Posted on 12/22/2007 6:36:25 AM PST by LowCountryJoe
Regarding that Huckabee advisor's soon-to-be-regretted comments about Limbaugh, Huckabee actually encourages people in his book From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STOPs to Restoring America's Greatness to "listen to less talk radio" as part of his "12 Action Steps to STOP Being Cynical." No doubt he wants everybody to follow that advice today.
I had (largely) refrained from piling on Huckabee because I wanted to give him a fair shake. I've now read his last two books (you can read my piece about them on NRO today) and am here to tell you they were terribly written and totally insubstantial. Thought his Foreign Affairs piece was bad? Read his chapter in From Hope to Higher Ground on how to "STOP the Loss of America's Prestige at Home and Abroad." His relentless use of folksy aphorisms and corny rhetorical sleight of hand provokes visceral objections — but the criticism isn't merely superficial. In the TNR I piece I linked to yesterday a member of the Arkansas press corps observed, "He thinks and speaks in metaphors. And, often, they're not right." That, well, hits the nail on the head. And his ideas about the limits of governance are frightening:
History shows that we can, in fact, help Americans to change, not by force-feeding them government restrictions or requirements but by first changing the attitudes and atmosphere in which we live. Eventually, having shifted public opinion, we can solidify the attitude and atmospheric changes with government actions that define the will of the majority. [Emphasis Added]
I don't think I'm being uncharitable when I say that's disturbingly authoritarian. Huckabee should probably start answering some critics instead of dismissing this all as "The Establishment" trying to keep a good ol' boy down.
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UPDATE: I described the source of the anti-Limbaugh comment as an "advisor" — that's probably overstating it. Ambinder described him as a "DC-based Huckabee ally."
My hackles rose when I first started seeing this guy, and the more he talks, the worse I feel about him. Now I know why.
The man is as dangerous as I thought he would be.
Thanks for posting this.
A friend of mine said the airline machinist’s union was endorsing Huckster. That’s all I need to know about him. BZZT! REJECT!
It takes a sly chess player to be CIC of the most powerful country in the free world and I don't think he's got it in him.
Besides that...you thought the leftist commies had fun calling GW a crusader in their propaganda...just wait and see what the Islamofascists will do with "Pastor in Chief".
Please drop out Huck!
The recent level of animosity towards Mike Huckabee from the Republican establishment, and conservative talk radio hosts and columnists in particular, is simply amazing. It manifests itself in a daily waves of distortion and half-truths concerning Huckabee’s record and positions. They have obviously learned their lessons well from the mainstream media and Clinton Inc. The uniformity of their misinformation and talking points is impressive. A solid case can be made that they could be more in agreement about Mike Huckabee, than Senator Clinton, D NY.
This raises the question, WHY?
The fractured nature of the Republican field has prevented the emergence of a clear favorite. All the candidates have serious real or perceived defects. Giuliani is an arrogant Liberal from NY with Slick Willie’s moral compass, McCain has been disloyal to the party, and is to blame for McCain-Feingold and the attempted Shamnesty, Romney is a manufactured flip flopper from Kennedy country, and is the anointed heir of Bush Inc., Huckabee is a Christian, who is so simple minded that he actually believes in Christianity, and therefore can’t be trusted with high political office. Thompson was supposed to be the guy, but his campaign has been a dead horse from day one.
The one name that the Republican establishment never expected to see on this list is Mike Huckabee. The front loading most of the primaries means that all the shouting will be over in less than three months. It also means that a complete unknown can actually upset the apple cart. Huckabee is the wild card that was not supposed to be in the deck. And worst of all he is not beholden, in any way, to the Beltway/Wall Street axis of the Republican establishment. This is an unacceptable sin and the reason why the Huckaboom must be crushed ASAP.
The foundation of the Republican Party used to consist of a combination of fiscal and social conservatives tempered with a healthy dose of free trade and foreign policy expertise. The convention has been that the free traders a fiscal conservatives are the brains of the operation and the social conservatives have been the muscle.
