Farewell 2007...

As we bid adieu to 2007, we must now look forward to 2008. I use the word "must" for I do so with no small degree of trepidation. The challenges are many as are the pitfalls and we, as Americans must have the courage to learn from the past in order to make the choice as to who will lead us into a most uncertain future.

Our history has indicated that we always have an individual imbued with greatness at the helm just when we need them the most. Whether that person is delivered by the hand of providence, or the times instill greatness in the person at hand is something about which I am uncertain. What I am certain of is that now is a time that demands no less than a great leader to continue our struggle, the results of which will determine the survival or the demise of our very culture. The stakes could not be higher.

The war in Iraq will be a focal point during the coming election, as it should be. It is the seminal issue of our time. It's outcome will determine whether we have the fortitude to truly change the world, or if we are destined to lose our civilization by default. The world is far too small a place to allow a monsterous ideology such as Islamofascism to continue. Iraq is the tipping point and it is up to us to decide which direction we shall take. 2007 has seen enormous progress in Iraq, but certain factions would still have us snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

As I have stated on many occasions, these security issues are central to my selection of a presidential candidate. Unless we can defeat the barbarians that are already at our gates, all else is meaningless. I wrote a little more than 3 years ago in defense of our actions in Iraq; I think that I made are as valid today as they were then.

That piece can be found here.

Happy New Year to all. May God continue to bless us.

Huckabee stands by 'Christ' comment

DES MOINES, Iowa - Mike Huckabee, a Republican relying on support from religious conservatives in Thursday's hard-fought presidential caucuses, on Sunday stood by a decade-old comment in which he said, "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."

In a television interview, the ordained Southern Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor made no apologies for the 1998 comment made at a Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Salt Lake City.

"It was a speech made to a Christian gathering, and, and certainly that would be appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists," Huckabee said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He gave the speech the same year he endorsed the Baptist convention's statement of beliefs on marriage that "a wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ." Huckabee and his wife, Janet, signed a full-page ad in USA Today in support of the statement with 129 other evangelical leaders.

I think that this is the type of rhetoric that gives "evangelical leaders" a bad name as it has the same "subservient woman" theme that is found in the Islamic world. As for "taking the nation back for Christ"; ditto. While we are a nation that was founded on Christian principles, we are not, nor have we ever been a theocracy. This nation was founded specifically NOT to be a theocracy.

He claims that his speech was "appropriate" to a gathering of Southern Baptists, though at the time he was the Governor of Arkansas. He sounds like the punchline for every joke that we've ever heard about states like Arkansas.

Remove "Christ" and insert "Allah" and tell me this isn't the exact type of statements we hear coming from the mouths of the Islamofacists.

This guy should definitely not be president...in fact, he should never have been governor of Arkansas.

Thompson: 'Not particularly interested in running'

Hmm...I rather like his attitude:

WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) -- Fred Thompson acknowledged Saturday he's not especially fond of running for president, but he thinks he'd be a good choice for the White House.

Asked at a town hall meeting in Burlington whether he had the desire to be president, Thompson said it wasn't his idea to seek the office, and he wasn't enamored with campaigning.

"I am not consumed by personal ambition. I will not be devastated if I don't do it," he said. "I'm not particularly interested in running for president."

I've always found people like Bill Clinton, who seems like he has been running for president since he was 12, a little off putting. The presidency should be a weight you carry, not something to which you aspire. It's about sacrificing for your country, not appetite for position.

"Nowadays, it's all about fire in the belly. I'm not sure in the world we live in today it's a terribly good thing that a president has too much fire in his belly," he said.

Thompson said that unlike his opponents, he's honest about why he's running.

"I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them. The welfare of my country and my kids and grandkids are one of them," he said. "But if people really want in their president a super type-A personality, someone who has gotten up every morning and gone to bed every night thinking about for years how they could achieve presidency of the United States, someone who could look you straight in the eye and say they enjoy every minute of campaigning -- I ain't that guy."

He seems like he has the concept of "public service", which is what the presidency is all about, pretty well down pat.

THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE
The Best and the Brightest? I don't think so.

Color me unimpressed and more than a little concerned. I feel that I'm in a bad "B" movie that I'm watching while saying to myself "this couldn't really happen", but it is happening. Is this the best we can do?

John McCain: I honor him as a war hero, but I'm not ready to put him in the White House. I've just got some bad vibes there.

Mitt Romney: Doesn't inspire my imagination, he looks too much like a presidential candidate from Central Casting. I'm still thinking about the Morman thing, but I'm willing to listen.

Rudy Giuliani: May well be my own front runner, he's a tough son of a bitch that wants to kill Muslim terrorists and that's my main issue.

Barack Obama: He's black, so what?

Ron Paul: He's creepy and scary and his supporters are even more so.

Fred Thompson: Yeah, he's running...or is he just strolling? Pick up the pace Fred!

Hillary: Yeah, right.

Huckabee: One Arkansas governor as president was already way too much for me, besides he's a populist asshole. I don't like populist assholes and as far as this one goes, the more I think of him, the less I thik of him.

If I've missed anyone, they probably deserved it. We're in a battle for our very civilization and this is the best we can do?