Redemption

Though much belated, Rush Limbaugh finally accepted former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on his program today to mend fences, and resolve some misunderstandings. Frankly, Rush's mischaracterizations of Huckabee's opposition to Mitt Romney's candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination have long been a point of contention for me towards what I otherwise believe to be a fairly "spot on" daily analysis on his radio program. It has irked me for months that neither he, nor any of the other nationally syndicated talk hosts like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, as well as National Review editor Rich Lowry, acknowledged the recent change in positions of former Governor Romney, and instead chose to characterize him as a victim of religious discrimination when he failed to secure the nomination. Governor Huckabee and his supporters were dismissed as religious zealots, out of touch with the mainstream of the Republican party.

To Huckabee's credit, he has never lashed out bitterly at his detractors, or criticized their lack of support and mischaracterizations of him. He has instead kept on plugging ahead, focused on the goals he based his campaign on, and patiently waiting for his critics to acknowledge the truth.

That patience was rewarded today, as Huckabee was finally granted his first appearance on Rush's show since the primaries. Since it is rare that Rush ever has a guest on, this appearance should be that much more meaningful. Governor Huckabee was finally able to have a conversation with Rush that allowed him to set the record straight - about the questions he had about the character and integrity of Mitt Romney, not his religion; as well as the deal that was made in West Virginia, whereby Ron Paul's supporters threw their votes to Huckabee on the final ballot to give him the win over Romney. To my ear, Rush treated the governor with respect, asking him thoughtful questions that he himself has been contemplating out loud for the past couple days, looking for Huckabee's own incite; such as if there's any contingency at the convention should a hurricane strike New Orleans while it's under way, to which the governor gave a classic, humorous response: "They'll send Pat Robertson down there to pray it off the coast" (a poking reference to Fidel Castro's "supernatural" claims).

It was certainly a moment that long time fans of Rush, and big fans of Gov. Huckabee have long been hoping and waiting for. Let's hope that the fence-mending continues!