comMITTed to Romney!

Our old friend and erstwhile presidential primary candidate, Mike Huckabee, gets spanked hard in an article by John Brummett. Mr. Brummett holds Pastor Mike in the same low esteem as most of our readers and commenters. It’s always reassuring to hear a spade called a spade.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/34953414.html

By: JOHN BRUMMETT

People wonder why Mike Huckabee would come out with a book that violates Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, which is not to criticize another Republican, and trashes the wholly deserving Mitt Romney.

Is it that Huckabee wants to get Romney out of the way so that he can emerge pre-emptively as the GOP alternative to Sarah Palin in 2012?

That assumes Huckabee wants to be president. He doesn’t, at least not as much as he wants to make money. He thinks the best way for him to make money is to exploit media, celebrity and the popular culture.

He cranks out chatty, pedestrian books at a rate of nearly one a year. Once there was a horrible school shooting in the state where he was governor. In a few months he was in bookstores with a cash-cow hard-cover titled “Kids Who Kill.”

But now this newest chatty, pedestrian book, “Do the Right Thing,” which also was the title of a Spike Lee movie, offers the Huckster’s best profit opportunity yet. That’s because he’s now known nationwide for having run surprisingly well this year for the Republican presidential nomination.
He shot up to second place and got out of it precisely what he had wanted all along. That was a talk show on Fox and a Paul Harvey-like gig with ABC Radio.

Political books can make money. But they tend to fall flat if they fail to arouse the gossip-addicted modern media. You need to make headlines. You need to get blogged about. You need to get on the talk shows. You do that with something personal and titillating, such as getting tacky about Romney.

As it happens, Huckabee couldn’t stand Romney anyway. The former Arkansas governor is a firefighter’s kid from Hope, Ark., a Baptist preacher and former pastor who worked his way through college and has never had anything other than what he could extract from the taxpayers or parishioners and wrangle from his communications skills. He carries a chip on his shoulder, reveling in his outsiderism, his being an underdog.

Wholly conversely, Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, comes across as what he is, a slick rich businessman from the privileged class.

It’s true that as a presidential candidate Romney made himself out to be the social and economic conservative he had not remotely been as governor. It is true that he was a hedge fund guy who threw his own millions at an unctuously pandering campaign while Huckabee was financing his on a shoestring and performing much better on simple talent.

So Huckabee gleefully wrote a few things in this new book about what a phony Romney was, thereby attending both to his financial interests and his petty instincts.

Among other things, Huckabee whines in this book that Romney never called to congratulate him the night he won the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.

I had not known that losing candidates were obliged to do that in a presidential primary. On Super Tuesday last, for example, did Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton call each other a dozen times each, whenever a state would get called for one or the other? Or did they wait for all the states to come in so that they could phone each other only once for a general congratulations?

This is an altogether unseemly sideshow. You have a historic president-elect who is trying to build a Lincolnesque administration to tackle a seemingly impossible job leading a country beset by a bad economy, two wars and general fear and agitation. And you have this pulpit refugee and Fox talking head trying to settle a score over a perceived slight from a man who spent millions from his personal fortune so he could get outdone by the pulpit refugee and Fox talking head.

No wonder people are saying the Republicans are flirting with irrelevance.

John Brummett, an award-winning columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock, is author of “High Wire,” a book about Bill Clinton’s first year as president. His e-mail address is jbrummett@ arkansasnews.com.

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The text below comes from an email sent to me from Townhall Magazine where they talked about an upcoming issue of their magazine. The issue will feature the “Six Keepers of the Reagan Flame.”

If it doesn’t include Romney’s name their stock will plummet in my estimation, but that’s a debate for another day. The reason I posted the text here is because they captured almost to the word the way I feel about this election and the choices we are faced with.

~~John Cronin~~

Dear Friends,

It has been twenty years since Ronald Reagan left office and now there are only eleven days until Americans pick the 44th President of the United States.

Regardless of who prevails on election night, we as conservatives have a lot of work ahead of us. If John McCain wins, conservatives will have to keep the new administration’s feet to fire, making sure the principles that Reagan espoused are not only not forgotten but championed.

If Barack Obama wins, America will face the most dangerous four years of liberalism this nation has faced since Jimmy Carter. Conservative will have to take up the cause of freedom like never before to ensure that America still resembles the nation Ronald Reagan left us once Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi are through with it.

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I always associate the conservative political activist organization, Young Americans for Freedom, with the idealism and philosophy of President Reagan. I came across their website this afternoon and thought it would be good to give them a plug because of the fine work they do in promoting the conservative cause.

If you are a young adult looking for an organization that will help you channel your energy and passion for politics, please click on over to their website and check out this great group of Young Americans for Freedom.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.yaf.com/index.php

Activists Wanted.

