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Dec 20 2007
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This Is How You Attack Huckabee
by Alex ThurstonImage
http://www.theseminal.com/

Some will wring their hands over the new Huckabee ad and how the public mention of Jesus threatens our separation of church and state.

But religious expressions aren’t necessarily a bad thing. I personally take inspiration from the public activism of religious figures like Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. We cannot object to Huckabee’s messaging strictly on the grounds that it is “divisive,” because Martin and Malcolm’s messages divided America as well.

Rather, we must fight - and win - the battle of ideas by attacking Huckabee at his core. How do we do that? By proving that he has no credibility either as a Christian leader or as a politician.

Many Americans are Christians who try to live their lives according to the example set by Jesus Christ. On the surface, Huckabee might seem reassuring to Christians: a preacher, a family man, a good guy. His ad evokes the fuzzy feelings of Christmas and family. His soft tone of voice might remind us of our own fathers, leading us to believe that Huckabee could protect, teach, and help us.

But if religious values are taught in the home, then we can judge self-proclaimed religious leaders by their own conduct, and the conduct of their families. The fact is, Huckabee failed miserably as a father.

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.

If a man cannot teach his son not to harm - indeed, torture - helpless animals, his fatherhood must be questioned. If, moreover, he uses his political power to obstruct the fulfillment of justice and shield his delinquent children, teaching the lesson that the powerful can trample on the less fortunate without consequence, he is neither a good father nor a leader with integrity.

With the image of Huckabee as our new father-figure shattered, we can see what he is really trying to do: distract us from Bush’s failures. Bush is the elephant in the Republicans’ room, and though all of the candidates wish we would forget about Bush’s pathetic record as president, Huckabee seems to be the most successful at lulling us into amnesia. In the soft warmth of Huckabee’s living room, we could almost forget that the Republican Party under George Bush has utterly failed our country, betraying its Constitution, bankrupting our treasury, and stubbornly committing our young men and women to the occupation of a foreign country that posed no threat to the United States. But Republicans are still Republicans, Bush is still president, and America will not accept Huckabee’s invitation to hide under a rock with him and pretend the last seven years did not happen.

What Huckabee is really inviting us to share is his willful ignorance. The day after the release of the National Intelligence Estimate report which revealed that Iran has no nuclear program and suggested that Bush had again been lying to the American people, Huckabee not only did not know what the report said, but deferred to Bush’s opinions on Iran. This gives us a frightening idea of what a Huckabee presidency would look like.

If Mike Huckabee does not understand the world outside of his living room, he will be forced to rely on advisers who operate behind closed doors and are not accountable to the American public. This policy is the same one that led to many disastrous and deeply unpopular foreign policy decisions under George Bush. Huckabee, despite his sweet talk, cannot offer anything different or better than Bush.

The growing mountain of scandals that surrounds Huckabee tells voters that he has neither been an effective leader nor a genuine Christian. If Americans want to feel warm and fuzzy inside while closing their eyes to all the challenges that confront our country, they should vote for Mike Huckabee. But if they want leadership that is qualified to solve problems and respond to Americans’ real needs, they must look elsewhere.

Huckabee will spend a ton of money to air his ad in Iowa. He will wish the nation a Merry Christmas, which we of course wish for him and his family as well. But what he will not tell us is anything about his positions, his ideas, his substance, his leadership. In other words, the ad is noteworthy only in terms of what it lacks: any reference to real political thought, which is what our country so desperately needs right now and what Huckabee seems so determined to avoid.

Alex Thurston is currently a student in the Master's Program of Arab Studies at Georgetown University. He graduated from Northwestern University in 2005 with a BA in Religion. He can be reached at alex@theseminal.com.


