Tag Archives: Mike Huckabee

Huckabee to get boot from Fox?

What might conservative media talking heads say if former Vice President Al Gore had an on-air contract with MSNBC and then began talking out loud about a possible run for the presidency of the United States?

They would demand the network get Gore off the air. And they would be correct.

Well, a leading conservative voice on the Fox News Channel is considering yet another presidential campaign bid.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the Fox talking head. To its credit, Fox is considering yanking its contract with Huckabee.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/223921-fox-takes-serious-look-at-huckabees-political-activity

The network should move quickly. Get the ex-governor off the air and let him proceed with his pre-presidential campaign planning without benefiting from the exposure he gets from his cable news network talk show.

Fox has had this dance with other politicians-turned-contributors. Former U.S. Rep. and House Speaker Newt Gingrich once had a Fox gig. Then he ran for president in 2012 and Fox let him go. Same for ex-U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, another contributor who ran for president two years ago.

It’s one thing to have has-been pols, such as former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on the payroll. She won’t seek national political office again — I hope.

But these returning politicians present another problem for a network seeking to maintain its so-called and highly debatable “fair and balanced” reputation.

Let’s quit the charade, Fox execs. Cut the governor loose. Surely you can persuade Sarah “Barracuda” Palin to fill the void.

 

 

President/Rev. Huckabee?

A thought just occurred to me, so I reckon I’ll share it here.

It involves former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran for the Republican nomination for president once and who might do so again. Some recent polling puts him near the front rank of a large gaggle of GOP contenders for the White House.

Huckabee on religion

Here’s the thought.

Back in 1960, when Sen. John F. Kennedy, was running for president, critics of the young lawmaker were dubious about his Catholic faith. They actually expressed some fear that a President Kennedy would be taking his orders from the Vatican, that he couldn’t separate his constitutional responsibility from his faith.

The candidate ended up making a speech in Texas in which he said, in effect, that he would swear to uphold the Constitution and that the oath never would play second fiddle to anything or anyone, period, end of discussion.

Should we ask similar questions of Gov. Huckabee, who in an earlier life was a Baptist preacher?

Indeed, the question might come if Huckabee decides to seek the presidency. Imagine someone asking: “Governor, will you govern according to the Constitution or will you base your policy decisions on what Scripture says?” I’ll point out once more that the Constitution is a totally secular document that states Congress shall make no law establishing a state religion and that there shall be no religious litmus test for office seekers.

Still, the issue might find its way to the table if Rev. Huckabee decides to run for the presidency.

Huckabee reveals his truer self, apparently

Hey, wasn’t Mike Huckabee supposed to be the voice of a new brand of “compassionate conservatism,” a term made popular by another prominent Republican, a guy named George W. Bush?

The former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist preacher — who also happens to play a pretty good bass — once was considered a good guy even among those who likely wouldn’t vote for him.

Now comes this little item.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/opinion/collins-huckabee-spills-the-beans.html?_r=0

“If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it. Let us take that discussion all across America.”

Gov. Huckabee made that statement to a Republican gathering just this week — and has reopened the firestorm relating to why the GOP keeps doing so badly among women.

“Uncle Sugar.” What an endearing term. As one commentator said this week, such terminology in street lingo is meant to refer to pimps. Here’s a preacher, a man of God, suggesting Democrats are trying to persuade the “women of America” that they need good ol’ Uncle Sugar to provide them with contraceptives because they just can’t control their desire to have sex.

I rather liked the compassionate conservative Mike Huckabee. This version of himself, which he rolled out when he became a Fox News TV commentator and talk show host, is quite unappealing. I only can imagine what the women of America will be thinking once they start considering the 2016 campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Duck Dynasty guy’s remarks: All Obama’s fault

I lied.

I said I wouldn’t say any more about Phil Robertson, the Duck Dynasty dude who got suspended for his views on homosexuality, blacks and other issues that have nothing to do with his reality A&E TV show.

Then we hear from Mike Huckabee, the Fox News Channel commentator, Baptist preacher, former Arkansas governor, former presidential candidate and possible future candidate for president.

He did what I kind of figured would happen. He somehow linked Robertson’s remarks to President Obama and inferring, if only obliquely, that Barack Obama is somehow caught in the middle of this media maelstrom.

http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/22/3098711/mike-huckabee-drags-obama-duck-dynasty-controversey/

Here’s part of what Huckabee said today on Fox News Sunday:

“I think it has come to a point in our culture where political correctness has made it so if you want to take a point of view, it is traditional. It holds to steadfast old fashioned biblical principles, that you’re supposed to just shut up and keep that to yourself. There is a new level of bullying on the part of these militant activist groups, who if anyone says something that holds to the same position that Barack Obama held in 2008 when he was at the Saddleback Church with John McCain made it clear very clear that he opposed same sex marriage, and he said he did so because he was a Christian and because of his biblical views.”

Huckabee didn’t say Obama should be blamed for anything Robertson said. It’s just curious that he would introduce the president into an argument that has inflamed folks on both sides, as if Barack Obama needs any more bad press.

There. I sort of kept my vow of silence henceforth on Robertson’s remarks. I just thought it a bit strange for one leading Republican to tie this controversy to a president who’s spending some quality Christmas vacation time with his family.

There’s no escape, Mr. President.