I have been trying to respond to this for several days but could not log in. I finally had to ask for a password change to get on. You may be sorry that I finally did because it looks like I will be in the very slim minority on this one. But I am used to flying solo. Anyway:

I have been criticizing Mike for not being "tough enough" but I meant on his political principles and speaking out against that which is wrong with our government and how to fix it, NOT on attacking a fellow soldier, even if we question that soldier's motives, sanity or popularity.

I found Mike's response to Beck to have too much personal attack to wonder maybe Mike does have a thin skin afterall. But loving Mike as I do, don't doubt me ( ) I think it is more that Mike, like us all, has a limit to what he will endure. I am not so disappointed that he went after someone who is supposed to be on the side of smaller government and Constitutional principles but that he did it with negative personal innuendos.

Mike, who almost always thinks the best about and treats with respect and dignity everyone, has chosen this to make a bold statement? Mike, who in his own stated words, and I paraphrase, that he fears the Republican primary will be such a battle ground of conservatives/Republicans, beating each other up with negative politics that all we'll be left with is a bloodied, battered, demoralized nominee to face the herculean task of ousting Obama? Mike chooses to use Beck's accusation and this method of response to be bold?

Doesn't anyone else find the following statements from Mike's response, troubling and atypical of the Mike we know and love:
...either out of ignorance or out of a deliberate attempt to distort them to create yet another “boogey man” hiding in the closet that he and only he can see.

He seems to fancy himself a prophet of sorts for his linking so many people and events together to describe a massive global conspiracy for pretty much everything.

Sadly, he seems equally inept at recognizing the obvious fact...

Beck needs to stick to conspiracies that can’t be so easily de-bunked by facts.

Why Beck has decided to aim his overloaded guns on me is beyond me.

But he ought to clean his gun and point it more carefully lest it blow up in his face like it did this time.

Beck, whether you like/agree with him or not, was going down for the ten count of non-importance and obscurity, but now, thanks to Mike's response, has found a way to get himself back in the news, back in the world of relevance. He is being talked about, listened to, quoted. And Mike looks petty and unpresidential in attack mode. It isn't his natural style so he doesn't pull it off well.

Mike will eventually have to separate himself from the 'fringe thinkers' (those far right of center) but I don't think it should be during the primary season.

Maybe it was better to get this one out of the way so that he can use the experience for the time when he will have to take on more formidable foes like Limbaugh and Hannity and Obama.

My Rx: Apologize for the personal character attack, set your record straight, move on to fight another day.
MOO (my opinion only)

Indiana4Huck, my first impression was it's about time Huckabee speaks out. But I have been thinking that, true as everything he said is, it pretty much cuts ties with Beck and his supporters. Pretty big segment. Also, it is a departure from his usual patient and kind way. Sounds like Beck was willing to have him come on the show and emailed Huckabee. But Huckabee had emailed Beck right away. Maybe it should have stayed there. I don't know the situation.

It might be time Huckabee hires a spokesperson to issue short statements when this type of thing comes up. Put a little distance between the two to reflect and not make it so personal. Words are like little birds that cannot be taken back. Sometimes fewer are better. I still say that Beck was much worse and irresponsible to attack Huckabee. But that doesn't make it better for our man. I hate to see more criticism heaped on him. This is another reason why we really need to pray for Huckabee. It is always a delicate balance having the wisdom to know what to do. But words cannot be taken back. So usually less is better.

I sometimes wonder how Huckabee has been as patient as he has, though. When over and over his position is misrepresented as being "progressive" or "fiscally liberal." That is frustrating. He probably lost patience with Beck.

One thing I would really like to see would be to distribute thousands of copies of A Simple Government. Then people could read and judge for themselves that Huckabee is certainly not a "Progressive."

_________________

Perhaps Ed Rollins would recommend someone to handle that for Huck again.

Or Ed could do the wording.