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Comments (19)
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1. 20-12-2007 17:16
It may not be right, but the more I learn about the persons family life the more i can see in the person...Bush is easy, given what we know about his childhood and birth orader and the mistakes he made coming up....that is the measure of the person. Huckabee is Bush lite....or worse, Bush squared...he should keep his beliefs separate...someone is probably telling him to push this angle to win in the very religious states....bad for the US....
Seymore
2. 20-12-2007 17:20
Bitter
You really are bitter, aren't you? 
 
Here's how I would attack you... I would say you pick on minor's when you don't even have all the facts. 
 
I would say your malicious and slanderous. 
 
I would thank God everyday that your just some unknown journalist on an unknown website that has a problem with being bitter. 
 
Keep writing, your not going to influence anybody, because nobodies reading. 
 
Karl
3. 20-12-2007 17:37
Bitter
More on Romney’s Leadership check out these links: 
www.massresistance.org and http://rightsmart.blogspot.com/ 
 
See this video for Mitt Romney caught lying! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DJO_XuM4eM 
 
 
all this rhetoric is follishnes and an intent denial to dismiss truth. The Demo-wacks have had control over congress for 2 years now and have done NOTHING but fund pork barrel projects and have not come close to making any kind of real progress that the promised their poor demo-wack supporters. There credibility is SHOT! and as for Huckabee... People fear that he will win, which he is... At this point I will vote for anybody other than a Demowack. i am so frustrated that I have changed party position and will vote Repub this year. 
 
christmas is the celebration of the birth of jesus christ and if anyone do not want to celebrate it then don't but remember, each time you give a gift to someone else, you are mimicking the 3 wise men that gave gifts to jesus at his birth and most importantly, you are mimicking the giving factor that God gave his only begotten son to the world. So whether you formally ccelebrate or deny it, each gift given is a reflection of God Giving Christ to the earth as a gift. and i am happy to have received a merry christmas wish from a governmental official.. which that does not happen at all now a days! I am so proud of Huckabee i do not know what to do. He is a man of principle and he surely just sealed the deal with my vote. He will win and big he will, and while the pundits try to demise him, or his other political rivals try to make him look bad. They may want to look at the mirror at themselves. You got flip flopping mitt, dead fred, pimped out guiliani , no brain mccain, and “paul is crazy and deranged”! 
 
And as for the Dems: you got Hell-ary that have sold her soul to the left party lobbyist in america, and you got chronic smoking Obama? which neither one has ANY experience in foreign policy. If it was not for Hell-ary having bill clinton last name, she would not even be known. 
 
Huckabee is the sure winner and will win big. I can not wait for romney to get out of the race. i bet he will go back to hiring illegals to work in his yard. check more out about him at www.massresistance.org he is the biggest flake since kellogs!
sha
4. 20-12-2007 17:41
Bitter
Quote:
 
Keep writing, your not going to influence anybody, because nobodies reading.

 
 
You did
Shahram
5. 20-12-2007 17:59
Bitter
'When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross'  
-- Sinclair Lewis.
Chuck
6. 20-12-2007 19:56
Bitter
Why exactly is it so important to you to attack Huckabee?Anyway, most of these allegations have already been proven false, including your take on the dog incident. Even if it happened exactly the way you say, most of the candidates running have far more significant baggage than anything you've cited about Huckabee.
7. 20-12-2007 20:12
Bitter
Attacking someone's family is pretty underhanded. And claiming that because someone's child messes up makes you a bad parent and a bad christian is ignorant and hateful.  
 
My father is a preacher and when I was sixteen I had a child. He's the greatest preacher and most Godly man I know and his congregation ran him out of town because of my decisions. 
 
My point is there's only so much a parent can do to raise and guide their children before they become their own persons and make their own choices. Clearly you don't have children and shouldn't speak on something you know nothing about. 
 
Also, your assessment that Huckabee protecting his son is un-christian or irresponsible is misguided at best. To show mercy and forgiveness and love are the basic tenets of Christ's teachings, and I challenge any parent out there to say that if they had the opportunity to protect their son or daughter from paying a terrible price for making a mistake, that they wouldn't do the exact same thing Huckabee did. 
 
