What's in a name ? Michael Patrick Leahy on Barack Hussein Obama

When conservative radio talk show host Bill Cunningham referred to Democractic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama as "Barack HUSSEIN Obama ..... Barack HUSSEIN Obama ....... Barack HUSSEIN Obama" at a recent John McCain rally the political correctness police went crazy.

Candidate McCain felt compelled to disavow Cunningham's implied criticism of Obama's Muslim heritage, and talking heads across the land felt compelled to condemn Cunningham.

What exactly was Cunningham's sin ?

He loudly emphasized Obama's given middle name, "Hussein", which, of course conjures up images of the deposed and deceased Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and innumerable Muslims--peace lovers and terrorists alike-- who share the same name.

Cunningham himself acknowledged that his entire speech was designed to give the gathered McCain supporters "red meat", but the question is this:

Was it out of bounds to use Obama's middle name in this way ?

My response is probably not.

It is, after all, Senator Obama's given middle name, and it does tell us something about him.

Indeed, there is a long tradition in American politics of Presidential candidates using their middle names.

John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, started it all off in 1824, inserting Quincy to distinguish himself from his father, John Adams, our second president.

He was followed by the barely memorable President William Henry Harrison, whose only notable contribution to the American Presidential tradition was the memorable political slogan from the 1840 campaign of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too !".

Fast forward to the Presidential election of 1932, which ushered in the era of 3 initial Presidents --


Franklin Delano Roosevelt ("FDR"), who was followed in 1960 by John Fitzgerald Kennedy ("JFK"), and in 1964 by Lyndon Baines Johnson ("LBJ")

Each of these candidates used their middle names as part of their political image.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for instance, inserted his middle name, Delano, to tell the voters of New York that he came from a long established New York family (his mother was a Delano).














John Fitzgerald Kennedy inserted his middle name Fitzgerald to tell the voters of Boston that he was the grandson of the famous mayor of Boston "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald.















Lyndon Baines Johnson insisted on both the use of his middle name and the "LBJ" three letter label to tell the voters of Texas that he was the young adherent of the policies of FDR. "A vote for LBJ is a vote for FDR".


In my own small way, I can attest to the political value of the three name approach to politics. Why, for instance, out of nine statewide Romney delegates here in Tennessee in the February 2008 primary, did I receive the most votes ?

Much as I would like to think it was my large network of friends throughout the state, the most likely explanation is simply this:

The name Michael Patrick Leahy has a full, three name political resonance to it.

Which brings us to Barack Hussein Obama.

His case is different from John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Lyndon Baines Johnson. Unlike those five American Presidents, Senator Obama prefers to be referred to by his two name moniker.

And for good reason.

The name "Barack Hussein Obama" does in fact, tell us something about the Senator's heritage, and it is not something that he wishes to highlight to the American voters. It tells us that his white American mother, and his Muslim Kenyan father chose to give him a complete name that reflected only his Muslim heritage.

"Barack" is not a name found in his mother's native Kansas. Nor is "Hussein" or "Obama".

"Barack Hussein Obama" also reminds voters that Senator Obama's left wing, "abandon Iraq Now" policies are consistent with the interests of Muslim terrorists, and in conflict with the national security interests of the United States.

And that is a completely legitimate way to highlight the political differences between Senator Obama and virtually every Republican voter in the country.

Senator Obama can certainly call himself "Barack Obama", and not follow the John Fitzgerald Kennedy/"JFK" tradition and refer to himself as Barack Hussein Obama/"BHO".

But Bill Cunningham, Michael Patrick Leahy, and anyone else in the United States who wishes should feel free to refer to Senator Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama" any time and any place they want.

They want my vote, but not my opinion

Senator McCain's campaign staff keep calling.

They are eager to secure the signed pledges of support for Senator McCain from all eight of us who were elected as Romney delegates here in Tennessee.

They are less eager to arrange the meeting we've asked for with the Senator to express, in person, some of the comments we've received from Tennesseans who voted for us to represent them at the convention. We also wanted to give Senator McCain some suggestions on steps he could take to bridge that oft mentioned "enthusiasm gap" that exists at the moment among some conservative Republicans.

I suppose it's a bit much for us to ask.

"Face time" with the candidate is highly prized.

We really don't want "face time." We just want to have a conversation, one in which we say something meaningful, something that Senator McCain might find helpful in the securing victory in the fall.

