A Theatre Milestone

I just looked again at my theatre resume and noticed that my current show is my 30th in my acting "career." That's a few more than I thought. My full resume can be found HERE.

Blind Refs?

I am no fan of Texas A&M, but they got jobbed in their game in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against UCLA. Here's the photographic evidence. That was on A&M's final drive in an effort to tie the game at 51-51. In the second half of the game, A&M went over 10 minutes without a basket from the field. Several times, they took the ball inside and got rejected. I have to wonder how many of those "blocks" were really fouls as well.

Daylight Saving Time

Am I the only one who doesn't like Daylight Saving Time? There is just something wholly unnatural about having to get out of bed before the sun has come up.

Johari Window

I created my own Johari Window personality assessment. You can contribute to it here. Or you can get your own Johari Window

Arena (known to self and others) confident, observant

Blind Spot (known only to others) dependable, religious, trustworthy

Façade (known only to self) friendly, intelligent, self-assertive, witty

Unknown (known to nobody) able, accepting, adaptable, bold, brave, calm, caring, cheerful, clever, complex, dignified, energetic, extroverted, giving, happy, helpful, idealistic, independent, ingenious, introverted, kind, knowledgeable, logical, loving, mature, modest, nervous, organised, patient, powerful, proud, quiet, reflective, relaxed, responsive, searching, self-conscious, sensible, sentimental, shy, silly, spontaneous, sympathetic, tense, warm, wise

Dominant Traits

100% of people agree that TheCalvinator is confident
100% of people think that TheCalvinator is dependable
100% of people agree that TheCalvinator is observant
100% of people think that TheCalvinator is religious
100% of people think that TheCalvinator is trustworthy

All Percentages

able (0%) accepting (0%) adaptable (0%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (0%) caring (0%) cheerful (0%) clever (0%) complex (0%) confident (100%) dependable (100%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (0%) giving (0%) happy (0%) helpful (0%) idealistic (0%) independent (0%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (0%) introverted (0%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (0%) logical (0%) loving (0%) mature (0%) modest (0%) nervous (0%) observant (100%) organised (0%) patient (0%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (100%) responsive (0%) searching (0%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (0%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (0%) tense (0%) trustworthy (100%) warm (0%) wise (0%) witty (0%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 27.2.2008, using data from 1 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view TheCalvinator's full data.

Is this the change he means?

Take a gander at this picture taken in the Houston Barack Obama Volunteer office.



Just in case you aren't up on your Communist iconography, that's the national flag of Communist Cuba with the image of Che Guevara superimposed on it.


The image is a screen capture from the video located HERE.

Yet Another Reason I Like Mike (Huckabee)

At the California GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, the last question was asked of all 4 participants. "Would Ronald Reagan endorse you for President?" Governor Huckabee was fortunate to get the final word of the evening, and this is what he said:

I think it would be incredibly presumptuous and even arrogant for me to try to suggest what Ronald Reagan would do, that he would endorse any of us against the others.

Let me just say this, I'm not going to pretend he would endorse me. I wish he would. I would love that, but I endorse him, and I'm going to tell you why.

It wasn't just his specific policies, but Ronald Reagan was something more than just a policy wonk. He was a man who loved this country, and he inspired this country to believe in itself again.

What made Ronald Reagan a great president was not just the intricacies of his policies, though they were good policies. It was that he loved America and saw it as a good nation and a great nation because of the greatness of its people.

And if we can recapture that, that's when we recapture the Reagan spirit. It's that spirit that has a can-do attitude about America's futures and that makes us love our country whether we're Democrats or Republicans. And that's what I believe Ronald Reagan did -- he brought this country back together and made us believe in ourselves.

And whether he believes in us, I hope we still believe in those things which made him a great leader and a great American.

Those, my friends, are the words of a true Statesman.

Picked up at Church this Morning

It's easy to love God. It's hard to love God most.

Republicans and Limited Government

To hear some Republican establishment types, the raison d'etre of the G.O.P. is to reduce the size of the Federal Government. This has been the basis for some of the criticism of Mike Huckabee in the Presidential race. The truth is that the only candidate with any credibility on this issue is Ron Paul.

And just how many of those establishment types are supporting Ron Paul?

Exactly!

So, the next time you hear this attack aimed at Huckabee, you can ignore it because you know it's insincere.

