Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

A Son’s Past Deeds Come Back To Bite Huckabee
NEWSWEEK ^ | Dec 15, 2007 | Michael Isikoff and Holly Bailey

Posted on 12/17/2007 1:46:43 PM PST by Aristotelian

As Mike Huckabee gains in the polls, the former Arkansas governor is finding that his record in office is getting more scrutiny. One issue likely to get attention is his handling of a sensitive family matter: allegations that one of his sons was involved in the hanging of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998.

The incident led to the dismissal of David Huckabee, then 17, from his job as a counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Ark. It also prompted the local prosecuting attorney— bombarded with complaints generated by a national animal-rights group—to write a letter to the Arkansas state police seeking help investigating whether David and another teenager had violated state animal-cruelty laws.

The state police never granted the request, and no charges were ever filed. But John Bailey, then the director of Arkansas's state police, tells NEWSWEEK that Governor Huckabee's chief of staff and personal lawyer both leaned on him to write a letter officially denying the local prosecutor's request.

Bailey, a career officer who had been appointed chief by Huckabee's Democratic predecessor, said he viewed the lawyer's intervention as improper and terminated the conversation. Seven months later, he was called into Huckabee's office and fired.

"I've lost confidence in your ability to do your job," Bailey says Huckabee told him. One reason Huckabee cited was "I couldn't get you to help me with my son when I had that problem," according to Bailey.

"Without question, [Huckabee] was making a conscious attempt to keep the state police from investigating his son," says I. C. Smith, the former FBI chief in Little Rock, who worked closely with Bailey and called him a "courageous" and "very solid" professional.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; davidhuckabee; election; elections; huckabee; huckster
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-148 next last
To: AxelPaulsenJr

“And this story about his kid, just strikes me as petty nit-picking.”

Go kill your neighbor’s dog and make sure they know you did it. You’ll see how petty and nit-picking they are about it.

There are some things kids do that I will leave the parents out of but STRANGLING a dog is not one of them. Since Newsweek is the source I can’t be sure this even happened so I’ll wait for further sources. Doesn’t really matter as I think Huck is a scumbag.


101 posted on 12/17/2007 9:08:32 PM PST by jwh_Denver (Free Republic All Huck, All The Time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Uriah_lost

Excuse me but as a PK and a TK (Teacher’s kid, my father was actually both), this has nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, to do with being a PK. I knew several PKs growing up as well. Some were out of control, others were not. But this is sick. Whether or not Huckleberry covered this up or not, the fact that the kid did this says something about his upbringing. And anybody that brought up a kid like that I do not want near the White House.


102 posted on 12/17/2007 9:14:50 PM PST by billbears (Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. --Santayana)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Colofornian

But none of the other candidates have the real world experience of running a survive by making a profit type outfit. The US govt has the largest and most complex budget of any other govt or private corporation. We need a successful business man in WH, not a tax and spend liberal. There are some 1000 separate agencies in the federal govt spending ourselves into bankruptcies. Have you seen the size of national debt lately? And the unfunded liabilities in entitlements? They add up to something like 65 TRILLION.
Huckabee, Giuliani, McCain & Thompson have never met a payroll, never have run a profit making business. We had enough pure politicians in the White House.

The religious angle won’t matter if the country goes bankrupt for our children and grandchildren. How can I trust Huckabee when he expanded Arkansas budget from 6 Billion to 16 Billion as governor? And the democrats are all 10 times worse. Thompson is great but does he have the fire in the belly? Does he have the sharp mind to ferret out the thousands of wasteful spending programs in DC?

So you see my friend, the most important issue to me and my family is how much they raid my wallet. That affects where we can live, where the kids can go to college, literally what we can eat.

As for the pro-life angle, we had millions of abortions during Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. And they were/are all pro-life. The president can’t stop abortions. The only way to protect a unborn life is to get the country behind it. When that happens, abortion will disappear. Then we won’t need abortion police to protect life.


