Mike Huckabee on Bill Maher's show

Huckabee is the best candidate for the Republican party for 2012. There's no one else on the landscape who could have this kind of reasonable discussion.

Never forget

Days of shock. A skyline of smoke. Cars at the train station, covered with flowers. Story after story. Prayer. Tears. Hope that some would survive. Resolve. Flags everywhere - every house, every car...Praying today for those left behind, for those who serve, for those who remember, for those who lead. Grateful for the heroes of that day. And so, so proud to be an American. Never, ever forget....

Talking to America's Schoolchildren

The President of the United States will address the students of the nation, live, this Tuesday, September 8th.

According to the White House website, “The President will talk directly to students across the country on the importance of taking responsibility for their education, challenging them to set goals and do everything they can to succeed.”

The reaction is – well, mixed.

To a technology-savvy younger generation, and to his supporters (now, based on the polls, a rapidly shrinking number), it’s a very cool idea. To his detractors, it smacks of brainwashing. To a large number of people in the middle, the reaction goes from “I guess it’s OK, he’s the president after all,” to “It’s a little creepy.”

I’ve thought about it a lot the past few days.

I’ve tried to imagine it without the technology. Imagine if the president were going to visit a school in my town. It would be exciting: the youngest students might wonder if he’s bringing his dog, the average student might rejoice to be getting out of a boring class, the connected student might see if they can ask the president a question or two.

But if he were to come for a visit, I doubt he’d send lesson plans ahead of time.

And that’s where a great deal of the concern arises. (That, and, well – the technology. And the idea of him speaking to the students of the entire nation. Cool. Creepy.)

I’ve gone to the White House website and looked the plans over. (Well, they have changed, in response to criticism. That seems to be a pattern with this administration. But I digress.) Gone is the part about writing a letter to yourself (is that not a bit odd? “Dear Self…”) about ‘how I can support the president.’

In the lesson plans, there are words like ‘concept web,’ ‘listening with purpose,’ ‘think/pair/share,’ and ‘cluster web.’ Students are encouraged to make posters, poems, and songs. But two things they are not encouraged to do:

Challenge, and Disagree.

I do have to wonder. The lesson plans come from the Department of Education. Does that department think its own teachers can’t come up with context for this speech? Don’t they trust their own teachers? But again, I digress. The idea of the executive branch of government determining lesson content for local schools – well, there’s no question about that on the lesson plan menu. Go figure.


There is the timing of speech. On the logical side, it’s the day many children (just so we know we’re talking about children here, not voters) go back to school. Maakes sense.

On the concerned side, it’s right in the midst of a hotly debated health care/health insurance reform debate. One wonders if such a speech by the president would be welcome, say, a month before a presidential election. Timing does matter.

But perhaps, in the end, it’s a good thing. He is the president, he’s an inspiring figure, and his topic (stay in school, make personal goals) is worthy. He’s not saying “Tell your parents to support my policies. And you high schoolers, be sure to campaign – and vote - for me in the 2012 election.”

So – given the whole checks and balances in government thing, will Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi get the opportunity to speak to the children next month? Will Chief Justice John Roberts be given this opportunity in November? Just wondering. Fair’s fair. (But there I go, Challenging, and Questioning. I need to think/pair/share instead, maybe.)

As a homeschool parent and teacher, I choose my children’s curriculum. I read over each word, each concept web, each cluster web (OK, I read it all, but I have no clue what a cluster web is. Sorry. ) In our homeschool, we’re open to a range of ideas, and we discuss – and challenge – those ideas. Bring it on, Mr. President. We’re happy to hear what you have to say. And then, in the context of my parental oversight, we’ll discuss it.

Freedom of speech, and all that.

The biggest issue to me in all of this, though, is about that very freedom of speech.

I don’t remember a whole lot about kindergarten. I remember once Mrs. Coleman getting flustered because there were ants in the box of cookies. (Given my aversion to ants, I think now she handled it pretty smoothly.) She was nice. Honestly, that’s about all I remember of that basement public school classroom. Except for one other thing.

When I was in kindergarten (I’m about to date myself), my teacher prayed with us. And read the Bible. Out loud.

We can’t do that now. Tolerance, the establishment clause, and just, well, because we don’t anymore. More than that, we stifle much in our public school system that has to do with the teaching of Jesus Christ (He really lived, after all), and the incredible influence of His teaching on the founding of our nation.

So I’m wondering. What if the president led the children in prayer? Or what if he quoted a verse of Scripture? Just sort of went off the teleprompter and recited the 23rd Psalm, or the Beatitudes. I'm just saying...

Is Jesus welcome in the classrooms of America? For a visit, for a speech, for a discussion or cluster web of His ideas?

He's welcome in our classroom.

Looking forward to what you have to say, Mr. President.

