Huck on Leno

How many people in the state of Iowa stayed up to watch Leno's return to the air after a two-month hiatus? Versus the number of people who watched yet another political story on the late local news? Just asking.

So Huck's heart is the right place, immigration is an exception.
But he is not running to be a nation's pastor.

Without proposed serious plans and programs, critically discussed by expert and public, it is almost irrelevant.

So far, it does not look good. His foreign policy article was a joke, but what one would expect from a pol whose foreign policy guru is little Tommy Flatbrain Friedman.

Candidate Huck, heart is largely in the right place, no serious domestic or foreign policies/programs.

"He said it with conviction, and convincingly. I like that."

Boy, are you easy! I'll bet that when sales people see you walk in the door they say "Oh, good! Here he comes again."

Um, no he did not. Any company has the right to go on with business minus the persons on strike. It may not be easy but they have the right to do it. Any person's buying from said company is not crossing a picket line. I mean, am I crossing a picket line by watching some reality show/crap that doesn't have a written script? Leno and whoever else is around is going on without a writing staff. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, well then...

Besides that, I'm not exactly dripping with sympathy for the writers who want a little more of the Hollywood gravy train. But that's a different post.

But THINK people: Did Huckabee WRITE anything [beyond what he already had for himself] for Leno? Did he get paid for any actual jokes? Did he interview anybody and tip Leno off what to ask? No. He was a guest. Pure and simple.

And then there's common folk like me who have never gotten anything but a smaller paycheck and junkmail from the unions I've been FORCED to join. So, thats a plus for Huckabee, right there.

Huckabee? That's the guy who thinks that his God remote-controls people into voting for him, right?

Since there could be NO other explanation for his rise in the polls ...

I agree with John E., Huckabee is a comic preacher not presidential material. His jokes will get old mighty quick!!

We saw what a Rhodes Scholar "type" does with young interns "IN" the White House and what he did under oath. No different than a pimp or common thief. It's far past time to get rid of these typical political power-mongers. Huckabee would be great dealing with world leaders as well.

"What a kick to have a Republican presidential candidate talking like this!"

Is that all it takes to be President, to talk like this? No substance as to "how" it will happen, just talk about how he wants to help the working class.

"Huckabee has yet to fashion economic policies that might appeal to middle and working class voters"

You (and others) may be impressed with talk, but I want to see some details before I buy.

It's really too bad that Huck is such a dork. A well-intentioned dork, but still a dork. His Fair Tax plan is being excoriated by economists from all over the political spectrum. He is blisteringly ignorant of the very basics of energy policy and foreign affairs (are either of those areas important nowadays?). He seems to genuinely expect that if enough voters see what a nice, affable guy he is, then they will overlook his stupidity.

The thing that worries me is, he might be right.

Huckabee, like any other politician above (perhaps) the county or smaller-state level, is what used to be called a "humbug". Above a certain level, a politician becomes the captive of his campaign contributors and the representatives of the so-called "interest groups" that are more interested in sticking their mitts out than in actually following the Constitution.

ALL national-level politicians---and I include Ron Paul in this statement, on and for the record---are fundamentally frauds. As Mencken once wrote, "every election is an advance auction of stolen property." The best option one has if one is going to step into a voting booth, is to select the one likely to do the least amount of harm. If you don't know which one will do that (and it's none too easy to find out, admittedly), then look for the lever next to "None of the Above".

If that's not an option, then try to determine who has the most identifiable campaign contributors supporting him, and vote for that one. At least that way you'll have a better idea who's going to be screwing you.

If you have to vote, "Be Safe. Vote Defensively."

Your servant,

Lord Karth

Going on Leno makes sense for any politician. It is the only way they can get an audience that will not automatically change the channel or hit the mute button. The risk, of course, is that they are exposed to an audience that is not made up of mindless campaign workers holding signs with idiotic slogans, or the people of Iowa who seem to make a habit of making the campaign workers look intelligent by comparison.

When I was a boy, my father had a friend who retired there with his wife, settling in Cedar Rapids. Twice a year we would drive there from Chicago to visit them and one time, on the way home, my father said, "How do they manage to fit that much stupidity into one state?"

Do none of you Huckabee enthusiasts remember an idealistic ex-governor named Jimmy Carter? Do none of you see the similarities here?

I cannot think of a more conscientious public servant than Carter; a genuine man of faith, in my book. Not just a talker. He is a doer. Since leaving the presidency, he has walked the walk like no other ex-president before him. But he proved badly suited to the presidency, or perhaps better said, poorly equipped for the circumstances that comprised the historical context of his presidency.