103 posted on 12/17/2007 9:27:06 PM PST by ajay_kumar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: billbears

I was afraid that someone would take offense to my statement which is why I included qualifiers and specified that it was a trait of the children of particularly ambitious Preachers.
In Bible College, my classmates were very often PKs or MKs and those were the most likely to violate rules and expect to not pay any price. It was a very prestigious school in my denomination and attracted the children of prominent families within that denomination.
Sweeping a child’s mis-deeds under the rug to prevent embarrassment is a good way to create a sociopathic personality trait. I hope you don’t take any of this personally as your presence on this forum would argue against you having had any such problem.


104 posted on 12/17/2007 9:29:57 PM PST by Uriah_lost ("I don't apologize for the United States of America," -Fred D Thompson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 102 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentIsTheProblem

Photographer's daughter and terrified dog pose with the Huckabees.

105 posted on 12/17/2007 9:43:24 PM PST by Dagnabitt ("It's a 'virtual fence'...now run along little taxpayer.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: cajungirl

Wow, this is disturbing. I only just heard of this. Ugh. I have been uncomfortable with this growing drum beat of so-called Huckabee power. I don’t like him and don’t trust him and he definately is not a conservative. I see him separated at birth from Gomer Pyle and not some great sage. His time is limited and soon Huckabee will be a faint memory of our past. Not soon enough for me but it will happen.


106 posted on 12/17/2007 9:50:14 PM PST by BlueHorseShoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: ajay_kumar
As for the pro-life angle, we had millions of abortions during Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. And they were/are all pro-life. The president can’t stop abortions. The only way to protect a unborn life is to get the country behind it. When that happens, abortion will disappear. Then we won’t need abortion police to protect life.

OK, you've missed exactly half of my vital point. Go back over my previous post. Let's say he said the same flip-flopping things about immigration, about same-sex marriage, about taxes, about pick-any-issue you want to. You're going to then tell me with a straight face that you can trust this flip-flopper about whatever pet issue you want to insert in my example? He's going to be trustworthy with the exact track record I showed you?

I don't know about you, but I weigh "waffles" as part of character (like John Kerry, for example) & promises kept or broken is likewise part of that character.

The religious angle won’t matter if the country goes bankrupt for our children and grandchildren. How can I trust Huckabee when he expanded Arkansas budget from 6 Billion to 16 Billion as governor? And the democrats are all 10 times worse.

OK, no angle, religious or not, will matter if Romney becomes the Mormon mainstream pied piper to hell. Bill Clinton was a presidential role-model disaster for our young generation re: the scandal. Any president the voting block elevates to the highest role model position in our land accords the highest vote of respectability to the public aspects of what that person stands for. Illustration: If that person, for example, is a neatly tucked-away communist who's adopted a mask of "family values," & we elect him president, we are telling our kids that communism is OK to emulate. Furthermore, we are handing proselytizing fuel to communists everywhere. It would fuel their door-to-door boldness and other aggressive campaigns to be able to say, "See. Our respectable Communist leader holds the highest office in the land. Come study what helped make the man he is today!"

The same will hold true for the LDS monster PR specialists. It doesn't matter what Mitt would do or not do from the White House; the Salt Lake City HQ would push it into overdrive. Capitalization would be the operative word.

We need a successful business man in WH, not a tax and spend liberal.

Oh, you mean like the years he was on the Board for Marriott as Marriott was pulling in great sums of $ as being part of the porn industry? (in-room porn rentals) [Maybe as Commander-in-Chief, he could become the board member of a broader part of the porn industry if they promise to send more $ to pay off the national debt]

107 posted on 12/17/2007 9:55:06 PM PST by Colofornian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 103 | View Replies]

To: Dagnabitt

Aren't the stripes supposed to go the other way for the oldest kid? LOL

108 posted on 12/17/2007 10:34:42 PM PST by NRA2BFree (If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea.......does that mean that one enjoys it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentIsTheProblem
Uday Huckabee

Uday Al-Hukabi?

