By Mike Huckabee
February 12, 2023
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Here are the top stories from this week that I think you will want to read.
And after you read my Sunday Standard, please leave me a comment.
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
Watch: Sarah Sanders delivers Republican rebuttal to Biden's SOTU Address
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on February 8, 2023.
By Mike Huckabee
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Address to the Nation
By Mike Huckabee
This was originally published on February 8, 2023.
“Good evening. I’m Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“Being a mom to three young children taught me not to believe every story I hear. So forgive me for not believing much of anything I heard tonight from President Biden. From out-of-control inflation and violent crime to the dangerous border crisis and threat from China, Biden and the Democrats have failed you.
“They know it. And you know it.
“It’s time for a change.
“Tonight, let us reaffirm our commitment to a timeless American idea: that government exists not to rule the people, but to serve the people.?
“Democrats want to rule us with more government control, but that is not who we are. America is the greatest country the world has ever known because we are the freest country the world has ever known, with a people who are strong and resilient.
“Five months ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It was a hard time for our family, particularly for our kids - Scarlett, Huck, and George - but we kept our faith and persevered.
“Thanks to exceptional doctors here in Arkansas, a successful surgery, and the grace of God, I am cancer-free.
“Through it all, I couldn’t help but think about my mom.
“She was 20 years old and in her first year of marriage when she was diagnosed with spinal cancer. The doctors told her she might not live. If she did live, they said she’d never walk again, and if she did walk, she’d definitely never have children.
“The daughter she was told she’d never have was just sworn in as the new Governor of Arkansas and is speaking to you tonight.
“Adversity and fear of the unknown can paralyze us, but faith propels us to charge boldly ahead.
“We can’t stand still in the face of great challenges. You and I were put on this earth for such a time as this to charge boldly ahead.
“I’ll be the first to admit, President Biden and I don’t have a lot in common.
“I’m for freedom. He’s for government control.
“At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country. At 80, he’s the oldest president in American history.?
“I’m the first woman to lead my state. He’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country.
“Whether Joe Biden believes this madness or is simply too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely hijacked by the radical left.
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left.?
“The choice is between normal or crazy.?
“It is time for a new generation of Republican leadership.
“Upon taking office just a few weeks ago I signed Executive Orders to ban CRT, racism, and indoctrination in our schools, eliminate the use of the derogatory term ‘Latinx’ in our government, repealed COVID orders and said never again to authoritarian mandates and shutdowns.
“Americans want common sense from their leaders, but in Washington, the Biden administration is doubling down on crazy.
“President Biden inherited the fastest economic recovery on record. The most secure border in history. Cheap abundant, home-grown energy. Fast-rising wages. A rebuilt military. And a world that was stable and at peace. But over the last two years, Democrats destroyed it all.
“Despite Democrats’ trillions in reckless spending and mountains of debt, we now have the worst border crisis in American history.
“As a mom, my heart breaks for every parent who has lost a son or daughter to addiction. 100,000 Americans a year are now killed from drug overdoses, largely from fentanyl pouring in across our southern border. Yet the Biden administration refuses to secure the border and save American lives.?
“And after years of Democrat attacks on law enforcement and calls to ‘defund the police, violent criminals roam free, while law-abiding families live in fear.?
“Beyond our border, from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from North Korea to Iran, President Biden’s weakness puts our nation and the world at risk.
“And the President’s refusal to stand up to China, our most formidable adversary, is dangerous and unacceptable.
“President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people. He is unfit to serve as commander in chief.
“And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day. Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.
“Every day, we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols…all while big government colludes with Big Tech to strip away the most American thing there is—your Freedom of speech.
“That’s not normal. It’s crazy, and it’s wrong.
“Make no mistake: Republicans will not surrender this fight. We will lead with courage and do what’s right, not what’s politically correct or convenient.
“Republicans believe in an America where strong families thrive in safe communities. Where jobs are abundant, and paychecks are rising. Where the freedom our veterans shed their blood to defend is the birthright of every man, woman, and child.
“These are the principles Republican governors are fighting for. And in Washington under the leadership of Senate Republicans and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, we will hold the Biden administration accountable.