Right Wing Nation

I used to be able to post comments at Right Wing Nation with no problem, but apparently I committed the mortal sin of defending Mike Huckabee over there, so now I'm on "administrator must approve" status.

So much for the free exchange of ideas.

The offending comment was made on this post. After rightwingprof's response, I pointed out that his calling Huckabee a "a soft on crime socialist who spits in the faces of crime victims" is no different from those who attack by calling John McCain, MCSHAMNESTYMCCAIN! And that was the type of attack that he was condemning in the original post.

People don't like it when their hypocrisy is exposed.

UPDATE: Now, he's calling me an amoral idiot. Yup, really bringing the level of discourse up over there. Really avoiding the ideological nonsense he was condemning.

Hello kettle, this is the pot . . .

Fracture

Just wondering:

Why is Mike Huckabee accused of trying to fracture the so-called Republican coalition, but Giuliani, Romney, & McCain aren't?

Social Conservatives' values are ignored by Giuliani, belittled by McCain, and pandered to by Romney.

When less than desirable candidates from a social conservative perspective are nominated (Bush '92 & Dole '96 spring immediately to mind), values voters are told that we have an obligation to support the Republican Party because the Democrats are much worse. That may be true, but it's no less fracturing than Huckabee would be in asking fiscal conservatives to come along for the ride this year. In fact, I believe that fiscal conservatives have far less to fear from Huckabee than social conservatives would have to fear from Rudy, John, or Mitt.

After all, Huckabee is the only candidate proposing to completely do away with Corporate Income Taxes.

And personal income taxes, and estate taxes, gift taxes, social security taxes, medicare taxes, self-employment taxes, and capital gains taxes.

Republican Debate: Final Assessment

Thompson disappeared in the final segment.

Final Grades:

Thompson B+
Giuliani B+
Huckabee B
McCain B-
Romney C+

The focus group was completely opposite me on First and Last. They liked Romney most and Thompson least.

They thought Huckabee's first response was weak and waffling.

The focus group thinks Romney can beat Obama. They are deluded.

This woman just said "He speaks off the cuff and is very, very well-versed." I don't think she even understood that her statement was internally contradictory.

Republican Debate: Closing Arguments

Why are you the candidate to beat the Democrat?

Giuliani: I've fought the battles and gotten things done. Has worked successfully with Republicans and Democrats

Thompson: Only one at the table who has never lost an election. National Security, tax cuts, balanced budgets, good judges, pro-life. Has the courage to speak the truth to the American people.

Huckabee: Lived a life like most people live. Believes in lower taxes, lower spending, pro-life, Second Amendment, Experience in governing and practical problem-solving.

Romney: "I got in the race because my family told me I oughta." I know how to draw on the American spirit. I will work to change Washington.

McCain: We need leadership, and I bring the experience and the knowledge necessary to make the decisions. Will reach out to Independents.

Republican Debate: McCain's Age

McCain will not pledge not to seek re-election. He's exactly right. Making that pledge would make him a lame duck from Day 1.

Huckabee took the opportunity to compliment McCain.

Republican Debate: Giuliani Scandals

Giuliani admits some mistakes, but points out that some of the attacks that have been made against him were shown to be untrue in the New York Times. He just wished it hadn't appeared on page 39.

He had a good line that if anyone hasn't made any mistakes, then that person probably hasn't ever done anything.

Republican Debate: Flip-Flopping

Romney tries to put the best face on his flip-flops. He says that yes he changed his opinions on some things. Then, he turns around and fires off his litany of negative attacks on Huckabee.

Republican Debate: Negative Campaigning

They showed clips of two of Romney's attack ads against Huckabee and McCain.

Huckabee echoed something I've said, that people want to vote FOR somebody and not AGAINST somebody.

Romney claims his ads are not attack ads. I think the voters in Iowa told us differently. Romney recited his tired line about not touching his hair. Can this man be any more plastic?

Republican Debate: Second Break Assessment

Whew, that Immigration section was painful.

Interim Grades:

Thompson A-
Huckabee B
Giuliani B
McCain B-
Romney C+

Republican Debate: Immigration

Boring. Nothing new from anybody.

Republican Debate: The Table Dynamic

Once again, it seems to be coming through that 4 of these guys like each other, but none of those four really like Romney.

I think the sitting down works against Huckabee. He seems to be more in his element behind a lectern than sitting around a table.