Here's one important thing we might say:

Pick Mitt Romney as your Vice President.

Do it now, and start campaigning as a team against Senator Obama.

Now that's something that might bridge the "enthusiasm gap", don't you think !

The Phil Valentine Show, and Why I Won't Vote for Ron Paul at the Convention

This business of being a delegate to the Republican National Convention, free to vote for whomever I choose, is going to be fun for another couple weeks, at least until Senator McCain wins a few more primaries and mathematically locks down the nomination without the aid of the eight of us who are Romney delegates from Tennessee.

Not wanting to squander my 15 minutes, I called one of the producers of the Phil Valentine Show, a very good, very conservative Nashville based syndicated radio talk show host and told him I wanted to get advice from Phil and his listeners on how to vote.

The next day, the producer called me (it was "the Round Mound", Phil's regular sidekick Johnny B. apparently being on vacation), and in about two minutes I was on the air with "Uncle Phil" himself. Phil advised me to hold Senator McCain's feet to the fire, and secure three pledges from him:

1. Opposition to amnesty for illegal aliens
2. Support in making the Bush tax cuts permanent
3. Abandonment of his support for legislation that supposedly addresses global warming

I also gave Phil my email address, and asked his listeners to email me with their advice.

30 of them did just that.

10 listeneers emailed me and echoed Phil's advice, with most of them advising me not to vote for McCain if he didn't make those three promises. (Note to these folks -- He's on the record that he supports permanent tax cuts, but the other two issues are a little less clear).

20 listeners emailed to advise me to vote for Ron Paul instead.

All 20 of these emails were lengthy and filled with passion.

And all 20 were unpersuasive.

Here's why:

Straight from Ron Paul's official website comes the following position on Iraq:

On my first day as commander-in-chief, I will direct the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our commanders on the ground to devise and execute a plan to immediately withdraw our troops in the safest manner possible.

Those who caution that leaving Iraq would be a disaster are the same ones who promised the conflict would be a “cake-walk.” It is impossible to tell how long we will have to stay and how many lives we will have to lose if we wait for political factions that have been at war for centuries to come together.

As long as we occupy Iraq, the violence against our troops will continue, and the Iraqi government will become more dependent on us. It is in the best interests of the Iraqi people that we return their country to them immediately. Indeed, violence has already gone down in the areas that are not as heavily occupied.

An immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be an unnecessary concession to an enemy whom we are finally beating, and beating fairly soundly at the moment. It would embolden the chastened and retreating Islamic jihadists to attack other countries, leading inevitably to further attacks on American soil.

Such an action would significantly increase the likelihood that we would experience an American Hiroshima in our lifetime at the hands of this enemy.

As Abraham Lincoln demonstrated by his strong and wise actions a century and a half ago, the single most important responsibility of the President is to preserve and protect the Union. And Ron Paul's policy on Iraq would do exactly the opposite.

Guess What ? You're Going to the Republican National Convention !

Regular readers of this blog who read my article in last month's Christian Faith and Reason Magazine critical of Mike Huckabee may have noticed the note at the bottom of the article where I disclaimed that I was a candidate for delegate to the Republican National Convention supporting Mitt Romney.

Fast forward to February 5.

I wait with anticipation the results of the primary here in Tennessee, hoping Mitt would win the state, and I would go to the convention.

It was not to be.

Mike Huckabee won the state, with 34%, followed by John McCain at 32%, and in third my friend Mitt, with only 24%. A few days later, Mitt withdrew from the race.

As a statewide candidate, I assumed that Huckabee's delegates were headed to the convention, and I would be at home, watching the action on the television, eating popcorn, and singing a sad song of what might have been.

I still may be singing the sad song of what might have been, but it will be in the Convention Center at St. Paul, Minnesota on September 1, not here in Tennesse.

I received a voice message from an earnest young McCain staffer this past Friday.

"Mr. Leahy, I'm sure you know we're calling from the McCain campaign. We would like your vote at the convention."

They must be mistaken I thought.

I called back and told them so.

"No, Mr. Leahy, we have it right here in black and white. You're going to the convention. In fact, the unoffical results show that you got the most votes in the state of Tennessee of all the Romney delegates on the ballot. You and one other Romney delegate are headed to Minnesota."

A letter from the State Republican Party the next day confirmed the fact.

So now, I need your advice.

How should I vote ?

Should I vote for McCain, as Mitt Romney has asked me to, and the McCain folks want me to, or should I hold out for that conservative alternative who apparently does not exist in 2008 ?

