<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061</id><updated>2011-04-21T18:24:32.887-04:00</updated><title type='text'>My Why Mike Campaign 2008</title><subtitle type='html'>Who you vote for says a lot about who you are. It also says a lot about who you are not. This is an exploration of my own values and why I feel Mike Huckabee is this nation's best option for president in 2008.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>15</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-3822086159077618337</id><published>2008-02-07T13:29:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-07T15:16:55.558-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A New Respect</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Having just pulled myself away from the televised revelation of Mitt Romney's resignation from the GOP race, I must say that I have honestly found a new respect for the man. I do not see eye-to-eye with him on several issues and I still contend that he ran a dirty, negative campaign, but that aside, a few minutes ago I did get a glimpse of the real man within. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;In my post yesterday, I commented that "If we can believe what he says and Mitt is truly in this race to leave a better America for his children, he should bow out and support &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;." Although he came short of endorsing &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;in his speech, it was quite evident that he does place the best interest of America above his own personal glory. For that, I commend him. He realizes that his continued presence in the race does nothing more than increase the odds that we will have a liberal President in the White House next year; the result of which would be disasterous for America on a variety of fronts. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;While Mr. Romney spoke politely of him (and received boos for doing so) it must be noted that &lt;strong&gt;he did not endorse McCain&lt;/strong&gt;, either. What Governor Romney did say, however, leads me to believe now, more than ever, that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;is the best answer for America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt's Quote #1 - Support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=10"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee on Marriage Amendment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Faith&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;"The attack on faith and religion is no less relentless. And tolerance for pornography—even celebration of it—and sexual promiscuity, combined with the twisted incentives of government welfare programs have led to today’s grim realities: 68% of African American children are born out-of-wedlock, 45% of Hispanic children, and 25% of White children. How much harder it is for these children to succeed in school—and in life. A nation built on the principles of the founding fathers cannot long stand when its children are raised without fathers in the home.&lt;br /&gt;The development of a child is enhanced by having a mother and father. Such a family is the ideal for the future of the child and for the strength of a nation. I wonder how it is that unelected judges, like some in my state of Massachusetts, are so unaware of this reality, so oblivious to the millennia of recorded history. It is time for the people of America to fortify marriage through constitutional amendment, so that liberal judges cannot continue to attack it!"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt's Quote #2 - Support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee on Faith&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=10"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Family&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=11"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sanctity of Life&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;"Europe is facing a demographic disaster. That is the inevitable product of weakened faith in the Creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life and eroded morality. Some reason that culture is merely an accessory to America’s vitality; we know that it is the source of our strength. And we are not dissuaded by the snickers and knowing glances when we stand up for family values, and morality, and culture. We will always be honored to stand on principle and to stand for principle."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt's Quote #3 - Support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=21"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee on Energy Independence&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;"Our prosperity and security also depend on finally acting to become energy secure. Oil producing states like Russia and Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran are siphoning over $400 billion per year from our economy—that’s almost what we spend annually for defense. It is past time for us to invest in energy technology, nuclear power, clean coal, liquid coal, renewable sources and energy efficiency. America must never be held hostage by the likes of Putin, Chavez, and Ahmendinejad."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt's Quote #4 - Support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=5"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee on Taxes &amp;amp; Economy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;; (Less Tax and/or FairTax)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;"And our economy is also burdened by the inexorable ramping of government spending. Don’t focus on the pork alone—even though it is indeed irritating and shameful. Look at the entitlements. `They make up 60% of federal spending today. By the end of the next President’s second term, they will total 70%. Any conservative plan for the future has to include entitlement reform that solves the problem, not just acknowledges it.&lt;br /&gt;Most politicians don’t seem to understand the connection between our ability to compete and our national wealth, and the wealth of our families. They act as if money just happens–that it’s just there. But every dollar represents a good or service produced in the private sector. Depress the private sector and you depress the well-being of Americans.&lt;br /&gt;That’s exactly what happens with high taxes, over-regulation, tort windfalls, mandates, and overfed, over-spending government. Did you see that today, government workers make more money than people who work in the private sector. Can you imagine what happens to an economy where the best opportunities are for bureaucrats?&lt;br /&gt;It’s high time to lower taxes, including corporate taxes, to take a weed-whacker to government regulations, to reform entitlements, and to stand up to the increasingly voracious appetite of the unions in our government!"