As for the above-mentioned Rhodes scholar, his overall competency in office vastly outweighed his personal moral failings. If not for a vindictive Republican witch hunt, how much more might have been accomplished on his watch? The collective prosperity enjoyed under the Clinton administration wasn't illusory; in retrospect, it was a historical reality that has since been utterly undermined by an incompetent Republican hegemony. I'm not being partisan; merely observant.

Peak oil is probably on us. We might see an ice-free Arctic summer as early as 2013. Too much wealth has been concentrated into the hands of too few people who do not have the common good in mind. The amoral legal and economic principles that guide corporate conduct have been cannibalizing the infrastructure that encourages free enterprise in America. People are genuinely alarmed about shrinking access to health benefits. Ever-growing numbers of working and middle class folks have lost faith in free market rhetoric. John Edwards' firebrand populism resonates in a way it wouldn't have 10 years ago. Huckabee seems to have noticed ... yet still pushes a crackpot, regressive tax that claims to de-fang the evil IRS while it would actually require a vaster regulatory and policing effort that, by its very nature, would intrude on every basic economic transaction on every day of our lives.

Yes, I want a principled and public-spirited president in office. But these times also call for extraordinary intelligence and administrative ability.

By the way, our president isn't supposed to establish the religious and moral tone of this country. We are.

I'm starting to think Rod needs to rename this place "Huckabee Con" or "Crunchy Huck". :)

Rod, weren't you once upon a time at least a tepid Ron Paul supporter? Why all this Huckabee stuff?

"He remarked on "the level of true religious bigotry that exists in our culture--that for those of us who are people of faith, it's okay to have it but please keep it to yourselves."

Well, considering it is called "a PERSONAL relationship with Christ", maybe the religionists SHOULD keep it to themselves.

"Huckabee is the one Republican candidate in the race who has talked often about working class and middle class Americans and the anxieties they have"

This is simply false. Edwards talks of both the middle class and the working class - a LOT."

Anonymous, you might want to reread Rod's statement that Huckabee is the only REPUBLICAN candidate who's been talking about that stuff. Last I checked, Edwards was still a Democrat.

The only influence Bill Clinton had on the economic prosperity of the 90's was that he was unsuccessful in making changes to the economic policies of the Reagan/Bush era, except to grant the biggest legal tax fraud scheme called the Earned Income Credit. If you don't realize this than you are either under the age of 40 or a "hater" masked as a bleeding-heart liberal. After the first few months of Hillary trying to socialize the health care industry, Bill wised up and left good enough alone. Soon after the Republicans took control over both houses of Congress which rendered politically impotent. I guess that is why he felt the need to prove his potency with his EMPLOYEES, and then lie about it. And start a "wag the dog" war in the Balkans.

The only influence Bill Clinton had on the economic prosperity of the 90's was that he was unsuccessful in making changes to the economic policies of the Reagan/Bush era, except to grant the biggest legal tax fraud scheme called the Earned Income Credit.

So, this entire economic disaster creeping up on us is the Republican's fault?

The one nice thing about having a Republican Congress and President for four, basically six, years: No more excuses about the economy.

Fairly soon, everyone's going to understand that the Republicans attempted to keep this inflated housing bubble going until the next president, so they could blame him for the collapse. And that made the entire problem much much worse, whereas if it'd collapsed in 2002-2003 like it was supposed to we'd be over it by now and it wouldn't have taken banks down with it.

"I think it is the elitism of many, even seen on this board throwing "stupid" around to this or that person/group, that is driving Huckabee's rise.

Amazing, actually.
Posted by: Timothy Copple | January 3, 2008 2:28 PM"

Wiser words were never spoken, Timothy. I usually come to this blog to escape the elitist arrogance so prevalent on other sites I frequent, from both sides of the political divide. Huffington Post and National Review come immediately to mind; on both sites, the hubris and pettiness are getting hard to bear. I have almost been pushed the the point that I"m thinking of voting for Huckabee just because I'm so sick of the condescending tone of his critics. Wouldn't it be ironic if those critics ultimately nailed the nomination for him?

"It makes perfect sense that Rod would be focusing on Huckabee. This is a blog about 'conservative politics and religion.' MargaretE

What makes you think Arkansas Slick is a Conservative? Do you know something the rest of the world doesn't? The media would love to see him be the nominee because he turns off true Conservatives. They wouldn't break a sweat trying to get him elected.

And if you think this blog is about Conservatives, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.