Just what we need -- a competent fanatic who is not an idiot!!

While Crusader AXE is fully committed to the Cthulhu-Guiliani ticket ( and trust me, the fact that the Typepad Hobbit dictionary recognizes Cthulhu as a word but not Guiliani is intriguing), I am looking at Pastor Mike Huckabee with some interest. Back in the day, progressives and churches were pretty well aligned and allied. Now, for the most part this did not include the snake-handling, born-again, Ned Flanders types but we forget people like General Booth of the Salvation Army, Dorothy Day of The Catholic Workers, and Reverend Martin Luther King II, well as the III at our peril. So, Huckabee's record is intriguing. He actually improved the skills and public health in Arkansas. As the Times article points out, he accomplished things that his predecessors, including Bill Clinton could not. Now, all Bush did was sign bills in Texas and allow the o'l bidness to run wild and wreck havoc while doing everything he could to minimize the impact of available social security networks on the poor, sick, elderly and young. Like Greg Marmalade from Animal House, he ran the state like the Greek Council at Faber, only everybody who didn't kiss his ass was in Delta. Sort of the way he has kind of run the country, and the resemblance between Niedemeyer and Rumsfeld can hardly be accidental.

Now, the progressive movement in this country's initial national leader was a Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt. As Republican a Republican as his cousin Franklin was a Democrat. Yet, he got things like trusts busted, food and drugs regulated, the military transformed and the power of the plutocrats somewhat limited. So, maybe Huckabee would not be a disaster. Or, and here's my belief he'd be an absolute disaster. As the Times points out, "But he is also remembered in the state for a style of governing that tended to freeze out anyone of any party who disagreed with his plans. He did not, for example, seek Mr. Clinton’s conciliatory middle, or try to court skeptical state lawmakers. Though he was considered as persuasive a speechmaker as he had been a pastor, Mr. Huckabee largely kept his own counsel — in politics, ethics and a singular clemency policy that continues to haunt him."  Something as silly and as reasonable as pardoning Keith Richards is an example. He consulted his conscience and decided that the skull-ring wearing, heroin-addicted musical genius that powers the Rolling Stones platform should receive a pardon for drug use. I love Keith Richards. I've always loved Keith Richards. I'd give Keith Richards a kidney, as soon as I could catch a local with a healthy kidney and take it for him. But, Keith hasn't done anything worthy of a pardon for drug use. He stopped doing heroin? Cool. Have him do some public service ads about the dangers of drugs and but don't pardon the bloke. What the hell was Huckabee thinking?  Drug use is a victimless crime? Hang around an area with hardcore heroin or crank addicts and try to tell me that the only person they hurt is themselves?  Did he pardon the people in Arkansas jails for drug possession and low end sales so they could maybe get jobs and exercise the franchise? Not so much. He pardoned the  kizillionaire  songwriter-rhythm guitarist of the greatest rock and roll band in the world that needed to end two decades ago. Although Charlie, Keith and Ronnie are still doing a helluva job, the fact is that Mick -- genius as he is and was -- has become a parody of himself and guys with multiple homes in Monaco, the Bahamas and London really have problem with the whole "outsider/can't get no satisfaction" bluesman thing. Mick is a bi-sexual leaning heavily toward hetero-version of Liberace. As he used to say on the VH1 bits, " I thought I was a serious musician but I ended up as just another pretty face."

So, a southern governor with little or no foreign policy experience who is born again and has trouble listening to people who don't agree with him? Why is that a problem? On the one hand, we have Twitshit de la Dweeb, the all time champion of the ignorant and selfish assholes who won't listen and believes he is divinely inspired. On the other, Jimmy Carter, the all time champion of the brilliant and selfless assholes who won't listen and believe that  they are trying to work god's will in the world. Huckabee differs in that he has a sense of humor, and like  BubbaBill can play  an instrument.  However,  the guy appears to believe that the world is six or eight thousand years old, and that Fred Flintstone was real. I like Chuck Norris as much as the next guy -- and, I suspect only guys like Chuck Norris. I don't think I'd like Chuck Norris as the President's senior policy adviser. And, if you watch Delta Force or Walker, Texas Ranger, the Chuck Norris type doesn't listen and doesn't compromise on anything. Chuck's got a lot of great things going for him -- hell, the Walker character is in someways to the Indian and Hispanic population a martial arts version of Magic Johnson, only without the HIV and the Starbucks. Admirable, but insane. Not exactly what we need. Not sure what we need, and given a choice between Guiliani, Obama and Huckabee, I'd lean toward Huckabee but there are better choices out there. Honest.