As far as Hucakbee not offering any kind of substance becasue of his Christmas ad. EVERY candidate has released a sappy christmas ad. And by the way Huckabee is not spending a fortune to air it on tv because media outlets and bloggers like you are giving it all the press it needs.  
 
And let's look at the mountain of scandals. 
 
1. Not sending his teenage son to jail for a stupid stunt at summer camp. 
2. Being Governor when an INDEPENDENT parole board,all of whom were appointed by the previous DEMOCRAT governors, paroled a felon they shouldn't have. 
3. Throwing a house warming party for his wife when they moved out the Governor's Mansion. 
4. Saying that carriers of a deadly plague should be known and registered. 
5. And havig the audacity to say that CHRISTmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ.
John
8. 20-12-2007 20:24
Bitter
Oh and Chuck, your little Sinclair Lewis quote was never actual written or said by Lewis, no matter how much Ron Paul claims it. 
 
But you are so right, Huckabee's fascist policies like proposing that foreign children should be allowed state funded higher education are terrifying. 
 
And who isn't reminded of Hitler and Mussolini when Mike talks about arts and music programs in schools to inpire our childen to become more free-thinking and creative. 
 
And you know when communism comes to America it will be wrapped in universal healthcare legislation and carrying a gay mexican terrorist. Give me a break with this fear-mongering nonsense.
John
9. 20-12-2007 20:55
Bitter
You can not be a pro torture Christian, then call every one else evil
10. 20-12-2007 22:28
Bitter
Huckabee is represents an extremist fringe that believes the entire country should adopt a 'Kansas' platform on evolution. How he intends to increase America's reputation in Science while using No Child Left Behind to convince the next generation that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago is a joke. This man should be laughed out of the race because he definitely does not represent but the smallest segment of Christians in this country. Lets stay away from these crazy fringe candidates and elect someone with some common sense please.
11. 20-12-2007 22:50
Evangelicals Wouldn’t Vote for Christ
Wait a minute… I thought the cross wasn\'t intentional? 
 
I am shocked and offended at the most recent e-mail I received last night from the American Family Association. The organization made it quite clear with their bulk mailing, titled NBC says some find bookcase and Christmas lights offensive, that they are anything but a non-profit serving American families but rather one who thinks a religious test to gain political office is okay.  
 
It is true that Merry Christmas, as a holiday greeting, has been exploited by those that want to make this a secular country. But excusing the method of campaigning by Gov. Huckabee is abhorrent and divisive. The AFA can’t have it both ways: saying the cross isn’t misplaced in a presidential campaign yet also calling the claims of it being a subliminal message media garbage. The only Americans who say this cross was not an intentional message are those without 20/20 vision. Gov. Huckabee has brought religion into this race so clearly that the level of foolishness the AFA and the Huckabee campaign have risen to is the same that they had hoped Americans would have when receiving their propaganda. It is insulting for the AFA and the Huck campaign to think their message is not interpreted correctly by Americans. 
 
The AFA becomes the equivalent (on the opposite end of the spectrum) as the ACLU with this opinion. They clearly think religion belongs in politics. Many cannot help but wonder, what would they say if Huck was running against a Jew? Is the Jew a candidate that doesn\'t deserve your evangelical votes because he’s a non-Christian? What’s worse, is that their target, Romney, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Need I or the church’s 10 million + members say more? For evangelicals, this American Holy War has become a religious hijacking of the 2008 presidential race.  
 
The gathering of voters via churches (an undisputed fact by the Huck campaign) with 501(c)(3) status is already over the line. Secondly, Huck\'s \"Christian Leader\" ad implies he is the Christian candidate while others are not; then his ignorant comment about the Mormon faith came, and finally the lit, looming cross that Huck\'s campaign has supposedly said wasn\'t intentional is the cherry on the bigot sundae.  
 
