I love my wife.

She started us a blog that will be updated frequently. (PS...this is Kristin)

http://twoeldridges.blogspot.com/

Hi

Here is an update on what’s been going on:

Work has been stressful and crazy lately. Sometimes my job gets stressful and that is normal. The last couple of weeks it has seemed to be that way. Stressful that is. That was all before this week. Sunday night while I was at youth I go a call for a guy I work with asking if I could come into work as early as possible Monday. I told him that I could and then he explained why. You can read about it here. I work in an office of six people. Two of those people were shot over the Saturday night. Maria was shot in the arm twice, but was in stabile condition. Jasmine, Maria’s daughter, was not is stabile condition. She was killed.

Life kind of sucks sometimes.

There will be more post in the coming days. All of which will be a lighter topic than this, but in the mean time I would ask that you say a little prayer for the family.

Thanks

wait for it, wait for it...

I have not blogged in awhile…sorry. I have not had a lot of time but I have had a lot to say. Right now is no different; I WILL be blogging a few times this week don't worry.

Here are some of the topics to be covered:
*Gas Prices
*Opening Days
*Kristin Being Awesome
*I Am Legend...again
*My Life as a Christian
*Baseball, Hope, and Life

stay tuned...

Stop It…You’re Annoying

I would like to dedicate this post to all the annoying people who fill up comment sections of a post with grammatical corrections.

I'm a terrible speller. Is that what you wanted me to say?

I don’t care if it was a type-o or I am not smart enough spell it correctly. And neither should you.

As the matter of fact right now I am typing this in MS Word, which is where I type all of my posts, because I am such a bad speller.

Breathe easy all of you bad spellers, it is your blog not a grammar test!

As for all of the annoying commenters;

YUO SUKC!

I am NOT engaged

For those of you that have heard some rumor about me being engaged it is not true. I don’t know who you’ve been talking to but stop it.

Just kidding! I do happen to be engaged and lucky for me it is to the most beautiful girl in the world. I consider myself lucky just to know her, much less marry her. Kristin and I got engaged on Good Friday which will now forever be known as Awesome Friday.

Frequently asked questions:

Do you have a date?
No

Do you have a place?
No

Do I need to bring a gift?
Yes

P.S.
If this is the first you have heard of this you might need to get a life.

Or at least facebook.

Big 12 at its best

This afternoon I was able to go to the Big Twelve Championship Tournament in Kansas City. It was a blast. I will have to admit I am not the biggest basketball fan. Actually 11 months a year I don’t like it at all. 12 months a year I pretty much can’t stand the NBA, but because of my wrestling days I have a soft spot for anything with a bracket.

I had so much fun watching the two games that I was able to see. First I saw Texas take out Oklahoma State. Then I got to see Oklahoma beat Colorado.

Here are the coolest things about the day:

1. The “Fan of the Day” award goes to the 10 months old kid sitting next to me. I didn’t see anyone else puke 6 times during the course of the first game and not even get up out of their seat. Dedication! It might also be noted that he was a Sooners fan so he might not of even known he puked on himself.

2. I don’t really know why but there was something cool about seeing red, blue, orange, black, and purple clad fans erupt cheering for OK State to knock off Texas. You don’t get someone decked out in all purple pulling with everything they have for a black and orange team anywhere else.

3. The tournament was at the Sprint Center. This facility has to be the best arena in the country. It is brand new so of course it gets cool points just for being new. BUT beyond being new it still is a get place to visit.

4. The Colorado Buffs fan that was sitting next to me was AWESOME. He was 45ish and probably a doctor. A couple times he yelled something like “Lets Go Buffs.” For a minute I thought he yelled “Let Go Buff” right when I started to take my cloths off I realized my mistake. For real though he had the scream of a 6th grade boy before gravity hit.

5. I got to talk to my beautiful girlfriend!!

Questions About College Basketball:

**Are they called “Sooners” because they leave tournaments sooner rather than later?
(I’ve been waiting all day to say that to someone!)

** How do you fall down playing basketball? And how is THAT a foul? I think they should bring fist fighting into basketball much like the NHL.

