Posted on 12/18/2007 1:01:15 PM PST by mylife
Huckabee on Christ Ad Brouhaha: 'Paul is Dead'
December 18, 2007 3:07 PM
ABC News' Kevin Chupka Reports: Former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., had some fun Tuesday answering a question about a brewing controversy over his latest TV ad called "What Really Matters."
Huckabee is running a Christmas ad in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina where the former Baptist minister invokes Jesus Christ -- the first 2008 Republican candidate to do so in a campaign ad.
In the ad Huckabee says that that at this time of year, "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends."
Some have suggested there is an image of a cross behind Huckabee's shoulder as he talks to the camera in the ad, but Huckabee dismissed that Tuesday.
"That was a book shelf behind me, a book shelf," Huckabee told reporters while campaigning in Houston, Texas.
Huckabee was asked if his language crossed the line between faith and politics: "Absolutely not," he said.
Huckabee went on to joke, to the delight of the reporters in the room, "I will confess this; if you play the spot backwards it says 'Paul is dead, Paul is dead, Paul is dead.'"
The Republican candidate likened the dissection of his Christmas campaign ad to rumors that Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash at the height of the Beatles popularity and replaced by a doppelganger, and that subtle clues were placed inside the group's music for years to come.
“Yes, Huckabee is right! So, why is he only running the ad in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina?”
You are aware that these are the first primary states? Why should he be spending money in the other states NOW?
It just takes my breath away to see the good-hearted rubes filling the big tent, eyes as wide as saucers, as a slick Elmer Gantry preaches lies from a crooked heart.
You see, that is the problem, in a nutshell.
If the ad is just a nice Christmas greeting, with no political purpose, then there is no reason to restrict the release to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Presumably he wishes the folks up here in New Jersey a Merry Christmas, and hopes we keep Christ in Christmas as well. So it does not make sense to limit the run to the early primary states.
However, if the ad does have a political purpose, then Huckabee is being cynically manipulative and lying about it. The fact that the distribution is limited to early primary states indicates strongly that it does have a political purpose.
The additional fact that he is being cynically manipulative by using an "accidental" element to symbolise the Cross and then lying about it, over and over again, only compounds Huckabee's error.
But they are good hearted people, and they are also in the "Big Tent" of the GOP.
It is a very delicate matter to show them the danger of Mike Huckabee and the hazard to Christianity of Huckabee's cyinical use of his Christian faith in his pursuit of power.
It is thrilling when a politician pretends to respect and value the things you respect and value. But you must be very careful to make sure you are not being taken advatage of. This business of the Christmas card ad reveals to me that Huckabee is taking advantage of Christians in a shameless way, and does not really respect them or value the things they value.
Now we have to explain this to our FRiends in a way that does not alienate them, which is a prickly business, at best.
He should not be. However, you are both missing and confirming the point I'm trying to make. The ads are calculated, political ads. They are not simply a "Merry Christmas" from Mike. He is not honoring Christ, he's using Christ for political gain.
jw
Does it disturb you that people lie to their kids about Santa Claus? and that we preempt the message of the birth of Christ with Santa?
Um, no.
As the final paragraph would have told you, if you’d read that far.
I see this is at the top of the news cycle this AM on Fox news.
It was a clever poke at Ron Paul.
Perhaps to you it was.
To those of us who are aware of pop culture, it was a joke about the Beatles.
That’s all right. You can believe what you want. Free country.
It was in response to this:
Mike Huckabee is bringing his Christmas cheer, and his Baptist minister roots, to Iowans this election season. His recent ad, “What Really Matters,” features the former governor offering citizens a Merry Christmas.
This isn’t your ordinary Happy Holidays event. Huckabee lets loose the Christian spirit, saying “what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.” The ad also features a bookshelf in the background that appears to some like a “floating cross.” The ad is a not-too-subtle play to Iowa value voters, who cringe at what they view as an increasingly secularized holiday.
Asked about the ad today, Ron Paul decried Huckabee’s religious iconography with his own veiled reference on Fox and Friends:
“It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, ‘when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.’ Now I don’t know whether that’s a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly. So, I don’t think I would ever use anything like that.”
If you see a connection, good for you, I guess.
Like I said, to 98% of Americans, “Paul is dead” means McCartney.
This whole thing reminds me of the Beatles flap about John saying they were more popular than Jesus.
Oh well... John is dead.
I read that far.
(Which is demanding for me...what with my first-grade reading level and all.)
Now just who are those “Beatles” guys exactly?
(”Turn me on dead man...Turn me on dead man....Turn me on dead man....”)
Well, since 90% of them have no idea who Ron Paul is, I think you are probably right.
He made Mika Brezenski look ridiculous this morning on MSNBC.
As I said on the other thread, hitching up Jesus to pull Mike Huckabee's band-wagon seems to be a poor use of talents.
I missed all that.
It wasn't the White album, it was Sgt. Peppers.
It was on ‘Morning Joe’ around 7:30 Am or so. I’m sure somebody will post the transcript as usual when ‘Mika’ says something dumb.
(a daily occurence)
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