Whither Shall We Go, Huckster?

Jennifer Davis, over at the Victory Girls, has a post about about Mike Huckabee calling for #NeverTrump people to leave the GOP. I offered the following:

I share your contempt for Mike Huckabee. I have noted his poor judgement* and fiscal irresponsibility as Governor, as I opposed both of his failed bids to become POTUS. We can thank him, in part for a Trump candidacy, since it was vanity candidates like he and Ben Carson who cluttered the field and split the anti-Trump vote in the early states.

The problem is where to go? This is clearly not the party of Reagan anymore, and, as Reagan said of the Democrats, "I didn't leave the party, the party left me."

The Tea Party never coalesced. I have much in common with Libertarians, but not all. Independents haven't to my knowledge had much of an impact on national politics. Even if a new conservative party were to rise, like a Phoenix out of the ashes of the Republican party, how many years would it take to duplicate the infrastructure to support a national candidate?

I haven't voted yet this year. I intend to cast my ballot for Ted Cruz in the California Republican primary. After that, we're looking at uncharted waters.

i.e. Huckabee in His Own (Weaselly) Words, Redux

Quote du jour

I trust Bernie Sanders with my tax dollars like I trust a North Korean chef with my labrador!

- Mike Huckabee

Quote du jour

“I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich. I’m a Republican because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life poor and waiting for the government to rescue me.”

- Mike Huckabee

Exotic Animals of the 2016 Campaign

The Mike Huccameleon, Rockandrollimus Wannabeae , is part of a distinctive and highly specialized clade of old world lizards. (Not to be confused with wizards, which the Huck's church might frown upon.) Mike Huccameleons are distinguished by their zygodactylous feet; their very long, highly modified, rapidly extrudable tongues; their swaying gait and their ability to play bass guitar in garage bands.

Like snakes, chameleons do not have an eardrum. However, chameleons are not deaf: they can detect sound frequencies in the range of 200–600 Hz. Like I said...bass.

Smaller arboreal chameleons (both smaller species and smaller individuals of the same species) have recently been found to have proportionately larger tongue apparatuses than their larger counterparts, making them good for stump speeches and as talk show hosts.

Huccameleons are found in warm habitats that range from Arkansas to Iowa. As with most chameleons, the Mike Huccameleon is able to blend into his surroundings. His fiscal conservative coloration can be quite effective at a distance. Up close is another matter.

The Mike Huccameleon is a good natured creature and make an excellent pets. Although they have been known for decisions that come back to bite them.

Exotic Animals: Collect the whole set!

Donald Trumpetfish
Bernie Panders
Hillarymadillo

Mike Huckabee Still Wants to be President

Mike Huckabee still wants to be president. Can I get not just a "No" but a "Hell, No!"?


Mike Huckabee was on Fox News Sunday last Sunday, and was doing the coy, tiptoe tap dance around the fact that he still would like to run for president again.

And, by the way, the only reason I talked to those news entities is because they asked me. You know, I didn't go and solicit them and say, hey, I'd love to have an interview with you and lets But as people approached me and they've asked me about it, I had friends who said let's do a poll, let's just see if you're in the mix.

So, you're just doing interviews when you're asked, eh? And the 'little polling' you're doing? Sure, everybody does that! Are you still keeping in touch with contributors from the last campaign, maybe? A little toe in the water, finger in the air??

"So, when people ask me, are you open to the possibilities? The honest answer is yes. Does that mean I'm running? I don't honestly know. I think there is a lot of time between and then, and, frankly, the Republicans have a strong stable of possible candidates. What I'm looking is to find out whether it's the right thing for me to do, and I'm not ready to make that decision. But I just don't want to tell people, oh, no, I wouldn't open my mind to it because that would be, frankly, dishonest at this point."

Now, Mike, you seem like a good guy. I would not freak out if you moved next door to me or started dating my sister. (Except for that whole current "wife" thing. I might have to have words with you on that! )But, I still don't believe you have what it takes to either win the nomination, or the right man to govern right now if you did.