Let’s face it, to a certain, acceptable extent, religion does play a part in politics. But not when the blessed land becomes mud to sling. A candidate helping voters see who he is by disclosing their religion and doing nothing more is fine. It\'s expected. But the AFA, like Huckabee, apparently thinks the American people are so unwise as to not consider these messages religious stabs. Good grief. 
 
Most importantly, if the AFA truly cares about the GOP nomination, they will not back a candidate like Huckabee. Does anyone other than Iowan evangelicals and those already supporting Huck (more evangelicals) really think he can appeal to the masses after exposing his ignorance of very key issues: the NIE, AIDS, women’s rights? Or will it be his ethics: gifts, pardons and commutations? 
 
It is Huckacide. A nomination for Huck is a vote for Clinton, and true conservatives that value low taxes, a knowledge of foreign policy and executive experience will all remember the un-American organizations that contributed to his disastrous campaign. However, most seem to be pastors and their churches. 
 
The other candidates blow Huck\'s qualifications away. But what\'s seemingly frightening is the fact that Iowa will not only ignore every valid reason to not vote for Huckabee, they will also ignore every valid reason to vote for the other candidates. Iowa, Evangelicals specifically, in 2008, will permanently lose its informal position as gatekeeper to the GOP nom that Falwell and many others worked so hard to solidify in the Reagan years. America will see the bigotry, and they will reject it. And some thought Bush divided…you haven’t seen anything yet.  
 
I am cancelling my AFA membership today and will advise every one of my friends, family members and co-workers of the political agenda you as an organization have, and how the AFA supports a campaign that has only gained recognition through bigotry. 
 
But the one group of people I will not share my political opinions with is those of my church.
sdkittel@msn.comNOSPAM! ">S. Kittel
12. 21-12-2007 00:05
Evangelicals Wouldn’t Vote for Christ
For the first time I have moved away from the conservative “Dark Side” and now support Mike Huckabee for President. Just too many power hungry conservative Talk Show Hosts supporting the Wall Street Power Brokers and their candidates. Mike Huckabee has single handedly moved the election system into the light for all true conservatives and Americans by removing the “For Sale” sign from Washington DC.
13. 21-12-2007 01:09
Democrat President a Certainty
If the Republicans nominate Huckabee they can pack their bags goodbye. The Democrats will steamroll to victory in '08 and the Republicans will be looked at by historians as a joke of religious extremists, fascists, etc.  
 
Of course, a Democrat president is what the powers-that-be want. The current crop of candidates are bought for by the same special interest groups and are there only to give you an illusion of choice. Its despicable how the only honest and electable Republican, Ron Paul is being pushed to the side because he represents a potential win for the Republican party and the powers that be want a Democrat that will continue the NWO agenda. Here we are now, discussing whether or not a Young Earth Creationist who thinks the Earth was created 6,000 years ago will be the Republicans presidential nominee. The Democrats must be laughing.
14. 21-12-2007 07:35
Democrat President a Certainty
"The fact is, Huckabee failed miserably as a father." 
 
The fact is, you don't know anything about Huckabee as a father. Take it from me, a man raised by a Baptist preacher and a good man, that rebelled as a teen and did almost everything he was taught not to do. That isn't my father's fault, it is my fault. Of course, we all know that. But you are so desperate to attack Mr. Huckabee that you will obviously say anything to slander him. Guess what? It isn't going to work my friend. Why don't you try the time-honored method of simply voting against him instead of your ridiculous rant? Surely you know that you cannot be taken seriously. 
I hope that you will find wisdom.
myemailisgeneric@yahoo.comNOSPAM! ">recall the Prodigal Son
15. 21-12-2007 12:43
Huckabee is no Conservative
Huckabee is NO conservative: 
Mike Huckabee was regarded by fellow Republican governors as a compulsive tax increaser and spender. He increased the Arkansas tax burden by 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes. The Arkansas Leader.com editorialized that Mike Huckabee raised more taxes in 10 years in office than Bill Clinton did in his 12 years. 
The National Education Association endorses any candidate who raises taxes and opposes school choice – thus they endorse Mike Huckabee. 
Huckabee “broadly repudiates core Republican policies such as free trade, low taxes, the essential legitimacy of America’s corporate entities and the market system allocating wealth and opportunity,” according to George Will. 
The Arkansas Ethics Commission held proceedings 20 times on the former governor. During his tenure, Huckabee accepted 314 gifts valued overall at more than $150,000, according to documents filed with the Arkansas secretary of state's office. (He accepted 187 gifts in his first three years as governor but was not required to report their value.)  
 