**Why are there so many rules? Put the ball in the basket and you get two points. Put it in from back here and you get three points. Simple…right? There are too many “violations” for this sport to be cool.

** Speaking being cool. How come basketball is the only sport where you try to look cool during the game? I’m not talking about wristbands and towels that supposedly make football and basketball player look cool and hip. I’m talking about dribbling between your legs or wearing your already huge shorts below your butt. Did you sprain an ankle and if not why are you limping?

It was a good day and I had a lot of fun.

Here's another shot at it

Here are my revised opening day Predictions

Rotaion
Opening Day:
1. Wainwright
2. Looper
3. Lohse
4. Clement
5. Pineiro

Keep your fingers crossed and by August we might see:
1. Carpenter
2. Wainwright
3. Mulder
4. Looper or Clement
5. Loshe


Lineup
1. Schumaker RF
2. Ankiel CF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Glaus 3B
5. Duncan LF
6. Kennedy 2B
7. Molina C
8. Pitcher
9. Ryan SS

By the deadline look for AL teams to be after Juan Gonzalez. He also could be part of a BIG multi-player deal that will help the Cards make a Playoff run.

Cardinals 2008 Goals
ERA 3.99
Hits 1500
HR174
BB 540
RBI 760
Average .270
Strike Outs 1000
Errors 105
Wins 90

Katie Notes:
*I don't get leave for St. Louis until about 2am on Saturday.
*I am fixing your brakes this weekend.
*I wear the same pair of jeans all week at work.

News and Notes Cardinal Post

With spring coming to a close and the excitement of opening day just around the corner here is the situation the red birds find themselves in.

Pitchers:
Tomorrow the Cards will give a physical to right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Lohse. After that they are expected to sign him up and add him to the starting rotation.

The starting rotation is the soar spot for the Cards again this spring. It is the reason they are supposed to finish dead last in the National League this year, but I think if the cards fall just right we might be looking at a pretty stellar starting five. Before we can even dream of that we would need the following to happen:

*Carpenter to get healthy asap. He is ahead of schedule and he said he is feeling great.
*Mulder to get healthy asap. He, once again, is expected to be healthy by May. However, healthy and effective are two different things.
*Clement to get healthy asap. He does not have a return date yet, but his three bullpen sessions have been good. Dave Duncan thinks he has “turned the corner” and will be back sooner than later.
*Pineiro to get healthy asap. He is also coming along nicely and is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season.
*Lohse to do what Lohse does, eat up innings with slightly above average stuff. We’ll take what we can get, I think this could be our new Supan.
*Looper is holding up his end of the bargan as usual this spring. The reliever turned starter has been nothing but a blessing since coming to the Cardinals.
*Wainwright to be the man. If you don’t think he will be you should ask Carlos Beltran what he thinks.

If everyone heals up the way we hope they will, we’ll be just fine. Come July we’ll be ready to make a playoff run with Carpenter and Mulder who will only have a half of a season on their arms.


Lineup:
It is no secret that the Cardinals need to score runs. With the cut and pasted starting rotation that they will have going into the season they need to score and score often. Last season the Cardinals only had 690 RBI. That is the lowest total they’ve had since ’97 and the second lowest in the LaRussa era. They only hit 141 homeruns which ranked 13th in the National league. Tony took over a team that, the pervious year, rank 13th in homers and since then 2007 was the first year they have rank as low.

Don’t look now but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

*Pujols has a tear in a ligament in his elbow the size of my car. He is opting not to have it surgically repaired until the off season. In this injured state he only has 12 hits, 4 homeruns, 7 RBI in 30 at bats which gives him a .400 average and a .933 slugging % this spring. Yes, boys and girls he’s a full grown man!
*Troy Glaus look to be fitting in with the other kids nicely.
*Juan Gonzalez is having a spring that will make people question the Cardinals if he doesn’t break the opening day roster.
*Rick Ankiel is seeing the ball well and I think it’s safe to say that people are excited to see what he’s going to do this year.
*Chris Duncan has only played in 8 games this spring, but is expected to start the year in left field.
That leaves the “down and out” Cards with five players that could have a chance at hitting 30 homeruns this year.

