Bravo Spunky!
You are doing a remarkable job and a great service to the homeschool community.
You wrote, "Ned Ryun may have left HSDLA, but his courage and willingness to stand up and ask "why" is the hallmark of most homeschoolers I know. We don't accept something just because..."
Exactly. That's why we're homeschoolers in the first place. We homeschool our children with the desire and goal that they learn to think and evaluate for themselves.
I can only hope that more people will take the time to read and evaluate your work here for themselves and not just take a pragmatic approach to this whole election.
I continue to read over at Ned Ryun's blog, and I salute him for having the courage to stand on principle and state things as they really are.
It's obvious to me that you believe this is important. I agree and hope you'll keep up the good work!
Ditto on everything Denise said about homeschool autonomy and thanks for all of your great research.
I thought I was caught up and see that there is still a lot to be unraveled in my brain (and elsewhere, apparently).
I appreciate your time on this during the Christmas season, Spunky.
Excellent job. I hadn't joined HSLDA and now I really don't intend to. But then, I tend to mistrust organizations that ask for dues. :D Once money is involved, things get too complicated.
It seems like Ned Ryun has some sour grapes in relation to HSLDA, Mr. Smith and Mr. Ferris. That doesn't mean his concerns are any less legitimate.
I've read as much as I can about the NEA endorsement, and viewed exerpts of Huckabee's NEA speech on YouTube. What I've found is that unless you already support another candidate, there is little Huckabee cedes to the NEA crowd -- support for arts and music education and increased teacher's pay (provided the federal government has no role). The truth is, the NEA endorsed the only GOPer that showed up -- not because the whole union liked him but because he's all the 10% of union members who are Republican were given as a choice.
Visit the anti-American hate sites like People for the American Way and MoveOn.org to see what the left really thinks about Huckabee. Ironically, that's where I found more confirmation about his claims to support home schooling, school choice and so forth. The "conservative media" and the chatter in the homeschool community -- both for and against Huckabee -- don't reveal as much about these candidates as the true far left whackos' maniacal ravings do.
I realize some people have another dog in the fight -- Dr. Ron Paul, for example -- but those of us who value our homeschool freedoms need to take this more seriously than advocating for one candidate or another. CNS News gave a pretty tough interview of Huckabee on Education at this link: http://www.cnsnews.com/
ViewPolit...L20071228a.html. I think they're rooting for Romney, but their interview seemed balanced and issue focused.
Consider this: Was homeschooling made more free in Massechusetts? Does the ultra-liberal Rudy support home schooling? We already know McCain is opposed to homeschooling and has a great disdain for Christians based on his other campaigns.
Now consider who's left: Dr. Ron Paul, Huckabee and Fred Thompson. If we take Huckabee out of the picture, consider Dr. Paul's support of prostitution and legalizing drugs, and get realistic about Fred Thompson's chances, there are no alternatives.
Just as important, we can find someone who shares our values and support him, or we can run the risk of putting someone up against Hillary who is guaranteed to lose and see home education forever banned by federal law.
WAIT! Don't get too depressed.... It will all shake out, I'm sure. But please, let the candidates speak for themselves on home schooling and school choice -- especially under tough questioning. Then we can do some name calling and toss out unfounded accusations about the guy or gal of our choice.
Quiverdaddy said, "support for arts and music education and increased teacher's pay (provided the federal government has no role)."
Huckabee calls for support for arts and music with federal involvement. See post #3. I provide the details there.
"The truth is, the NEA endorsed the only GOPer that showed up "
Not so, according to news sources President Rhonda Wesolowski supported him because he opposes school choice and supports federally funded arts and music. The endorsement was made by a government relations committee and ratified by a board.
"But please, let the candidates speak for themselves on home schooling and school choice "
I have done exactly that and used quotes from Huckabee to back up my assertion that Huckabee is not a friend to homeschoolers.
"Just as important, we can find someone who shares our values and support him, or we can run the risk of putting someone up against Hillary who is guaranteed to lose and see home education forever banned by federal law."