_________________




Please click^ on the tank and join up today

The pattern that I've found that works best for me is that if something really makes me mad then I try to find someone to vent to that I can feel safe with saying exactly what I feel and how I feel it. This puts your feelings out there as raw and ugly as they may be. There's something about hearing yourself saying something out loud to someone else that gives you a completely different perspective then just hearing the words inside your head. After that I feel there are 3 things you should do before saying anything directly to the person or to anyone else that might get back to the person. Those 3 things are to pray, read some Scripture, and get some sleep. Rarely do things need to be dealt with during that exact day, and a lot of things look different after a good night's rest.

One other insight I'd have is that Scripture explicitly says that we are to "Be Angry" but don't sin in that anger. There is an appropriate time and way to be angry. Stuffing anger is unhealthy so we have to get it out in appropriate ways. If we don't and we let it build then it will come out in a way that is unhealthy. As I said in a previous post I feel like Huckabee is long overdue in getting some things out in the open regarding all the hits he has taken from Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, and others.

I'm just wildly speculating here, but I do wonder if maybe a lot of that has built up, and this recent episode with Beck triggered a response that carried with it a lot of the frustration that he may have been carrying since the last campaign. If he is carrying some things around then it is my opinion that it is going to have to be dealt with for him to go on and be successful. If he does run for President then I'd like to see him address the criticisms from the past and present head-on. Forcefully take on the falsehoods that have been spread but do this without getting personal.

I have watched and listened to Beck quite a bit over the last 2 years. While I respect and grateful with what information he has brought to our attention, he is beginning to worry me. He is a Pied Piper that has the potential to lead his followers into a Jim Jones political suicide.

He clearly has an agenda. It is to make sure Mike Huckabee is not elected. He would rather have Barack Obama.

He is beginning to loose some conservative friends:

http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/18/thedc ... tribution/

Mike Huckabee is definitely running for President. He might as well just said "I'm in!" after his response to Beck.

For anyone who thinks he crossed the line in making this too personal:

"War is Hell" and politics is worse. (No one has your back)

We had better get used to it. It is not a game of bridge anymore. Shots fired!!

_________________
I have my tin foil hat on, wearing it proudly, and will take it off on Inauguration Day 2017.

"If there was hope, it must lie in the proles..." George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

JustGrace and others, I agree with you, in the sense that when I first read Mike's response, it struck me as a bit more insulting and belligerent than Mike's usual tone.

I also think maybe he's feeling, "Enough is enough!!" with calling Mike a liberal / progressive / big gov't etc. etc. etc. He's been putting up with that cr@p for so long, he just got fed up.

And it may cut ties with Glenn Beck's followers.

But if wonder if any of Beck's followers -- if there even ARE many of them left -- would have voted for Mike anyway.

I personally know quite a few people who USED TO listen to Beck, but don't any more because they feel like he's come unhinged in the last year or so. He DOES seem to fancy himself as a prophet. He sighs all the time, and his speech is peppered with a constant stream of "I told you so" and "I predicted this 3 years ago...." It grows tiresome and grating. And he keeps harping on the warnings to buy food. After a while, I feel like saying, "OK! We heard you!! You can move to a different theme now already!!" I stopped watching Beck last spring / summer.

_________________
Recovering Huck-a-holic

When one has too narrow a subject, or more time to say things than one has to say, this will happen. Beck has run out of Progressives, so now he's on to naming anyone he doesn't like or is jealous of, as a progressive. If Huckabee doesn't happen to like being in a class with the Nazis, too bad. He can cite the fact that he believes McCain is a progressive, too, so calling Huckabee a progressive is not that bad. This is far-fetched, but Beck seems to be grasping at straws. We wonder where he will go from here.


I don't know how many Beck followers there are left. My sense is that the number will keep decreasing, and that is why Ailes, who liked him and still says he does, is saying Beck's job must go, or be changed. I read that he had as many as 2.7 million a day watching his show, but that it was down to 2 million. It is the sharp decline that is troubling FoxNews. His numbers will probably be lower than that, now.

