Why I support Governor Mike Huckabee.

I am a life long resident of Arkansas , where I am currently a college student majoring in history/ political sciences at Arkansas Tech University. I am an independent conservative, and have been a constituent of Gov. Mike Huckabee since long before I was old enough to vote, and before Gov. Huckabee began his career in state politics. In 1989, he was elected president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. This was the same year that I became a Christian and was baptized at Second Baptist Clarksville.

Our spiritual kinship is by no means, however, the only reason I am a strong supporter. I will get into his record and policy later, but first I will stress other similarities I share with the governor. Like Mike, I was also raised in a financially challenged family in the rural Arkansas River Valley. My parents were hard workers and always taught me the importanve of strong family values, faith, and patriotism. Because of all the things I have in common with Gov. Huckabee, his success has been a vital inspitation in my life. I see in him proof that a poor small town Arkansas boy like Mike, and myself truly can make a difference in the world.

These reasons alone would be enough to secure my support for the governor, but his record in politics is one that would spark the most intesnse enthusiasm of even the most skeptical cynics. During Mike Huckabee's term as governor of Arkansas, the state went from being ranked 48th in the nation in education to number 8, this alone should be considered one of the best success stories in modern politics. Governor Huckabee drastically improved Arkansas' infrastructure. When he took office, Arkansas' highways were among the worst in the nation. Now, trucking magazines are calling Arkansas highways the most improved in the nation. I am a college student, my wife is a law school student, and we have two boys, so finances in are family are obviously very tight. Because of Gov. Huckabee's ARKids First health insurance program for children of low-income households, we never have to worry about getting our sons the best healthcare anyone could ask for. I am a strong advocate of fine arts in education. So is Gov. Huckabee. The Play-It-Again Arkansas Foundation and charity would not have been possible without the direction of Gov. Huckabee. This great organization makes sure that all interested students are equipped with the "weapons of mass instruction" that Gov. Huckabee often speaks of, that being musical instruments for them to master in their local school's music programs.

There has been a lot of talk this week from certain elements of the left and right wings saying that people like Mike Huckabee and myself are biggoted. I think the rebuttal to that accusation was made before it was even accused, on my previous blogpost. Maybe the people who are making these accusations really need to ask themselves if they aren't the ones who are biggoted against us.

I could go on and on about how my home state was blessed with Gov. Huckabee. I am willing to exhaust all of my abilities to make sure our nation recieves all the benefits my state has recieved becaue of this great man, in whatever capacity that may be. News contrubutor, political advisor, motivational speaker, or maybe even one day president, this man's message needs to be heard. I will do whatever I can to get that message to as many people as possible.

Racism in the "Age of Aquarius"

In this day and age, tolerance, political correctness, and cultural understanding are among the top issues folks keep in mind when they interact outside the comfort zone of their homes. Centuries of horrid crimes against humanity, justified by the mere tone of the victims skin has justifiably lead many to a distrust of some in our society's intentions. It seems that every day there is some racially charged headline in the news. From the Jena 6 incident of a few years ago to the controversial "N-word" discussion on The View last week, social equality is obviously still on the minds of many in our society.

Why is it that in 2008, 145 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, we still can not put the issue of race behind us? I feel that in order to achieve this goal, we must first come to an understanding of why racially inequal thoughts were ever sanctioned in the post age of enlightenment world in the first place. It may come as a surprise, but it was actually some of the more progressive movements of their times that lead many to hold their own ethnicity in higher esteem than others, and this includes the beginnings of the New Age movement. I am referring to, specifically, the relic from the 19th century, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. As a result of the industrial revolution, many European peoples saw themselves as more advanced than the darker races of Asia and Africa. Darwin's theory of evolution, particularly the idea of "rational selection," or survival of the fittest seemed to reiterate that view because it stated that only the most advanced lifeforms would be the ones that would survive. Thus, aboriginal people were looked at as inferior. This was the key idea in the justification of the slave trade. Although Darwin recanted his theory while on his death bed, it would still go on to fuel new age thought, European imperialism, and the slave trade. So it is my belief that in order to fix race relations in our country, both sides of the political spectrum, the right as well as the left must acknowledge its past contributions to our current problem.

In discussing race in 2008 one would be remiss in not acknowledging the elephant in the room, that being the historic presidential election coming up in November. For the first time in the history of our nation, a black man, Sen. Barack Obama, has secured a major party's nomination in a presidential race, a momentous feet to put it mildly. Living in the south, there is no shortage of racial skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the success of Sen. Obama merely because of his African heritage. I would implore these people to take a serious look at the issues. There is no shortage of legitimate reasons to favor Sen. John McCain over Sen. Obama, but the candidates' respective shades of skin should not even be acknowledged as a factor. I will get more into the election campaigns in future posts, but for now, I must stress only the most taboo issue in the race. Make no mistake, I think electing a good president who happens to be black would be a good thing for our country. It would allow much over-due healing to take place, and would force biggoted minds to acknowledge the equality of all Americans. I do not feel, however that voting for someone because of their race is any more justified than voting against someone because of their race. I strongly believe that the direction that a Pres. Obama would lead us in would only harm this country and drive race relations back rather than forward.

As we step forward into the uncharted territory that is the future, we have to ask ourselves if our actions will help toward giving our kids a fair future, or a presumptuous one that judges them based on first glance. My hope is that my children will always be able to be proud of their southern rural upbringing and cultural heritage while always acknowledging the cultures of their peers as proud and worthy ones as well. May all people be judged according to the content of their character, not the shade of their skin.

Introduction

In the upcoming days, weeks, months, and, God willing, years, I will be discussing on this blog a wide array of subjects, like politics, entertainment, sports, economics, spirituality and many more. Our world is drastically changing at a rate never seen before in the history of human-kind. Because of these changes, anticipation of what tomorrow will bring is at the forefront of the thoughts of millions of people across the globe. The era between World Wars I and II is often called the Age of Anxiety by historians because of the uncertainty that faced its contemporaries. The title of this blog is a play on that title. It is my belief that we are currently experiencing a new Age of Anxiety.
I am a history/ political sciences major who, like most others, is trying to make sense of this crazy new world we have inherited. Stay posted.