The trend is disturbing. If you listen to the mainstream news, young people around the country are surging to become activists for more government, more taxes, more political correctness, and a foreign policy that is destructive to U.S. interests. Moreover, they advocate stripping the individual of their inherent rights and focusing on group rights.

There is some merit to these reports. The forces against freedom have gotten better organized over the past decade. There’s a lot of cash from the government and others going into organizing this effort.

Across the country, however, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), America’s oldest, largest, and most active conservative/libertarian youth organization, is redoubling its efforts to fight for less government, more freedom, and a foreign policy that does not bend over backwards to dictators that would love to kill America’s freedom.

If you’re interested in helping us win this battle, please contact us. If you do join us, you’ll find that you will be in the center of this battle with a unique and great network of fellow activists busy promoting freedom.

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This post is aimed at every Mitt Romney supporter who feels that the Republican Party and the country is headed in the wrong direction. If you agree that the guiding philosophy of the party has moved away from the conservative principles that made it great in the past, then here is your opportunity to steer the party back toward policies that Ronald Reagan articulated in the 1980’s and those that Mitt Romney spoke of in the primary campaign.

I hope you will visit Gov. Romney’s new website and that you will get involved. It promises to be great fun and I believe you will be rewarded with that feeling of accomplishment that only responsible civic involvement can bring.

~~John Cronin~~

https://www.freestrongamerica.com/

Sign up for our grassroots network!

If America is to remain a leader in the world, we must be prepared to face the numerous challenges of the 21st century. These problems can be tackled with innovation, determination, and a commitment to our nation’s founding principles. Together with you, Free and Strong America PAC will work tirelessly to promote these principles, and help elect like-minded candidates who are prepared to take on the challenge of keeping America free and strong.

You may be wondering what else you can do to help our efforts. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take a moment today to:

1) Make a contribution to Free and Strong America PAC. Your contribution will help promote conservative causes and support conservative candidates.

2) Spread the word about Free and Strong America PAC to your friends and family. We need to grow our grassroots network as broadly as possible in the coming months and we are counting on your help.

3) Learn about the candidates we are supporting. Every week, we will be profiling new candidates on our website so that you can learn more about them and support them directly if you wish. Please visit our website often for the latest updates.

Thank you again for all of your support and dedication. With your continued help we will ensure that this great nation remains – as it always has been – the beacon of freedom and hope of the world.

Best Regards,

Mitt Romney
Honorary Chairman

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Short article, but excellent points made about the litany of criticism that comes from the MSM about America’s perceived faults. To hear them tell it, this country has been on a downward slope for decades and that it’s only a matter of time before America passes from the world stage, not with a bang but with a whimper.

I beg to disagree. Hopefully you do, too.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=294881036635844

By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, May 05, 2008 4:20 PM PT

America’s Role: Newsweek thinks the U.S. is fading in a “post-American world.” We beg to differ. We are still Reagan’s shining city on a hill. As in earlier times, reports of our impending demise are greatly exaggerated.

We are still quoting Reagan’s soaring rhetoric.

Perhaps cover stories such as Newsweek’s explain it. We will not drink from their half-empty glass.

Indeed, we will not.

The Soviets were going to bury us, remember? We buried them.

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Hat Tip To SED!

Below is listed a comment from one of our readers in Massachusetts. I understand from SED’s comment that MA. has a ballot initiative to abolish their state income tax! This coming from one of the most socially liberal states in the country. I wonder if this is the start of a trend?

I also noted that SED would like Mitt Romney to spend time in the state rebuilding it’s Republican Party if he is not picked for the VP spot. This is what I was writing about in my post “Participatory Democracy.”

It is very encouraging to hear from readers like SED and to be kept informed of the grassroots efforts in other states to steer the country back toward the conservative principles that set off the economic boom of the Reagan years.

~~John Cronin~~

SED on 05 Apr 2008 at 2:07 pm

This election cycle has the potential to be big for the mass gop. We have the abolishment of the state income tax on the ballot as well as great candidates for the US Senate. I hope that if Mitt is not chosen as McCain’s VP, he will spend some considerable time here rebuilding our party in this state. Massachusetts maybe a socially liberal state, however I believe the fiscal conservatives will have a great shot this year due to fear of an imminent recession. In one year, Mitt’s surplus is now a 1.6 billion dollar deficit under the dem’s super-majority!

John Cronin

SED, thanks for the great feed back! I was thinking about Missouri’s income tax about a month ago when I filed my taxes. Our rates have been steadily creeping up for the last few years and I was thinking we need our state politicians to start the process of getting Missourians some tax relief.

The locality where I live now has a 7.3% sales tax as well. Hats off to the citizens of Massachusetts for their income tax ballot initiative. Wow!