*Skip Schumaker is having a great spring. Look for him to be in the leadoff spot come the 31st.
*My boy Brenden Ryan seems to be getting a look. He’s been in more games than any other SS contender.
*Adam Kennedy looks like he is shaking off his terrible performance of last season.
*Colby Rasmus will play a game at Busch this year, this much we know. When and where is still to be determined, but redbird nation is excited to see what he can bring.

Ludwick, Molina, Barton and a cast of others have been putting up nice springs and they all have a chance to make some noise this season.

See all of the spring stats here


Katie Notes:
*My favorite color is blue.
*I set off the fire alarm in my hotel at 3:30am while I was making quesadillas this week.

Me, You, and Uncle Sam

I don’t hate paying my taxes. Well, maybe that’s not completely true, but I don’t have a problem paying my fair share of what it takes to run this country.

Here is the pluming of this blog; 50% frustration, 40% ignorance, 10% so I don’t kick someone in the teeth.

With that said let me first say that I am not anti-American, I have already done my taxes for this year, and my taxes might be the only thing I’ve never paid late.

Where does my tax money go?

Can anyone tell me?

And please save the streets and parks speech.

I believe that a large part of our government is made up of crooked, maybe even evil, people. This makes it hard to swallow when I see these people making new taxes and then me paying them without so much as a kiss in return.

I was lucky enough to get a performance bonus from my work this year. The month that I received it I was taxed $2400 with 59% of the bonus taken out in taxes. This made me feel as if I was just hit in the place having to do with my Y chromosome.

Today I went and had my taxes done. I worked in Kansas 2/3rds of the year, but lived in Missouri all year. This means technically that I took Kansas’ money and spent it in Missouri. For that Missouri gave me a tax credit and still somehow this is the first year I’ve ever had to pay state tax at the end of the year.No one can tell me how much of a credit I received or how they got to the $50 figure that I owe them.

The best I can figure I paid about $13,835 in tax last year. I don’t have any clue where it went. I wonder how much of it was spent on "Congressional Earmarks".

Fiscal year -- # of earmarks -- $$$
2008 -- 11,780 -- $18.3 billion
2007 -- 10,000 -- 10.4 billion
For those who might of miss read that, it says billion…with a B.

For my 2 cents, or $13,835, I think if we operated under a Fair Tax system we would have a better handle on where our money is going and who is paying taxes. And an added benefit would be that people like Eliot Spitzer who spend $4800 per visit from a prostitute would be paying tax on that money. And people who buy and sell drugs like the, 14 members of congress that have been arrested on drug-related charges, would pay taxes on that money.

As I understand it you would be taxed as you spend your money. Point of sales taxes would go up a lot. We would not be taxed when we get paid money and when we spend money and when we buy something that requires us to pay Personal Property Tax.

Happy Tax Season!!

And yes I feel better.

It's almost here

Today’s back to back to back homeruns by Schumaker, Mather, and Albert got me thinking about March 31st.

Opening Day is 24 Days 18 Hours 13 minutes and 27 seconds away!!

Go Cards!

Katie Notes:
*Kristin is going to learn how to cut my hair next weekend!
*This is a lot harder than I thought to come up with non-baseball material.

No more Mike

Here's an update.

After a valiant effort Mike Huckabee has withdrawn his presidential campaign.

I think Mike fought a good fight and there is always hope for a V.P. bid, right?

Here is part on Mike Huckabee’s e-mail announcing that he was withdrawing form the race.

Throughout my life, I've found that there are sometimes three possible answers to our prayers--"Yes," "No," or "Not Now." I would like to think our prayers were answered with a "Not Now."

Good Luck Mike!!

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

Introducing……Katie Notes

I love writing about all things baseball, especially my cardinals, and I will never stop writing about the game I love. However, I have noticed a steadily growing movement against my baseball post. I do not want to disappoint you, my faithful blog readers, so I have created “Kaite Notes”. This is the section of my blog that will contain little bits of Casey information. For this day forth every baseball related post will have fun facts about me that you might not have ever known without the “Katie Notes”.