“Down the street from where I sit is my alma mater, Little Rock Central High. As a student there, I will never forget watching my dad, Governor Mike Huckabee, and President Bill Clinton hold the doors open to the Little Rock Nine, doors that forty years earlier had been closed to them because they were black. Today, those children once barred from the schoolhouse are now heroes memorialized in bronze at our statehouse.
“I’m proud of the progress our country has made. And I believe giving every child access to a quality education - regardless of their race or income - is the civil rights issue of our day.
“Tomorrow, I will unveil an education package that will be the most far reaching, bold, conservative education reform in the country.
“My plan empowers parents with real choices, improves literacy and career readiness, and helps put a good teacher in every classroom by increasing their starting salary?from one of the lowest to one of the highest in the nation.
“Here in Arkansas and across America, Republicans are working to end the policy of trapping kids in failing schools and sentencing them to a lifetime of poverty.?
“We will educate, not indoctrinate our kids, and put students on a path to success.
“It’s time for a new generation to lead. This is our moment. This is our opportunity.
“A new generation born in the waning decades of the last century, shaped by economic booms and stock market busts, forged by the triumph of the Cold War and the tragedy of 9/11. A generation brimming with passion and new ideas to solve age-old problems. A generation moored to our deepest values and oldest traditions, yet unafraid to challenge the present order and find a better way forward.
“If we seize this moment together, America can once again be the land of the free and home of the brave.
“During my two and a half years at the White House, I traveled on every foreign trip with the President.
“A trip I will never forget was on December 25, 2018.
“My husband Bryan and I had just cleaned up wrapping paper that had been shoved into every corner of our house thanks to our three kids, when I had to walk out on my own family’s Christmas, unable to tell them where I was going, because the place I’d be traveling to was so dangerous they didn’t want anybody to know that the President was going to be on the ground for even a few hours.
“We boarded Air Force One in total darkness—there were no lights on the plane, no lights on the runway, our phones and computers shut down and turned in. We were going completely off the grid.
“Nearly twelve hours later in the pitch-black of the night, we landed in the war-torn part of western Iraq. It was again a similar scene—no lights on the plane, no lights on the runway.
“The only light you could see was coming from about a mile away in a dining hall where hundreds of troops—who were in the fight against ISIS— had gathered, expecting to celebrate Christmas with senior military leadership from around the region.
“They had absolutely no idea that the President and First Lady were about to walk into that room.
“And when they did—it was a sight, and a scene, and a sound I hope I never forget.
“The room erupted. Men and women from every race, religion, and region, every political party, every demographic you can imagine started chanting in perfect unison over and over and over again, ‘USA, USA, USA.’
“It was a perfect picture of what makes our country great.
“One of the young soldiers yelled from the back, ‘Mr. President, I reenlisted in the military because of you.’ The President said, ‘and son, I am here because of you.’
“Shortly after, that young soldier came up to me and said, ‘Sarah, you have a tough job.’ I told him ‘What I do is nothing. You take bombs and bullets. That’s a tough job.’
“And in a moment that I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, that soldier reached up, and pulled the Brave Rifles Patch he wore on his shoulder and placed it into my hand, a sign of ultimate respect, and said, ‘Sarah, we are in this together.’
“Overwhelmed with emotion and speechless, I just hugged him, with tears in my eyes and a grateful heart for our heroes who keep us free.
“That young man and everyone who has served before him, all of those who serve alongside him, and the thousands we know who will be called upon to serve after him, deserve to know they have a country and community back home doing our part in the fight for freedom.
“America is great because we are free.
“But today, our freedom is under attack, and the America we love is in danger.
“President Biden and the Democrats have failed you.
“It’s time for a change.
“A New Generation of Republican leaders is stepping up… not to be caretakers of the status quo, but to be changemakers for the American people.
“We know not what the future holds, but we know who holds the future in His hands. And with God as our witness, we will show the world that America is still the place where freedom reins and liberty will never die.
“Thank you. God bless you. And God Bless America.”
Leave me a comment, I read them.