Some thoughts on the Fourth of July

Some have determined to oppose our new president, Barack Obama, in everything from the way he walks to how he speaks to what he names his dog. Yet in a day in which political leaders publicly trash their own marriages, rendering their conservative positions hypocritical, President Obama is a good example of a loving husband and father, for instance.

Some focus so much on financial matters that they make them the over-riding priority. Others dwell on what the president has said in the past and wring their hands over what they imagine he will do in the future, rather than dealing with the present. And some simply refuse to obey the simplest Biblical command, to pray for those in authority (as though America's situation allows them that license, more than in the time it was written: when the political leader was the insane and Christian-persecuting Nero.)

But there are substantive concerns for Christians these days, during this Obama
administration.

Three days after his inauguration, President Obama rescinded the Mexico City policy. The policy was first put in place by President Ronald Reagan. It prohibits U.S. taxpayer money from being used to fund abortions and abortion referral/counseling overseas, for international aid groups. (President Clinton cancelled it after his election; President George Bush - 43 - put it back in place.) This was despite campaign promises to reduce the number of abortions, to say nothing of its occurrence during a time of serious economic pressure in the United States (do we have extra money to fund abortions in other nations?). Obama rescinded the Mexico City policy one day after the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade.

President Obama has taken steps to reverse another Bush policy: the conscience rule. The rule allows for physicians and nurses to refuse to provide abortion services, based on their own consciences. Though the president recently spoke at Notre Dame about 'finding common ground' on the abortion issue, and on the need for a 'sensible conscience rule', his administration is working toward removing this vital option for medical personnel.

Although the "Fourth of July" celebrates the Declaration of Independence, which states that we are 'endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' 50 million babies have been aborted in this country since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. That's the equivalent of a 9/11 catastrophe happening every day for 50 years.

Late-term abortion provider George Tiller, whose murder was a terrible crime and has been denounced by all pro-life groups, performed 60,000 abortions, particularly late and so-called partial birth abortions. At his funeral, he was heralded as a hero.

There are serious concerns that with the balance of the Congress as it is, that the Freedom of Choice Act could become a reality - thereby overturning any and all pro-life incremental regulations that now exist.

In terms of the sanctity of marriage, the current administration's views stand in sharp contrast to the laws of God. While God's Word is plain that God's love extends equally to all, and that all are equally sinners, it is also plain that God has a plan for heterosexual marriage, and that certain behavior outside of marriage (homosexual and non-marital heterosexual) is sinful.

However, this past month the White House proclaimed June 2009 as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month."

Same sex marriage is legal in several states of the United States, with efforts underway to continue, state by state. Civil unions are legal in our own state of New Jersey, and there is currently a battle on both sides regarding actual same-sex marriage. Gender neutral marriage has been recommended by some in Trenton, and the current governor says he would sign it. The New Jersey Family Research Council is working hard to gain support for a constitutional amendment in this state, which would protect traditional marriage.

Bioethics has taken America to new, horrifying levels, allowing for the forming and termination of life.

The cult of celebrity has placed in positions of honor those who abuse their 'significant other' in domestic violence, those who live together without marriage, those who take drugs - both performance-enhancing, prescription, and illegal, those who rail against authority, and those who denounce our country. And often all this is in songs sung by the youth of our nation.

On the financial front, more and more debt is being accumulated so that Senator John McCain has called it "generational theft." Times Square's National Debt Clock is running out of spaces, and recently had to replace the dollar sign with another digit. Each American - from newborn baby to centenarians - owes approximately $36,000 on an ever-increasing national debt.

The current administration is proposing increased taxation to remedy climate concerns and the health insurance situation. Throughout the country, citizens are staging "Tea Party" re-enactments, to protest runaway taxation, while the mainstream media mocks their efforts.

And in the meantime, the maniacal regime of North Korea has positioned missiles in the direction of Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States, with very little being done by this country to strong-arm them into backing down.

Iran is in turmoil, there has been a clamor for more freedom, and the Obama administration delayed in expressing support - yet spoke out immediately to condemn the ouster of a Chavez-like ruler in Honduras. America's two strongest allies - Israel and Great Britain - have been snubbed time and time again, while the administration seeks out Arabic countries for friendship.

Illegal immigration has turned border cities upside down, and has caused conflict throughout the nation. At the same time, those here illegally are in grave danger - particularly women and children - from those who control them and harm them, and they themselves fear getting help from authorities.

Church attendance is in decline, and Biblical literacy (despite a plethora of Bibles, Christian bookstores, radio and television programming, and an endless number of internet sites) is at an all-time low, as materialism becomes the current god of many who claim to be Bible-believing Christians. For the first time in nearly two decades, no White House representative attended National Day of Prayer events. Yet criticizing Christians have absented themselves from local church prayer meetings, so that many are no longer held.

And all the while, the country is more concerned with the details of the massive memorial service for the King of Pop than it is about human trafficking and abandoned or abused children, or that no-longer-mentioned (even by the administration) matter of global terrorism and jihad against the United States.

Soldiers still defend our freedom, and still die, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and other places around the world.

