Letters to the Editor
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Huckabee's Christmas Day Threat
On Christmas, when Mike Huckabee went pheasant hunting and claimed to have killed one of 4 birds flushed, he also threatened with a shotgun anyone who did not vote for him in the IA Caucus. I am not making this up. It was reported on the CNN Ticker, but disappeared the next day. He literally made a very clear statement to the effect that this is what could happen to someone who oppose him, referring to the dead bird. This is not funny and if you or I were to make such a comment to the president or in an airport, we would be jailed immediately. Why does no one speak of this? Why can a Christian man say such a thing and he is not confronted? This is amazing. I don't know who Mike Madden is, but if you have a shred of credibility, you will research this and broadcast it. Each day, I have less and less respect for Salon. It avoids real issues and ignores those who really have a strong opinion, such as Dennis Kucinich. Even John Edwards gets little attention for his courageous statements.
Get real, folks, or pack it in.
peace,
st john
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I'm Hoping He Wins
I'm really starting to like the idea of Mike Huckabee as the Republican candidate of choice. The Democrats could even run John Kerry again and win this one.
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How much does Huckabee understand about illegal immigration?
He knows Americans of all political views (liberal and conservative and everything else) are threatened and intimidated by non-English speaking cultural minority members who they see every single day in their neighborhoods.
He is aware that Americans are irrationally afraid and desperately need villains to blame for their troubles, both real and imagined, and he is willing to exploit and stoke these fears for political gain.
In short, Huckabee is an expert on illegal immigration.
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Huckabee, the 2008 uncurious candidate
Huckabee has few well developed views, particularly in foreign policy, and voting for him is gambling on a black box. It is not surprising that he would take an area he knows little about and stretch his response to vaguely try to connect it with a domestic agenda he is more familiar with. This immigration link to Pakistan's instability is just such a scenario:
- Bush was considered an "empty vessel" from a foreign policy standpoint when he came into office in 2000, reportedly saying to Saudi Prince Bandar bin-Sultan: "I don't have the foggiest idea about what I think about foreign policy." After meetings with various advisors, he replaced this emptiness with a strong endorsement of neoconservative doctrine which he pursues with religious conviction to this day. Watching Huckabee harden so easily on numerous issues, including immigration, reminds me of George Bush in 2000.
- Huckabee has been dangerously out of the loop on current events, calling into question the quality of his advisors and his intellectual curiosity. Huckabee did not know about the NIE report on Iran's nuclear aspirations until at least 24 hours after it was released, for example, and apparently did not know yesterday that the state of emergency had been lifted by Musharraf in Pakistan several weeks prior, commenting on Bhutto's assassination that the U.S. should consider: "...what impact does it have on whether or not there’s going to be martial law continued in Pakistan"
- Huckabee mirrors Bush in the anti-science agenda, claiming religious objections to stem cell research and emergency contraception, although Politico reported today that he has taken $52K in speaking fees from Novo Nordisk, firm that does stem cell research. Such a position implies that he would be open to a continuation of the pro-business agenda of the Bush years, which I would differentiate entirely from a free market agenda that would be compatible with a candidate truly in pursuit of smaller government
- There is something darker going on in Huckabee's odd attempts at humor, as St. John pointed out in the first reply to this article. I also wrote about this in a Greenwald column a few days ago, but saw no responses. While at a press photo event in Iowa to showcase his hunting prowess, Huckabee pointed at three dead pheasants at his feet and said for the cameras: "These three birds all said they would not vote for me on caucus night. You see what happened to them. It’s very positive. You vote for me, you live… you don’t, hmm… there you go"
The most ominous parallel between Bush and Huckabee is the shell of religious conviction that they use to protect and advance their agenda. In mid-November Huckabee stated that there was a biblical responsibility to address global warming. While the outcome may suit some, by wrapping the policy in religious terms it closes the door to debate on the merits since any attack on the policy is necessarily an attack on someone's religious convictions. I'm hopeful that many voters have had quite enough of religion and "patriotism" used as tactics to silence debate.
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Huckabee is pretty sad but I think there's a lot of that going around
But then look at this country. Look at all the romantic hyperbole being flung right now. You'd think Benazir Bhutto was the Messiah from the way people are airbrushing her memory.
As of now, only the Lehrer News Hour has penetrated the fog of romance around Bhutto and reminded us that the Taliban was formed and sent into Afghanistan under Bhutto's watch.
One of their Pakistani experts brought this up in a panel discussion and the other two experts nodded gravely. Nobody contested this assertion at all.
Where is this past accomplishment of hers mentioned in the rest of the media? They mention nothing of this in her obit anywhere.
How do Americans think the Taliban happened?
Those mujahedin who fought the Soviet Union -- they were not the Taliban. Those old mujahedin were the soldiers the Taliban fought when the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
So where did the Taliban come from, huh?
They came from Pakistan, during Bhutto's second term in office.
Huckabee is not the only one who isn't seeing things clearly right now.
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I wonder
Who would be Huckabee's Cheney?
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The Democrats could even run John Kerry again and win this one.
Are you kidding? If the Huckster gets the nomination, why, gosh, I bet the Democrats could run Stalin and still get the nomination.