Dueling speeches with one clear winner
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on Feb 8, 2023
1) Sarah's speech
Did you see the speech last night? I thought it was one of the best televised addresses in history, one that brought Americans together, exhibited rare common sense, explained our problems and their solutions clearly, and laid out a path for a return to unity and American greatness. I’m talking, of course, about the GOP response to Biden's State of the Union Address by my daughter, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Here’s the video of Sarah’s speech…
And a full transcript, because it’s worth reading and pondering every sentence…
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Address to the Nation - Read Mike's News Analysis - Mike Huckabee
I was proud to see the overwhelmingly positive response (as well as the nasty responses by leftist media outlets, which proved she was over the target.)
https://www.westernjournal.com/sarah-huckabee-sanders-gives-best-sotu-response-modern-history/
I think if any words were spoken last night that will be quoted and remembered, they won’t be any of Biden’s ramblings but Sarah’s astute comment:
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal and crazy.”
I think that perfectly sums up America’s problems in a nutshell, and we know which side represents the nuts. I also loved this observation: “I’m the first woman to lead my state. He’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.”
2) Biden's Speech: At least he stayed awake
As for Biden's SOTU, I like to try to find something positive to say, so I’ll start by mentioning that he surprised his critics by remaining awake, even energetic, all the way to the end of a speech that was starting to feel endless. Some critics voiced suspicions that Hunter must’ve given him a snort of Bolivian marching powder, which would also have explained the motor-mouthed rushing, slurred words, scrambled thinking and unfounded egotism.
Here’s a written transcript for those who don’t like being yelled and stage-whispered at:
https://www.voanews.com/a/transcript-president-biden-s-2023-state-of-the-union-address/6953032.html
The reviews from all but the Biden sycophant media were “mixed,” to put it mildly, with the word “delusional” popping up often. Jennifer Oliver O'Connell of Townhall.com wrote, “This State of the Union speech was less indicative of the state of the union and more indicative of the state of Biden’s delusional thinking.” C. Douglas Golden at Western Journal described it as “a rambling screed of delusions.” Ben Shapiro went into a bit more detail, tweeting that it was “an unlistenable, endless litany of odd demands combined with fantastic falsehoods.” And Stephen Green of PJ Media couldn’t describe the structure of the speech “because there wasn’t one.” Green said Biden’s speechwriter must’ve been “an infinite number of monkeys with limited access to ChatGPT.” Green live-blogged the entire speech, so if you’d like to experience it in a much more reality-based and entertaining fashion, try scrolling through this:
https://pjmedia.com/liveblog/2023/02/07/drunkblogging-the-state-of-the-union-address-n236
In the spirit of the speech, my response to it will also have no structure and leave out a lot of important parts. That’s because if I covered that rambling mess in detail, I’d use up every pixel on the Internet. So here are a few random comments on some (but hardly all) of the more jaw-dropping moments and blatant lies…
As for the many falsehoods, that’s to be expected. Joe Biden is infamous for his lack of regard for the truth. This is, after all, a guy who regularly tells impossible stories (you know they’re not true when he says, “It’s true, no joke” or “My word as a Biden”) that are widely debunked, then later repeats them, often embellishing them even more. He’s claimed to have been everything from a truck driver to a college professor and to have grown up in the black church. So I was hardly surprised by all the lies. It’s just stunning that someone would tell so many incredibly blatant stretchers to the faces of the people he’s lying about, both in the Capitol and watching at home.
Twice, Republicans responded to some of his more outrageous claims with boos and two members shouting, “Liar” (Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, after Biden falsely said some Republicans want to do away with Social Security and Medicare) and “It’s your fault” (Rep. Andy Ogles, after Biden brought up all the fentanyl deaths caused by his open border letting drugs flood into the US.) For the record, I don’t like these outbursts. I think people should restrain themselves and show respect at least for the office of the President. But I can understand their frustration when the President doesn’t even have enough respect for the office of the President not to tell slanderous lies about people to their faces on TV during a State of the Union Address.
As I expected, this was more of a campaign speech than a SOTU. From the fact that he said, "Let's finish the job," twelve times, I assume that will be his 2024 campaign slogan. Considering his last slogan was “Build Back Better” but his policies turned out to be “Tear Down Completely,” when I heard him say, “Let’s finish the job,” I pictured a hit man in a gangster movie getting ready to deliver the kill shot.