All of you that are excited about this new addition can thank my friend Katie!

Kaite Notes 1:
*I cried on the last day of fifth grade.
*I have a one inch scare on my right cheek and I have no clue how it got there.
*According to my newly constructed family tree I have around 126 cousins.

S.O.C 2

This article was on ESPN.com today. It was about Sam Zell, who is the owner of the Cubs and Wrigley Field.

I liked this part.

No surprise there. Zell is about sell. About profit. About green -- and I don't mean the ivy on the Wrigley Field outfield walls.
But most of all, Zell is about Zell. His Sam I Am Tour of assorted Tribune media properties in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Orlando, among others, hasn't, well, exactly had the feel of a town hall meeting to them.
"F--- you," he told an Orlando Sentinel photographer at one meeting. In another, he described a Trib management type as a "motherf-----," according to people at the meeting. He reminded employees that if the entire venture fails, he'll still be a billionaire but they'll likely be jobless. And when characterizing his ownership role, he said, "I'm your Viagra."
Zell's language is so inappropriate for the setting that even Eminem is offended. Zell prides himself on being the defibrillator paddles of the business world. He's here to shock your senses. Clear!
"My head only looks forward," he said during a visit to L.A.
Zell is more insufferable than another Will Ferrell sports movie (please, Will, more cowbell, less sports). But like it or not, this is the man who will decide whether Wrigley Field remains Wrigley Field. Sadly, his head looks forward only to the highest bidder for those naming rights.
The possibilities are frightening:
• Cialis Field (In the rare event of a Cubs game lasting more than four hours, seek immediate medical help).
• White Sox Park (Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf can't outdraw the Cubs, so he deep-sixes their stadium name).
• F-Bomb Stadium (Zell's personal favorite).

Same Old Cubbies

Let the distractions begin!!

On the first day of spring training games the Cubs have found a way to take the attention off their undefeated record. A record that stands at 1-0 after a 12-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants Thursday.

It seems the owner of the Cubs is planning on selling the naming writes of Wrigley Field. It was built as Weeghman Park in 1914 and renamed Cubs Park in 1920 then again the Field was renamed after then owner William Wrigley Jr. in 1926.

Weeghman Park 5 Years of Cubs baseball, 0 World Series Titles
Cubs Park 6 years, 0 World Series Titles
Wrigley Field 81 years, 0 World Series Titles

Busch Stadium the Third 2 years, 1 World Series Titles

Exile in America

Seeing Matchbox Twenty live is awesome! And I guess I should know I’ve seen them live five times now. After waiting five long years since the last time I saw them I finally got to see their show Monday night. Logan and I got to see one of his favorite bands, Mute Math, along with my favorite band. It was a good show, but not only did we get to see it, we were able to meet Mute Math, and we took the show home with us. They had this thing called “Live in a Flash” that, after a small fee, allowed us to leave with a flash drive containing the MB20 concert we just saw. It was a cool touch.

Baby Birds

It is not probable, but possible that the 2008 Cardinals line-up could be made up of some very young men this season. There is a bit of what some people might call an on the fly rebuilding program going on is St. Louis. I prefer to look at it more as a “out with the old…” approach. Anyway you want to look at it there are young faces up and down the Cardinals 40 man roster, which has an average age of 29.6. If the stars align one humid night is St. Louis this could be the Cards starting line-up.

1. Cesar Izturis 28
2. Rick Ankiel 29
3. Albert Pujols 28
4. Chris Duncan 26
5. Colby Rasmus 21
6. David Freese 24
7. Brenden Ryan 26
8. Yadier Molina 25
9. Adam Wainwright 26

All of these players are in there twenties. Colby Rasmus, has only been of legal drinking age for less than five months. The oldest player on this list, at least the oldest player with a birth certificate, is Rick Ankiel at 29 years of age. He might be the oldest, but I think it’s safe to say no one will be calling him “Gramps” any time soon.

100 and counting

With less than 17 hour until Spring Training, the Cubs are up to their same old tricks. No not losing, at least not yet. Last spring Carlos Zambrano guaranteed a world championship for the northsiders. It’s a new year with a new fool, enter Ryan Dempster.

