SanChonino

Join Date 12/2005

+104

Alas! Huckabee is a bigot!

or; I hope this tool doesn't get the nomination.

Mike Huckabee is a bigot, and he and his campaign are playing to the bigotry of the people of Iowa in order to garner support in the state.

Why do I say that? In his ads running in the state, he is clearly defined as a Christian leader. Why is this bigotry? Let's turn to my friend/arch nemesis Charles Krauthammer to discover exactly why . . .

Huckabee is running a very effective ad in Iowa about religion. "Faith doesn't just influence me," he says on camera, "it really defines me." The ad then hails him as a "Christian leader."

Forget the implications of the idea that being a "Christian leader" is some special qualification for the presidency of a country whose Constitution (Article VI) explicitly rejects any religious test for office.

Just imagine that Huckabee were running one-on-one in Iowa against Joe Lieberman. (It's a thought experiment. Stay with me.) If he had run the same ad in those circumstances, it would have raised an outcry. The subtext — who's the Christian in this race? — would have been too obvious to ignore, the appeal to bigotry too clear.

Well, Huckabee is running against Romney (the other GOP candidates are non-factors in Iowa), and he knows that many Christian conservatives, particularly those who have an affinity with Huckabee's highly paraded evangelical Christianity, consider Romney's faith a decidedly non-Christian cult.

What a true statement! If he ran as a "Christian leader" against a Jew as mentioned, or hell, let's even say a Catholic, public outcry would be huge. But for a Mormon? Who gives a damn, they're all cultists anyway!

Let's turn back to a few other comments from Krauthammer, who, while I rarely agree with him, I've always respected him:

Huckabee has been asked about this view that Mormonism is a cult. He dodges and dances. "If I'm invited to be the president of a theological school, that'll be a perfectly appropriate question," he says, "but to be the president of the United States, I don't know that that's going to be the most important issue that I'll be facing when I'm sworn in."

Hmmm. So it is an issue, Huckabee avers. But not a very important one.

And he's not going to pronounce upon it. Nice straddle, leaving the question unanswered and still open — the kind of maneuver one comes to expect from slick former governors of Arkansas lusting for the presidency.

And by Huckabee's own logic, since he is not running for head of a theological college, what is he doing proclaiming himself a "Christian leader" in an ad promoting himself for president? Answer: Having the issue every which way. Seeming to take the high road of tolerance by refusing to declare Mormonism a cult, indeed declaring himself above the issue — yet clearly playing to that prejudice by leaving the question ambiguous, while making sure everyone knows that he, for one, is a "Christian leader."

So there you go. Blatant, painful hypocrisy by the Evangelical "Golden Boy". Attach this to whip's article, titled Rapists and Rockstars Heart Huckabee, and we begin to see just how disingenuous this guy is.

I certainly hope he doesn't get the presidential nomination from the Republicans. It would be a grave mistake. I'm reminded of the words of Sinclair Lewis, in his inimitable It Can't Happen Here (Nobel-prize winning literature, folks):

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

(For the rest of Krauthammer's article, read it here.)

republican

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

So that's why candidate don't run positive ad campaigns. People are such tools, they still think it's just a negative attack ad when you point out something about yourself instead of smearing the other candidate.

To me, what he's saying is, "Hey, I'm a Christian leader. And don't you want a Christian leader? If so, vote for me!" Not "Everybody else sucks because they're not a Christian leader."

Of course, Christian is far too broad a term to really mean any specific beliefs and is therefore completely irrelevant to any campaign on the issues - it's a character thing. But since Clinton got the presidency, character isn't supposed to matter in politics anymore. And that's why there are a bunch of liars in office.

So you have someone here who is running an ad saying, basically, that he has character (because that's what 'Christian leader' should mean, to me at least) and that that means you should vote for him over the other candidates.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Well, looks like he's a dipshit.

~Zoo

Successfully updated karma reason!

I think he is a likable man but I hope he is not our future President. He has certain veiwpoints that I don't agree with - um...like the one where he said aids patients should be quarantined. Also the whole wives being submissive to their husbands has never sat well with me but that is the viewpoint of many conservative Christians.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Give me a break, Jythier. By focusing so much on the "Christianity", it marginalizes the religious beliefs of the "Non-Christian" Romney.