First of all, do I need to remind you that you were not exactly the picture of fiscal restraint when you were governor? Fox News called Huckabee: "The Biggest Big-Government Conservative"

And you also have your own special Willie Horton moment to explain?

Huckabee in His Own (Weaselly) Words

And how your explanations have come short in the past?
Huckabee in His Own (Weaselly) Words, Redux

Your presidential run turned you into a minor celebrity. Sure your radio show crashed and burned after just 20 months, but that's a lot longer than most of the libs lasted! You still have the eponymously named "Huckabee" on the Fox News Channel. Wouldn't want to give that up, would you??

How about just once we clear the deck of all the vanity candidates, and the 'haven't got a prayer' candidates, who clog up the early presidential debates, and try to winnow the field down to two or three candidates who have the time to more fully present their policies and ideas, without the Barnum and Bailey atmosphere of election years past? Encourage the people who are really serious about preserving the Republic, but haven't got a prayer (or a clue) to just stay home. Write your op-eds, commentaries and tweets, declare your unrequited love but not your candidacy. The stakes are too high for showboating.


Mike Huckabee still wants to be president? And I still want to date a supermodel. With any luck, his chances are as good as mine!

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art
Cross posted at LCR

For Those of You Keeping Score...

Mike Huckabee
Donald Trump
Mitt Romney
Newt Gingrich
Ron Paul
Jon Huntsman
Gary Johnson
Sarah Palin
Rick Santorum
Herman Cain
Tim Pawlenty
Mitch Daniels

Huckabee Opts Against 2012 White House Bid

Showing more sense than I'd given him credit for, Mike Huckabee has decided against running for president in 2012.


One former Arkansas governor becoming president is enough!

Mike Huckabee said Saturday there would be no sequel to his surprisingly strong 2008 White House bid, in which he won the Iowa Republican caucus and finished second in the primaries to Sen. John McCain.

"All the factors say go, but my heart says no," Huckabee, who was considered the GOP frontrunner in several national polls, said on his Fox News Channel show.

But, he had a lot of baggage from his stint as governor and more than a few less than brilliant observations. And he'd have that really sweet and lucrative gig he'd fallen into, which he'd have to give up.

"...I had not done much toward a race because my life was filled with work that I truly love here at Fox News, doing radio commentaries on my daily Huckabee Report on 600 radio stations, traveling the country for speaking engagements, and helping good conservative, pro-life candidates who were running for office," he said.

Good choice Mike! Live long and prosper as a radio and TV commentator.




H/T Memeorandum

Focus on Herman Cain/ Huckabee's Sour Grapes

According to Frank Luntz’s focus group, Herman Cain was the biggest winner at the South Carolina debate.



I was listening to Mike Huckabee's morning commentary, where he teased his audience with a promise to give his opinion of who the biggest winner was in the debate.

When he came back, he said the biggest winners were "those who decided not to participate". Since Mr. Huckabee's name is being bandied about for president, it was disingenuous not to answer the question honestly, or at least try to be a little bit gracious. Instead, his remark sounded petty and small minded, as from someone either fearful of losing the nomination to one of these men, or someone so insecure in his own abilities that he could not or would not give credit where credit was due. (Or both) Either way, the quality doesn't lend itself to being considered presidential. You can't name the biggest winner, Huck? I can name the biggest loser. He not only didn't participate in the debate, but his sour grapes and pettiness bring his judgment into question. Not unlike another incident from his tenure as governor commuting of the sentence of Maurice Clemmons, who later went on to kill four police officers.

Stick to stories about kittens up a tree, Huck and yakking on the radio. A reprise of your failed presidential candidacy will satisfy no one but you.

Huckabee in His Own (Weaselly) Words, Redux

I can’t say that Mike Huckabee reads Proof Positive or Say Anything, but when I heard Tuesday morning’s Huckabee Report, it sounded strangely familiar! I was finally able to get a copy tonight. I’ll give my advice (from Monday) followed by Huckabee’s statement


Proof:

How about a simple declarative sentence, Mr. Huckabee: "I commuted his sentence."