"I think we are going to win the World Series. I really do," Dempster said.

“We're a better team than we were last year, I truly believe. And last year we made it to the playoffs."

They did make the playoffs, good job. We won’t mention the fact that the Cardinals and Cubs both won the same number of playoff games in 2007………Zero.

This is a special year for Cardinals and White Sox fans. It’s been 100 long years since the lovable losers have won a World Series title.

Go Cards,
Long live the goat,
And Play Ball!

Redbrid Hatin'

I’m not trying to add to my list of ESPN writer that I don’t care for, BUT.....

Will Harris wrote this article about my Cardinals. Will is entitled to his opinion and a lot of the baseball world would agree with what he said, but I have a problem when anyone says things like…

“This could easily be the worst team in the National League. The Cardinals' roster is absolutely full of players whose skills or health make them unlikely to even repeat the performances that led the team to a sub-.500 record last season, let alone improve on them.”

Or

“Expect La Russa and Pujols to land with another franchise soon so that the rebuilding can commence in earnest. St. Louis fans should hunker down over a slab of ribs from C & K and start wondering if the Rams will be any good this fall.”


Let me again say, Will’s assessment is not far off from most people in baseball. I ‘m not saying that his words are out of line, I just want them to be on the record.

It should also be noted that the last time the Cardinals were the worst team in the National League Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States in 1918. They came in last place just behind the Boston Braves.

Say what you want Will, there’s still a reason we play the games.

And you can quote me on that!

Sports or Gossip

I love Baseball.

I love the St. Louis Cardinals.

I love sports.

Anyone who is reading this that knows me knows this to be true.

I do not love tabloid magazines.

I hate TMZ. Anytime I see or hear about them on TV, I first puke a little in my mouth and then change the channel. It made me sick to see TMZ photographs of Tom Brady on ESPN last week.

I love sports.

I ask that if you want to write for TMZ you do so and I won’t read what you write. If you want to write for ESPN do so and I will read what you write. However, if you want to write for TMZ and you are writing for ESPN I have a problem. Sportswriters are to write about sports not parties around sporting events.

I had the following e-mail conversation with Jemele Hill of ESPN the magazine this week after she wrote this article on ESPN.com

Jemele,
Please do all of us a favor and go write for TMZ.com instead of ESPN.com. You were at the Super Bowl and you are writing about the parties! If you want to be a sports writer please write about sports. Spend your time writing about the Daytona 500 or the start of spring training. The NHL and NBA are both in mid-season form, why not write about them? Or maybe just maybe write about the biggest sporting event in America that you were at. Manning brothers winning back to back Super Bowls, the end of the perfect season, the catch, the hoodie write about anything except girls getting it on in Drew's suite.

Thanks,
Casey

Casey
I think the fact that the party column is, currently, among the top-20 most viewed stories negates your argument. And just so you're aware, I wrote two sports columns at the Super Bowl. Like it or not, the SB parties are as big as the game itself.

Jemele

I don't think it negates my argument. I did not say people were not reading it. I said people should read it on TMZ.com not ESPN.com. If you think the SB parties are as big as the game itself that only proves my point.

Thanks again,
Casey

Even though we have a differing view of what should and shouldn't be on ESPN.com, I respect her for reading my e-mail and writing back.

I'll keep you posted!

Great American Race l

Kristin has 12 days 13 hours and 46 minutes to learn all she can about NASCAR and the Daytona 500.

The way I see it; the more she knows = the less bored she is = more NASCAR for me.

Here are some helpful links to make her NASCAR savvy in no time.

Glossary of NASCAR term

History of the Daytona 500 via Wikipedia

Carl Edwards Bio (aka my driver now)

Rusty Wallace (aka my driver since I was 3)

Dale Earnhardt

NEW POST!!

I haven’t blogged in two weeks…..sorry.

Here is what has been going on:

*I got to go to the Detroit Auto Show.

*The guy that I don’t get along with at work transferred last week! However he changed the password on the main computer to “cubsrule08”. He sucks!