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I admire Mitt Romney’s grit and determination and I agree that he should take the fight to the convention. The stakes are too high to do anything else.

In the event that we do not win there, then I believe Gov. Romney should follow the advise given in the article below.

~~John Cronin~~

ROMNEY SHOULD FOLLOW REAGAN EXAMPLE
boblonsberry.com ^ | 02/06/08 | Bob Lonsberry

Posted on 02/06/2008 5:32:18 AM PST by shortstop

Maybe it’s like 1976.

Maybe the Republican Party needs to go through a cleansing. Maybe it needs to be torn down so someday it can be built up again.

In 1976 the Republican bosses rejected Ronald Reagan. They mocked his conservatism and went with the liberal, Gerald Ford. We were coming out of the Nixon era, a time when about all anyone agreed on was that the Republican president had been a disappointment.

The party went with a liberal and a dynamic young guy out of Georgia – who campaigned on a platform of change – got the Democratic nod. It was a centrist establishment Republican against a Democrat outsider and the Republican candidacy went down in flames.

And America got Jimmy Carter, the most pointless president of the Twentieth Century.

Maybe this year is like 1976.

George W. Bush is Richard M. Nixon. Republicans can’t wait for him to go and Democrats absolutely loathe him. He is what people want to change, they just want to turn the page and move on to something better.

Either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton play the part of Jimmy Carter. Both have exciting candidacies that are very short on specifics. Both have the potential to be absolute failures as presidents. Like Carter, they have the potential to be one-term wonders. They have the potential to follow liberal priorities right into the swamp Jimmy Carter mired the nation in.

Somehow, Barack Obama chants things about hope in a way that gets more votes than when Jesse Jackson chanted things about hope. Somehow, people have decided to read into the Obama candidacy every unresolved political fantasy of their lives. Somehow, the media and the Democrats have decided – with a straight face – that Barack Obama is the second coming of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Hillary Clinton has likewise taken on mythic proportions in the enthusiasm of her supporters.

But both Obama and Clinton will do well not to fall flat on their faces once in office.

And it’s quite likely one of them will be the next president of the United States.

Because of this year’s Gerald Ford – Senator John McCain.

He is the sort of soulless candidate who can inspire only through fear. He is a man without abiding political principle, a war hero whose war ended two generations ago. A man who in no way represents the philosophy or values of his party.

A man grassroots Republicans are going to turn their backs on.

This year is like 1976.

And Mitt Romney is Ronald Reagan.

This year, the Republican bosses are going to deny Mitt Romney the nomination. They are going to cynically play politics, they are going to go with the liberal they think can win, and they are going to value victory over principle. They are going to forget the fact that Republicans who abandon principle for success invariably end up with neither.

So it will be Jimmy Carter Take Two and Mitt Romney will go into the wilderness.

But if he is smart, he will follow the example of Ronald Reagan. Reagan used the years from 1976 to 1980 to continue his daily radio commentaries and to travel the country speaking to whomever would listen to him. He perfected his understanding of the Constitution. He spoke to group after group, preaching the simple straight-foward gospel of freedom, self-reliance, respect for life and the glory of being an American.

And at the end of four years he had not only his party’s nomination, he had one of the biggest general election margins in history.

He persisted and he prevailed and he became president of the United States.

That needs to be Mitt’s plan.

He got robbed this go ’round. His party abandoned not just him, but its own bedrock. Mitt needs to spend four years internalizing the gospel of conservatism and constitutionalism. He needs to get this stuff in his bones. And he needs to preach it across the country.

This year is like 1976.

We’ve nominated a liberal and we’ve rejected a potentially great leader.

The one will be gone soon, and – if he’s wise – the other will start preparing now for 2012.

This year is like 1976. And that one didn’t go very well for us.

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As most of you know on this blog, we try to keep most “religion talk” off of this blog. Since it’s been such a pointed issue for Governor Romney, it’s normally met with scorn. Well, to those of us that are LDS we lost our dear beloved “Prophet, Seer, and Revelator” this week. His name was Gordon B. Hinckley, and throughout his entire membership in the LDS Church, particularly during his Presidency he affected so many people. His sweet disposition was very unique is that he always spoke so kindly to others.

Glen Beck (who also is a member of my faith) did a tribute to this beloved man, and here it is. I hope that those LDS and Non-LDS alike can take something very positive from it, and positively change the world.

P.S. There is a great shot of President Reagan and President Hinckley in this video.

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http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1704390,00.html

By: Michael Duffy and Karen Tumulty

Whenever I am tempted to cool my anti-MSM rhetoric, along comes a screed like this one from our friends over at TIME/CNN. They describe Gov. Romney as a “strange, inauthentic collection of market research, body parts and DNA……assembled in a lab by the party’s mad scientists.”