See you in St. Paul !

The spirt of Abrahamic Small Groups in the unlikeliest of places

Those of you who follow the news regularly may have noticed a disturbing item that originated from nearby Columbia, Tennessee a week ago Saturday.

A small local Muslim mosque was burned down completely in an apparent arson.

The suspects, three local "white power" proponents, obvious candidates for the Darwin Awards, were arrested shortly after the event and can anticipate a slew of Federal and State charges coming their way soon.

The interesting note is the positive, supportive reaction of the community.

Local law enforcement and FBI officials worked quickly and efficiently to round up the suspects.

A local Presbyterian church has offered the use of their facility for use by the Muslim congregation, and the offer has been accepted.

Today, a community wide vigil drew 200 Muslims and Christians for observances. And a fund has been established at a local bank to help rebuild the mosque.

From tragedy comes hope.

You can read more in today's edition of the Columbia Herald.

A missing month of blog posts

The first rule of blogging is to post regularly.

Once a week or twice a week seems to be a rule that works well for the casual or not so casual blogger.

Which, of course, explains why this is my first post in about a month.

I have an excuse.

It's pretty lame.

I've been busy.

Stay tuned for a flurry of new posts to catch you up.

Mike Huckabee's Bad Sunday School Lesson

This past Sunday, Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, gave the sermon at the 2,500 member First Baptist Church in North Spartanburg, South Carolina. Mind you, the Republican Presidential Primary will be held in that state next Saturday, and Huckabee's sermon to potential voters in that primary is the ultimate in unctuous bad form, on the parts of both Candidate Huckabee and the leadership of the First Baptist Church.

Consider, for a moment, the sensibilities of those church members who support Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, or Fred Thompson. First Baptist Church has abused its position as a theological authority to these members. Religious services --especially evangelical Christian services -- should be above partisan political preferences, and nothing indicates preference better than the invitation to give a sermon to the entire congregation.

It also raises questions as to the tax-exempt status of the First Baptist Church in North Spartanburg. Clearly, the invitation represented a political endorsement of Huckabee by the leadership of that church. Indeed, it could be argued that the exclusive communication opportunity to address 2,500 potential voters represented an in-kind political contribution, which is also probably illegal.

Are Romney, McCain, Giuliani, and Fred Thompson not entitled to an equal opportunity to address those 2,500 church members ?

It is precisely this kind of seedy blending of religious and political directives under one roof that make so many Americans uncomfortable with Mike Huckabee's brand of politics.

We'll see what the voters of South Carolina have to say on Thursday.

Mitt Romney Shows Why Business Experience Matters in the 2008 Presidential Campaign

John McCain demonstrated today why Mitt Romney's business experience makes the former Governor of Massachussets better qualified to be President of the United States.

The two men are engaged in a tough contest for victory in this Tuesday's Michigan Republican Primary. Michigan is a state that's been hit hard by the reverses in the American auto industry, with both Ford and GM headquartered in Detroit. Romney's father, of course, served as Governor of Michigan during the 1960's, and before that was President of American Motors, at the time the fourth and smallest American automobile manufacturer.
Remember the Rambler ? That was an American Motors car.

In Saturday's debate, held in Michigan, Senator McCain made a statement that you might expect to come from a big government Democratic Senator with no business or private sector experience whatsoever.

The Federal Government, he argued, had helped American automakers by passing stricter fuel efficiency standards last month. McCain's loopy reasoning was that the standards would motivate manufacturers to develop more fuel efficient cars that relied less on foreign oil.

"I have great faith in the auto industry that they'll be able to meet these ... standards, we'll move to hybrid cars, we'll move to hydrogen, we'll move to batteries, and I as president will do everything I can to help them do that," he said.

The practical Romney, whose business success was the result of an ability to differentiate wishes from reality, understands the situation more clearly.

Arbitrary standards, he argues "help the foreign manufacturers and hurt us."

Romney's quite right in that assessment.

American manufacturers typically have a product mix that features larger cars which naturally have less fuel efficiency. Fleetwide standards force American manufacturers to change their product mix in ways that are not advantageous to their niche in the market.

McCain's comments show a fundamental misunderstanding of how business organizations actually work and get things done. Apparently, McCain thinks that business executives, and auto executives in particular, are a bunch of dullards who are not smart enough to determine the right strategy for their business. Only the "smart people" in Washington, it seems, know that the right strategy for the American auto industry is to make automobiles with a particular fuel efficiency ratio. Oh, and by the way, the Washington "smart people" know EXACTLY what that fuel efficiency ratio should be !