However that all started changing with the election of Dubya and the emergence of an Imperial Congress who together have essentially exterminated fiscal conservatism and have ceased responding to the plebeians who elect them. Life is good with everyone gorging and enriching themselves at the public trough. Currently the principle difference between Republicans and Democrats appears to be a slight disagreement over whether their lust for profligate spending should be paid for entirely with debt, or a combination of debt and higher taxes.
I keep hearing about fiscal conservatives from our esteemed talk radio hosts and columnists, but I challenge them to name names. Who EXACTLY are they talking about? Who is at the barricades trying to prevent the complete looting of our treasury and the mortgaging of our children’s future? All I see is Ted Stevens building another bridge to nowhere. Ted Kennedy and John McCain trying to shove a Shamnesty bill down our throats, while Dubya lurks in the White House rose garden with his pen in his hand. Seriously, how can the President and Congress claim to be serious about the war on radical Islam, when they ignore the will of the people and refuse to secure our borders. I call BS.
The free traders have decided that our National Sovereignty is an impediment to their stampede to accumulate the most toys. Luckily for them, plenty of our former elected officials are for sale, in order to buy the current ones. Am I the only one who understands that the real war against the United States is being fought right now against the our dollar? I hope not. The collapse of our national wealth will cause the gutting of our military. What can’t be done on the battlefield by our enemies will be accomplished by our Congress scrambling to payoff our social Ponzi schemes.
What passes for our foreign policy is confused because our State Department and CIA are unclear about which side they are actually supposed to be on. On the bright side, I suppose it is slightly better than the Clinton administration, which did not have any foreign policy at all.
In short the purported Republican brain trust is flunking lunch, and selling us down the river.
All of which brings us to the case FOR (gasp) a social conservative, Mike Huckabee.
He has THE strongest prolife position. He has a perfect understanding of the Second Amendment, which tells me where he stands on individual rights. He is an honest guy who relies on his core convictions, not the lastest poll. On the fiscal front, he understands that it is immoral to squander our children’s legacy. He actually believes that the American experiment and our Sovereignty are worth defending. His foriegn policy experience is comparable to Ronald Reagan’s. He will communicate effectively and directly with the people to go over the heads of a reluctant Congress. Best of all, he is clearly understands which side he is on... OURS!
How is he going to tell the Islamofascists not to have a theocracy?
That's not to say he's a bad guy. He's actually a good guy with good intentions. I could support him as VP, but only if the president was someone who had the time and management skill to train him and keep him on a very short leash. I don't know if Fred Thompson has both the energy to do that and run uphill against Hillary.
I am confused by your question. As an example, Saudi Arabia (our close ally, according to Dubya) is a Theocracy founded on Whabbism (the most extreme form of Islam).
What exactly has Dubya been telling THEM for the last seven years?
I would bet that person posts here.
Short answer..we didn’t win a war in SA. :)
Still waiting for you to answer the question...
I have only seen the distortions and half-truths posted by his supporters.
DOH
There are several already.
The American Crusader President Huckabee tells the Leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq not to elect a Mullah to the office of the Presidency.
(Hypocrisy in action).
The reason you won't answer..is because you can't.
Yeah. He’s on our side so he can steal our money, accept
“tribute” of expensive gifts, let murderers and rapists free to prey on us and to force us to change our personal behavior.
Some “Christian”.
Having read so many posters on Free Republic demanding we have to support the party's nominee even if many of his positions are in conflict with ours, I have to laugh.
Apparently, that rule does not apply to Mike Huckabee even if he should win the Republican nomination.
Mike Huckabee does not need arch-conservatives to win election.
He won elections in Arkansas as a Republican where Democrats have completely dominated politics there forever.
This man is a serious and formidable candidate who should not be lightly dismissed. Anyone who can come from so far in the back of the pack to lead, without benefit of serious money, is no joke.
That he scares the establishment is delightful. His outsider status and personal charm are making him attractive to more and more voters.
I love all the mudslinging that Huckabee is a con man.
Hell, all politicians are con men. They have to convince voters they can do something.
What's a guy gonna say? "Elect me. I can't do a damn thing to save this listing, sinking ship of state, but at least I freely and openly admit I'm impotent!"
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