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt's Quote #5 - Support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=20"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee on Radical Islam&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;"And finally, let’s consider the greatest challenge facing America—and facing the entire civilized world: the threat of violent, radical Jihad. In one wing of the world of Islam, there is a conviction that all governments should be destroyed and replaced by a religious caliphate. These Jihadists will battle any form of democracy—to them, democracy is blasphemous for it says that citizens, not God shape the law. They find the idea of human equality to be offensive. They hate everything we believe about freedom just as we hate everything they believe about radical Jihad."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt Quote #6 - Support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=20"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee on Military Strength &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&amp;amp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=25"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Veterans Rights&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;"To battle this threat, we have sent the most courageous and brave soldiers in the world. But their numbers have been depleted by the Clinton years when troops were reduced by 500,000, when 80 ships were retired from the Navy, and when our human intelligence was slashed by 25%. We were told that we were getting a peace dividend. We got the dividend, but we didn’t get the peace. In the face of evil in radical Jihad and given the inevitable military ambitions of China, we must act to rebuild our military might. Raise military spending to 4% of our GDP, purchase the most modern armament, re-shape our fighting forces for the asymmetric demands we now face, and give the veterans the care they deserve!"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;I will leave it to the intelligent voters out there to connect the dots. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Go Huck!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://thepage.time.com/transcript-of-romneys-speech-withdrawing-from-the-race/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Romney CPAC Feb 7 2008 Transcript&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-3822086159077618337?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/3822086159077618337/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=3822086159077618337' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/3822086159077618337'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/3822086159077618337'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-respect.html' title='A New Respect'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-9124414121288588123</id><published>2008-02-06T12:20:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-06T18:39:23.110-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Some Food for Thought</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Super Tuesday has come and gone and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;is still in the hunt. His wins yesterday in WV, GA, TN, AL, AR, and his near wins in OK and MO have highlighted the fact that he is a true contender in this GOP race. That said, here is some food for thought:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Senator McCain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;'s failure to carry the states that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt; won (states that typically &lt;strong&gt;MUST&lt;/strong&gt; be won by the GOP to win a general election) brings into focus an extreme vulnerability that the Republican Party will face if &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;John McCain &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;wins the nomination. If he didn't carry these core values states in the primaries, it is unlikely that voters there will be motivated to follow him in the general election. Many voters will stay home. Even the so-called "conservative" media elites have vowed to support the Democrats if &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;McCain &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;is the Republican nominee. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;narrowly lost the &lt;a href="http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/states/SC.html"&gt;South Carolina primary&lt;/a&gt; and it is quite likely he would have won it had Fred Thompson not been in the race at that point to split the true conservative vote.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt Romney &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;has also failed to rally the true conservative base. His chameleon-like ability to change color with the political wind has &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;left him exposed as a transparent socialist&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;, posing as a conservative. No amount of money or media brow-beating is going to get the country to buy the load of manure he's selling. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Here is my angle on this situation:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;If we send &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;McCain &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;to the general election, he will lose to the Democrats because the Republican Party will not unite behind him.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Like it or not, the evangelicals are a large and important segment of the Republican base and &lt;a href="http://election.newsmax.com/dobson_mccain/?s=al&amp;amp;promo_code=449E-1"&gt;Christian leader Dr. James Dobson has already stated that he will not vote for McCain as a "matter of conscience".&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt Romney&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt; does not stand a chance against &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;McCain &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;and, for the good of both the Republican Party and the conservative movement he claims to be a part of (still not buying it), he should withdraw from the race and throw his support to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;is the only true conservative choice we have in this race and also the only candidate who has the ability to unite the Republican Party through effective communication and a record of unwavering conservative positions. If we can believe what he says and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mitt&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt; is truly in this race to leave a better America for his children, he should bow out and support &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;. The continuance of his campaign does nothing more than strengthen &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;McCain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;'s position as the GOP leader and increase the likelihood that we will have a Democrat in the White House next January.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Louisiana, Kansas, and Washington, we now look to you. Will you stand up?