Republican Debate: Huckabee on Foreign Policy

Huckabee promotes his travels abroad. Nothing new there. Now points out that he has more Executive experience than anyone else in the race. Maybe non-political junkies haven't heard this, but nothing new is coming out here.

Huckabee says that his convictions and moral clarity count for more than experience when it comes to Foreign Policy.

Republican Debate: Too much Romney/McCain

I guess it makes sense since they are polling 1 & 2 in New Hampshire, but it's making for a boring debate. We need more Giuliani and Huckabee to liven things up.

Republican Debate: Leadership vs. Experience

Romney sounds too much like a CEO. People want inspiration, not cold, calculating analysis.

McCain tries to sound cute, and it falls flat like his "you are the candidate of change" remark last night. When he says that some of those Governors who got elected President didn't work out too well, the Republican audience is more likely to think of George W. Bush & Ronald Reagan than Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Republican Debate: First Break Assessment

Nobody is doing great. Nobody has completely lost it though.

Interim grades

Giuliani B+
Thompson B
Huckabee B-
Romney B-
McCain C+

McCain would have graded much higher, but his crowing about pushing Campaign Finance Reform cost him dearly.

Republican Debate: Change part 3

Thompson needs to stop mentioning Social Security. He's starting to sound pessimistic.

Giuliani makes a good point that change for change's sake is not good. We need good change, not bad change like the Democrats would promote.

Republican Debate: Change part 2

Romney tries to ride the coattails of Huckabee on his success in Iowa. Romney claims that his 2nd place finish shows that they liked him as an agent of change.

That's new spin from Romney for his colossal collapse in Iowa.

Republican Debate: Change

McCain claims to have been an agent of change for years. His specific example is his encouragement to the Administration to get rid of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.

Touted Campaign Finance reform.

YIKES!!!!

Romney once again backs off an attack he made when the object of the attack wasn't around because now the object is sitting right next to him.

Republican Debate: FairTax part 2

Candidates are asked if they think the FairTax is a good idea or a bad idea.

Giuliani: Went off on a tangent about his WorkFare program in NYC. Never answered.

Thompson: Likes certain elements of the FairTax. Fears that we wouldn't get rid of the Income Tax, so that we would end up with both Consumption and Income Taxes. Wants a flatter Income Tax. Said any plan must be revenue-neutral. My question would be Why??? Why not reduce spending?

Republican Debate: FairTax

Good move by Huckabee swinging the Corporate issue to the FairTax. He touted that he's the only one promoting a plan that would completely eliminate Corporate taxes.

Republican Debate: Populism

Huckabee is talking about the struggles of average Americans. I saw a stat yesterday that 80% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. It's that 80% that Huckabee is talking about. It doesn't make those people think the economy is in the toilet, but they don't think things are great just because the Dow Jones is hitting record highs. That's not class warfare. Rather, it's a recognition that the Republican Party needs to be the Party of the MIddle Class, not just the Upper Class.

Republican Debate: Fred Thompson

Fred is sounding much better than he did last night in the Facebook debate. Last night, he came across as gruff. Tonight, he sounds energetic.

Live Blogging the Republican FoxNews Debate

I just got my wireless network back up. First question goes after Romney for his Fee (read: Tax) increases.

Romney has a hard time articulating when things aren't going his way. He stammered and sputtered regularly. He tried to attack Huckabee on his record as Governor of Arkansas. Huck should have flipped something Romney said about prior funding. Romney had claimed that certain fees were too low (in Taxachusetts???), so he had to raise them. Huckabee could have pointed out that nobody in Arkansas history had allocated taxes to preserve and improve the infrastructure (read: Roads), so the tax increases were necessary to provide basic services, such as education and roads.

Reading Lips, etc.

It looked to me like Hillary Clinton just told Rudy, "You were great."

What was up with McCain hugging everyone? I didn't see if he hugged Hillary, but he gave Obama and Edwards big hugs.

McCain's Barb at Romney

John McCain tried to get a hit in on Romney by saying that he wanted to say that Romney is definitely the Candidate of Change.

I say "tried" because it took more than a few seconds to figure out that it was an attack, and what that attack was supposed to mean. I finally figured out that it was supposed to refer to Romney's flip-flopping, but because I had to take those few seconds, the moment had passed.

Facebook Debate

I'm watching the Republican ABC/WMUR/Facebook debate. I don't pretend to be objective, but my take is this:

Positive: Huckabee & Giuliani
Negative: Romney & Paul
Mixed: Thompson & McCain

Thompson comes across as a bit gruff, even when he's making a good point. Actually, especially when he's making a good point.

