Monday, December 17, 2007

How Can ANYONE Compare The Rev. Mike To Ronald Reagan?

In this amazing political season death march, the latest explanation on the rise of the Rev. Mike Huckabee is that he is somehow channelling former President Ronald Reagan.
You think that I am wrong?
How many pundits and bloggers have written or said something along those lines?
The question is, where in the name of Almighty God is there any comparison?
When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1976 and in 1980, he did not run as a big government conservative. Mr. Reagan ran on the platform of a smaller government, less taxation and regulation. And, in 1980, Mr. Reagan ran on the Republican platform that called for eliminating the Departments of Education and Energy, two Democrat boondoggles if there ever were any.
What does the Rev. Mike call for? Well, he wants a nationwide smoking ban for starters.
Now, I like a cigar every once in a while, and I do not like smoking, but I also believe that until smoking is made totally illegal, one should have the right to light up in public, not inside a public building or workplace, but outside. And, that should be left up to cities, counties and maybe states.
The Rev. Mike also wants to continue No Child Left Behind. Well, I think it is a good idea since the schools get so much money from the federal government. But, if the Rev. Mike really wants to sound like Mr. Reagan, how about cutting the funding for the Department of Education, eliminate the department and return education to the state level?
In defense of the Rev. Mike, I have not heard any of the serious Republican candidates call for eliminating the Department of Education. Unfortunately, I am more with, gulp, congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) on this one.
And, in calling for the "fair" tax, a national sales tax, the Rev. Mike is pursuing the most regressive tax of all, on consumption. And, it will never eliminate the IRS, just change the way the IRS does business.
When Ronald Reagan fought for tax reform in the late 1980s, it created the closest to a flat tax the United States has had since the income tax was imposed in the early 20th century.
And on foreign policy, the Rev. Mike sounds more like Dennis Kucinich than Ronald Reagan.
The Rev. Mike calls for talking to Iran, comparing our "relationship" to warring siblings. Huh? And the Rev. Mike calls for closing down Gitmo and backs strict interrogations guidelines and does not seem to grasp the serious war the United States is in with radical Islam.
Now, Mr. Reagan did not talk to the slew of leaders of the Soviet Union until Mikhail Gorbachev came along. Mr. Gorbachev was relatively young and seemed very willing to be accommodating. Have we heard any of that from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Is he just a sibling that needs a talking to?
And, when all of left-wing Europe and the Democrats in the United States did not want Pershing II nuclear weapons in Europe to act as a deterrent against the Soviet Union, Mr. Reagan did not just shrivel up and say OK. The missiles went in and in can be said that was one of the reasons that Mr. Gorbachev had to broker a serious deal on reducing nuclear weapons, something never done before.
And, the Rev. Mike seems very interested in class warfare. The Rev. Mike is talking about the power brokers and referring to the Club For Growth as the Club For Greed. These are not things that Mr. Reagan would have ever done.
No, there is not a lot to compare the Rev. Mike to Mr. Reagan. Not in style or substance.
There is just no way an objective person can say, with a straight face, that the Rev. Mike is in any way like Ronald Reagan. That is an insult to Mr. Reagan.

2 comments:

Richard J said...

Mark--To be fair, the good reverend is right about our relationship with Iran. Iran and the U.S. are just like a couple of quarreling siblings.

I mean, that's assuming that you have a brother that thinks you're an evil infidel. And that God commands them to exterminate you from the face of the earth.

The only comparison that I see between the good reverend and Ronaldus Maximus is that they are both good communicators that connect well with ordinary people. The difference is that Reagan had something worthwhile to say. Not true for the good reverend...

Pat Jenkins said...

good news on this front 64. it seems mr. huckabee is feeling his oats with his new found lead. he all of a sudden the last two days has taken a couple shots at mr. limbaugh. he keeps this up and he may well end up digging his own grave. let's keep our fingers crossed....