And instead of determining to redeem the time because the days are evil, too many Christians use all this as an excuse to throw up their hands in despair and do nothing. While the case can be made that the imminent return of Christ is nearer than ever before, 'what manner of persons ought ye to be' should compel us - in the light of that - to worship more, study more, witness more, give more, completely upend our lives more, and take advantage of every single minute - rather than the collective shaking of the head, the longing for a romanticized past, and the group version of 'tsk, tsk.'

We can do much better.

National Day of Prayer

This saddens me considerably.

The president is not, nor could he/she ever be, my pastor. I don't look to him for my theology, my doctrine, my church policy. But I do expect my president to be an example.

It's not about whether or not the president prays daily. (A form of that argument is often used in the school prayer situation: 'We're not saying you can't pray, kids pray for tests all the time,' blah, blah, blah.) I am glad to hear that the president does pray daily.

But this is not about that. This is about calling the nation to prayer.

Now, I believe that the prayer that God hears is the prayer of those who have come to Him in faith, believing that He sent Jesus His Son to die for their sins. So - why would I think it's important for the leader of this nation to call the nation to prayer?

Because it's a public acknowledgement that the people of this land recognize their need of God.

I wish they all knew the God of the Bible. That's 'my' job, though - my church's job, and the job of all Christians, to share that joy, that truth. But it is a good thing for this nation - led by its leader (in the White House, publicly, not just by a quiet, last minute proclamation) - to join together and say, 'We need prayer.'

I disagree with President Obama on so many things. But - he's still my president. I wanted to believe we would have a day - at least a day - of joining together to acknowledge that this nation needs prayer. It reminds me of the day after the attack on September 11th that the Congress stood on the steps in the nation's capital and sang "God bless America." It didn't change everyone's political views. But for that one moment -

well, it was memorable, a proud time to be an American.

I'm not a supporter of the president's policies - but I thought, I hoped, that for one day, we'd unite in prayer for the nation. Instead, I feel slighted, or worse - that I (an evangelical Christian) am sort of a second-class citizen, someone he would like to ignore or push aside. I wanted to feel as though I was on his side, and he was on mine, even if ever so briefly.

As I said, it makes me sad...Sad, but not bitter. I will be praying for the president today, on the National Day of Prayer, in my town at noon, in my church, and in my home.



That promise of faithful prayer, in this year of change, is something that will not change.



Pictures added after over 30 people from my town gathered to confess sin, to offer thanks, to ask for mercy, and to pray for our leaders - including the President - by name.

Why I volunteer for Huckabee, and for Team Huck

Tomorrow is National Volunteer Day at Team Huck (aka Huckpac).

It's a day to celebrate the growing band of volunteers for Team Huck, some who are experienced political coordinators, and some who are, like me, well....new at this.

Until this past year, I had never spent hours making phone calls for a candidate before (I had never made a single call before this year). I had never sent e-mails to people, encouraging them to vote a particular way. I had never given of my money to a political leader before (well, taxes don't count...).

It's not that I hadn't cared. I had.

It's not that I wasn't informed. I was.

It's not that I didn't vote. I always did.

But this time, I got inspired. Gov. Mike Huckabee has inspired me.

He's not running for anything right now. But he is seeking to get people involved in getting a new generation of leaders elected: leaders who stand for what he stands for, who think the way he thinks, and who will fight for what he knows matters -

The right to life for all Americans - no matter their stage of development on the human being timeline. The guardianship of the time-tested tradition of marriage as a foundation of the family. The link between the second amendment - and the first. A revolutionary new idea that combines giving government its due and letting the people keep theirs: the Fair Tax. And a defense of the nation that acknowledges the evil in the world - but doesn't ascribe it where it doesn't belong. And much more...

Gov. Huckabee showed me how my values can be upheld without bashing someone else's, that I can articulate strong positions - and still smile while I do it, that Vertical Politics looks to an individual as a fellow American - and potential friend first, not as an automatic enemy.

Are you like me? I'm a 51-year-old happily married wife (of 28 great years!) and mother (three fabulous children, and one son-in-law!), I'm overwhelmed to know Jesus Christ as my Savior (He is my everything), I'm a homeschooling teacher (since 1990) and a member of my church's ministry staff....I have passions about sharing my faith, stopping human trafficking, raising my kids, and being all God wants me to be...

...but along the way, I've come to realize I can make a difference in my country, too. Team Huck is how I can do it. Everything I do there - give, call, blog, network, support - gets multiplied, because other like-minded people do it with me.

Why not join me? Get inspired, sign on, and let's make a difference!

Photo from Saturday night's Defenders of the Family Banquet in New Jersey

Salt and Light

My cousin is on staff at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and she got a front row seat at Governor Mike Huckabee's appearance this week. She said students are still talking about it.

Here is the link to the article on PBA's website: http://www.pba.edu/media/news-releases/huckabee-chapel-speaker.cfm