From a strategic and operational viewpoint, there's no question that some component of the decline in the performance of the American auto industry is the consequence of poor strategic decisions by American auto executives, and good strategic decisions by executives at Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. Part of that is as it should be -- Toyota Camrys run forever and rarely need service, so the marketplace CHOOSES Toyota Camrys.

But consider the real economic harm--the interference in free market forces-- caused by the arbitrary increase in fuel efficiency standards recently imposed by Senator McCain. The marketplace says-- we like the large SUVs made by General Motors, especially the Tahoe. Raising the fuel standards across the fleet increases the costs of producing a Tahoe significantly more than it increases the costs of producing a Toyota Camry. Why ? It's a much bigger car, and the resources required to hit the new target are greater.

To get around some of this silliness, many American automakers have focused on making pickup trucks (which have different standards than passenger cars) look and behave more like passenger cars. A great accomplishment in itself, and a good fall back position, but without Washington's intervention, Ford and GM might well have placed their resources in other areas of innovation -- areas that the marketplace values more highly.

If McCain ever had a job that depended on understanding the market, he would have known this. A McCain Presidency, on the economic front, would look a lot more like the command and control economic failures of Jimmy Carter than the free market economic successes of Ronald Reagan.

A Tale of Two Sisters

My friend Keith Raffel, to my mind the gold standard of emerging mystery novel writers, has a post on his blog from yesterday about his recollections of Benazir Bhutto, whose assassination last month has thrown Pakistan into political chaos.

Keith and Ms. Bhutto (who was known in those days as "Pinkie") were students at Harvard together, and later at Oxford as well. Keith recounts his memories of her, as well as their loud arguments in his blogpost.

I was an undergrad at Harvard a few years later, and I knew Benazir Bhutto's younger sister Sanam Bhutto, because she dated one of my friends. Sanam's American nickname was "Sonny".

Sanam "Sonny" Bhutto


Where Benazir was passionate about politics, and followed her destiny into that world, Sonny did everything she could to avoid it. Her interests were fashion, jewelry , and looking good. She excelled at all three.

Pinkie followed her destiny, and is dead now, as are Sonny's two brothers, both of whom died under mysterious circumstances. Sonny lives in a very fashionable house in London these days, is probably protected by bodyguards, and has nothing to do with politics.

Which is probably why she is the only child of former Pakistani Prime Minister Ali Bhutto (himself executed in 1979) who is alive today.

The Empty Suit that is Barack Obama

I like Barack Obama.

He's a very pleasant fellow, a compelling speaker, and looks very Senatorial.

The problem is, besides writing two best selling books (no mean feat), he hasn't done much of anything.

Sure, he graduated from Harvard Law School (as have thousands of others), "organized" community groups in Chicago, practiced law a little, got elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, and then to the United States Senate in 2004.

Those are all personal achievements, of which he and his family should be proud.

But what has he done ? How is the world different because of his actions ?

It isn't different in any significant, or even minor way globally or nationally, though his publisher's financial performance has been better of late due to the success of his books.

His legislative record can be summed up as follows: a big fat nothing happened on his watch.

We know, of course, because he has told us repeatedly that he will bring CHANGE to the country.

His policies, however, don't sound much like change, they sound more like the standard gospel of interventionist liberal policies that have been largely discredited in the marketplace over the last half century. His foreign policies are naive at best, and he has absolutely no military experience or understanding of matters military.

I can think of only one possible positive change that a President Barack Obama will bring to the United States.

For about a month, the foreign press will have good things to say about America.

Hillary Clinton, Smartest Woman on Earth, and Agent of Change

Bill and Hillary Clinton, circa 1970.

I rest easier at night knowing that Hillary Clinton, not only the smartest woman on earth, but also the potential next President of the United States, is the candidate most likely to bring about change.

Senator Clinton demonstrated her brilliant policies of change yesterday when she announced her economic stimulus package.

Here are the key components of the change she envisions:

1. Creation of a $30 billion Emergency Housing Crisis Fund for U.S. states, administered by the same people who brought you the IRS, the Housing and Urban Development Department, and the INS, to help families unable to make mortgage payments.