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-9124414121288588123?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/9124414121288588123/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=9124414121288588123' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/9124414121288588123'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/9124414121288588123'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/some-food-for-thought.html' title='Some Food for Thought'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-2924173346465659327</id><published>2008-02-05T14:40:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-05T14:41:24.490-05:00</updated><title type='text'>NBC Projects Mike Huckabee Winner of West VA Caucus</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21660914#WV"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21660914#WV&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Go Huck!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-2924173346465659327?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/2924173346465659327/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=2924173346465659327' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/2924173346465659327'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/2924173346465659327'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/nbc-projects-mike-huckabee-winner-of.html' title='NBC Projects Mike Huckabee Winner of West VA Caucus'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-716454699323235334</id><published>2008-02-04T13:05:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-04T14:46:29.456-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Super Tuesday</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I come to the keyboard today with strong conviction and undying hope that tomorrow the true America will act. I have been witnessing a variety of things in the news lately that tells me the establishment is running scared of Mike Huckabee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Had his talent been in big news instead of music, I don't think Mozart could have composed a more widely orchestrated and concerted effort to silence the voice of a true leader. The news has been playing a sort of Huckabee Requiem for months now; discounting him as a chanceless contender, laughing at him for his lack of Washington insider and big money connections, trying daily to dismiss him as some right wing evangelical crazy, and doing all that is in their power to marginalize the voice of a man that sounds more like the true heart of America than they wish to admit. They want us to believe that this is suddenly a two man race (that should have you Ron Paul folks pretty fired up, too, if I might add) even though no Republican candidate currently owns more than 97 of the 1,191 total delegates required to win the nomination. Do you not think it absurd that the news is trying to tell YOU that this race is over when it has hardly begun? If I've somehow paid for a ticket to their show, I'd like my money back. And I would also like to make up my own mind about who our next president should be, thank you very much. If our country truly has allowed itself to drop to a point where the media thinks for the people, we are in serious trouble.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is what I say to you as my fellow American and kind reader:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;The race is not over. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;You do have a choice.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;The media does not have the privelege of telling us who we will vote for.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;The office of President of the United States should not be for sale; it is not a position to be auctioned to the highest bidder.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;We our at a crossroads in our nation's history and your vote could never be more important. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Are you willing to stand up for what you believe or are you content to be a sheep, blindly following whatever path the media, big money, and government establishment point you toward? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I believe that we are not a nation of sheep. We are a nation of independent minds with the capacity to make smart choices that align with the values we hold most dear.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That we were created as One Nation, under God.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That not every action or activity should be acceptable to our society.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That government is there to work for the people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That we are a sovereign nation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That the constitution means what it says.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That free trade should also be fair trade.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That each human life is precious.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That we should not be dependent on foreign states or governments for our energy, our food, or our defense.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That the dollar should be a strong currency.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That the family is the nucleus of a strong nation and that they must be the strength of ours.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That we accept immigrants and welcome them to our country &lt;strong&gt;but&lt;/strong&gt; also believe that they should respect our laws, come here legally, and assimmilate to &lt;em&gt;our&lt;/em&gt; culture rather than expect us to assimilate to theirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That smaller government is better than bigger government.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That faith, ethics, and morals are good character traits that should be striven for and admired.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That we are a good people, a just people, and a strong people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;That in our democracy, we have the freedom to choose for ourselves the quality of our leaders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Super Tuesday is almost here, and I am excited! I am excited because we have a candidate of values and character; a candidate who is a true leader and actually stands for something. I am excited because I know that many Americans out there are also excited to have an opportunity to vote for Mike Huckabee and change the course of our nation. I am excited that they will speak their mind in 20 states tomorrow! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;This is &lt;em&gt;our&lt;/em&gt; time and &lt;em&gt;our&lt;/em&gt; choice. Will you stand and be counted?!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Please vote for &lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;Mike Huckabee &lt;/a&gt;tomorrow.