Biden also trotted out most of the same tired Democrat campaign speech tropes that have fooled voters for decades, like claiming that Republicans want to slash Social Security and Medicare (they’ve been saying that since I was a boy; I’m now eligible for Medicare and spending has only gone up.) Or demanding that rich people pay their “fair share” of income taxes (they already pay a hugely disproportionate share of income taxes; making it a “fair share” would give them a tax cut.) Or demanding higher taxes on corporations (corporations don’t pay taxes; they collect them. They’re passed on to consumers as a cost of doing business. For proof, look at gas pumps that tell you how much of the cost of a gallon is taxes. In short, Biden is calling for something that would create even more price inflation.)
The House Judiciary Committee responded to his call to tax the rich with this tweet: “How much did Hunter Biden make in profits using Joe’s name? How much did he pay in taxes?”
As for the illogical, what can you say about a President who spent less time talking about the biggest problems facing the nation, ones he brought on us himself, like the border crisis or Chinese aggression, than about banning hotel resort fees? He promoted the “Pro Act,” the national version of the California pro-union law that’s destroying contract workers, as if that had a snowball’s chance in Hades of passing the House. And he called for a law protecting women from “extreme” anti-abortion laws, when the Dems’ position of allowing abortion up to the minute of birth is the most extreme in the world, at odds with all other civilized nations and the vast majority of Americans…and he vowed to veto any bill banning abortion. Question: what are the odds that those two laws would be passed by the same Congress?
(Side note: It was truly sick to see some Democrats not wearing flag pins but instead pins of the word “ABORTION” with a heart in the middle. That must be the heart whose beating is stilled with every abortion.)
From the “What is he TALKING about?” desk came his claim that his wife Jill is a “full-time teacher;” his off-script outburst, “Name me a world leader who’d change places with Xi Jinping! NAME ME ONE! NAME ME ONE!”…
https://www.westernjournal.com/bizarre-line-bidens-state-union-address-not-script/
…And his lengthy diatribe against fast food chains like McDonald’s forcing workers to sign non-compete agreements so they can’t leave to take better-paying jobs at other burger joints. Yes, that would be unfair, if it were a thing, which it’s not at all. Even Factcheck.org already branded it False.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/07/bidens-false-claim-about-mcdonalds/
Some chains used to ban workers from switching to another outlet within their own franchises, but even that was halted. McDonald’s stopped doing it in 2017. As one Republican said, instead of falsely slamming McDonald’s, he should have mentioned Burger King because he was serving up Whoppers all night.
Biden didn’t mention Trump’s name but he slammed his “predecessor” while taking credit for achievements that were actually his. Incidentally, Trump offered real-time commentary on Biden’s speech on Truth Social, and he put out his own video State of the Union speech on Rumble, which took only two minutes.
Speaking of Trump, Biden also talked a lot about unity and said he’s “here to be President of all Americans,” after running the most nakedly partisan Administration in history, silencing and selectively prosecuting people who disagree with his policies and publicly denouncing Republicans as extremists and “semi-fascists.” Of course, he had to bring up the Democrats’ new Holy Cross, the January 6th riot, which he bafflingly tried to tie to the attack on Paul Pelosi.
As for that Chinese spy balloon that was hovering over this speech as if it were a secret US nuclear site (kudos to Marjorie Taylor Greene for bringing a big white balloon to the speech; I wonder if she got the idea from this newsletter?), Biden said, “If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act. And we did.” How? By allowing the balloon to traverse the entire nation before shooting it down? And if he cares about our national sovereignty so much, how about securing our wide open Southern border against daily invasion?
It was nice that he introduced the parents of Tyre Nichols, but as for what he said about the dangers black youth face from police, honestly, which is more likely? That if they leave the house, they’ll be beaten to death by the police, or that they’ll be robbed, raped or murdered by criminals who are running wild because Democrats refuse to jail them? He also blamed the crime wave on the COVID pandemic, which apparently only infected blue cities with Soros-backed D.A.’s and “Defund the Police” movements.