I am sure they would spin this as a spoof of MR, or as political satire that they wouldn’t expect those of us who live in fly over country to fully appreciate, but I view it as some of the last gasps of the “Dinosaur Media” as it slinks into oblivion. What does this kind of writing say to the voters of Wyoming and Michigan who just propelled “the Frankenstein monster of the 2008 Republican sweepstakes” to sweeping victories in their primaries? No wonder the main use of their publications now is to wrap fish and to line the bottoms of birdcages.

Until he pulled into his home state of Michigan, Willard Mitt Romney was the Frankenstein monster of the 2008 Republican sweepstakes. The former Massachusetts governor at times seemed less like a real person than a strange, inauthentic collection of market research, body parts and DNA that had been borrowed from past GOP campaigns and assembled in a lab by the party’s mad scientists. Romney had the overpowering optimism of Ronald Reagan, the family values of Dan Quayle, the hair and handsome looks of Jack Kemp and the manners of George H.W. Bush. On paper, each piece of the Romney contraption was designed to appeal to a different part of the scattered GOP coalition. But the overall formula wasn’t working as expected. Romney placed second in Iowa and New Hampshire, despite pouring millions of his own fortune into the race. His rivals among the other candidates neither liked nor respected him, and that dynamic was beginning to show up in televised debates. Michigan would be where he regained his footing — or just got buried.

~~John Cronin~~

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• The Concord Monitor Editorial Board Recently Personally Attacked Gov. Romney:
  UPI Headline: “Liberal N.H. Newspaper Slams Romney.” “Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden told CNN the criticisms were taken in stride. ‘The Monitor’s editorial board is regarded as a liberal one on many issues, so it is not surprising that they would criticize Governor Romney for his conservative views and platform,’ Madden said.” (”Liberal N.H. Newspaper Slams Romney,” United Press International, 12/24/07)
• FLASHBACK: The Concord Monitor Endorsed Moderate John Anderson In The 1980 GOP Primary:
  The Monitor Praised Anderson For His Liberal Positions. “[The] Monitor endorses the candidacy of John B. Anderson… He has proposed a 50-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline… He favors both the Equal Rights Amendment and the windfall profits tax on the major oil companies.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)
• FLASHBACK: The Concord Monitor Personally Attacked Ronald Reagan In 1980:
  The Monitor Attacked Reagan’s Ability And Capacity. “Ronald Reagan – The former California governor is simply too old (69), too doctrinaire, too inexperienced in the intricacies of the federal government. We gravely question his capability to withstand the daily physical and emotional battering that the nation’s chief executive must endure.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)
• The Monitor Attacked Reagan For Supporting “A 19th Century Economic Philosophy.” “Reagan espouses a 19th century economic philosophy shared by less than one-third of the national electorate. He opposes the Equal Rights Amendment, President Carter’s embargo on grain shipments to the Soviet Union, the proposed windfall profits tax on major oil companies, implementation of the Panama Canal treaties, and he has favored simultaneously additional defense spending and a tax cut.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)
• The Monitor Claimed Reagan Was “On The Side-Lines Of Contemporary American Thought.” “Though personable, [Reagan] is on the side-lines of contemporary American thought, and he could not win a national election if he won the GOP nomination.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)
• FLASHBACK: The Concord Monitor Also Attacked George H.W. Bush:
  The Monitor Attacked Bush For Having Most Of The Same Conservative Beliefs As Reagan, Like Cutting Taxes And Increasing Defense Spending. “George Bush – The former director of the CIA, two-term congressman from Texas in the 1960s, onetime Republican national chairman and first U.S. envoy to mainland China has both magnetic appeal and organizational and leadership talents. He is widely regarded as a moderate. He is not. He shares most of Reagan’s political beliefs, his stand on the ERA being one of the notable exceptions. He also favors a tax cut and an increase in defense spending at the same time.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)
• The Monitor Claimed That Bush’s Positions Needed Far More Scrutiny. “Bush’s articulation of his positions on major issues is fuzzy and sometimes evasive. He can mesmerize an audience, seeming to say much while actually saying little. Bush has campaigned for the GOP nomination, mostly in New Hampshire, for more than 20 months. Despite this, he needs additional scrutiny.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)



• The Monitor Questioned Bush’s Credentials. “Bush’s highly-vaunted Washington experience is more noteworthy for its breadth than for its depth. He is a shiny new political phenomenon, following the Iowa caucuses, and we want to hear from him a fuller articulation of his positions on a broad range of national issues. We hope he survives the New Hampshire primary and submits his thinking to more searching examination in the primaries to come.” (Editorial, “For The GOP: Anderson,” Concord Monitor, 2/21/80)

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