I’ll admit it. Calling Fred Thompson the winner before seeing the commercial, the debate, or the post-debate Leno appearance might have been pre-mature. I still believe it was an intelligent and out-of-the-box political move. And Fred did well on The Tonight Show last night. But, what I noticed last night on Leno with Senator Fred is something I fear will cause some viewers to tune out. Fred doesn’t seem to believe in sound bytes much (I applaud him for that), but some of his answers to Jay’s questions were a bit long for the setting. I, for one, actually appreciate that… I like that there is no easy answer on Iraq or the “Shouldn’t People Like Us More?” nonsense… but I’m not sure that Leno was the right place for such critical topics from a man who actually had realistic and well thought out positions. I wonder if some in the audience tuned him out when the answers lasted longer than 10 seconds. It is late night however, and people are either watching through their eyelids… looking for a laugh… or paying more attention to the Serta sheep they are trying to count and not the background noise of the tv. I guess in the coming days we will know how successful the Leno-Pre-Launch-Launch was.
That being said… for the albeit smaller, but probably more interested audience who watched the debate… there is no question who the winner was… Mike Huckabee. Being a recent Huckabee fan, maybe I’m a bit biased, but Governor Huckabee stood out among the GOP hopefuls last night. And based on the unscientific measure of sales at our little shop, Huckabee outsold Thompson stuff 5 to 1 (of course we only sell gear for a few candidates).
Mike Huckabee was a star. It was nice to see someone (other than the moderators) really take on Ron Paul. Their exchange about pulling out of Iraq should be popular on YouTube today. Ron Paul is a divider. He’s wrong about Iraq withdrawal, he’s wrong about how to fight the war and arguably why we are there. He’s certainly wrong about how you handle these situations. And if you watched the debate in its entirety, you know that Ron Paul just doesn’t get what we are fighting now. Contrary to what Paul said during another exchange in the debate, Islamic Terrorists don’t hate us because we had troops in Saudi Arabia… they hate us because we are not them. Mike Huckabee got it right, time and time again.
My only disagreement with Huckabee is the immigration issue. Yes, he says he is for locking down our borders, but also sticks with a previous claim that some of the anti-illegal immigration movement is racist. I don’t think that’s fair, nor does it characterize this debate properly. The word “racist” is thrown around entirely too much in today’s culture, and I dare say the Republican Party shouldn’t be throwing out such labels, especially when they are about to face a woman or a black man as the Democratic nominee. Its too easy to score political points and label something as racism when you disagree with their point of view. Just wait to see how many people are called “sexist” or “racist” when they disagree with Hillary or Obama as the election draws near.
Wanting people to assimilate, learn our language, adopt our culture, and desire to be an American first is not racist… it is what the founders believed. Yes, we will take “your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” but we expect them to come here because they want to stay. We expect them to come looking for a better life, “yearning to breathe free” and make this their new home and their new country. We expect them to join our society and help continue to build on what makes America great.
The problem with the influx of illegal Mexicans into this country is that many of them aren’t here “yearning to breathe free” and aren’t ready to join our society and continue to build on the ideal that is America. They are here for short-term opportunity… many of whom will return their earnings and eventually themselves to Mexico as time moves on. And it shows by the way they come. If you wanted to be a part of what makes America great, you would try to do so legally. You would respect our laws and desire citizenship. For people who do it the right way, I welcome you with open arms. Come, Join Us. BUT, for those who only wish to exploit opportunity and send their social security back to Mexico to prop-up their economy and have no desire to follow our laws or become a citizen… then we don’t need you.
Its not racism. Its reality. Its the desire to protect what makes America great and not dilute it. We are Americans… first and foremost. Any other hyphenated label or allegiance elsewhere is not needed or desired. As Governor Huckabee said last night regarding Iraq… we are “One Nation, Under God.” We shouldn’t have it any other way.
So let me get this straight, the war in Iraq was originally about their terrorist ties and wmd’s, correct? Ok, none of that was true. Then the iraq war was downgraded to “stay the course” and an appeal to patriotism (or obedience as they mean it). Now, according to Mike, we are they to maintain our honor? WTF?????? Since when does this nation sacrifice American lives over honor?
Oh and one other thing Mike, buddy, those pesky elections that the repubs keep losing, those actually do kinda sorta matter, as elections are a direct statement of what THE PEOPLE want. But according to you, honor is much more important than what WE THE PEOPLE think, right?
Daniel, you win first prize and get a complete blog entry in response. Enjoy.