Appealing to fear is never a good way to convince people to make a certain choice. Huckabee presents many negatives to homeschoolers by increasing federal control in education. Read the quote I presented in my third post by Michael Farris and you'll understand where I stand on this point.
I like how fellow homeschooler and writer at World Net Daily Joseph Farah says it,
"Here's my sincere and heartfelt advice to homeschoolers: Before you jump on Mike Huckabee's bandwagon, call on him to repudiate his support from the NEA. Call on him to get the federal government out of education, an institution for which there is no constitutional justification for its meddling. Call on him to challenge the NEA's radical agenda the next time he has an opportunity to address the group. Call on him to take the side of real education reform and freedom in America – not the side of the education hucksters and racketeers."
Until Huckabee repudiates the role of the federal government's role in education his policies will be a thorn in the side of homeschoolers. Farris said it in 1995, Farah said it last week, and I agree with them both whole heartedly.
"...consider Dr. Paul's support of prostitution and legalizing drugs..."
By that, I'm sure you mean his absolute support of the U.S. Constitution which does not provide for federal government control of either one - the same as education. Nice try, huckster, but we aren't all as ignorant of the U.S. Constitution as your choice for President appears to be.
Quiverdaddy,
I just read the interview that you linked to.
This passage is exactly the type of thing that in 1995 caused Farris to want to start a "political firestorm" in protest.
Q: "Can you point to the language in the U.S. Constitution that authorizes the federal government to have a Department of Education or be involved in primary and secondary education?
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.): I don't think there is really a federal role or responsibility, constitutionally, in education. I think education is a local function. It should be a state function. I have always believed that, and I still believe it.
I think if there's a role it is to encourage, it's to recognize the value and importance. Ronald Reagan tried to get rid of the Department of Education, found that it was virtually impossible to do it. So, if we are going to have one, let's make sure it serves a role that is consistent with the Constitution, which is to become a clearinghouse of best practices that are being employed by the states and by local school districts, rather than becoming a center of mandating educational initiatives pushed back down to the states.
But in principle, you agree with President Reagan that the Department of Education is unconstitutional and the federal government really shouldn't be involved in primary and secondary education?
Gov. Mike Huckabee: Well, I don't know if you can say that having the department is unconstitutional. I think having a mandate where you insist on exactly what education looks like at the local level would be unconstitutional. That's the difference.
In his first answer he said that there is not constitutional role for the federal government, but then doesn't know if you can say that the federal department of education is unconstitutional?
You can't have it both ways. Say there is no federal role, but then say that the creation of a role is not necessarily unconsitutional. There is no federal role. HSDLA supports that position (see post #3) and Huckabee's illogical answer proves that he has no clue what he is even talking about. Liberals want to create a role for the federal government because they seek to control the lives of the citizens. Education is the quickest way to controlling people.
Thanks for the link, you've helped me establish once again that Huckabee is bad news for homeschoolers.
Eric,
You posted as I was posting my last comment. You are exactly right as this Q & A with Huckabee shows, he is clueless about what the role of the federal government ought to be. Unless a candidate walks into the White House believing in limited government, the powers of the office usually make them legislate where they have no authority. That's how we got NCLB from GWB.
In the interview Huckabee also said,
"The state's purpose is to empower and enable parents to make the decision they believe is right"
The parents already have that power because they are the parent. The state cannot "empower" them because our Lord already empowered them when He gave them a child. The only thing the state can do is hinder them. And that's what Huckabee did by imposing a 14 day waiting period and mandating testing for homeschoolers. If he truly believed in empowering parents, he would have vetoed the legislation that forced homeschoolers to submit to a waiting period before taking their child out of the public school.
HSDLA called the restriction UNconstitutional and a violation of the fourteenth amendment. (See post 1)
Huckabee's answer provides yet another opportunity to establish that Huckabee is BAD news for homeschoolers.
Hi Spunky,
My daughter just pointed me to this link:
http://unity-n-diversity.blogspo...cation-
say.html
It makes for some very interesting reading.
Ned Ryun said this in a December 28th post on his blog: "I think HSLDA members need to ask, Is the defense of homeschooling still the priority for HSLDA, or are there other things that are priority? And really, what are membership dues being used for?" Good question. All of this has been an eye opener for our family and your posts have helped indeed.