2. A limited re-introduction of wage and price controls, targeted at the home lending industry, which would include a 90-day moratorium on subprime foreclosures and a 5 year freeze of subprime mortgage rates.

3. A Federal government program that will give $25 billion in emergency funds to help people pay expensive heating bills.

4. $10 billion more for unemployment insurance for the jobless.

The creation of a multibillion dollar federal program designed to transfer income from taxpayers who make their mortgage payments in a timely manner to residents (presumably a mix of taxpaying citizens, non-tax paying citizens, legal aliens, and illegal alients) who don't make their mortgage payments on time is certainly a change from the policies of Herbert Hoover's administration. It's the kind of new, revitializing change that was first introduced 75 years ago by FDR, then broadened by Harry Truman, then broadened by Lyndon Johnson, then broadened by Richard Nixon, then broadened by Jimmy Carter, then broadened by George H.W. Bush, then broadened by Bill Clinton, then broadened by George W. Bush.

It's easy for voters to grasp the newness of Hillary Clinton's proposal, the freshness of the content, and the intellecutal brilliance required to envision it.

Senator' Clinton's re-introduction of a limited version of wage and price controls also represents change--from free markets to government control. Demonstrating her clear command of the bipartisan nature of great ideas, she borrows this insightful program from Republican President Richard Nixon, whose attempt at wage and price controls in the 1970's was perhaps one of the most memorably disastrous economic policies in the history of modern America.

Hillary Clinton, the candidate of change.

I can't wait.

LSU -- our 12-2 National Champion !

LSU beat Ohio State 38-24 tonight to win the BCS College Football National Championship.

A 12 win and 2 loss National Champion ?

I guess so, but the entire evening just left me with one reaction.

Ho-hum.

I like the good old days of undefeated National Champions.

Or the apparently yet to arrive good new days of an 8 team playoff winning National Champion.

Trying to Understand Mike Huckabee's Vertical Politics

Try as I might, I can't help but notice the continuing flow of odd ideas generated by Mike Huckabee as he attempts to carve out a niche as the Republican candidate for "change."

The latest oddness comes in the form of his concept of abandonning what he calls "horizontal politics", in favor of "vertical politics."


The image above tries to unravel Huckabee's own definition of "vertical politics," which I take directly from his website:


Ultimately, people don't care about whether an issue comes from the left or the right, . . .

what they want to hear about is an idea that lifts America up and makes us better.

It's what I call Vertical Politics.

Let me attempt to translate what Huckabee is saying here:

Vote for me, because I won't fight with Democrats over fundamental issues about the proper role of government. I'll join hands with them, and together we'll discover that idea that "lifts America and makes us better."

Sounds like Huckabee is signalling Democrats that he will cave on everything they ask for in a Huckabee Administration.

Are the Individual Rights of Roger Clemens Being Violated ?

Major League Baseball, it appears, is filled with players who cheat.

Bud Selig's earlier statements to the contrary now sound like Claude Rains' comment to Humphrey Bogart in the film classic Casa Blanca -- he was "shocked, shocked, that gambling is going on in Casa Blanca."

One need only look at the transformation from skinny kid to superhero physique of Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Jose Cansceco to know that something out of the ordinary was going on.
First, former Senator George Mitchell's long anticipated report names almost 100 major league ball players as users of steroids or human growth hormone based on potentially questionable testimony. Clemens is named in the report as a user of human growth hormone based on the testimony of a clubhouse trainer, and now the superstar is presumed guilty by the public at large.

The whole circus is painfully reminiscent of the Senator Joe McCarthy hearings in the United States Senate of the early 1950's, where reputations and careers were ruined by sometimes unfounded charges and allegations.

Apparently, a number of people don't like Mr. Clemens. He's an arrogant prima donna, they say. He's selfish, they say.

Perhaps so.

But even wealthy arrogant jerks who are American citizens are entitled to fair trials by jury conducted under rules of evidence.

California Congressman Henry Waxman, a Democrat and Chairman of a powerful committee in the US House of Representatives apparently thinks Mr. Clemens public denials of the allegations against him in the Mitchell Report require a public show trial, and has issued a subpoena to Mr. Clemens and his accuser, a former Yankees trainer, to adjudicate the matter later this month in public testimony before a committe of the US Congress.

Is this fair ?

I don't think so. It sounds like a circus, intent on creating headlines for politicians, and oblivious to the individual rights of Mr. Clemens, the trainer in question, and certainly not something likely to do very much to solve the problem of steroid and human growth hormone abuse in Major League Baseball.