Huck:

I commuted his sentence to 47 years.

Proof:

Or weasel a little bit and say, "Following someone else's recommendation yada yada yada, I commuted his sentence."

Huck:

The parole board recommended five to zero that the 108 year sentence of Maurice Clemmons be commuted due to the fact that he was 16 at the time of the crimes and the sentences were excessive for the crimes he had committed. After review and the legally required 30 day public notice, I commuted his sentence to 47 years.

Proof:

If it was the right thing to do at the time, he should man up, say "I did it, and here's the reason why".

Huck:

My decision to commute his sentence was based on what was before me nine years ago, not what he would ultimately do. I take full responsibility for my decision, and based on the evidence before me, believed it was right.

Looks like Huck (or Proof) is three for three! I’m glad he finally came clean, at least as far as he did, but I would have had more respect for him and his judgment had this been his initial response.

Here’s his Huckabee Report from Tuesday December 1st.

Nine years ago, a clemency request came across my desk. It was one of the thousand to twelve hundred that came each of ten and a half years that I was governor. The parole board recommended five to zero that the 108 year sentence of Maurice Clemmons be commuted due to the fact that he was 16 at the time of the crimes and the sentences were excessive for the crimes he had committed. After review and the legally required 30 day public notice, I commuted his sentence to 47 years. Despite news accounts to the contrary, the only record of public response was support letters from trial judge and friends and family.

The commutation made Clemmons eligible for parole, but he still had to convince the parole board to a supervised release, which he obtained later that year. A parole violation sent him back to prison where he would have stayed. The prosecutors failed to file charges in a timely manner and they had to drop the charges which released him. Nine years and an unforeseen crime spree later, four valiant police officers in Washington State are dead.

My decision to commute his sentence was based on what was before me nine years ago, not what he would ultimately do. I take full responsibility for my decision, and based on the evidence before me, believed it was right. It’s much easier to comment on the news as I do now, than it ever was to make the decisions that make the news. The horrors for the families of the slain police officers will not end. Nothing anyone can say is adequate. Nothing. The justice system doesn’t always work perfectly .The people responsible sometimes fail. In this case, we surely did.

Cross posted at Say Anything

Huckabee in His Own (Weaselly) Words

Bill Clinton would be proud! Here's Mike Huckabee with his full "meaning of 'is' is" momen:

A tragedy in Lakewood Washington yesterday when four police officers were murdered in an execution style ambush by a gunman who was being sought as we prepared today’s report. Authorities are looking for a man with a long history of criminal and psychotic behavior in both Washington State and in Arkansas .

I was governor during some of the time of his incarceration here.

Notice the passive voice here? By some strange coincidence I just happened to be governor during...some of the time. So, if you were governor and commuted his sentence, you should step up to the plate and admit it, right?

The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation. The murder of any individual is a profound tragedy. But the murder of a police officer is the worst of all, in that it’s an assault on every citizen as well as the laws we live within. Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State.

Have I talked enough that you forgot all about that "governor" thing? Well, here goes:

He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and then was paroled by the parole board, once they determined that he met conditions at that time.

"He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence..." Received from whom, Mr. Huckabee? Funny how politicians are always claiming credit for stuff whether they actually did it or not, here, again the passive voice...he received his commutation...as if it floated gently down from heaven! How about a simple declarative sentence, Mr. Huckabee: "I commuted his sentence." Or weasel a little bit and say, "Following someone else's recommendation yada yada yada, I commuted his sentence."

“He was arrested later for parole violation, taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior, but was not kept incarcerated by either states.”

Our thoughts and prayers should be with the families of those honorable, brave and heroic police officers.

Hindsight is always 20/20. If it was the right thing to do at the time, he should man up, say "I did it, and here's the reason why". The way that Huckabee tries to disassociate himself for any responsibility in the commutation of this alleged murderer's sentence is positively Clintonian. What little respect I had for him lessened after hearing his tepid, passive and weaselly acknowledgment of what he had done.

Cross posted at Say Anything

See also "Huckabee in His Own Weaselly Words Redux"