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/"&gt;Please go to his web site today &lt;/a&gt;and read what others have to say.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Please &lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687"&gt;contribute to his campaign&lt;/a&gt; if you are so inclined.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Please be the difference that brings a brighter tomorrow to America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Go Huck!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x-wWiLb9oFc&amp;amp;rel=" border="0" width="425" height="355" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-716454699323235334?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/716454699323235334/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=716454699323235334' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/716454699323235334'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/716454699323235334'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/super-tuesday.html' title='Super Tuesday'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-6257065954425802338</id><published>2008-02-04T10:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-04T10:15:42.704-05:00</updated><title type='text'>High Hopes!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;If you're a Super Tuesday voter, please get out there and support Mike! And watch this High Hopes video, too. It's another quality production by WarrenPiece1.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4gruyS9sRI4&amp;amp;rel=" width="425" height="373" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" border="1" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;iframe style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Widgets.Ranger&amp;amp;a=687" frameborder="0" width="240" scrolling="no" height="115"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-6257065954425802338?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/6257065954425802338/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=6257065954425802338' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/6257065954425802338'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/6257065954425802338'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/high-hopes.html' title='High Hopes!'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-1659072092432007039</id><published>2008-02-01T22:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-01T22:24:53.428-05:00</updated><title type='text'>He Always Takes the High Road</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;If this isn't what our country needs right now, I don't know what is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's not too late. YOU can make a difference right now. Please contribute whatever you can to Huck's campaign and if you are in a Super Tuesday state, vote for him and find three friends who will do the same.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/85HL6Jw2hUM&amp;amp;rel=" width="425" height="373" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" border="1" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;iframe style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Widgets.Ranger&amp;amp;a=687" frameborder="0" width="240" scrolling="no" height="115"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-1659072092432007039?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/1659072092432007039/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=1659072092432007039' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/1659072092432007039'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/1659072092432007039'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/he-always-takes-high-road.html' title='He Always Takes the High Road'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-6203034837785639510</id><published>2008-02-01T12:53:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-01T12:56:07.294-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Need to know who you're voting for?</title><content type='html'>I can't top these. Please view and share.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="http://www.nationalrepublicannews.com/" href="http://www.nationalrepublicannews.com/"&gt;www.NationalRepublicanNews.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="http://www.nationalvotersguide.com/" href="http://www.nationalvotersguide.com/"&gt;www.NationalVotersGuide.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-6203034837785639510?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/6203034837785639510/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=6203034837785639510' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/6203034837785639510'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/6203034837785639510'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/02/need-to-know-who-youre-voting-for.html' title='Need to know who you&apos;re voting for?'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-4469474414222460772</id><published>2008-01-25T15:54:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-01-25T16:31:22.137-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Because He Gets It.</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I don't know if you caught this snippet of last night's Republican debate in Florida, but if you haven't, I encourage you to watch it now and take a moment to ponder what Mike Huckabee is really saying.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JlnxF5IDkHQ&amp;amp;rel=" border="1" width="425" height="373" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;What good is a stimulus package if it sells us downstream? It's like throwing a band-aid on a knife wound. What America needs is a good set of sutures. We need American jobs. We need people to go to work. We need to have fair trade, not just free trade. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Why can a country like China place huge tarriffs on American goods coming into their ports and then dump their products on our shores for free? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Why don't we require countries exporting goods to the United States to uphold the same standards for human rights and product quality that we force on our own companies? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Why do we tax our own corporations out of business? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Why does it make financial sense for an American company to send raw materials overseas, manufacture their goods half way around the world and then ship them back here for sale? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Why did your last tech support call go to India when an American company made the product?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;The answer is because we allow it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;But we don't have to.  This country can have better.  Mike Huckabee can make a difference. All we have to do is vote. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Join the ranks today. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Give a buck for Huck (contribution link is on the right--&gt;). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Put your foot down.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Vote. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make government work for you.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-4469474414222460772?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/4469474414222460772/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=4469474414222460772' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/4469474414222460772'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/4469474414222460772'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/01/because-he-gets-it.html' title='Because He Gets It.'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-5624883605655220602</id><published>2008-01-07T22:52:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-01-07T23:20:51.053-05:00</updated><title type='text'>An Optimist!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;After watching the New Hampshire debates, I must say that I have once again been inspired by Mike Huckabee. In response to a question about energy independence, the overwhelming message from most of the candidates was that a near-term solution is not attainable. Mitt Romney stated that "this isn't something that can be solved in ten years; we can't become energy independent in ten years."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the face of the nay-sayers, Mike Huckabee again made a believer of me with his optimism and his credence in the spirit of the American people and American innovation. Can we become energy independent in ten years? "If we want to, we can."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="373"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vlaHOUxAxcw&amp;rel=1&amp;border=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vlaHOUxAxcw&amp;rel=1&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="373"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-5624883605655220602?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/5624883605655220602/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=5624883605655220602' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/5624883605655220602'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/5624883605655220602'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2008/01/optimist.html' title='An Optimist!'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-6090688882820754588</id><published>2007-12-20T16:26:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-20T19:03:11.159-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Merry Christmas!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;What is political correctness?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At the surface, it appears harmless. After all, what detriment could possibly arise from the practice of avoiding any language that could potentially offend another individual? In one-off conversations, the answer to that question is most likely, "not much." However, taken en &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;masse&lt;/span&gt;, the consequence is what we now find ourselves battling with as an American culture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When you look at some of our not so distant history, you can see the long-term effects of policies that seemed like good ideas with no adverse outcomes at the time they were implemented. The welfare system instated during the Great Depression to help people who couldn't find work eventually evolved into a program that rewarded people for remaining unemployed. Public housing left us with rough neighborhoods and burned out buildings. Equal Opportunity and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Affirmative&lt;/span&gt; Action - systems that were put into place to make a level playing field for all citizens - have enabled reverse discrimination. And if you think there aren't consequences to political correctness, I beg to differ.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You see, the price we're paying for political correctness is a relinquishment of one of our most basic freedoms, the freedom of speech. Do I seek to offend with what I say or write? No. But do I feel like I have to carefully choose my words and tip-toe around my true feelings so that I don't get fired, sued, or one day locked up by our own government? Absolutely. And it is sad that we've allowed ourselves to be sewn into this little box.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of America is an independent one. Independent people have ideas and opinions and they articulate them. One of the realities of the human race, though, is that not everyone is always going to like what the other guy has to say. There will be &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;dissension&lt;/span&gt; and discord. So the choice that is out there is this:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Would you rather give up your freedom and be censored in what you can write, say, and think, or would you rather live with a little rub between you and whatever percentage of the population doesn't agree with your position?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will take the latter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And this is yet another reason why I will vote for Mike &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Huckabee&lt;/span&gt;. He is not afraid to stand up for what he believes and he will not allow himself to be silenced by the politically correct mafia. Did you happen to see his Christmas greeting? (Link below if you have not.) He said Merry Christmas and he happened to mention that the birth of Christ is the reason for the holiday. Heaven forbid! The way the media is beating on him, you'd think he'd called for the execution of a child. But he doesn't back down or change his position in response to the attacks and I respect him more for it. He even had the audacity (note sarcasm) to defend himself and restate his position on CNN. If you are tired of the PC crowd, you will love the second clip I've posted below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I want to be free to say/think/write what I want and it is my dream that my children and grandchildren will one day enjoy those same liberties. An old proverb tells us that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and I think political correctness has taken us far enough. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You and I can make a difference. &lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687" target="new"&gt;Join me in supporting Mike &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Huckabee&lt;/span&gt; today.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;br /&gt;    &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Merry Christmas!