Mike Huckabee and Hot CNBC Anchors

I'm a few days late to this but here's our favorite ex-chubby, presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee on what the GOP needs to do to 'reverse course'.

What can the party do to reverse course?

Republicans need to be Republicans. The greatest threat to classic Republicanism is not liberalism; it's this new brand of libertarianism, which is social liberalism and economic conservatism, but it's a heartless, callous, soulless type of economic conservatism because it says "look, we want to cut taxes and eliminate government. If it means that elderly people don't get their Medicare drugs, so be it. If it means little kids go without education and healthcare, so be it." Well, that might be a quote pure economic conservative message, but it's not an American message. It doesn't fly. People aren't going to buy that, because that's not the way we are as a people. That's not historic Republicanism. Historic Republicanism does not hate government; it's just there to be as little of it as there can be. But they also recognize that government has to be paid for.

If you have a breakdown in the social structure of a community, it's going to result in a more costly government ... police on the streets, prison beds, court costs, alcohol abuse centers, domestic violence shelters, all are very expensive. What's the answer to that? Cut them out? Well, the libertarians say "yes, we shouldn't be funding that stuff." But what you've done then is exacerbate a serious problem in your community. You can take the cops off the streets and just quit funding prison beds. Are your neighborhoods safer? Is it a better place to live? The net result is you have now a bigger problem than you had before.

Pretty convenient...Get it? What Republicans need to do to turn it around are become Republicans once again. And what is a Republican? Well it's Mike Huckabee, of course!

Full interview here at the Huffington Post.

And on a completely unrelated topic-- Since I'm home sick watching Erin Burnett on CNBC today I'll include her top 10 things a man can do for her. Hint: They all involve spending a lot of money. Darn.

Huckabee Campaign Reduced To Selling Newspapers

The Dallas Morning News has endorsed Huckabee, mathematics be damned. Well guess what, DMN? Just like Jesus, Mike Huckabee loves you.

"The Dallas Morning News is probably the greatest newspaper in America," the GOP dark horse said today at a press conference in Houston, tongue planted firmly in cheek. "And everybody ought to get a lifetime subscription."

Yeah, he's telling another joke. But it's now more obvious than ever that Huck's entire campaign is, well... a joke.


Bonus Passage: So why exactly does the Dallas Morning News like Huckabee?

The world has changed since Ronald Reagan's election nearly 30 years ago, and the great man's political heirs will have to adjust the GOP's strategy and tactics to new realities.

To that end, Mr. Huckabee, 52, should be a top leader in tomorrow's Republican Party. His good-natured approach to politics – "I'm a conservative; I'm just not mad about it," as he likes to say – is quite appealing after years of scorched-earth tactics from both parties. He's a pragmatist more concerned with effective government than with bowing to ideological litmus tests. For example, he has proven himself willing to violate anti-tax dogma to undertake investment in infrastructure for the sake of long-term prosperity.

Mr. Huckabee also is good on the environment, contending that the future of the conservative movement depends on embracing conservation and stewardship of the natural world. And he's a compassionate conservative especially in tune with middle-class anxieties in a globalizing economy.

Translation: Limited government is dead, so we endorse Huckabee because he'd spend a lot of your money and restrict trade, but at the same time magically conjure up loaves and fishes for everyone.

I Was Against It Before I Was for It

Huckabee steps back from his previous calls for a national smoking ban.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has reversed his position on a federal ban aimed at workplace smoking and now believes the issue should be addressed by state and local governments.


The about-face is apparent in a Huckabee campaign statement, sent to The Hill Tuesday evening in response to questions about the smoking ban proposal. It clashes with the stance Huckabee has taken during his race for the White House and with his record as governor of Arkansas, when he signed into law a measure prohibiting smoking in most indoor public places.

Way back in August, when Mike Huckabee was still trying to break onto the national scene, I watched the Arkansas Governor on MSNBC call for a national smoking ban. My initial take on what he said, here.

Huckabee in Michigan

Huckabee's view on the economy; lacking even the slightest tones of class ware...Nope, none at all.

"For those of us for whom summer is not a verb, for those of us who didn't go to fancy boarding schools on the east coast, for those of us who didn't grow up with a silver spoon, who were lucky to have a spoon -- ask those folks and they'll tell you the economy is not doing well for them," says Huckabee.

Article with quote here.

Ever Clever Mike Huckabee Knows What's Up

He's cribbing from Ron Paul's play sheet.

Speaking to a packed gymnasium Sunday, Mike Huckabee sounded off on how politicians in Washington, D.C. had spent beyond their public mandate. He then threw in a line about money printing that could have come out of Ron Paul’s mouth. “We sent them there to cut spending, and they didn’t do it. They’ve spent more money than has ever been spent. Guess where that money is coming from. Your pocket," Huckabee said. "Just remember this, when government says we’re giving you things, remember before the government can give you something, the government has to take it from you first. And the handling charge is extraordinary.” “We need to say no to government spending when it’s wrecking our grandchildren’s futures. Nine trilllion dollars worth of debt on your credit card that somebody transferred to the next several generations. That’s irresponsible. And what’s their answer? Spend more. Print more, spend more.”

Huckabee: the GOP Frankenstein

Mike Huckabee has become the Frankenstein in the GOP. The party's pandering to evangelicals helped them win elections. Now that wing is taking over the party and they created a monster that they can no longer control.

George Will writes against Huckabee here , Krauthammer here, Novak here, Rich Lowry of National Review here.

