Down goes Huckabee

At least that is my prediction after his latestcomments on the Constitution. I have said it before, and will say it again. Huckabee isn't a conservative, but a big government Republican. And with this line, he is bordering on being the dreaded Theocrat.

He said abortion is one of just two areas "where I believe we ought to amend the Constitution right now. But I do believe we should and settle this issue of having 50 states running around trying to decide what's right and what's wrong in relationship to the sanctity of human life and the dignity and worth of people.".
..

"The Constitution is a document -- it's a living, breathing document written in order that it could be changed," Huckabee explained.

Could be the Washington beltway just wants to feed the Us vs. Them mentality. The democrats scream about Bush being a theocrat and so the other side must want one of them.

What is a deeper problem is his "50 states" line. The Bill of Rights settles that with the 10th amendment.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

So give me Ron Paul and his respect for my rights.

The Huckabee problem

On first blush, hearing his responses in the early debates, I liked Huckabee.  Not as much as Ron Paul, but he was one of the few candidates I could have imagined myself voting for. 

Count that as early delusion because I am officially off his bandwagon.  As I have detailed previously, he has issues with state rights.  This latest interview just blows up how un-conservative his is compared to Ron Paul.  Mark Shea dismantles Huckabee's major gaffe in stating "all law establishes morality." 

Here's the thing: law does not establish morality. Morality is the basis of law. And morality is derived from that fact that men and women are creatures made in the image and likeness of God. It is not derived from what Caesar happens to approve or disapprove.

Mark does it well, so I won't comment on that further except to disagree with Mark that Huckabee probably didn't mean it that way.  Just take him at his word that he believes that law establishes morality.  In the political world of 2008, those in Washington DC, do legislate morality.  And it is what Huckabee is about.  Limited government?  States rights?  Must have imagined that to be a conservative concept. 

Yeah. Because once you give it in one state, then what keeps that couple from having it in New Hampshire and then moving to Arkansas and saying, "Hey, you have to accept what the other state did." That's why it is better cleared up by a marriage amendment that just says marriage is what it always has been.

Yes, Huckabee is railing against homosexual union.  But he is doing so in such a way that I can sympathize with the radical left when they fret about a theocracy.   Huckabee thinks that the federal government is in charge of handing out freedom.  And in charge of defining morality.   Did he forget we are the United States of America?

The states in the US of A are not just some antiquated boundaries better suited for tasteless jokes or sports rivalries.  The limited role of the federal government was crucial to the states agreeing to form a union.  He would be wise to read up on the War between the States considering how often he references it.

I may agree with Huckabee's morality, but I surely don't agree with his politics.

And it seems a few others disagree with his sincerity and his growing anti-Catholic problem.

On politic, Ron Paul and Huckabee

On my recent post on Huckabee, commenter Lee Strong levels the extreme liberalism comment at my post. He makes some good points that in many cases, Huckabee sounds very conservative.

I am wary of Huckabee because he talks a good game, catering to the religious voters. But how does he stand on other "small government" items. According to Thomas Woods Jr. in his
Open Letter to the Catholic Community in Behalf of Ron Paul, not so well. via CfRP

On education and home schooling, Ron Paul is the clear winner. Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Duncan Hunter all voted for the execrable No Child Left Behind Act, and Governors Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have both come out in favor of it. Ron Paul – as did the Republican Party itself not so long ago – opposes any federal role in education, which is the responsibility of parents and local communities.

In other words, Ron Paul believes in a little something called subsidiarity, which happens to be a central principle of Catholic social thought. Subsidiarity holds that all social functions should be carried out by the most local unit possible, as opposed to the dehumanizing alternative whereby distant bureaucratic structures are routinely and unthinkingly entrusted with more and more responsibilities for human well-being.

And if you look at it from a Catholic perspective, Ron Paul scores a 99 on the Evaluation of 2008 Presidential Candidates Against US Bishops' Criteria. Huckabee scores a 69 while Mitt Romney had to clarify his positions to get up to a 10. Giuliani? At the bottom with negative 28.

But back to Huckabee and Ron Paul, the only two candidates I would consider. Huckabee follows rank with the current Republican agenda of "No Child Left Behind (or untaxed)". So he seems to be a panderer. Thrown out there to keep the religious voters happily involved. He has done surprisingly well, so he sticks around. But he isn't going to turn this country around. Bush had that same quiet "humility" and faith about him before he was elected.

I have said it before and will again. When you bind yourself too closely with a party, be it Republican or Democrat, you will be disappointed. And then what options are left? Sinking with the ship or leaping of into the big wide ocean, not knowing which way to swim.

My favorite Hucklebee

As the kids call him anyway. I would like to see Huckabee get a bit more media time. He speaks with clarity and conviction that most of the candidates are missing.

"I sometimes marvel when people running for office are asked about faith and their answer is, 'Oh, I don't get into that. I keep that completely separate. My faith is completely immaterial to how I think and how I govern,' " he said. "To me, that is really tantamount to saying that one's faith is so marginal, so insignificant and so inconsequential that it really doesn't impact the way one lives. I would consider it an extraordinarily shallow faith that does not really impact the way we think about other human beings and the way we respond to them."

...
While Huckabee acknowledged that environmental issues cause heated debates, he believes that it's time for conservatives to become more involved in efforts to promote the "better stewardship of the environment and in development of an energy source that is not foreign based but domestically produced."

Most conservatives are for taking care of the land. In fact most people living on the land were conservationists before the current environmental extremists were out of their disposable diapers.

He also forsees a danger for the Republicans if they don't recognize where the voters stand.

"I really do think that if Christian conservatives, who have ... held the Republican Party's feet to the fire on issues as they relate to traditional conservative social areas, no longer play that role, it not only is going to be the end of relevancy for them, but I also think that it means that the Republican Party will lose a lot of people. They will say, 'Well, you know what, if they're not going to be the party that really cares about these issues, I'll go home to the Democratic Party.' A lot of those folks came from the Democratic Party to begin with."