This slimy political tactic, playing off his religion, has singlehandedly caused his rising in the polls in Iowa. To see this as anything but disingenuous is surprising.

I thought you were smarter than that.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Hey, I think I should be the next president. I've got it ALL! I'm female, a minority, conservative, I'd do a better job than Bush, I can admit when I'm wrong and I'm Christian!! Oh wait, I forgot, Mormons are merely cultists, not Christian, never mind the whole, "believing in Jesus Christ" thing.

People are idiots, Bill Richardson for President.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Let's see, Mitt Romney is a Christian, and has been a Bishop and Stake President; So he's a Christian Leader himself. But I guess Huckabee doesn't see it that way, nor does he want anyone else to.

Successfully updated karma reason!

It concerns me greatly. I don't care where it happens in the world, when politicis and religion mix, generally what follows, as the Sinclair Lewis quote addresses, is an overly controlled state ruled by fear and intimidation and could very well end up an Orwellian dystopia.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Romney's just jealous because he didn't think of it first. Now he has to do an ad.

"Romney has never set a rapist free."

"Romney - a better Christian leader."

"Romney - we all sin, but I've quit."

"Romney - Mor-mon than any other candidate."

Successfully updated karma reason!

I've said it many, many times and I'll say it again:

Real Christians don't need to advertise.

Besides, if I were to pick which of the two faiths represented, respectively, by Huckabee and Romney, has acted more "cult-like" in my experience, I'd have to say Huckabee's faith (Southern Baptist) wins, hands down! In fact, over time, I am becoming less and less sure that the SBC is NOT a cult.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Real Christians don't need to advertise.

They do if they want to be president. No-one votes for the person they haven't heard of, don't know. He seems to think that Christianity is a big part of his life, so he talks about that in his ad. Or, he think Christianity will get him elected. How would I know? I haven't even seen the ad.

Successfully updated karma reason!

he think Christianity will get him elected.

That would be the one. He's exploiting the faith of his constituents.

Despicable.

Successfully updated karma reason!

"If I'm invited to be the president of a theological school, that'll be a perfectly appropriate question," he says, "but to be the president of the United States, I don't know that that's going to be the most important issue that I'll be facing when I'm sworn in."

What a slimy answer.

"I don't know that that's going to be the most important issue that I'll be facing"

So if an issue isn't the most important it can't be discussed? Wouldn't that mean he can talk about only one thing? Does that mean he thinks being "a Christian leader" (whatever he means by that) is the most important thing?

"when I'm sworn in."

Did y'all catch the presumptive case there? Keep dreamin', Mike.

"that'll be a perfectly appropriate question"

Something about this whole "appropriate question" dodge makes me very queasy. How many questions do you think he'd answer if he became president? I'm thinking 98% of them would be dismissed as "inappropriate." He has a record of waving off concerns with the flag of his own rightness. Haven't we had enough of that garbage the past 7 years?

But since Clinton got the presidency, character isn't supposed to matter in politics anymore. And that's why there are a bunch of liars in office.

Because, you know, there were no liars in office prior to Clinton.

saying, basically, that he has character

I find that people who are a thing don't have to go around telling people they are. Did Romney have to tell everyone he was Mormon?

Besides, it's a short sighted move. It may get him some play in a primary/caucus or two, but on the wider stage it will come back to haunt him.

This guy isn't the brightest bulb on the tree.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Many people refer to, which they don't know, nor take the time to know/understand as a cult.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Besides, if I were to pick which of the two faiths represented, respectively, by Huckabee and Romney, has acted more "cult-like" in my experience, I'd have to say Huckabee's faith (Southern Baptist) wins, hands down! In fact, over time, I am becoming less and less sure that the SBC is NOT a cult.

and to think, Gid, I've pretty much always considered you one of the more fair minded, least likely to bash an entire group of people on here. Thanks!

Successfully updated karma reason!

Excellent article bro.

Successfully updated karma reason!