McCain was practically absent most of the debate. When he did speak up, he sounded okay.

Romney looked old and tired at first, but he livened up. Unfortunately, he was lively but wrong most of the time.

Paul sounds like a kook, even when he's right.

Huckabee got solid hits every time he spoke.

Giuliani defended himself well without sounding defensive. He also got the best zinger of the night when he mentioned that Reagan had an Amnesty plan, so he would have ended up getting attacked in one of Romney's negative ads.

A Little Levity

Let's get away from politics.

The site has a few videos you should check out. "The Home School Family" music video is pretty good, and the guy's stand-up is funny and clean.

Ron Paul

If you read a lot of political writing (like I do), if the online story allows for reader comments, it usually doesn't take too long before the Ron Paul supporters start flooding the comments with their opinions about how Paul is the only electable Republican for President and how the MSM is suppressing him and his message. I always seek out the Liberty Caucus booth at the Texas Republican State Convention, and I am somewhat libertarian leaning, but I don't support Ron Paul's Presidential campaign.

Why?

Partly because despite his devotees' insistence to the contrary, he would be crushed in November 2008.

Mainly, however, because we don't need one Ron Paul in the White House. What we need is about 218 of them in the House of Representatives. Fifty-one in the Senate would be nice, too. We need serious, dedicated Constitutionalists in Congress. Right now, we have a handful. If we accept that a candidate could not get the endorsement of the Liberty Caucus without being mostly right on the Constitution, we have about 20 members of the House of Representatives who fit the bill.

The Ron Paulites remind me quite a bit of the Constitution Party folks. They want the White House, but they would be better off working toward electing candidates to lower offices. That would lay the groundwork for a President down the road.

Electability

My brother commented earlier:

on electability, see my blog posts where i analyze voter trends back into the 80s, and conclude that Huckabee would get 50.4% of the vote, in a pure head-to-head race against an undetermined Democrat.

http://huck-the-system.blogspot.com/2007/11/pew-political-typologies.html

http://huck-the-system.blogspot.com/2007/12/typologies-potus-vote-patterns.html

Let me be clear, I'm not conceding the prevailing opinion that Huckabee is less electable than, say Giuliani. In fact, Rasmussen's latest Head-to-heads show Huckabee doing better against Clinton than anyone other than McCain.

Of course, National polls are meaningless. Not just now, but always in Presidential Politics. Thanks to the Electoral College system, the Presidential election is really a series of 50 State races rather than a national race. It's nice to garner the Majority (or even a plurality as Bill Clinton demonstrated), but it's not necessary, as George W. Bush proved in 2000.

However, perhaps even more telling for Huckabee, his Favorable rating is higher than all the Republican candidates other than McCain, and his negatives are the lowest of the main Republican contenders. Duncan Hunter is lower in unfavorables, but I'm certain that's because nobody knows who he is. Given his low recognition, his Unfavorable rating is actually pretty high.

If Huckabee can win the Republican Nomination, his chance of winning in November 2008 is as good as any other Republican's, and better than some.

Vote For, Not Against

One of the main reasons I finally decided to support Mike Huckabee for President in 2008 is that I like the prospect of voting for somebody rather than against someone else. In 2004, I noted to anyone who would listen that John Kerry wouldn't beat Bush because it is too tough to rally people long-term in voting against somebody. The Democrats kept talking about how much they hated Bush, and they tried to turn out the vote with an anti-Bush message rather than a pro-Kerry one.

I feared that 2008 would be a mirror image. Only this time, it would be Republicans trying to GOTV with appeals to the scariness of Hillary Clinton (and make no mistake about it, she is plenty scary). This strategy is a loser. It's also why I never jumped on the electability bandwagon. In the Republican race so far, "electability" has most often been defined as "somebody who can beat Hillary." Yes, several people would be inspired to come out to vote against Hillary, but firming up that support is much easier if the Republican is someone the people want to vote for.

Mike Huckabee is the kind of candidate that many people will want to vote for, even if they don't agree with him on every issue. I've only voted "against" somebody once in my life. That was in 1996. I wasn't particularly thrilled with Bob Dole, but I knew he was preferable to Bill Clinton.

I'm excited to have a candidate I can vote for in 2008.