*Kristin took a chuck of flesh out of my face with her fingernail, but it's healing up nice.

*The new scoreboard at Kaufmann Stadium is going up.

*I went to WinterBlast last weekend. It was fun. I met some new kids and got to smoke some of them in the face during dodge ball.

*Kristin is sick aka I might be getting sick.

*I have lost my phone and Sprint is dumb.

*I had a nightmare last night that I missed opening day. It was Kristin’s fault.

*Since my last post the Cardinals have not made and major moves. I might start the chant “We Want Walt” at some point this season.

*Did I mention that Kristin took a chuck of flesh out of my face?

*I am 900 miles away form getting out of the 36,000 mile warranty. I’ve had the car since April.
*I have planned the coolest baseball road trip in the world. All you need to know; 9 games, 9 different stadiums, 8 days!


That's all folks!

End of an era

Incase you were under a rock this weekend I’ll let you in on a little secret, The Cardinals traded away Scott Rolen. This is the third high profile player the Cardinals have parted ways with, in one way or another, this off season.

Rolen Joins fellow left side infielder David Eckstein in Toronto. Eckstein left via free agency, however he was not offered an option from the redbirds. Jimmy Edmonds was dealt to San Diego for minor league third baseman and Lafayette High School graduate, David Freese.

Troy Glaus is the Blue Jays half of the Rolen trade.

In 2004 the Cardinals won the NL Championship and had three players in the running for MVP. Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen were those three players. The were great while playing for us and they will be missed.

Hopefully John Mozeliak won’t trade Albert this week.

Are these bad trades? Only time will tell, but I am anxious to find out.

I’m not saying that the guy that got my job as the Cardinals GM is doing a bad job; I’m just sayin'.

A St Louis- Pittsburg trade needs to happen

Cardinals

Chris Duncan
Antony Reyes
Brad Thomson

For

Pirates

Jason Bay

Jack Wilson

Matt Morris

I love Duncan and Thompson. I would not like to see them go, but it just might just get us what we need.

Lineup
1. Wilson 2B
2. Ankiel CF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Bay LF
5. Glaus 3B
6. Ludwick RF
7. Izturis SS
8.

9. Molina C

Opening Day Rotation

(Keep in mind that after the all-star break Carpenter comes back.)
1. Wainwright
2. Looper
3. Mulder
4. Morris
5. Clement

Bench
Jason LaRue
Brenden Ryan
Scott Speizio
Adam Kennedy
Skip Schumaker

Bullpen
Jason Isringhausen
Russ Springer
Josh Kinney
Tyler Johnson
Randy Flores
Ryan Franklin
Joel Pineiro

I’m just sayin’ I wish someone would listen to me!

In Mozeliak we trust
Go Cards

The greatest thing we've never seen II

This is a follow up to my post “The greatest thing we've never seen ”.

This week ESPN’s Page Two has come out with the top 25 greatest individual seasons ever.

Thirteen of them have happened in my lifetime.
Four of them have happened in this millennium.
One of them ended this year.

Unbelievable!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=080109/seasons

My Favorite Things

When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad

My name

Casey Eldridge

Backwards, it is Yesac Egdirdle

In Pig Latin, it is Aseycay Eldridgeway

According to the US Census Bureau°, 0.083% of US residents have the first name 'Casey' and 0.011% have the surname 'Eldridge'.

The US has around 300 million residents, so there are 27 'Casey Eldridge's.

I Like Mike

On a usual day at work I go in before 5pm and get off around 2-3:30am. This puts me back at my hotel in the early hours of the morning. I like to watch TV and get something to eat before I go to bed. Channels 13, 14, and 24 are the first choice, all being ESPN networks. However channels 12, 15, and 17 I have been watching a lot. Now don’t get me wrong Sportscenter is the best news show on TV, but I have been watching more than my fair share of Bill O’riley and Glen Beck lately. I watch Fox News and CNN now more than I ever have and I really find it all interesting. With the presidential race overpowering all of our televisions for the next ten months I have decided to give it a little thought. I have watched the debate, candidate’s commercials, and the hours of coverage during the Iowa Caucuses. After all of this I think that I will vote for Mike Huckabee in the Missouri primary. The main reason is seeing how he handled himself in the CNN-YouTube debates. I encourage anyone who did not see them to find them online and watch at least the highlights.