He boasted falsely that he created 12 million jobs, lowered the deficit more than any President (simply by taking office following massive emergency spending on COVID), and brought illegal immigration down by 97% (asterisk: from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela…why not throw in Iceland and make it sound even better?) He claimed that inflation is down and wages are rising without mentioning that inflation is still so high that average wages adjusted for inflation are lower than last year. In short, this was one of those speeches that tests the IQ of listeners.
As I said, I don’t have enough time or space to correct the head-spinning number of wildly false claims, but here are a few intrepid souls who took a stab at it (say, maybe the 12 million jobs he created were all for fact checkers!) As for me, I’m going to go congratulate my daughter, then take a couple of aspirin for my pounding headache.
Leave me a comment, I read them.
RIP Melinda Dillon
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on Feb 6, 2023
We’re sad to have to report that actress Melinda Dillon died last month at 83.
https://variety.com/2023/film/news/melinda-dillon-dead-a-christmas-story-1235512472/
Dillon earned a Golden Globe nomination for her debut in “Bound for Glory” (1976), and Oscar noms for best supporting actress in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Absence of Malice.” She also appeared in many other films from “Harry and the Hendersons” to “Magnolia,” was a Tony-nominated stage actress, and played parts in TV shows from “Bonanza” to “Law & Order: SVU.”
But there’s no question that the role moviegoers will always remember her best for is as Ralphie’s mother in “A Christmas Story.” While that classic movie is told from a kid’s viewpoint, the mother has some of the most memorable moments, from tasting the soap she puts in her kid’s mouth to encouraging her younger son to eat by letting him play piggy, to keeping Ralphie’s fight with a bully their little secret from his dad to the immortal line, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” She reminded many of us of our own mothers and created one of the greatest, most loveable, loving and long-suffering maternal characters in film history.
By the way, I was surprised to learn that like Gov. Huckabee, she was born in Hope, Arkansas, but she grew up in Alabama. I did ask him if he knew her, but he did not. He remembers some Dillons who lived there, but we don’t know if they’re related. Still, I think we can assume that she, and they, were all good people.
The Grammy Awards
By Mike Huckabee
This story was originally published on Feb 6, 2023
I’m assuming that most of my readers found something to do last night other than watch the Grammy Awards. In the age when music sales are down, kids prefer social media to music, and streaming is bankrupting musicians, the music industry gets one shot each year at a three-hour, televised free commercial for music. And what do they do with it? They shove all the genres that millions of people love (jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, Americana, New Age, etc.) off to an untelevised afternoon ceremony so they can fill that time with leftist virtue signaling, in-your-face offensive lyrical content and sex-drenched “songs” that mostly appeal to 15-year-olds on Tik-Tok.
The fact that a good song called “Just Like That” by Bonnie Raitt that was inspired by John Prine won Song Of The Year (Bonnie seemed as shocked as the audience that she won) should be a signal to the Grammy producers that the actual musicians doing the award voting are not happy with the direction they’ve taken, but it will be ignored.
On the plus side, if they really hate more than half of America so much that they don't want them not to watch, I can’t think of a better way to accomplish it than to start off with host Trevor Noah taking a shot at Trump, going directly to having Brandi Carlisle’s wife introduce her with their two kids just to make an irrelevant and ham-handed point that she’s in a same-sex marriage. If that didn’t get millions of remotes changing the channel, the show later went all-out Satanist with “non-binary” singer Sam Smith and trans singer Kim Petras doing a BDSM-themed production number of a “song” called “Unholy” complete with red suits, writhing bodies, flames and devil horns.
It’s as if someone said, “What is the most over-the-top stereotype of hedonistic, sacrilegious, bound-for-Hell pop stars that a mid-Western Christian might imagine? Let’s put that on stage!”
As someone who loves music and thinks music education is extremely important, let me assure you that there is still a lot of great music being made today, in all sorts of genres. And the more music education kids get, the less likely they are to mistake that garbage for good music. Unfortunately, the people producing the Grammy Awards are giving Satan a run for his money in the “Father of Lies” department when they claim that show represents “the year’s best in music.”
I Just Wanted to Say:
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