The Only Choice for President

Tonight we participated in our precinct Republican caucuses here in Colorado Springs. It was a little different, considering that in Texas you vote in the primaries almost exactly like you vote in a general election. You go in, show your ID (a very good thing!) and go and submit your picks. Here, it's a precinct meeting, with lots of boring legalese, discussion of the process, etc. It's definitely not a kid-friendly environment - we took the kids, kept them quiet for the 10 minutes leading up to the presidential straw poll, put in our votes and then left. By now, you've seen the pictures, so you know that we voted for Mike Huckabee. Let me tell you why.

First of all, he plays bass guitar. It has a much bigger cool-factor than a saxophone any day. :o}

Seriously, we have listened to all the conservative talk show hosts say, "a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain." Well, at this point, Romney and Huckabee's delegates together only come to half of McCain's. We had to vote our conscience.

Ron Paul is a no-brainer. He is absolutely clueless and isolationist when it comes to national defense and the very real threat that radical Islam poses to our nation and the rest of the free world. As a Libertarian, he is also on the wrong side of most moral issues that are important to us. However, I like his ideas for limited government, even if they are probably a bit extreme...

John McCain is a RINO (Republican in Name Only, a Democrat in Republican clothing). Bills like "McCain-Feingold" and "McCain-Kennedy" should tell you everything. He is on the wrong side of moral issues, limited government and fiscal issues. If McCain gets the nomination, I can state categorically that I will be looking for a third party candidate, even if it means throwing the election to Clinton/Obama. I will never vote for the man.

Mitt Romney is a fiscal conservative and strong on national defense, but supports a ban on so-called assault rifles, supported tax-payer funding for abortions, supported gay marriage in Massachusetts, and only recently "saw the light" when it comes to abortion - very conveniently in time for his presidential bid. Just for the record, his Mormonism has nothing to do with my decision - his record on moral and second amendment issues has everything to do with it.

Mike Huckabee is strong on national defense, and has a strong history supporting an end to abortion, support for a national marriage amendment, support for second amendment rights, including opposing a ban on so-called assault rifles. I am concerned that he is not as fiscally conservative as I like, but has promised to push for tax cuts which will strengthen the economy. On the other hand, he is so strong on the issues I care most about that I can overlook his other shortcomings. None of the other candidates even come close!

Vote your conscience. Vote Huckabee!

And that's the way you do it...

There is an ongoing debate in this country whether law-abiding concealed handgun permit holders should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school campuses - elementary through the university level. Never mind that those who take the effort to get the training and background checks and spend the money to get the permit are far less likely to engage in violent crimes than the rest of the general population. (The statistic from Florida is that permit holders are 300 times less likely to commit a violent crime with a firearm.)

In Israel, this debate has been over for decades, and their decision works. In a January 25th article, IsraelInsider reported that two armed Palestinian terrorists broke into an Israeli high school and attempted to take hostages. If this happened in the US, the result would be catastrophic. Who knows how many would be shot, blown up, kidnapped or traumatized. In Israel, the result is two dead terrorists killed by armed counselors, and minor injuries suffered by the two counselors who resisted. By the time the authorities were notified and arrived on scene, the danger was over and the kids were safe.

Psychopaths, terrorists, and criminals of all types need to know that schools (and malls, and churchs, and everywhere else) are unsafe places - for them. Children should know that those responsible for caring for them are capable of protecting them, and that school is a safe place where they can focus on reading, writing, 'rithmatic, not wondering what unstoppable threat is coming next through the classroom door.