Huckabee is either word challenged or an idiot

At a public rally yesterday, Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee reacted to the Bhutto assassination by expressing “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

Did he mean "apology" or did he mean "condolences" or "sympathy?" Can you imagine if Huck was employed by Hallmark: "We express our sincere apologies for the death of your beloved mother. We really didn't mean to do it."

"Apology" in the MS Word Thesaurus means "admission of guilt", "request for forgiveness", "confession", or "act of contrition." Oh yes, and "regret". Not the kind of regret like "I'm sorry that happened", but the kind of regret that means "I'm sorry I did it."

There he goes again, expressing his true colors of one who blames the US, our culture, our values, for all the world's ills. We are somehow complicit in the assassination of Bhutto. Yes, that's it - we antagonized the adherents of "the religion of peace" into being less than peaceful once again.

To demonstrate this as a possibility, here is a quote from Time magazine...

"But there are some who think the Bush Administration is not without blame. Hussain Haqqani, a former top aide to Bhutto and now a professor at Boston University, thinks the U.S., which has counted Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as a key ally against terrorism since 9/11, bears some of the responsibility. 'Washington will have to answer a lot of questions, especially the Administration,' he says. 'People like me have been making specific requests to American officials to intervene and ask for particular security arrangements be made for her, and they have been constantly just trusting the Musharraf Administration.' "

Wow...Time magazine dug up Hussain Haqqani to proclaim that we bear responsibility because we didn't provide security for an opposition candidate in an Islamic nation? Oui!!! Is this what Huck is apologizing for?

Huck, a true Democrat, showing who he is even earlier in his campaign than Jimmy Carter did. Or does Huck just have a dismal vocabulary?

Chilling

It's bad enough that Islamists assassinated Benazir Bhutto, the ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan yesterday. What is chilling is the preference of the average Pakistani on the street for a political leader...

46% for Osama Bin Laden, the acknowledged mastermind of 9/11 and the "destroy the west" mantra.

38% for current Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf

9% for US President George Bush (this is hardly a surprise since his polls are not much higher in the US.)

What does this tell us about the direction of Pakistan and their nukes? Additional background is provided here.

Couple this with the second most popular baby's name in Great Britain: "Muhammad", the forebear of "the religion of peace." (Where is my little "puking" emoticon when I need it?)

If I Were Romney's Speechwriter...

...I would include the following main points in his "religion speech":

I would explain that the several core beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints cause it to possess a doctrine and history that is arguably one of the most consistent with the founding values of this nation. These include:

Free agency: Freedom or Liberty. The right to act freely to do the right thing or the wrong thing.

Responsibility: The responsibility, before God, to do the right thing in accordance with Scriptural principles of love, forgiveness, diligence, perseverence, and personal responsiblity and accountability before God.

Importance of the Family: Next to trust in God, the family is the most important set of relationships, forming the foundation for learning, responsibility and civility. Few institutions stress the need to keep the family unit strong more than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Eternal progression: The innate desire of people and the will of Heavenly Father to consistently become more Christlike, more Godly in our attitudes and actions. If evangelicals condemn this doctrine, they are condeming the Biblical mandate to be Godly. If not more like God, then what? More like Satan?

Faith/works: Acknowledge that the Bible teaches both faith and works as essential components of a unified doctrine. Mormons believe Christ died for our sins, and at the same time understand that we must persevere in faith in striving to be more Christlike through good works. If evangelicals condemn this doctrine, they are condemmning major portions of the Biblical mandate for the perseverence of the saints.

Origins of the Church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded in America, born out of the principles of religious freedom and tolerance.

Tolerance toward all religions and no religion: Recognizes, based on the historical experience of the church, how wicked religous persecution can be. (This is in stark contrast to the religion of Islam, which has demonstrated itself to have the polar opposite view toward religous tolerance.)

United States was founded by divine providence: The Churchs' doctrine parallels the beliefs of the founding fathers of this nation that this country has a divine purpose and a divine destiny.

All of these core values of the Church ought to be highlighted to inform the voters of Romneys own core values.

What I hope Romney does not do is apologize for his religion, or suggest, as did John Kennedy, that his religion will take a subservient role, a "back seat" to his role as President. A President's faith should inform and enhance his Presidency. Romney's faith provides ample evidence that upholding and defending the constitution of this nation is entirely consistent with the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He knows that this nation was formed out of these shared religious principles. The nation did not become "a god" to replace God. Individuals, including our Presidents, should remain free, in fact held accountable, to have core values that are greater than the nation that they are chosen to lead and serve.