The Secret Reasons Hillary Clinton is Faring Poorly

The secret reasons Hillary Clinton is not doing well in the early results of the 2008 Presidential Campaign are these:

She's an unpleasant person.

People don't like the sound of her voice, which is gratingly irritating.

People don't like being talked down to by a know it all.

People don't think she is sincere.

She suffers a charm deficit, especially when compared to her husband.

Donald Trump, Omarosa, and the Train Wreck Philosophy of Project Management

For those of us who make our living in the business discipline of project management, the antics of the infamous Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth in last week's premier episode of Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice provide a case study in how NOT to be a project manager. For those who are not familiar with The Apprentice format, each week a group of contestants are split into two teams, each headed by a project manager, who compete to win a task. At the completion of the task, one team is declared the winner, the other the loser, and one member of the losing team is "fired" by Mr. Trump in a Board Room session designed to encourage nasty communication and backbiting in front of an all powerful arbiter.

In last week's episode of Celebrity Apprentice, a dozen "B" list celebrity contestants were broken up into two teams-- six men on one team, six women on the other, who competed to see who could make the most money selling hot dogs from a street stand in New York City on one day.

The irritating and self-promoting Ms. Maginault-Stallworth, who promotes her particular style of interpersonal lunacy under the one word appelation "Omarosa", jumped at the chance to be the project manager of the women's team. Mr. Trump, apparently eager to secure the ratings associated with the programmatic theme of a villainess, was only to happy to grant Omarosa's request.

Omarosa then proceeded to display her understanding of what it means to be a project manager by dealing with her team members in an arrogant, abrasive, condescending, and dictatorial manner from the very first minute. While all the members on her team advised her to take advantage of their celebrity status and sell the opportunity to connect with that celebrity status for a high priced hot dog, Omarosa delusionally rejected that common sense advice, and chose to focus the benefits of the hot dog. As if actress Marilu Henner, she of Taxi fame, can make a better hot dog then Joe the hot dog vendor !



The men's team, inspired by the intelligent and amusing Gene Simmons of Kiss, made the obvious decision to sell not hot dogs, but highly visible opportunities to connect with celebrity by "buying" a hot dog at a high price and focusing on the charitable use of the proceeds that was part of the task's rules.

Following Omarosa's ridiculous pricing strategy initially, the women's team lagged in sales until Ms. Henner, defying Omarosa's edict, decided to pull in her personal contacts and make some high dollar "charity" hot dog sales. Ultimately, Ms. Henner's contacts contributed $10,000 of the women's teams $17,000 in sales.

The women's team, under Omarosa, was thoroughly defeated in the task by the men's team, which sold $52,000, because project manager Stephen Baldwin actually listened to the intelligent pricing and marketing strategy proposed by team member Gene Simmons and supported by all the other team members. Every other member of the women's team advocated a similar strategy for the women's team, but the tin eared and narcisstic Omaraso rejected that approach, with disastrous results for her team.

Showing her true snakiness and exploiting Mr. Trump's need for the ratings that her continued public villainy provides, Omarosa was able to avoid being fired by pinning the blame for her failure on a pleasant but hapless Playboy centerfold, whose main sins were being a nice person, following Omarosa's "don't sell your celebrity" policy, and failing to defend herself against Omarosa's vicious attacks.

Omarosa's conduct is certainly something to be expected from a woman whose claim to fame was being

"banished from four (low level)jobs in two years with the Clinton administration.

At her last one, "she was asked to leave as quickly as possible, she was so disruptive," says Cheryl Shavers, the former Under Secretary for Technology at the Commerce Department, where Omarosa worked several weeks in 2000. "One woman wanted to slug her."

She was also bounced from a previous position at Commerce, says another former administration official, "because she couldn't get along with people."

Anyone interested in learning what project management is REALLY about, should go The Agile Project Leadership Network or The Project Management Institute websites.

Deja Vu All Over Again -- Huckabee and Romney, Carter and Udall

In my misguided youth I was a Democrat.

I excuse myself for this by remembering Winston Churchill's famous quote:

"If you're not a liberal when you're twenty, you don't have a heart. If you're not a conservative when you were forty, you don't have a brain."

Back in 1976 (thirty two years ago for those of you counting) I ran as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention in New York State's old 39th Congressional District committed to Mo Udall, the Arizona Congressman who was also a Mormon.

