What Happened To Class.

A little social commentary. First, read Arianna Huffington's brilliant observation:

With Mike Huckabee's continuing surge, the Republican Party now has an Iowa front-runner whose religious beliefs are virtually identical to those of George Bush. He's anti-choice, born-again, against gay-marriage, and gets political advice directly from God.

So why is the Republican establishment suddenly in a state of near-apoplexy about Mike Huckabee? Shouldn't they be happy? They've been cultivating evangelicals and fundamentalists for 30 years. Now they finally have a candidate who's truly part of the movement. So what's the problem?

Actually, that is the problem. The evangelical crowd was fine when it was just a resource to be cynically exploited every few years in demagogic anti-gay get-out-the-vote campaigns. But now the holy-rolling monster the GOP's Dr. Frankensteins have created has thrown off the shackles, fled the lab, and is currently leading in Iowa. And the party doesn't know what to do.

It's actually fun to watch the consternation.

My daddy's family is pure hillbilly -- and I mean that in both the best possible way, and the most literal. They were very proud to be hillbillies. My dad was raised in a cabin in the Ozarks. I've been there once.

I love my Arkansas family. They are warm and beautiful, will give you the shirt off their backs kind of people. Seriously. It's a code of life there.

We never knew I was part of a lower class. And since nobody told me this, I have never felt like a lower class person who needs to remain there. Everyone is equal in my eyes.

If the Queen of England walked into the room, as Dolly Parton put it to Quentin Crisp's great gasp, I'd say howdy and shake her hand.

People raised with the class system ingrained in their heads don't always appreciate, I think, the power that comes with this kind of naivete. I agree with Arianna. This is going to be a fun one to watch. Because I can tell you now, if they really start beating up on him, he will win the nomination. Martyrdom is part of the myth.