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 ...
The dog deserved it
parenting skills?? Slickabee is whining to the entire world that we are all to fat...time for him to clean up his own house starting with his son.
“Nominating Huckabee is nothing short of a death wish for the party.” #20
absolutely !..read enough about him in past weeks to decide he is a RINO, a liberal and a bum...
Because intelligent people are capable of learning and evolving with life experiences. Romney has evolved in the right direction. He shows no signs of flopping back.
My main dislike of Huckabee is based on his pandering of illegal immigrants and I am a legal immigrant myself.
I also am perturbed that during his reign as governor, the state budget went from 6 Billion to 16 Billion.
All earmarks of a bleeding heart tax and spend liberal.
But I will hold my nose and vote for him if he wins the nomination. He is still far better than Hillary, Barack & Johnny.
He looks like one of those "inbreds of the first cousins" that roams the Arkansas hills. LOL
Isn't he the same one that was in the picture wearing the purple feathers around his neck? I can see why the Huckster doesn't want anyone investigating him. God only knows what skelletons are in his closet.
No, I don't think so. Judging from his picture, Big Foot in NOT extinct. LOL
I was intrigued. Was he “certified” as Eagle and it was a “mistake”. Did Huck pay off someone to give his son Eagle Status in the Scouts.
If so, he is a true slime.
And it was loaded! LOADED!! Why wouldnt you pack the ammo separately? Was he planning on using it in the really near future?
Hes either a blithering idiot, or hes a blithering idiot.
If Clinton and Huck are examples of politics in Arkansas, it makes me wonder what else Clinton got away with in the White House...given what we aalready know...Thank God Huckabee will probably go down in flames in the primaries and never give us a repeat of the Clinton years (although it scares me to think this gives Romney and Rooti Tutti a shot at the nomination).
Usually if men are just using their own puny intelligence, it's more de- evolution than evolution.
Romney has evolved in the right direction. He shows no signs of flopping back.
Perhaps you need discernment training as to what is SIGN-ificant.
The first principle of true conversion: STOP waffling back to old ways. (Reagan didn't waffle multiple times back & forth like you see below)
Shall we review Mitt's case?
(1): Romney comes from a heritage that is primarily pro-life. = He flipped from a Mormon pro-life perspective when he sided with his mom when she ran as a pro-abortion senator in 1970. This continued into his 1994 and 2002 campaign commitments.
(2): In November of '04, he & his wife had simultaneous pro-life "conversions." = (so since he already "flipped" above, is that a flip or a flop?)
(3): On May 27 '05, he affirms his commitment to being "pro-choice" at a press conference. ("I am absolutely committed to my promise to maintain the status quo with regards to laws relating to abortion and choice.") = So that would be one or the other, a flip or a flop from his "conversion" 6 months previous.
(4): What about his gubernatorial record 2003-2006? Mitt NOW says his actions were ALL pro-life. So I assume somewhere in 2005 or so were so pro-life decisions. ("As governor, I’ve had several pieces of legislation reach my desk, which would have expanded abortion rights in Massachusetts. Each of those I vetoed. Every action I’ve taken as the governor that relates to the sanctity of human life, I have stood on the side of life.") = So, then THESE ACTIONS were not only a reversal of his 2002 commitment, but his May 27, 2005 press conference commitment. So "flipping" is beginning to be routine
(5): April 12, 2006--Mitt signs his "Commonwealth Care" into existence, thereby expanding abortion access for poor women. (Wait a minute, I thought he told us post-'06 that ALL of his actions were "pro-life?"). Also, not only this, but as governor, Romney could exercise veto power to portions of Commonwealth Care. Did Romney exercise this power? (Yes, he vetoed Sections 5, 27, 29, 47, 112, 113, 134 & 137). What prominent section dealing with Planned Parenthood as part of the "payment policy advisory board" did Romney choose NOT to veto? (Section 3) That section mandates that one member of MassHealth Payment Policy Board must be appointed by Planned Parenthood League of MA. (See chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, section 3 for details).
(6): Then POTUS season comes around. So in '07, just about all his statements are of a pro-life nature. = So, like a fish just reeled in, that tail has him on the other side of where he was 5/27/05 & 4/12/06...but somehow coinciding with "pro-life" vetoes he made in between those other statements & actions.
(7): Then comes his 8/12/07 interview with Chris Wallace of Fox: "I never called myself pro-choice. I never allowed myself to use the word pro-choice because I didn't FEEL I was pro-choice. I would protect the law, I said, as it was, but I wasn't pro-choice, and so..." = That whatever he was from 1970 when his mom ran as a pro-abortion senator & he sided with her, to 5/27/05, w/whatever interruption he had due to a pro-life altar call in Nov of '04, whatever that was...well, he assures us it wasn't a pro-abortion inlook or outlook 'cause he didn't feel "pro-choice..." = So does that make him a life-long pro-lifer?
Confused? Well don't be: This Harper's Magazine excerpt found at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1921487/posts includes this excerpt:
"Earlier this year, the Boston Globe obtained a copy of an internal campaign PowerPoint presentation that outlined Romney’s strengths and weaknesses as he embarked on his presidential bid. One page—entitled “Primal Code for Brand Romney”—explained that Romney should market himself as a foil to such Massachusetts liberals as Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and also run against such “enemies” as Hollywood, France, and “moral relativism.” Problems identified by the campaign included the perception that Romney would not make a tough wartime leader and the possibility that voters would be spooked by his Mormon religion. The presentation also acknowledged the problematic view that Romney is a “phony” and a “political opportunist”; but that view is due at least in part to the fact that by any reasonable standard it’s true."
There’s no record at all that David Huckabee suffered any legal consequences, despite the fact that the act of torturing and killing dogs rightfully has some heavy penalties attached.
Arkansas politics? How about Donald Smaltz’s independent counsel inquiry into then-Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy?
Early on, Smaltz focused his investigation on Tyson Foods, seeking to determine whether the company had a practice of providing gratuities to government officials. In searching for inside information about the company’s activities, Smaltz discovered a former Tyson airplane pilot named Joe Henrickson, who had unsuccessfully sued the company for wrongful termination. Henrickson told Smaltz an explosive story about having transported envelopes of cash from Tyson corporate officers to then-Governor Bill Clinton.
Really. I’m still slack-jawed over the fact that he’s been lying about his “theology” degree.
Can’t imagine that’s the best pic of his son either (giving him the benefit of the doubt that he actually takes others that aren’t so scary looking).
Next time I want to complain about my “Republican” governor’s son and how he was hired by a company hoping to do some really big business with the state, I’ll remind myself they can’t touch Arkansas politics nor the behavior of Romney’s offspring ;-)
Next time I want to complain about my “Republican” governor’s son and how he was hired by a company hoping to do some really big business with the state, I’ll remind myself they can’t touch Arkansas politics nor the behavior of Romney’s offspring ;-)
The list keeps getting longer, and the longer it gets the more socons that line up to vote for this guy.
Intriguing. Stupifying, but interesting.
They’re beating their heads on the wall at DNC. Newsweek pulled the string way too early, as Jay Rockefeller would say.
This is about Huck using his position a Gov to obstruct justice. A crime we impeached a president for.
you couldn’t be more right about that if you tried.
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