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;br /&gt;    &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8xn7uSHtkuA&amp;amp;rel=" width="319" height="280" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;br /&gt;    &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For the Record, I'll Say it Again&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;br /&gt;    &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XGiVL0inI3E&amp;amp;rel=" width="319" height="280" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" border="1"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-6090688882820754588?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/6090688882820754588/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=6090688882820754588' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/6090688882820754588'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/6090688882820754588'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2007/12/merry-christmas.html' title='Merry Christmas!'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-1395319832538577379</id><published>2007-12-16T14:05:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-16T15:00:16.054-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Aren't You Ready for Something Different?</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;We all know the old saying about crabs in a pot. As long as all of them are on the bottom there aren't any problems. As soon as one tries to climb out, the others quickly reach out to pull it back down. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;As I watch this presidential race unfold, I am sadly reminded that our politicians, in spite of their much touted experience and enlightenment, have not yet evolved their behaviors beyond that of our pincered friends in the deep blue world of subaqueous crustaceans. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Huckabee is on the rise in America because he has a message and a platform that makes sense to us. And he is campaigning in a positive way; speaking about &lt;em&gt;his&lt;/em&gt; record and &lt;em&gt;his&lt;/em&gt; ideas rather than trying to air the dirty laundry of every other politician on the debate floor. And you know what? It's working. I don't want a leader whose best attribute is his ability to put another man down. What kind of person is that and who in their right mind would want to follow them? A leader builds up the people around him.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;In response to &lt;a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll" target="new"&gt;Huckabee's recent success in the polls&lt;/a&gt;, we're seeing &lt;a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501693.html" target="new"&gt;negative attack fliers in Iowa funded by the Romney campaign&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/14/paul_funds_huckabee_critics_iowa_trips/8971/" target="new"&gt;bad-mouth-mercenaries funded by Ron Paul&lt;/a&gt;,  the &lt;a href="http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/12/11/20071211_154236_flashhu.htm" target="new"&gt;DNC Drudge leak&lt;/a&gt;, and the "&lt;a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/08/anonymous-anti-huckabee-fliers-distributed-in-south-carolina/"&gt;anonymous" South Carolina fliers&lt;/a&gt; that both smack of Romney. And it's not just in the Republican camp, either. The Dems are doing more than their fair share of crab-clawing. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Again I ask, who would want to follow people who campaign like this? Do you expect they'll suddenly change their ways if we vote them into office? I don't.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I like Mike Huckabee because he is campaigning on who he is and &lt;a href="http://my.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.Home" target="new"&gt;what he believes&lt;/a&gt;. He's not out there to tear down the other candidates. He's there to build America up. It sure would be nice if all the candidates were as ethical in their approach as Governor Huckabee. Then again, their negative actions sure make my voting decision a lot easier. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Say no to the pinching politicians! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687" target="new"&gt;Give a dollar to help Mike and our country get out of the crab pot today!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-1395319832538577379?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/1395319832538577379/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=1395319832538577379' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/1395319832538577379'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/1395319832538577379'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2007/12/arent-you-ready-for-something-different.html' title='Aren&apos;t You Ready for Something Different?'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-3925699090470765142</id><published>2007-12-14T16:45:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-15T08:11:29.801-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Inspiration</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Do you know what really amazes me about our democracy? It's the fact that in spite of all the big money, the corporate sponsorships, the lobbies, the main stream media, and the special interest groups, little folks like you and me still have a say and the ability to make a difference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hear the talking heads say things like "Oh, he's not electable" or "He can't be president because he hasn't raised enough money." I get irritated by the constant chorus of naysayers, but that quickly passes when I remind myself that none of them have any more of a say in this election than you or I. Money can buy media personalities and endorsements, but it can't buy the presidency. I take a lot of heart in that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I picked up a really interesting book at the airport this week called "&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Plus-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0061122416/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1197723001&amp;amp;sr=8-1" target="new"&gt;The Alchemist&lt;/a&gt;" (&lt;a href="http://www.paulocoelho.com/engl/index.html" target="new"&gt;Paulo &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Coelho&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;) and I found some insight and inspiration within it. The premise is that as humans, we have the ability to live a life of fulfillment and happiness if we are willing to listen to our hearts and follow our true callings. Many of us fail to confront our dreams, however, for four main reasons. I think two of them are extremely relevant to this entry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. We are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Fear of defeat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The newspapers, radios and televisions continue to tell us that our candidate can't win this election; that it's impossible. They think that if they repeat this message enough, we'll give up before we begin to believe we can win. And they try to play on that innate fear of defeat that lives in each of us. They want us to take comfort in the fact that if we never believe and if we never try to make a difference, that we will find a place of refuge in our decision to not make ourselves vulnerable and our choice to not take a risk. They want us to believe that it is a better choice to trade our true convictions for the shelter of an old excuse ("we didn't really want that anyway") that we can cower under in the event we do not succeed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And to that I challenge you to think differently. We will never succeed if we believe those who tell us that we will not. We will never succeed if we are afraid to take a risk and stand for something in which we believe. BUT, if we are willing to stand up, if we are willing to believe, and if we are willing to participate in the democratic process of this great land, we can make a difference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please make a contribution to &lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687"&gt;Mike &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Huckabee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;'s campaign today. If your dream is to have a choice in next year's election and to have a candidate who can unite this country once again, please take a stand. &lt;strong&gt;YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Do You Believe?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Are you willing to stand up?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home&amp;amp;r=687"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Will you be the one who makes a difference?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-3925699090470765142?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/3925699090470765142/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=3925699090470765142' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/3925699090470765142'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/3925699090470765142'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2007/12/inspiration.html' title='Inspiration'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-2139233520354656395</id><published>2007-12-09T14:20:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-10T18:03:03.641-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Moving Upward</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;In my last post, I mentioned that as a nation we've become disengaged in our political process and have often neglected our privilege and duty of voting. After I finished writing and walked away, the point stayed with me. I started to really ask myself why it is that such a large part of our populace has lost interest in such an important process. How could you not care who our next leader will be? Why wouldn't you want to know what your elected representatives in the government are doing on your behalf? Why do you know and care more about Britney Spears and Paris Hilton than you do about your own elected officials and the decisions they're making every day; especially when those decisions will have an immediate impact on you, your future, and the futures of your children. Why don't we care anymore?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Well, it seems to me that you don't have to go very far beyond the daily headlines to begin to understand why our nation is on auto-pilot. There is mud-slinging from both sides of the aisle and, now that it's campaign season, even within each party. The Dems all hate Bush and the Republicans all hate Hillary. Left-wingers can't stand the right-wingers and vice-versa. Bills are passed and killed in partisan warfare. And in the midst of all of this, is anything actually being accomplished for &lt;em&gt;us&lt;/em&gt;, the American people? Our government is so focused on beating up on itself that it's no wonder many of our fellow Americans have resigned themselves to the opinion that no matter who they put in office, the same scenario is likely to unfold. Years of this nonsense has actually started to reinforce a belief of "Why vote? It won't make a difference anyway."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Frankly, in the defense of Ms. Hilton and Ms. Spears, I can see how one would almost prefer to read about the life and times of our Hollywood elites on some days. At least the escape to fantasyland would take their minds off the fact that their paid and elected representatives are doing very little to move the country forward. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Here is my thought on Mike Huckabee for today. He believes in something he calls "&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;amp;Issue_id=24"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Vertical Politics&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;." It's about dropping the rhetoric, tackling the issues as a team, and actually getting something done for once. Here is a guy who is actually clued in to the fact that you and I don't care if somebody is right, left, blue, red, or green for that matter, as long as they are acting in our best interest and working to lift America up and make it a better place. Don't you think that's something we could all use a little bit more of in Washington?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Go Mike, Go!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qr58xZdHo9Q&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qr58xZdHo9Q&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-2139233520354656395?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/2139233520354656395/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=2139233520354656395' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/2139233520354656395'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/2139233520354656395'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2007/12/in-my-last-post-i-mentioned-that-as.html' title='Moving Upward'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-309007435285093578</id><published>2007-12-07T21:25:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-07T22:59:11.400-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A Better America</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Some people might call me nostalgic. To some degree, I suppose they're right. I miss a lot of things about America that I never lived to experience. Sure, there were challenges of wars and economic depression and civil inequalities that had to be dealt with, but those were but a few frayed threads in a larger and otherwise pristine patchwork of American life. Things were simpler. Families mattered. The general population had a moral sense of right and wrong. People immigrated to our country to assimilate and become part of it, to make it stronger; not to terrorize or take over from within. There was pride in hard work and an honest dollar. We were one people and we stood behind our military as a collective whole in times of distress with more than lip service for political gain. We bought bonds,  our women assembled our heavy armor, and we sacrificed our own food at home so that the boys on the front lines could be fed. We flew our flag in the morning and respectfully took it down at dusk. We were admired by other nations for being the kind of people that we were. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;So what happened?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Too much to sum up here, for sure. Somewhere along the line though, we lost our guiding light.  "Anything Goes" up and went and it took us right down the tubes with it. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Marriage became a contract rather than a commitment. Children were downgraded from people to possessions. If there was a buck to be made, we made it any way that we could. Even if making it meant lowering our standards or slighting someone. We became a sue-happy society filled with frivolous lawsuits. We allowed our civil liberties to be used against us to the point that we have become legally encaged in a world of political correctness. We lost our trust in one another and in our government. We worshipped our criminals as heroes and allowed our policemen to become villains. We traded true patriotism and national pride for a bumper sticker and a burning flag. Instead of taking advantage our our greatest right and voting, we became disengaged from our political process. And we wonder why other nations think we're laughable?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;We are a great people. I know that in my heart and I can see it in your eyes when we pass in the street. We're not strangers. Somewhere down deep, we still have that conscience and that pride that makes us Americans. I can sense it in our children - they &lt;em&gt;want&lt;/em&gt; to know that great America - and I can see the ever-dimming twinkle in the eyes of our elders. We're all right here and we all want the same thing. But we're polarized. We need a leader who can unite us.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mike Huckabee has my vote because he gives me hope that a better America is still out there.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;It is up to you and me to find it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-309007435285093578?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/309007435285093578/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=309007435285093578' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/309007435285093578'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/309007435285093578'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2007/12/better-america.html' title='A Better America'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433160577306273061.post-1112002184120910597</id><published>2007-12-04T00:15:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-04T01:42:26.955-05:00</updated><title type='text'>My Beginning</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I have been a conservative all of my life, but aside from voting and getting fired up over the talking heads on TV or left-leaning callers berating the hosts of my favorite talk radio shows, I've never been overly involved in the political process. I've never campaigned for anyone and I've certainly never taken a shot at blogging. So why do I now find myself going overboard? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Well, to make sense of it all, you might want to understand a little bit about me. I am the eldest of three children and I come from a working class home in my native Pennsylvania. I wasn't poor - could always pick somebody who had things a little rougher than we did - but I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, either. My parents worked long hours and stretched a lot of pennies to make sure that we were always clothed, warm, and fed. I was raised as a Christian and I identify myself as such, but you will not catch me on a soapbox telling you that my religion is better than yours or that your actions and choices are less holy than mine in the eyes of God. That's your business and the way I see it, we all fall short of the glory so we might as well leave the judgements up to Him. When I was 12, my parents separated and then divorced. My brother and I stayed in our home with my father and my sister moved away with my mother. I went through my teenage years as a pretty good kid (had my moments) and a decent student. I went on to college with the assistance of a merit scholarship and have since had a successful life in the business world. I am married and am expecting my first child in February.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;So, now that we're all square on the background, I'll continue with the topic that caused you to stop at my blog in the first place. Why am I such an advocate of Mike Huckabee? Yes, I identify with his beliefs. I identify with his values. And I identify with his something out of nothing rise from the normal blue-collar American life that most of us know to his position as a leader today. I'll write about more of these great things in another post, but this is where my excitement about Mike Huckabee began...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I had my first opportunity to hear Mike Huckabee speak during the Republican debate in August. My initial reaction was, "Wow, this guy is actually answering questions honestly." The more I listened to him, the more I started to identify with his message. Before I knew anything about his history as a pastor or his beliefs, Mike Huckabee sold me with his stance on energy independence. He recognizes that our dependence on foreign oil is indirectly financing the extremists who seek to exterminate us as a people. I was hooked the moment that he said, "If we can feed ourselves, if we can fuel ourselves, if we can manufacture the weapons to fight for ourselves, we're a free people; if we can't do those three things, we're not free." &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;This was my beginning for Mike Huckabee and hopefully it'll be yours, too. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Republican Debate Clip, August 5&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAklv1Z-ZEg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAklv1Z-ZEg&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Segment begins at about 3:00 mark&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EAklv1Z-ZEg&amp;amp;rel=" width="425" height="355" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2433160577306273061-1112002184120910597?l=hucktastic.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/feeds/1112002184120910597/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2433160577306273061&amp;postID=1112002184120910597' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/1112002184120910597'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2433160577306273061/posts/default/1112002184120910597'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://hucktastic.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-beginning.html' title='My Beginning'/><author><name>Hucktastic</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07148808372438062390</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_vMPToX1W0CA/R1TU63g527I/AAAAAAAAAAM/5LO0dEocbEk/S220/IndyHuckAvatar80x80.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