I recall watching in disbelief the political rise of a Southern Baptist former governor of a small Southern state who was obviously in way over his head on matters of foreign policy.

When the New York Democratic Presidential Primary was held in April of that year, my candidate and my slate lost to that Southern Baptist former Governor. Seven months later, that governor was elected President, and the country suffered through four years of the worst Presidential Administration in American history (with a tip of the hat to Franklin Pierce's ignoble four year term from 1853 to 1857, which was ALMOST as bad).

Fast forward to January, 2008. A Southern Baptist former governor of a small Southern state has just defeated another highly qualified Mormon candidate in the Iowa Republican caucuses. This time, it's Arkansas' Mike Huckabee defeating Mormon and former Massachussets governor Mitt Romney.

Once again, I'm backing the Mormon, this time as an at-large delegate in the February 5th Republican Presidential Primary here in Tennessee.

We've seen the first part of deja vu in Iowa. Let's see if we have the second part of deja vu in Tennessee, or if there's a break in the pattern !

Huckabee was FOR the Writers Guild before he was AGAINST the Writers Guild

I was hoping to give readers of this blog a break from Mike Huckabee, but the erstwhile Presidential candidate continues to provide material which just cannot be resisted.

He crossed the Writers Guild Association picket lines to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight, the day before the Iowa caucuses.

For a Democratic candidate crossing the picket line would, of course, be worse than original sin, but Huckabee appears to want to be both FOR original sin and AGAINST it.

First, he issued a statement in support of the Writers Guild Association, saying he was on their side, and that everyone should support them and no one should support the producers.

Then, when informed that his appearance tonight would require that he cross picket line of the organization he allegedly supports, his disingenuous response was to say:

"Oh, I thought the late night talk programs had reached a separate deal with the Writers Guild !"

Does he think anyone actually buys this lame excuse ?

Anyone who listens to the news on the broadcast and cable networks, or on any of the popular radio talk programs for more than a minute at a time these days knows that David Letterman cut a separate deal with the writers, but Jay Leno and The Tonight Show did not.

I suppose, as he has so many times before, Huckabee will blame his ignorance/disingenuousness on being misinformed by his staff or by a news report.

Why is a Presidential candidate entangling himself in this dispute ? The free publicity of a Tonight Show appearance must have been a temptation that Huckabee just could not resist. Consequently, he apparently let his desires overwhelm his common sense. If he can't avoid stumbling into this dispute, can you imagine the disputes he would stumble into around the world in a Huckabee Administration ?

Deliver us, O Lord, from any more of this guy's shenanigans !

Mike Huckabee and Jimmy Carter Demonstrate the Dangers of Selecting Political Leaders from the Anti-Intellectual Branch of Evangelical Christianity

Check out my article in Christian Faith and Reason Magazine on how Mike Huckabee and Jimmy Carter demonstrate the dangers of selecting political leaders from the anti-intellectual branch of the evangelical Christian tree.

Huckabee's Hat Trick: Foreign Policy Amateur Hour Suggests We Should Watch for Pakistanis Coming Into the Country

You would think someone on Mike Huckabee's staff would have the courage to tell him to stop demonstrating his foreign policy ignorance by making yet additional ill advised comments on the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

After first apologizing to the people of Pakistan for her death, Huckabee has poured fuel on the fire by insulting all Pakistanis.

This from O. Kay Henderson on the Radio Iowa website today:

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the assassination of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto underscores the need to secure the America's borders to prevent potential terror attacks here.

"We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there's any unusal activity of Pakistanis coming into the country. We just need to be very, very thorough in looking at every aspect of our own security internally because, again, we live in a very, very dangerous time," Huckabee said during a news conference Thursday night in West Des Moines.

Imagine how well this comment will be received by our allies in Pakistan ! Neither President Musharraf nor the leaders of the opposition can have much confidence that Mike Huckabee has any understanding of Pakistan.

Having succeeded in first falsely suggesting American responsibility for the tragic event, then insulting the Pakistani people, Huckabee completes his foreign policy amateur hour hat trick by implying Pakistani President Musharraf's improper use of U.S. aid is somehow related to the tragedy.

Huckabee also said it was time to put more pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government. According to Huckabee, a "full accounting" of the $10 billion in U.S. aid sent to Pakistan since 9/11 is "more needful" now than ever.

I'ld say it's time for Governor Huckabee to return to the pulpit, where his foreign policy ignorance won't cause anybody harm.