 
Two months after taking office, Huckabee stunned the state by saying he questioned rapist Wayne DuMond's guilt and that it was his intention to free the rapist, DuMond murdered a women in Illinois after Huckabee set him free  
 
Huckabee battled conservatives within his own party who were pushing for stricter state-level immigration measures, such as:.  
- proof of legal status when applying for state services that aren’t federally mandated  
- proof of citizenship when registering to vote 
- Huckabee failed in his effort to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for state-funded scholarships and in-state tuition to Arkansas colleges.  
 
He joined the Democratic chorus in indicting President Bush for his "arrogant bunker mentality." Is he in the right party? 
 
Huck’s use of the “Christian Leader” title and the Cross in his ads and his attempt to denigrate Mitt Romney’s religion is a thinly-veiled attempt to impose a religious test in violation of Article Six of the Constitution 
 
The Huckster was the keynote speaker at an anti-Mormon conference in Salt Lake City. And he knows nothing about Mormons? And the "Christian Leader" doesn't want to release his sermons? 
 
Mike fails on so many levels as a true conservative. 
 
The moniker "Huckster" is well-earned.
16. 23-12-2007 10:46
Huckabee is no Conservative
Mike Huckabee is a \"Uniter\", not a \"Divider\". NO,\"Facism will not come draped in a flag and carrying a cross\". Facism comes right behind Socialism. The liberal left-wing Democrats have succumbed to the Socialistic, Karl Marx-Leninist doctrines.  
 
When you consider pre-World War II Germany, it had become a Socialist State and very much isolationist. It was all for Germany and Germany for all. The German people were under the strong arm of the Hitler regime. 
 
A Socialistic society as envisioned by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, along with the liberal views of Mitt Romney, (the flip-flopper) and former Governor of the Socialist Republic of Massachussettes, are candidates who would, if elected to the office of President of the United States, set the stage for America\'s Socialist/Fascist State. 
 
As Mike Huckabee repeatedly states, \"I am a Conservative,but I\'m not mad about it\". Maybe it is time that we return the Republican Party back over to the working middle class and get it out of the hands of the \"Country Club\" establishment. 
With Huckabee there is no \"For Sale\" sign outside the oval office.
lmead@dls.netNOSPAM! ">Larkin G. Mead
17. 24-12-2007 12:36
Preacher's kids
>Take it from me, a man raised by a Baptist preacher and a good man, that rebelled as a teen and did almost everything he was taught not to do. 
 
Your rebelliousness was made althemore likely by your father's public image and moral rigidity: the usual "preacher's son" phenomenon. It doesn't make your father to blame, but it it certainly makes him largely responsible. 
 
Holding us to an unrealistically lofty set of expectations, an evangelical president will compel rebellion in his constituency.
DrYattz
18. 24-12-2007 12:43
Preacher's kids
Oh, and (as a psychologist) I disagree with the editorialist that Huckabee "failed miserably as a father." He may have provoked severe rebellion in his son with his moralism, but he's not a "failure" as a father. He's likely to have been loving and challenging, only somewhat misguided and unrealistic.
DrYattz
19. 26-12-2007 22:37
Preacher's kids
Quote:
 
He's likely to have been loving and challenging, only somewhat misguided and unrealistic.

 
I call that a failure
Shahram

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