So in a few months, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has gone from a guy whose company I really enjoyed, to a guy I was wary of , to a guy I would tell people not to vote for, to a guy whose government I would actively work to overthrow if he were elected.

And yet, he's still the same guy whose company I enjoyed.

That's the thing about sincere religious leaders: You have a tendency to love them to pieces, even as you realize they are often insensitive, dogmatic, casually prejudiced individuals.

When Huckabee told "The Daily Show" months ago, "I'm a  a conservative, but I'm not mad about it," what an awesome line. That's the kind of thinking that really catches the attentions of conservatives who expend their effort supporting civil liberties rather than telling people what to do.

And in two interviews with the guy, I found him funny, sane, personable and...well, he let me go through his wallet, which was awesome.

And then, all of the sudden, he's whipping out Jesus all over the place. And the more people say, "Hey, what's up with the Jesus thing," THE MORE HE DOES IT.

A quick look into his past pulls up the quote, "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take back this nation for Christ."

No. You can't take back this nation for Christ. Don't try. Seriously, feel free to live by Christian principles. Feel free to lead by Christian principles, but understand this:

By "taking back this nation for Christ" you would impede my civil liberties. If you impede my civil liberties, your life will become forfeit to me.

In the last month, Huckabee has whipped out two commercials verging on insanity.

Forget the floating cross, my question on the Christmas commercial is this" How do you make apolitical commercial to air on Christmas about how no one should think about politics on Christmas?

"Seriosuly, don't look at me, just think about the birth of Baby Jesus. Act like I'm not even on the screen. Why didn't I make a Christmas commercial about Jesus where I actually wasn't on the screen, so you wouldn't have to think about politics? Next question, please."

 How did no one in the Christian faith world point out that the commercial, far from cheapeing the elction process, actually cheapened religion. If you are a Christian and you weren't offended by that, I honestly think you missed the point.

And now there's the painfully odd "I'm a Christian Leader" commercial.

What, like the Pope? Or David Koresh? Or like the King of Spain during the Inquisition?

Does that mean you only want Christian followers?

As a Jew, as a Libertarian, as a spiritual worshipper of God, as a father, as a voter and as a political writer, I've never been more aggravated by a candidate.

And the funny thing is, he's still a nice guy. He's just a guy from such a sheltered background, such a small little provincial world, that he really thinks everyone is just like him. Or should be.

We're not. We don't want to be. Because this is America, we don't have to be.

If you want to be a Christian leader, find a pulpit. If you want to lead America, be ready to lead us all.

I've been broke. I've had weeks and months where the checks were bouncing and the bills were mounting and the wallet was empty, so I've been broke.

But I've never been poor.

I might not have had exactly the food (or liquor) I wanted, but I certainly had food. I certainly found a way to get cigarettes. I certainly had a roof over my head. I certainly had a car.

And more than anything else, I certainly had people I could turn to when my need was great enough, family or friends.

I was middle-class Generation-X broke, but I wasn't poor, and I probably didn't even really understand exactly what poor was until I became a reporter.

Broke is momentary. Poor is, if not forever, for long enough to hurt. Broke is tough choices. Poor is no choices. Broke is having to ask a favor. Poor is having no one left to ask.

Spartanburg, below the radar, is an achingly poor city. The number of people just barely getting by is stunning. But the poor population of Spartanburg is a quiet one, and if you spend your days going from the Fresh Market to Target, from Publix to PetSmart, you might never see or notice the people living in quiet desperation all around you.

The Herald-Journal, like most newspapers, has a charity it supports and oversees. It is called Goodfellows. It does not work to bring poor children gifts for the holidays, though that would be a good cause. It does not work to make an ornate wish come true for a poor child, though that would be a good cause.

It provides things like flour. Cereal. Peanut butter.

And in order to get a bag filled with about $40 of these staples, folks have to stand in line and fill out paperwork.

Here is the thing, the apolitical statement of absolute truth:

People who stand in line to fill out paperwork to get flour and cereal desperately need flour and cereal, need it with an aching hunger that is more than almost anybody reading this can imagine.

Maybe they need to get a job, I don't know. Maybe they need to change their life, I don't doubt it. But right now, they need oatmeal and peanut butter, in order to keep on keeping on, to have a chance to get those jobs and make those changes.

This year's Goodfellows fund-raising drive kicked off on Nov. 18, with plans to raise about $50,000 and give out about 1,200 bags of groceries (the groceries are actually bought each year with funds raised the previous year).

Applications from folks looking for assistance were taken for four days late last month, and the volunteers who helped applicants fill out the paperwork came back with two daunting impressions.