This link http://hsislegal.com/provide.asp
is from the article I linked to above. I think it's definitely past time homeschoolers showed a Berean spirit and starting 'following the money'.
We weren't fooled into voting for Bush a second time in 2004 and we certainly are not about to be duped into supporting Huckabee regardless of HSLDA's endorsement, or anyone else's for that matter. It's ironic that their support of Huckabee has lead us to dig deeper into HSLDA's activities and what they're doing with our dues. Indeed it does appear that this election is shaping up to be an important one for the future of homeschooling in America, no matter how you look at it.
I just happened upon this essay http://www.brucegourley.com/
writ...icalgodtalk.htm
and I thought it apropos to the discussion regarding Huckabee and the fact that he uses his Christian faith as a political tool, or that he is 'one of us' therefore we should vote for him.
I am not familiar with the author or the website but I have to say that I am in agreement with what he puts forth in his essay
Thank you for confirming my gut feeling about Huckabee... I am so grieved to hear about this a HSLDA. We've been members since the early years... I was puzzled when I heard that Huckabee had been endorsed so early in the game. Thank you for standing up and speaking out!
I started to respond to Quiverdaddy, but it turned into its own post:
A little hope for conservative voters
I think that it is good to look into each of the candidates...no matter whom I vote for, there are issues. But I would like to know what those issues are beforehand.
But the landscape is not without hope, no matter who gains the nomination and no matter who ultimately wins the presidency. There is more at stake than that.
Quiverdaddy,
In your comment you said "...consider Dr. Paul's support of prostitution and legalizing drugs..."
I have never seen or read anything that indicates Dr. Paul supports prositituion, and his stance on legalizing drugs seems to simply expand the laws we already have on prescription drugs (i.e. morphine) by letting states extend those laws to what are currently "illegal drugs" (ultimately, leaving it up to the states, which is where Dr. Paul seems incredibly consistent).
I was wondering if you had any links or information that would back up your statement about Dr. Paul's position on drugs and prostitution that you could share.
Since I know Spunky's posts are about Huckabee this may not be the best place to ask this, but Spunky's posts seem to fundamentally be about educating ourselves about who these people are that want to manage our country, so I'm hoping Spunky you're okay with me posting and asking for these links!
(Although for the record, no one has responded to any of my requests yet)
Quiverdaddy,
When you make false statements like this:
"If we take Huckabee out of the picture, consider Dr. Paul's support of prostitution and legalizing drugs.... there are no alternatives."
You make me question the rest of your post.
Laurie
This is Ron Paul's stance on these issues:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stoss...=3970423&
page=1
He maintains that it should be relegated to the states and is not an issue for the central government.
what is being done to investigate hslda's endorsement and Possibly Mike Farris using his influence to help a political candidate?
bj, when you ask for an "investigation" are you talking a formal investigation for possible non profit tax violations?
I don't know tax law, but the PAC exists to help candidates get elected so Farris seems within his bounds on that front. And Mike Farris is a citizen of the US he doesn't suspend his influence just because he leads the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. If he crosses the line and uses HSDLA for such purposes I guess he might, but no one that I know is alleging that he has crossed that line.
I think most people are interested to know how they came up with this early endorsement which seems to conflict with much of what HSLDA stands for as an organization. That doesn't require an investigation but members writing or calling and asking them directly.
I'm sure you know this, but there official stance on their early endorsement is posted on their website:
"We have taken this historic step of an early endorsement because the process of electing our president is based on a radically different timetable in this election. The vast majority of the primaries will be earlier than ever before. If we do not act now, all conservatives will be driven from the race by lack of funding and we will be left with only unacceptable choices."
http://www.hsldapac.org/dnn/Home...93/
Default.aspx
I don't really agree with them, but I don't really see anything terribly suspicious. I really think that it is motivated primarily by fear of Clinton. I would have preferred to see them come behind Hunter or Thompson...the latter would have been unlikely because I don't think he is so passionate about the marriage amendment which is another of their pet projects. And he's a Senator, poor guy. : )
Or nobody, of course. I really do like those glossy little brochures that give you a candidate's voting record and some quotes on a single issue. That would have been cool for them to hand out on all candidates.