Unfortunately, one of those followers is my sweet granddaughter of 17 years. She asked me lately if I had read Ayn Rand. No, I haven't. One good thing is that she is scooping up all my political, Christian, and historical books on America because of Beck's earlier emphasis on our nation's history. He has done some good things. What is happening can be true of any of us in any area of concern. In moderation, our concern is fine. But if this is the only you can talk about, you are getting out of balance. I mean Beck, here, but I also need to often remind myself of that verse, "Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord is at hand." Phil 4:5 KJV. I have to remind myself of the truth, "Let each consider the other better than himself." Huckabee genuinely believes that and shows great humility and self-control. Maybe Huckabee said a little too much, but of course it was nothing in comparison to all that has been flung against him. Two minutes against hours and hours of distortions and lies about him from conservative talkers. Part of me was saying, "Good, it's about time you set the record straight!" But another part of me wonders if this will not just increase the attacks and further divide conservatives. And let Obama win.

It's almost as if Beck has run out of true progressives to target, so now he has started pinning on the label to anyone he does not like. With Huckabee doing so well on the weekend show and having more listeners on daily radio, Beck likes Huckabee less and less. But Beck needs to be careful, too, because he loses credibility when people can easily pick up Huckabee's book, named A Simple Government. One does not have to read far to see that he means less centralized government, not more. He means more individual responsibility, not less. I do not think Beck has cracked this book, yet. Otherwise Beck would be having Huckabee on his show to illustrate, chalk in hand, the wisdom of each chapter.

I do think we have an even more basic battle here at play, for the hearts of the American people. And I see it also as a spiritual battle, since the freedoms of religion, and the valuing of life are at stake.

On the one side are those who we might call progressives or just liberals. They see the people as incapable of making any decisions for themselves and they see government as the savior that can solve all problems. This was Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, although they also were egotists who wanted power and glory more than anything. But communism is based on the idea that only the elite rulers know what the people need, which required making their only worship be for the state, with no room for God with a capital "G". And socialism decides that big government is the only way to bring fairness to the world by playing Robin Hood. Progressivism is Beck's pet name. Does he mean radicalism? Elitism? Socialism? What, exactly? Even after all the charts and dates, I am not quite sure. Especially now. I think it means liberalism and maybe world domination.

This may be Obama.

But Huckabee? He is exactly the opposite, for he sees within the people the reservoir of wisdom and goodness that is capable of ruling our nation. But, of course, the people need to be good, and that depends upon their personal faith, responsibility, the strength of families and marriages, the respect for life at all stages, and involvement in choosing wise leaders.

How can we do our best to help Huckabee? I am sure he is frustrated beyond words at how Beck, Rush, Malkin, and others seem determined to paint him as a liberal, and now what, a PROGRESSIVE? It is beyond ridiculous that our conservative talkers could keep on attacking the best hope they have to oust Obama. But they are on their own little campaigns for followings. I'd like to see a little moderation among conservatives, or as Huckabee would say, some common sense.

I am determined to do what I can to help Huckabee this round. One of the most important ways is to pray for him to have strength and wisdom from above. But also, I am praying for myself, to be kept from impatience or anger that might make me say things I regret. Moderation (or gentleness) in all. It's hard in politics.

Someone has to speak the truth, but in love. In love? That will be very hard, but that seems to be part of what is missing among Huckabee's critics. Well, the truth, too, at least in regards to those who want to misrepresent and marginalize this fine man.


And WalterCan, you had some excellent suggestions for keeping our tongues and words under control. Thanks.

_________________

Tuned in to see if Beck was going to say anything. He did. He had lists up about Mike's record. Also, Mike's audio of his response concerning the progressive jab. Beck said that the media was hyping this and also a spat with Andrew Brietbart. He went on to discuss the particulars about the Brietbart thing. I was actually surprised that he said anything regarding Mike on Fox. At the end of the segment it was kind of weird. He talked about how he wont fight with Mike or Brietbart. Beck also said that if it's a choice between Obama and Huckabee, he'll choose Huckabee. He doesn't want infighting, he wants to unite. Really strange, hopefully they'll post the video.