First, that more folks than ever need help, more than the 1,200 who will likely receive it. Second, that the individuals who need the help are further in the depths of poverty than in the past, further from hope, closer to the edge of the cliff that is simply not getting by.

I bet you've been broke. Who, starting out in this world, hasn't been? I bet you've wondered whether the check for the electric bill was going to outpace the man coming out to cut off the lights.

But have you ever been hungry enough to stand in line, to fill out paperwork, just in the hope that you might get a few handfuls of staple groceries?

If not, can you spare a little help for someone who has?

And if so, can you spare a little help for someone who still does?

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to Goodfellows, PO Box 18192, Spartanburg, SC, 29318. Donations can also be made at GoUpstate.com    

I originally wrote and ran thus about eight months ago. Read it all the way through and I'll supply a bonus update at the end.  

Who should take heat for Easy-Bake Oven recall?

I promised an update on my foolhardy projection that this would be the best Thanksgiving ever.

Reasons it was:

No hospital visits

No lifelong curses leveled between family members

Plenty of stuffing

The turkey was brined, then fried, which is a lot of work, but worth it

Seriously, a lot of stuffing

Good weather

Multiple pies

Total butter usage in excess of four pounds, which could be a conference record 

Reasons it wasn't

Four (admittedly short) screaming arguments between my mother and sister, all of which could have been recorded at any of our last 10 Thanksgivings (well, not last year, my mom was a no-show) and replayed, which would have saved both of them some vocal chord strain, not than any Fillers are weak in that category

My father-in-law is ill, although on the mend, and hospitalized in Columbia, which cast a bit of a pall

My father was not there, owing to his death, which is a good excuse not to show, but he was always a fun guy and particularly so on Thanksgiving. At my house growing up, we served the wine at noon and the turkey around 8 p.m., so things got seriously silly.

My mother's refereneces to dead people at every turn: "Your great-uncle Seymour would have loved that commercial, I can feel his presence," or "I wish grandma could have been here, she loved cashews," or "Your father would have really enjoyed that football game. I sense he would have taken the over for $1,000 and played a three-team teaser parlay with Green Bay, the Colts and Dallas for $500

Overall, not the best Thanksgiving ever, but not a disaster. The disaster came Saturday, and you can read all about that in Monday's blog entry, assuming I'm strong enough to write about it by then.

 So I'm new at this, and I'm still trying to decide what to let in (all the dirty parts), what to leave out (any reference to Paul Tsongas or Walter Mondale) and what to respond to as far as comments go. Thus far, I've allowed pretty much everything that isn't too hateful or slanderous to appear (Trust me, you should see what I've flushed), and I think that's a good policy, except the threads sometimes get hijacked.

There are people (don't be shocked) who see the entire worldwide web as an opportunity to promulgate one strange idea. That idea might be "Ron Paul is the savior," it might be "You have won the Botswanan lottery" or it might be "cats are better than poopy old dogs any day." Whatever it is, they just paste it anywhere it will stick.

Truth be told, I promote posts on this blog by putting the URLs in the comment areas of related stories on other sites, but they ARE related. I don't paste the link to a Huckabee column in the comments section of a story about basketball. Additionally, it's very transparent because it's the username "Lane Filler" touting Lane Filler's blog. If that doesn't interest you, vote with your mouse click.

So I likely am going to stop letting totally off-topic comments run.

And I'm going to start adding my responses to some of the comments, but only in certain circumstances.

I won't (generally) retort to someone who disagrees with one of my posts, as shocking as anyone disagreeing with me might feel. I post, you disagree, for me to trump that makes me a bully, using my control over the blog to keep getting the last word, and that will stifle debate over time.

But I will start commenting on fresh ideas that people bring up or riffing on what you say. It is MY blog, and I want it to be consistently thought-provoking and entertaining. One way I think I can make that happen is by adding my thoughts in response to people's comments a bit more often.

That being said, I am only 25 days into my blogging career, how I do all of it may evolve very quickly as we go.

Additionally, as a good blog is a community, I want ya'll (as community members) to know how our community is doing, which means hits.

The first day we went live, Sunday Oct. 28, we got 37 hits.

Ten days later, we had 306 hits. Nov. 15 (the 18th day of the blog) was the first thousand-hit day and Nov. 19, 20, and 21 saw the blog get more than 1,000 hits each day, with the record being 1,472 onthe 21st.

I think that's good growth for the time allotted, and I appreciate the support.

Thanks, on Thanksgiving,

Lane Filler