Shiny things are always good.
Thanks Dana, For me I understand WHY they wanted to choose early, but not HOW they arrived at this endorsement. Huckabee's positions are not consistent with HSLDA's on many education issues and up until this year as I wrote in my post "How does Huckabee define "Always"? he has only recently supported the life amendment because he thought those issues should be handled by the states. And now Huckabee's calling for "tax credits" and "assistance" to homeschoolers as a way of saying thank you for homeschooling. What sort of assistance is the federal government going to give and how can Farris oppose it, if he helped get this guy elected?
If this endorsement was indeed motivated by fear of Clinton, Huckabee is a curious one because is "vertical" platform is a lot like Clinton's Third Way politics. He's not necessarily as liberal, but likely to be compromising in many areas to avoid confronting meddling members of Congress.
First, I would hope people don't abandon HSLDA because of this, it would be interesting to hear if Ned Ryun were in a legal battle over his rights to homeschool who else he would want on his side. HSLDA does a lot of great work defending individuals when they need it and if you think the dues you pay really cover all the good work they do or legal fees you would incur, I think you are wrong.
Next, while I have not had personal dealings with Dr Farris I know several people who have and by all accounts everything he runs HSLDA, PHC and whatever else are run as benevolent dictatorships and once you disagree with him the benevolence part goes out the window and the dictatorship part takes over. I don't know how anybody working with him would not know this ahead of time and while it may be a charater flaw it is also what has enabled him to accomplish a lot of the things he has.
Finally on point the endorsement of Huckabee. Exactly what other candidate is an evangelical chritian supposed to support. Unfortunately the republican party has produced two liberal frontrunners (I don't think New York and Mass would elect true conservates do you?), a maverick who is just as likely to comprimise away any principles he has, a big question mark who thinks one campiagn stop a day is adequate campaigning and an absolute whacko so that leaves you with Huckabee.
my two cents
You probably have already seen this, but I thought it interesting. Student's of Farris' constitutional law class formed an online magazine...and they don't like Huckabee. At all.
http://civilizedrevolt.com/?p=138
Why Huckabee? Of course, there may be more to it, but what they said seems to explain it as well. They are afraid of Clinton and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Huckabee gives them support for their big issue: the marriage amendment. And he isn't a senator. If they really put much weight on the mayor/governor thing, then that only leaves Huckabee and Giuliani.
Of course, they are running against two senators, but I guess that doesn't matter. : )
And who is left, David? I would say Paul, Thompson and Hunter are all left, if you are going to vote based on the religious affiliation of the candidate.
Thanks for the link Dana, I hadn't seen that particular link, but I've gotten quite a few hits from Patrick Henry students and others affiliated with the college that offer similar sentiments.
Somebody also emailed and let me know that Farrs's online Constitutution class is keeping enrollment open longer. They speculated it was due to lower than expected turnout. I don't know, but I given the fact that the HSLDA also felt the need to reaffirm their endorsement and that they linked to it on the Arkansas page talking about Huckabee's homeschool legislation tells me what's being said online is having an impact. I'm not wishing ill on Farris or HSLDA but the legitimate crticism of their endorsement is being ignored and that's not a good sign for an organization's viability.
I'm not sure if this young man is involved with taht online e-zine but he's a government student at Patrick Henry and at one time a Huckabee guy. He's not any more. He provided his thoughts here
http://
danieldaviesblog.blogspot...eschoolers.html
I'll ask you too, David Carter (who asks who else is there besides Huckabee?).
Why not Ron Paul?
Then he went but he said that he would come back to find me. So I hated the cheap mesos, I wanted to leave it. I could go to find him because I found that I missed him every day since that day. In this way, I lived for five years alone.
I know I can also buy cheap silkroad gold for him. I feel satisfied with the present situation between us.
Then I met a boy who was very good at playing Asda Story. An excellent player can earn a lot of Asda Story gold , so he attracted so much attention.
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