He is also endorsed by Chuck Norris and I have had a long standing rule; if Chuck Norris likes it, so do I!

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/


Here are a couple questions I believe Governor Huckabee knocked out of the park.

Tyler Overman: Hi. This is Tyler Overman from Memphis, Tennessee. And I have a quick question for those of you who would call yourselves Christian conservatives. The death penalty, what would Jesus do?

Cooper: Governor Huckabee?

Huckabee: You know, one of the toughest challenges that I ever faced as a governor was carrying out the death penalty. I did it more than any other governor ever had to do it in my state. As I look on this stage, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person on this stage that's ever had to actually do it. Let me tell you, it was the toughest decision I ever made as a human-being. I read every page of every document of every case that ever came before me, because it was the one decision that came to my desk that, once I made it, was irrevocable.Every other decision, somebody else could go back and overturn, could fix if it was a mistake. That was one that was irrevocable. I believe there is a place for a death penalty. Some crimes are so heinous, so horrible that the only response that we, as a civilized nation, have for a most uncivil action is not only to try to deter that person from ever committing that crime again, but also as a warning to others that some crimes truly are beyond any other capacity for us to fix.Now, having said that, there are those who say, "How can you be pro-life and believe in the death penalty?" Because there's a real difference between the process of adjudication, where a person is deemed guilty after a thorough judicial process and is put to death by all of us, as citizens, under a law, as opposed to an individual making a decision to terminate a life that has never been deemed guilty because the life never was given a chance to even exist.

Cooper: Governor?

Huckabee: That's the fundamental difference.

Cooper: I do have to though press the question, which -- the question was, from the viewer was? What would Jesus do? Would Jesus support the death penalty?

Huckabee: Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office, Anderson. That's what Jesus would do.

Joseph: I am Joseph. I am from Dallas, Texas, and how you answer this question will tell us everything we need to know about you. Do you believe every word of this book? Specifically, this book that I am holding in my hand, do you believe this book?(Holy Bible)

Cooper: I think we've got a question. Mayor Giuliani?

Huckabee: Do I need to help you out, Mayor, on this one?

Giuliani: Wait a second, you're the minister. You're going to help me out on this one.

Huckabee: I'm trying to help you out.

Giuliani: OK. The reality is, I believe it, but I don't believe it's necessarily literally true in every single respect.

Cooper: Governor Romney?

Romney: I believe the Bible is the word of God, absolutely. And I try..... I try to live by it as well
as I can, but I miss in a lot of ways. But it's a guide for my life and for hundreds of millions, billions of people around the world. I believe in the Bible.

Cooper: Does that mean you believe every word?

Romney: You know -- yes, I believe it's the word of God, the Bible is the word of God. The Bible is the word of God. I mean, I might interpret the word differently than you interpret the word, but I read the Bible and I believe the Bible is the word of God. I don't disagree with the Bible. I try to live by it.

Cooper: Governor Huckabee?

Huckabee: Sure. I believe the Bible is exactly what it is. It's the word of revelation to us from God himself. And the fact is that when people ask do we believe all of it, you either believe it or you don't believe it. But in the greater sense, I think what the question tried to make us feel like was that, well, if you believe the part that says "Go and pluck out your eye," well, none of us believe that we ought to go pluck out our eye. That obviously is allegorical. But the Bible has some messages that nobody really can confuse and really not left up to interpretation. "Love your neighbor as yourself."And as much as you've done it to the least of these brethren, you've done it unto me. Until we get those simple, real easy things right, I'm not sure we ought to spend a whole lot of time fighting over the other parts that are a little bit complicated. And as the only person here on the stage with a theology degree, there are parts of it I don't fully comprehend and understand, because the Bible is a revelation of an infinite god, and no finite person is ever going to fully understand it. If they do, their god is too small.

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/28/debate.transcript/