{"id":630,"date":"2008-01-08T05:41:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-08T05:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=630"},"modified":"2008-01-08T05:41:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-08T05:41:00","slug":"the-huckster-to-those-considering-rev-mike-for-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=630","title":{"rendered":"The Huckster…to those considering Rev. Mike for president"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Huckster File \u00e2\u20ac\u201c An Open
\nLetter to Those Considering Reverend Mike for President<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

by John Keller<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span>by John Keller<\/span> <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I received an email from a friend
\nurging me to donate to Mike Huckabee’s campaign for President, so I pulled
\ntogether his top 10 scandals and fired them back. I’ve added source citations
\nin order to demonstrate that his scandals are not being manufactured by some Swift
\nBoaters with a few websites. They are well documented, many are on camera, and
\nare cross-referenced by multiple national media outlets. Forward as needed to
\nthe Huckabee boosters in your life.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

In no particular order: <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #1 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee misrepresents
\nhis stand on illegal aliens \u00e2\u20ac\u201c He ran Arkansas as a safe haven state for illegal
\naliens, and favored illegal aliens over US citizens for cut-rate in-state
\ntuition. Now he’s claiming he’s against amnesty when he refused to sign a bill
\nto start deporting illegals. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(Arkansas Journal<\/span><\/a>) (Washington Times<\/span><\/a>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #2 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee lied about
\nurging parole of a rapist who raped and murdered again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c He pardoned or
\ncommuted sentences on 1,033 criminals while governor. He urged the parole board
\nto approve parole of many more criminals that were politically difficult to
\npardon. One example, Wayne DuMond, went on to kill and rape 2 women after
\nHuckabee personally pressured the parole board to release him 25 years early
\nfor a rape conviction. The Arkansas parole board forwarded Huckabee a letter
\nfrom one of DuMond’s prior rape victims urging the governor not to pardon
\nDuMond, and predicting that DuMond would rape and kill again. Huckabee pushed
\nfor the pardon anyway. Huckabee later denied receiving the letter, and tried to
\ncover it up, according to a former aid who provided the letters.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(Huffington Post<\/span><\/a>) (ABC News<\/span><\/a>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #3 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee’s non-stop
\nabuse of Christianity as a political gimmick \u00e2\u20ac\u201c This
\n“phone call” will absolutely turn your stomach<\/span><\/a>, as does
\nhis oh-so-subtle floating cross Christmas ad<\/span><\/a>. Give me a break. It
\ndisgusts me as a Christian, and no doubt frightens non-Christians to see this
\nsort of thing. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #4 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee is a pro-war
\n“Christian” \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Here’s a chance to actually put some of Christ’s
\nsermons (Blessed are the warmongers?) into action. Instead,
\nhe supports continuing the war in Iraq to “save national honor”
\nrather than admitting it was a mistake (no WMD’s, no al Qaeda) and withdrawing<\/span><\/a>.
\nHow many more have to die before we “leave with honor”? Is that the
\n11th Commandment? Maybe it’ll be as honorable as Korea, Vietnam, Panama,
\nBosnia, Somalia, Sudan or Serbia… He has absolutely no idea how foreign
\npolicy and militarism connects with the dollar crisis, terrorism, and the coming
\nrecession. This makes him identical to all but Ron Paul out of any of the
\ncandidates, but is noteworthy given how bloodthirsty he is for a minister. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #5 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee destroyed
\nstate files and equipment as he left the Governor’s Office \u00e2\u20ac\u201c He ordered the payment
\nof $25,000 from a state emergency fund to physically destroy the hard drives of
\nhis office at the end of his term. That data belongs to the Office of the
\nGovernor, not the man, and a public official should have NO expectation of
\nprivacy when carrying out the duties of office on government equipment. To turn
\none of the government’s favorite phrases around “if you don’t have
\nanything to hide…” So much for rule of law over personal privilege. We
\ncould expect little return to Constitutional guarantees of privacy and
\ntransparent government under Huckabee. Allocating the funds from a state
\nemergency fund earmarked for floods, tornadoes, and natural disasters is
\nfiscally irresponsible, spendthrift, and perhaps illegal. We should not be
\nsurprised if this scandal takes on wings of its own, given all the possible
\nangles. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(Arkansas Democrat Gazette<\/span><\/a>) <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #6 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ethicsgate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Governor
\nHuckabee was sanctioned 5 times for ethics violations, and had 9 other
\ncomplaints, none dismissed as frivolous.  He’s taken practically every
\ngift or favor ever given to him as Arkansas governor, and actively asked for
\ngifts: “some former Huckabee staff and appointees acknowledged … that
\nHuckabee’s chief of staff and a cabinet official solicited contributions from
\nstaff and appointees for Christmas gifts for the governor.” Shouldn’t it
\ngo the other way around? The boss buys a small gift for the staff. What about
\nthat old Christian nugget: it’s better to give than receive. There is also a
\nvery direct correlation between his receipt of gifts and his political
\nappointments.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He even went so far as to set up a
\nwedding registry for him and his wife to receive gifts to decorate their house
\nafter they left office. How completely tacky. Clearly this guy thinks of public
\nservice as serving him, not the other way around.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(MSNBC<\/span><\/a>)
\n(Guardian UK<\/span><\/a>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #7 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee wanted to
\nquarantine AIDS patients in 1992 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c He was in favor of rounding up AIDS patients
\nfor quarantine in 1992 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c NOT 1985, but 1992, 7 years after it was well
\nestablished that AIDS was not transmitted by casual contact. This is either a
\nnot so subtle “homos be damned” pander to the evangelical base, or a
\ndisplay of ignorance so shocking it borders on unbelievable. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

