recruited men from Down South to come up to Flint to work. My grandfather was one of those men. He was a cotton farmer in Arkansas with an eighth grade education. He brought his family up to Flint so that he could provide better for them, to become what is known as a "shop rat." That is an assembly line worker. My grandparents still live in the same one story two bedroom house, where they raised 3 boys and 3 girls, my youngest uncle came way later. The girls slept in one room while the boys slept in the living room. My other grandfather grew up in Flint and didn't finish college, yet he was made a supervisor as soon as he started working there. This was the era that, "What's good for GM is good for the country." Now Michigan unemployment rates are 7.1%.
I can't say that the employee benefits are bad. I think GM was doing what they thought was right at the time. When the 70's came quality levels of cars went down. While at the same time employee salaries went up. It doesn't take an economic genius to figure how this was going to end. If it wasn't for these benefits neither of my grandparents would be in the financial situation they are. Enough blabbering! I thought I was just going to make a quick note about GM.

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Amazon.com Update for Mike Huckabee Book

I just checked my Shipment Tracking on Amazon.com. "Carrier has been notified to pick-up." I'm counting the time 'til I get my book. 1 Huckabee, 2 Huckabee, 3 Huckabee.....

Paris Hilton Goes to Jail

While this is a tabloid trashy story I do have a reason to post this. So, La Paree went to jail, boo-hoo. This isn't just about La Paree. This is an issue about drunk driving. In case you have better things to do than to follow the lives of hoochie mommas, let me quickly fill you in. La Paree was charged with DUI last September and was told she was unable to drive. In January this year she was stopped for driving on a suspended license. She signed a document saying she acknowledged she couldn't drive. Again, in February she was pulled over. Then she was sentenced to jail for 46 days. It was reduced to 23 days for "good behavior" whatever that is supposed to mean. Well last night she started her sentence.
Here is my point, whether it is some rich pop tart or the average American, drunk driving kills people. Innocent lives are lost. Usually the people who die or are injured are people who haven't even had one sip of alcohol. I don't care who you are, if you do the crime you do the time. Fortunately, no one was injured during the times she was drinking and driving.
Now that has been said, I am taking up a collection for a wedding present for her and "Big Bertha." Any suggestions? In case you are interested here is the article about her "checking in."

Mike Huckabee addresses Fair Tax Rally

I know this is 2 weeks old but I thought I would post it anyways, in hopes that people who haven't seen it will get a chance to view it.

This is a side of Mike Huckabee I haven't seen before, and I like this side. Not that I didn't like his more down to earth folksy side. But let's face it, a down to earth folksy side is not going to get the people excited. Here he talks about Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals, Right and Left to come together to spread the word of the Fair Tax. In his words it is "Fairer, Flatter, Finite and Family Friendly." His vision of the Flat Tax will be good for everyone, including the little guy who has worked his booty off for the big company. One of his best lines, "I have a dream that one day in the future you won't have to carry around in a little box every kind of receipt and all kinds of pieces of paper....April fifteenth will be just another Spring Day in America." He also says of being another politician from Hope, Ark., "Give us one more chance." IMHO, If "you know who" can do it, then Mike Huckabee definitely can do it!

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

GOPs Huckabee Shares Views on Politics, War, White House

On June 2 Mike Huckabee attended and addressed the closing ceremenies of Shape Up RI at Rhode Island College. He talked about health and wellness.

PROVIDENCE — Anything passed to you through a car window probably isn’t real food, says former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a spokesman for wellness who lost more than 100 pounds and took up marathon running. From article in Providence Journal.

Before the event he answered a few questions in a ten minute private interview. He gives his view on Fred Thompson running.
MH “It’s evidence there’s no one who has captured the market. One of the reasons guys like me are in the race is that we represent — or I represent, I believe — the rank-and-file heart of the party. And I think there is still an opening for someone, and I hope it’s me.” I agree!

He also gives answers about falling numbers of Republican voters, President Bush, Iraq, Iowa Straw Poll on Aug. 11.

My favorite part of the interview is this,
Q: You are a Baptist minister. The Bible says, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” [Matthew 5:9] Who are the peacemakers today?
MH: “Peacemakers are anyone who tries to bring peace to what is really a world of conflict. But there is a difference between a peacemaker and a peace lover. The Scripture doesn’t say ‘blessed are the peace lovers.’ We’re all peace lovers. Peacemakers are those who actually engage in those actions which result in the ultimate sense of peace. And sometimes peacemakers have to take on unpleasant tasks. Peacemaking in World War II, for example, had to be [by] military action. … Did they do it by chanting and throwing flowers? No, they did it by staging the largest military efforts the world has ever seen. It was not necessarily pretty or fun, and I pray to God we never have to do it again, but I would think it would be hard to argue that those were not peacemakers.”
Did ya catch that above about "chanting and throwing flowers"? I love that. His speaking of the difference between peacemakers and peace lovers shows that he is very observant. Well I guess he's not going to San Francisco with flowers in his hair in the near future.

To read the full article click here.

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Character Makes a Difference: Where I'm From, Where I've Been, and What I Believe (Paperback)

I just ordered Mike Huckabee's book, "Character Makes a Difference: Where I'm from, Where I've Been and What I Believe" on Amazon.com.


Editorial Reviews

Book Description
How powerful is integrity? Just ask minister-turned-statesman, Mike Huckabee.As lieutenant governor of Arkansas in 1996, he was publicly cast between the ultimate rock and hard place when his boss, governor Jim Guy Tucker, refused to resign despite his felony convictions in the Whitewater scandal. Holding fast to the tenets of honor and faith, and his concern over what was best for the state’s people, Huckabee led the impeachment charge against his superior before a televised audience. That same day, Tucker resigned, and Huckabee would serve as governor of Arkansas until 2007, winning many national honors along the way.Character Makes a Difference is Mike Huckabee’s biographical account of how he handled that potentially major constitutional crisis and why he believes character is the key issue in everyone’s life, “in the work you do, the candidates you vote for, the people who look to you for leadership.”

About the Author
Mike Huckabee recently completed more than ten years of public service as governor of Arkansas. In 2005, Governing magazine named him among the Public Officials of the Year, TIME magazine called him one of the five best governors in America, and he received the AARP Impact Award recognizing those who have done something extraordinary to make the world a better place. An outspoken man of Christian faith, Huckabee is also a musician, playing bass guitar in his rock-and-roll band Capitol Offense. In January 2007, he received the Music for Life Award from NAMM for his outstanding support of music arts and education. Mike and his wife, Janet, have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah

The above is the exact description from Amazon.com page for the book. The book description sounds great! I am very excited to get it, in 4 to 5 days. I will definitely be checking the mail box everyday starting Monday. I will give a chapter by chapter book report. Fortunately, I am a quick book reader, so long as it's a good book. Any book written by Mike Huckabee has got to be good. I plan on lending it to my work and church friends.

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Just joined Team Huckabee!

Well, now I don't feel like I am a hypocrite. Now that I joined Team Huckabee and contributed I feel better about encouraging my readers to join up.



With Summer here I won't be able to blog as much. I will try to stay on the topic of Mike Huckabee, when I do blog. I need to do yard work, take on a second job and whatnot. My grampa's fifty year old six string is sitting here, in front of my fire place begging to be played. So I think I will pick her up again. Her name is Stella. I named her after my great-grandma who was born in Union, Arkansas in 1904. She lived to be 102 years old.

Now that Mike Huckabee is running for President I am proud to proclaim my Arkansas ancestry!



Remember, if you haven't joined Team Huckabee yet, join now.