_________________
The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution is a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.
James Madison, September 1829

I heard and it sickened me. I wonder if Fox is going to allow this to go on. Its not fair for Mike to not be able to defend himself or to be called thin skin, when he does.

_________________

I got home to see the last half of Beck's program and my thinking is that over the weekend Beck saw that he was going to reap more negatives than positives for criticizing a fellow Fox News colleague and for giving the left more slanted, biased ammunition to use against Mike. Beck gave a weak white flag message to pacify his critics and end the controversy. Remember, Beck's turned against Mike two years ago after Mike made a controversial comment about Mormon doctrine. Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are also out to undermine Mike's politics.

And let's not forget that Fox's top guns are probably bearing down pretty hard on Beck right now for attacking one of their ratings winners!

Actually, I fully endorse everything Huck said in those quotes above! I like a street fighter!

_________________
Most people believe what they see, the Left see's what it believes.....

I like the Mel Gibson comparison. That does seem to be Beck's future, unfortunately.

_________________
Most people believe what they see, the Left see's what it believes.....

I agree QVA. Probably the reason for Beck's half-hearted retraction. But he managed to throw in plenty more claims/lies about Huckabee's record, so that means he gets the parting salvo.

_________________

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go against Mike on this.

He's still one of my favorites for President, but I don't like the way he handled this at all. When I read his statement, my opinion of him dropped a little.

Mike is a somewhat progressive Republican when compared to a libertarian Republican. And Beck, is a libertarian.

Beck stated a difference in philosophy, but Mike made a personal attack. I thought that Mike was above that. But apparently not. So I'm disappointed.

Why can't people agree do disagree?

I think Mike should have taken it in stride. Said, "Mr. Beck, I understand how you feel. And these are the reasons why I disagree with you."

Beck also called Romney a "Progressive" due to RomneyCare but (unlike his scorn for Huck) Beck campaigned loudly and voted for Romney last time and will again.

Only a blind person would not see what is going on.

On his radio show and not being restrained by Fox (who thankfully has decided he's through and they've has enough of his conspiracies), Beck was of course much worse with his giggling sidekick on radio laughing hysterically as Beck went point by point distorting Huck' true record as governor for 10 1/2 years.

Only a deaf person would not hear what is going on.

_________________




Please click^ on the tank and join up today

With Beck, a difference in philosophy is a personal attack.

_________________
ATTENTION GUESTS: Thanks for checking out our Discussion Forum. Before you go, please take a minute to click on the image below and get registered to join the discussion. You'll enjoy all the perks, such as being able to track which posts you've read already. It will also allow us to contact you with important news and information. Plus, we'd just love to hear what you have to say!

MEMBERS: Want to put the "Get Registered" image in your signature? Learn how here.

____________________________________________

And Beck called Romney a progressive again. And said that Romney is not his preferred candidate this election cycle.

But if Romney or Huckabee win the nomination, he will vote for either one. Just like he did for McCain. Because neither one, even though they are more progressive than a libertarian, is remotely as progressive as a progressive Democrat like Obama.



Aren't these kinds of statements bad for political discourse? They are logical fallacies that don't advance communication.



The true record is that taxes went up.

Huck has stated what he believes to be good reasons for this.

At that point, it's up to each individual voter to decide if they agree that the resons Huck gives are good enough or not. Some will agree. Some will disagree.



Yeah... not conducive to getting at truth.

How so? He's stated that he believe that Huckabee is a good Christian man. But he disagrees with him on policy.

Is this the attitude that we really should be having? Do we need to attack anyone that has criticism?

This sounds like a claim that I expect from emotional leftists, not reasonable conservatives.