This was a full year after Magic
\nJohnson “mainstreamed” HIV\/AIDS by admitting that he had it.  He
\nwould probably have given Magic a pass to play at the Olympics that year. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(CNN<\/span><\/a>) (USA Today<\/span><\/a>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #8 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee refuses to
\nadmit when he’s mistaken or misinformed about current events \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Rather than
\nget informed or admit his lack of knowledge, he lies about his gaffes. A polite
\nobserver will say he was misunderstood, but watch the video and judge for
\nyourself. See these comments about Pakistan under marital law and the
\nPakistan immigration “threat.”<\/span><\/a> How exactly does a former
\ngovernor who didn’t even have Secret Service protection get a CIA briefing? Who
\nbriefed him? Where did those numbers come from? What? Then
\nthere’s this 46-second gem<\/span><\/a>. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #9 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Huckabee seriously
\nmisrepresents his record on cutting taxes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c He is not really a tax cutter, and
\nin fact, is lined up to be a bigger spender than, well, Bush II. “Right now, we spend about 3.9 percent of our GDP on
\ndefense, compared with about six percent in 1986, under President Ronald
\nReagan. We need to return to that six percent level.”<\/span><\/a> (Foreign
\nAffairs) Does he realize that’s $300 Billion in additional defense spending,
\nover the $500 Billion in on-budget Defense spending? <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

That last thing we need is to waste
\nan additional $300 Billion on planes and battleships to fight guys with
\ncarbines and makeshift bombs. We need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and
\nfollow Ron Paul’s plan of granting Letters of Marque for the capture of bin
\nLaden. This sort of policy ignorance is consistent with Huckabee’s generally
\nmisinformed worldview. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It gets better though. Here is his
\nrecord on taxes from National Review<\/span><\/a> and Arkansas
\nDemocrat-Gazette: <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

“According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette<\/span><\/em><\/a>, the average
\nArkansas tax burden increased 47% over Huckabee’s tenure. Huckabee supported
\n(in chronological order) a sales tax hike; gas and diesel fuel tax hikes;
\nanother sales tax hike; a cigarette tax hike; a nursing home bed tax; another
\nsales tax hike; an income surcharge tax; a tobacco tax hike; taxes on Internet
\naccess; and higher beer taxes. Huckabee also oversaw a 50-percent increase in
\nspending; happily signed a minimum wage increase and encouraged national
\nRepublicans to do the same; favors a national smoking ban<\/span><\/a>, farm subsidies<\/span><\/a>, and a federally mandated arts and music curriculum<\/span><\/a>; opposes private school
\nchoice; and employs class-warfare and protectionist language on the campaign
\ntrail.” <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(Foreign Affairs) (National Review)
\n(Arkansas Democrat Gazette) <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Scandal #10 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Arkansans like Hillary
\nClinton better than Huckabee by nearly 4 to 1 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c His home state rejects him as a
\nleft-leaning, tax and spend, authoritarian Republican. There’s no way a leftist
\nRepublican will beat a Democrat in the general election. Leftists will vote for
\nthe Democrat offered, and other than some evangelicals and die-hards, Republicans
\nand Independents will stay home.<\/span><\/a> Huckabee versus any Democrat would
\nbe an electoral beating to rival Reagan versus Mondale, except it will be the
\nDems taking the White House. He is a Democrats’ dream candidate to the point
\nthat they are calling him the “Glass Jaw” because they will break him
\nhead to head. (Drudge Report<\/span><\/a>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s Hillary, one of the most
\ndespised people in politics, absolutely killing
\nHuckabee in a late 2007 poll (35% to 8%) in Arkansas<\/span><\/a> on the heals of
\nout-raising him for bucks in their “home” state. The final word on
\nHuckabee, and more in-depth reading of all his flip-flops, pettiness,
\ngaudiness, and scandalous behavior I leave to one who knows him best. Max Brantley of the Arkansas Gazette writes for Salon about
\nthe man he’s covered for nearly 19 years.<\/span><\/a> <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(University of Arkansas) (Salon)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Huckster File \u00e2\u20ac\u201c An Open Letter to Those Considering Reverend Mike for President by John Keller by John Keller   I received an email from a friend urging me to donate to Mike Huckabee’s campaign for President, so I pulled together his top 10 scandals and fired them back. I’ve added source citations in order to … Continue reading The Huckster…to those considering Rev. Mike for president<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-huckabee-shameful-record"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}