I normally don't quote Elton John, but...

"I have been deceived."

During last night's bout with insomnia, I decided to explore more of Fred Thompson's stances. Not only did I learn more about my favorite former senator from Tennessee, but I found out that I have been backing the wrong guy this whole time. From the beginning of this race, which now seems like eons ago, I knew that I would be backing one of two people: Mike Huckabee or Fred Thompson. Since I never thought that Fred was going to get into the race, Huckabee became my man for the 2008 run.

Then came Huckabee's comments on closing Guantanamo so that more of our international neighbors will need to like us again. So I decided to do some more digging. According to the October 9th Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the tax burden for the state of Arkansas nearly doubled under Mike Huckabee's administration. Thompson, on the other hand, helped pass tax cut after tax cut during his time in Congress.

Unbelievably, Mike Huckabee likes the idea of letting illegal aliens pay in-state rates at Arkansas colleges, as well as giving them voting rights and helping them get public assistance as well, according to a report by the AP in February 2005. He referred to those who opposed the plan as "bigots who think there's a real problem." I think I might have gone into shock at this point. Somehow, illegal aliens voting is now okay, Mike?

Senator Thompson is for cutting federal funds to sanctuary cities (and I am ready to sharpen the scissors for that and nominate San Francisco for the first cut) and he's for toughening the borders, which this Congress and the two prior should have already done! I think he's gotten the message that Representative Tom Tancredo has been giving us for years. Thompson gets that this is an issue of national security.

Since I am a big supporter of the 2nd Amendment -- even though I do not personally own a gun, mind you -- Thompson is my choice. I really can't say how Governor Huckabee feels about the right to bear arms, but I can support Thompson's stand on the matter. My "neighbor" from Tennessee is on the record as believing, and I totally agree, that the "assault" weapon ban was a bad idea. The term "assault" is never really defined, so I guess it means that if it frightens someone by its appearance, then it has "assaulted" them. All joking aside, the "assault weapons ban" was a sham at best and at worst a calculated power grab by the "no-guns-ever" crowd.
"Military-style semi-automatic firearms (so-called assault weapons) do not differ materially from non-military style semi-automatic firearms (one bullet is fired for each pull of the trigger) and are no more powerful than other semi-automatic weapons. Further, a bullet fired from a semi-automatic weapon is no more powerful than one of the same caliber fired from a corresponding non-semi-automatic handgun, rifle, or shotgun." (Source: "Assault weapons," which can be found at: http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcassaul.html.)

Now for the part that shocked me the most, the social issues. Remember, that Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister and I am a Baptist seminarian, so I was of the opinion that we would be simpatico here, of all places. Was I ever in for a surprise. While he was the lieutenant governor of Arkansas, he supported the idea of each state deciding the abortion issue for itself. This is a recipe for a second Supreme Court battle. Thompson wants to go the other, more logical route: overturning Roe v. Wade, which he calls "bad law and bad medical science." I believe that Thompson is right on all counts. While Thompson definitely opposes both abortion and its public funding, Huckabee started a private fund so that Arkansas' Medicaid recipients could get the abortions that they wanted. Admittedly, these abortions were only for victims of rape or incest, according to the New York Times, dated August 14, 1996.

Now, Fred Thompson has not called for the closing of Guantanamo and I doubt he ever will. Here is what he said on his Hands Down! Tour across Iowa:“The detainees at Guantanamo are not American citizens, they are enemies of this nation and they do not enjoy the rights of American citizens. And they are not entitled to habeas corpus protection.” Finally, someone actually said it! I have been making that point for months!

And just as I wrote in my blog yesterday, he agreed: "I don't know if [Mike Huckabee] realizes this or not, when [the Guantanamo detainees] touch American soil, they're gonna get rights they would otherwise not have." I have been saying this for months as well! Here I finally find a man with whom I can agree on such an important issue!

Well, I was wrong. Mr. Thompson, I owe you an apology. And I am going to do everything I can to help your campaign. I am sorry I doubted you and I sincerely hope that you can forgive me. You are now this conservative's choice for the Republican nomination and ultimately for the President of the United States. For me, the Huckaboom has ended.