109 posted on 12/17/2007 10:38:51 PM PST by SIDENET (Hubba Hubba...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Aristotelian
As governor, Huckabee used his power and influence to short-circuit a state police investigation of his son.

If that's the case, I agree with you.

110 posted on 12/18/2007 12:11:44 AM PST by curiosity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: donnab
Sorry but even kids shouldnt get a pass when they do what he did to that dog.

I agree, but the sins of the son should not be held against the father during a political campaign. Like I said, there's enough to criticize about Huck. No need to drag this into it.

This is about Hucks cover and coverup of the event. His son never faced any legal consequences because Daddy made it so.

True, that is a sin of the father. The dog has nothing to do with it.

111 posted on 12/18/2007 5:53:23 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: KarenMarie
First of all 17 years old is not a kid.

Depends on how one defines a 'kid'. Most 17 year old boys I know are terribly immature, but I know they can be tried as adults most of the time.

We are talking about murdering an animal.

Yes, and he should have been punished. But Huck didn't kill the dog.

Thirdly, how can this NOT be a reflection of the Huckster’s parenting skills?

So every time a child does something wrong, it is the parent's fault? Do you have kids? They do have wills of their own, even when small.

Finally, he is being accused of using his power to cover it all up.

Yes, he is. It seems weird because, in the article, it indicates that no charges were ever filed, yet the claim is that Huck brought pressure to bear so that charges wouldn't be filed. Maybe it's a timing thing.

112 posted on 12/18/2007 6:08:06 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Aristotelian

Yep, and no commercial featuring warm Christmas thoughts will distract from it.


113 posted on 12/18/2007 6:08:59 AM PST by Badeye (No thanks, Huck, I'm not whitewashing the fence for you this election cycle)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MEGoody

Thats the point.
The son was wrong yes.
But the problem here and one that should be held against the father especially during a political campaign, is when the father uses his political clout to coverup the sin of the son. So I disagree.
There is a need to drag this into it and a valid one.


114 posted on 12/18/2007 6:09:43 AM PST by donnab (saving liberal brains...one moron at a time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 111 | View Replies]

To: af_vet_rr
If you raised your kid right, at 17 they'd know that murdering dogs is a no-no.

I'm sure you know that, even if you do all you can to raise your kids right, they can do things that you would have never dreamed possible, especially in their teens when they are with other teens.

If this is true, and this is the head of the Arkansas State Police, among others making the claim, and if Huckabee tried to intervene on his son's behalf, then this is all about Huckabee.

The article indicates that no charges were ever filed, and yet Huck brought pressure to bear. For what? Perhaps it is a timing thing, and he didn't know they weren't going to press charges.

115 posted on 12/18/2007 6:11:52 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: steve-b
It is very much about the Huckster, unless he can refute the evidence that he used his influence to get his son off the hook.

Actually, the article indicates no charges were ever filed, and yet the claim is that Huck pressured the director and even fired him. Over what? Something's weird here.

116 posted on 12/18/2007 6:14:25 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: lesser_satan
It's very much about the Huckster, as he used his influence to cover it up and kill the investigation.

The article indicates no charges were ever filed, and yet the claim is that Huck pressured the director and even fired him. Over what? Something's weird here.

117 posted on 12/18/2007 6:15:37 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentIsTheProblem
He used his power to protect his violent criminal son from the law.

The article indicates no charges were ever filed, and yet it is said that Huck brought pressure to bear and even fired the director. Over what? Something seems strange about this.

118 posted on 12/18/2007 6:17:38 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Aristotelian
Read to the bottom of the post, not just the first paragraph.

I did. No charges were ever filed, and yet it is claimed that Huck brought pressure to bear and even fired the director. Something's weird about this story.

119 posted on 12/18/2007 6:18:25 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Uriah_lost

“There is not much that I would put past a PK(Preachers Kid). “

Hey, it was a preacher’s daughter who first taught me French kissing at church camp.


120 posted on 12/18/2007 6:23:43 AM PST by gracesdad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-148 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson