Why does a man who says this get to run for President?

[dsc]

“Let’s face it,” he recently told a crowd of Christian conservatives in Iowa… “In our lifetimes, we’ve seen our country go from ‘Leave It to Beaver’ to ‘Beavis and Butt-head,’ from Barney Fife to Barney Frank, from ‘Father Knows Best’ to television shows where father knows nothing.”

The above is part of Huckabee's stump speech. http://www.pensitoreview.com/2006/03/25/huckabee-smears-barney-frank-in-stump-speech

Why is this OK? It is one thing for some supporters in Podunk to say this kind of crap, but quite another for a bonafide candidate to say this. This shouldn't be OK.

[saltpoint]

1. Huckabee is a homophobic cretin.

I hope Iowa Republicans weed him out of their caucus selection early and swiftly.

[indepat]

8. A butt-head cretin with his head (intellect) up his ass?

[saltpoint]

17. Hi, indepat. Evidently. He's intelligent but directs his smarts toward

divisive remarks.

In the climate where presidential candidates can take hate-crime-like potshots at Congressman Frank for his being gay, violence is sanctioned.

Most of us can never respect -- nevermind vote for -- a candidate who sanctions violence.

[Fridays Child]

2. Barney Frank is brilliant...

Mike Huckabee's parents were probably siblings.

[liberalhistorian]

63. LOL! You could say that for too many repubs,

that would certainly explain a lot, wouldn't it? :evilgrin:

[Whereweat]

3. As long as your 35

you can run for president, you can also say anything you want, it's called freedom of speech.

[dsc]

5. care to guess who will get more TV time

Kucinich or Huckabee?

[mikelgb]

26. I <3 Huckabee

:puke:

[skipos]

11. Yes, you are even allowed to write "your" when you mean "you're!"

Har har! Just kidding! :hi:

[tabasco]

36. The contraction for "you are" is "you're."

A lot of people are screaming about making English the official language so I think we better start learning it.

[tabasco]

39. Here's a pic of some Army recruiters.

JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT !

[smoogatz]

46. So, you're saying it's okay with you that Huckabee is playing to the

worst instincts of homophobic fundie morons in the hope that it'll get him elected to the presidency? You liked it so much when Bush did it you're ready for the instant replay, is that it?

[mondo joe]

47. As a gay man, may I say....

I don't like what he has to say. I don't think it's "okay".

Does he have the right to do it? Absolutely.

[smoogatz]

52. You may.

He's also got the right to put on an SS uniform and goose-step his hillbilly ass up and down the capitol mall singing "Deutschland Über Alles"--and it'd probably win him some votes out in Idaho. But that doesn't make it an acceptable form of political discourse in a civilized country. But you already know that.

[mondo joe]

53. I do. I do not consider it acceptable. But others do.

This is the burden of the democratic model.

[smoogatz]

64. True enough.

Fortunately, we get to vote. Huckabee stands literally no chance in the general election, IMO. The American electorate have had enough of southern accents and folksy public demeanor for the foreseeable future, I'm guessing.

[QC]

54. Is "hillbilly" acceptable discourse?

Many loyal Democrats do not think so.

[smoogatz]

62. And you speak for them, then?

Ah, no. I thought not. But tell me, what is it about the word "hillbilly" in this context that you find so pearl-clutchingly offensive?

[QC]

66. I am one of those people who find class prejudice offensive,

in part because I come from a long line of hillbillies, rednecks, white trash, ridgerunners, or whatever else the oh-so-progressive are calling the rural poor these days. Class prejudice is no more acceptable than Huckabee's homophobia.

[smoogatz]

67. Oh do you, now.

Well, I grew up in one of the poorest rural counties in Ohio. My grandfather was a farmer and a coal miner. Guys I went to high school with were coal miners. The way I see it, I get to say "hillbilly" anytime I want. It's a term I find both useful and descriptive, and I don't appreciate being told that I'm participating in class prejudice when I use the word "hillbilly," of which I am one. I've got plenty of useful, descriptive words for the DU political correctness police, too. Want to hear them?

[QC]

77. "I don't appreciate being told that I'm participating in class prejudice..."

But you are, Blanche! You are in that chair!

[smoogatz]

78. Whatever, Aunt Sally.

Make sure to clutch your pearls for greater effect.

[mitchum]

79. Yes...as is redneck, cracker, peckerwood...

when the clodhopper fits. And it certainly fits Huckabee perfectly

[RetroLounge]

61. and freedom to misspell...

:eyes:

RL

[mnhtnbb]

4. It's okay for him to make an idiot of himself. Hey, if Chimpy could get there...

[americanstranger]

6. Beavis & Butthead?

They haven't been on TV in.... how may years now?

Huckabee is just like every other dumbass Republican - way behind the curve. He gets no cred with me until he starts criticizing 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force.'

But Shake, Frylock and Meatwad won't exist in his world for another ten years. What an idiot.

- as

[Bill McBlueState]

15. besides

Anyone who watched Beavis and Butt-head understood that the point of the show was to make fun of kids like that, not offer them up as role models. :eyes:

[tridim]

7. I bet he loved it when Dick Armey called him "Barney Fag"

Why any candidate would want to run on a platform of hate is beyond me. At least it guarantees that he'll lose.

[SoCalDem]

9. Who's his campaign manager? George Allen? n/t

[msongs]

10. when those shows were on, "colored" children could not go to the U of Arkansas

or any schools for whites only and they knew their places.

is that what Huckster-bee stands for?

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[skipos]

13. Ahh... Trent Lott longs for those days too. *sigh*

:sarcasm:

[terrya]

12. Barney Frank is one of the few people in Congress I respect.

He's smart, hard working and conscientious.

Personally, I have a problem with someone holding Barney Fife as a role model.

[mondo joe]

14. Anyone should get to run for President. That's democracy.

The real problem isn't that someone like that can run. The problem is that enough people are willing to support them.

[rainy]

16. He is right. The country has degraded to a base that is immoral and

ignorant and brain washed. We are now just good little consumers who have been studied and manipulated into buying anything as long as the media convinces us that it is cool and we can't live without it. We let the lowest of us get all the attention and fame. We watch shit on TV and think it is ok for whatever reason. We allow our children to have and do things as not to be labeled not cool or weird or boring. Kids are on myspace talking about getting drugs from Canada on-line and f this and f that. The songs they listen to are awful. I want to fuck you etc..... Girls gone wild think they are pleasing the boys but in reality are being used by them to make money etc... What girls must think they have to do to be accepted I can only imagine. It is a wonder we get any good kids at all. Especially in the areas where there is not much hope; where kids work for dirt or can't get a job and have no future to look forward to. I know there are lots of good things going on but I am hard pressed to see them in abundance. The drugs, alcohol abuse consumerism it destroying our lives. We are a sick bunch and are doing little to make things better out of our own cynicism and our own hopelessness. I'm not a prude, I just have two young girls, 15 and 16 and I know it is much tougher to be young in this world. I really can't get over the songs out there. Women have taken a few steps back over all the bottom line greed and anything goes if it will make a buck world we live in.

[me b zola]

43. Perhaps you missed the homophobic part of Huck-a-bee's statement

:shrug:

[JVS]

49. Likely.

I didn't remember who Barney Frank is at first and I'm sure there are plenty of Americans who don't know who he is or what that comment would mean.

[rainy]

76. I only read what the poster wrote. Sorry for not reading the link. I think that

gay has nothing to do with my statement about our society at this time as gays are a normal part of our humanity. I do think that consumerism is to blame for a lot of our woes. We are too complacent about what is being shoved down our throats and pumped into our minds and the minds of our children.

I didn't know Huckabee is a homophobic or had made homophopbic statements.

I just think beyond politics and censorship we are in trouble as a socity because we are so cought up in consuming and not caring anymore.

[loyalsister]

18. How did he forget

A good Republican general as president who was wary of the Military Industrial Complex to an shameful Republican AWOL chickenhawk who caters to them?

[H2O Man]

19. Perhaps he

is running for Danny Quayle's old position.

[salin]

20. because GOP strategists are as bad as some Dem strategists

and their conv wisdom of the day seems to be that the only way to win is to pander in excess to the extreme religious right. And those folks are whispering in the ears of the politicians and plying them with sycophantish flattery. no other way to explain that Allen and Santorum and now Brownback and Romney think that they have a chance. And to pander to that perceived "treasured constituency" (that they haven't noticed have become more and more marginalized *AGAIN*) the more over-the top and ignorant ranting to the religious right buzz issues, the better.

[MrSlayer]

21. Wouldn't Fife to Frank be a serious upgrade in intelligence?

How is that a negative?

[saltpoint]

22. I'd vote for Congressman Frank over Governor Huckabee no

matter what, any day of the week.

[donco6]

23. Hell, I'd vote for Congressman FIFE over Huckabee.

At least Barney had a good heart.

[Radical Activist]

65. I'd vote for Beavis and Butthead over Huckabee!

They couldn't be any worse than Bush.

[sweetheart]

24. Huckabees... jude law...

i'm having a cinema film flashback of a film i can't recall.... huckabees. was involved,
and nobody was running for president... and as it turns, there really is a huckabee!

[americanstranger]

27. I Heart Huckabees....

It was about a department store, right?

- as

[sweetheart]

29. yes! thats it

It was odd but penetrating, unlike i expect the namesake of this thread... oh well. :hi:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

25. Don't discount Huckabee

I fear that he will gain traction with the fundies, since he himself is one.

[dsc]

30. Ok trust me I am not underestimating him

He is very scary.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

33. Very

Two things that can work against him are that he increased taxes in Arkansas by requiring several services to charge sales tax; the other is that he consolodated schools, which took away local control. Both of these topics-tax increase and government interference in local issues--should be used as talking points to any conservative who is looking at him favorably.

[JVS]

42. I think he can keep them and likely get a lot of more moderate voters

He came off well on the daily show a while ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VklB57N-Yns

[smoogatz]

44. I think he'll win the nom.

McCain's severely damaged by his idiotic surge proposal (never thought Bush'd actually go for it), Rudy's way too progressive on most social issues, Brownback and Tancredo are too scary for the money boys. That leaves Huckabee.

[salin]

48. that bodes ill for the GOP - a candidate with a primarily

fundy base will lose the mod repubs along with independents. Schaivo - and indifference to Katrina/Rita by GOP and "religious right leaders" have made those candidates very unappealing to the middle. If the GOP has become SO controlled by the theocrats in their party than they are destined to lose. Remember that W ran initially as a moderate. The second time the country was still sensitive to 911 and thus responsive to the Terra! Terra! Terra! message. More and more folks have been turned off by the religious right.

The biggest threat to dems, imo, is Hagel. And he may be pissing off enough of the religious right base to screw up his chances. that is the battle to watch - the battle for control of the GOP. If the GOP is now so controlled by the religious right - that Hagel is knocked out - than a dem win - by ANY candidate is just about assured.

[smoogatz]

50. I think we're witnessing the beginning of a major implosion

in the republic party. I think that once the investigations are underway and the subpoenas are served and the testimony's given and the flunkies start to turn on their superiors, the republics are likely to be locked out of the presidency and any congressional majority for a generation. And that's if somehow a miracle occurs and the economy doesn't collapse in the next two years, and Bush doesn't attack Iran, and Iraq doesn't spiral into an all-out bloodbath.

[salin]

55. hate to cite a republican -but Hagel says to GQ that there is

likely to be a political realignment (per parties). In current rhetoric, hard to think that this would lead to a realignment that abets the GOP - esp as the major figures keep pandering far theocratic right, or far neo con right.

[ContraBass Black]

28. Because he's over 35 and a natural born citizen.

[slackmaster]

40. That about covers it

n/t

[Toucano]

31. Why is this okay?

It's not okay. D'uh!

What made you think it was okay? The fact that some people agree with him? That doesn't make it okay.

[spooky3]

32. I hope he wins the primaries.

I'd like to think someone who behaves that way will not have a ghost of a chance of winning the general election.

[JVS]

37. After thinking that in 2000, I will never hope for that again

[spooky3]

57. I think many in the electorate have learned their lesson.

We tried to warn them, but some people "learn by doing" only.

[JVS]

60. nope. never again. I hope that the republicans always run the least scary one...

from the primaries.

[spooky3]

75. well, don't worry, I will be very surprised if he gets out of the primaries.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

34. "We even have Negroes in our schools!"

You know that's where he was going with this.

[Horse with no Name]

35. It's not okay

And Little Timmy should have drilled him on it.
It actually inspired this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x64241

[whistle]

38. Let him talk his own mouth condemns him

[Olney Blue]

41. Inspiring. Not.

[Stinky The Clown]

45. Ah don't worry about it. Barney Frank can eat his lunch ......

.... Huckabee's a homophobic asshole. If that's his stump speech, he's out there preachin' to Bush's backwash.

[misternormal]

51. Huckabee is a former S. Baptist Minister... 'nuff said. n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

56. from Huckleberry Hound to Huckabee the Clown

[AZBlue]

58. He "get[s] to run for President" because this is the US.

The minute we start deciding who can and who can not be allowed to run, I'm outta here!!!!!!!!!!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

59. you couldn't take anyone serious with a name like Huckabee

'President Huckabee' people would fall about laughing!

[LeftishBrit]

70. Yes, it's easy to come up with some very rude versions of that name!

[spanone]

68. Maybe he doesn't realize that Leave it to Beaver & Barney Fife & were fictional characters

along with Father knows best. A presidential candidate should know fact from fiction.

[SammyWinstonJack]

74. VP Quayle didn't grasp that. "Murphy Brown" LOL!

[LeftishBrit]

69. Well, in one way it's good that he's saying this stuff NOW

At least people can see what an idiot he is, before he gets anywhere near the White House.

Was he that revolting as a governor?

Arksansas govs running for president: from Bill Clinton to this Huckabee twit. A drop of at least 50 IQ points.

[HughBeaumont]

71. Brownback/Huckabee 2008:

Their theme should be "Drop Kick me Jesus through the Goalposts of Life".

[area51]

72. "Why does a man who says this get to run for President?"

Because we live in a barbaric, backwards country in which gay people don't have equal rights with straight people; and we also don't even have single-payer universal healthcare like the civilized countries have. Libertarianism for the poor & middle-class, socialism for the wealthy.

[soswolf]

73. In our lifetime...

How about some real issues, Mike?

Beavis and Butt-Head has been off the air for years now. And at least that program featured people of different races and cultures.

Get with the program.