Rich Lowry richly calls it "Huckacide." From his article:

The GOP’s social conservatism inarguably has been an enormous benefit to the party throughout the past 30 years, winning over conservative Democrats and lower-income voters who otherwise might not find the Republican limited-government message appealing. That said, nominating a Southern Baptist pastor running on his religiosity would be rather overdoing it. Social conservatism has to be part of the Republican message, but it can’t be the message in its entirety.

Lowry's own words summarize the problem that the GOP has created for itself. Arguing that social conservatism "has to be a part of the Republican message" while also acknowledging that social conservatives "might not find the Republican limited-government message appealing" is a tacit acknowledgement, and approval, of the GOP abandoning Goldwater-style libertarianism to elect more Republicans to office. But what is the point of electing people to office when they do not adhere to your principles? We saw the result of this strategy of electing Republicans at all costs with the GOP-led Congress that pushed through the Medicare drug benefit while intervening in the Terry Schiavo case. Tom DeLay is, thankfully, out to pasture but...

Enter Mike Huckabee, who is the next natural step in this evolution, even if he does not believe in evolution. And if he wins the primary then there really will be a Huckacide by the GOP.

Right On

I read James Pinkerton's smear of Ron Paul in Newsday today. He claimed that Paul called Huckabee a fascist. By any objective viewing of Paul's Fox News appearance, however, Paul didn't. I was going to do a post on how Paul should have said outright that Huckabee is a fascist; but I didn't have the time. Fortunately, Lew Rockwell did.

what is fascism? It is a real ideology, not just an epithet. It is characterized by belligerent nationalism, militarism, aggressive war, suppression of civil liberties, use of religion in the service of the state, exaltation of the executive, opposition to free markets domestically and internationally, corporatism, welfarism, domestic spying, torture, and detestation of the Other, in this case Muslims and Arabs. So not only is Huckabee a fascist, so are most other candidates of both parties, and the entire Christian right

Right on.

The Huckabee Ad

The TV spot that has everyone talking.

I gotta say that I agree with what appears to be the conventional wisdom. A very smart piece of work. Disgusting, yes -- just like everything about the man -- but you can take nothing away from Huckabee the politician and preacher. I think that's what makes him such a scary figure...He's very good at what he does.

God Tires of the Heavy Lifting in the Polls; Tells Huckabee to 'Do Some of Your Own Work'

Huckabee spends some money via TV buys and staff.

Winning the nomination remains an ambition with immense obstacles to overcome. He will only have five days to carry a possible victory from Iowa to New Hampshire. That leaves little time to capitalize on momentum but equally, little time to undercut it. But no obstacle haunts Huckabee more than his meager staff resources.

So Huckabee, due to urgent necessity, is now hiring. He added roughly 10 campaign staffers in the last three weeks. Yet his campaign still numbers at 42 paid staffers nationwide – only about half of what Romney has in Iowa alone.

Full story at the Politico.

Oh, This Is Going To Be Fun

Huckabee asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" No joke. More below:

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Can you beat this primary season? Wide open on the GOP side and 3-5 guys just mud wrestling for the nomination. Other than having a candidate or two that I'd like to vote for, I couldn't imagine a better Presidential primary.

Huck's Thin Skin

Immigration, crime, spending, taxes, scandal. Plenty of core Republican issues for Huckabee's fellow candidates to attack him on. As Huckabee soars to a 22% lead in Iowa, and pulling closer to Giuliani in the national polls, the mud is beginning to fly -- and rightfully so. Today Romney released a TV spot in Iowa attacking Huckabee's immigration record as governor. We all know Iowans are notoriously anti-negative ads, so it might not play well in that state, but it should have an impact on the national scene especially if Romney hopes to pull away any Huckabee voters in other early primary states.

Huckabee's role in the granting of clemency to convicted rapist Wayne Dumond is beginning to work it's way to the surface, now clearly in the sights of the MSM. Thanks to conservative journalist who have been pushing this story since the summer (see Byron York's piece in National Review some months back) and continue to do so now with the help of folks like Tom Edsall, et al (see the main page of the Huffington Post as of 10:00am).

Clemency, or excessive pardons along with immigration are the two easiest attack routes on Huckabee from within the GOP. Taxes and spending attacks go nowhere in a party that lacks the constituency that cares enough about limited government (at least as of now). That's not say that more Club for Growth type attacks won't still be mounted; it's just I don't think it's a winning strategy for a Rudy or a Mitt to use on Huckabee. Stay with immigration (even if the candidate lobbing the mud is suspect himself on immigration) and the easy soundbites like he "released a rapist from prison to murder". How does that not work?

What I find interesting -- or what I think will become the deciding factor in whether Huckabee can make anything of this surge -- has to be his thin-skin in the political arena. Huckabee can't take criticism, from any side. In Arkansas he was terrible at dealing with journalist, using a slash and burn technique when he would have been much better off ignoring the publication or individual journalist. How will this personal characteristic work for him in national politics? Presidential politics? Not too well I think, but time will tell.

As Huckabee says, people are scared of him. The Washington establishment is scared of him, Wall Street is scared of him, normal Americans should be scared of him. He is a religious zealot/economic populist. Anti-free trade, tax and spend, nanny-stater. It's hard to find one thing, besides his fundamentalism, that matches, or should match up with the Republican Party. It's not a healthy thing for our country when Ron Paul pulls 2-5% nationally, and a candidate like Huckabee pulls 19%. Anyone who sees hope in a cash-rich, and semi-popular Paul candidacy should have that hope soundly smashed when we see Huckabee surging to become a viable candidate.

Huckabee Surge Helps the Democrats

Huckabee has a two to one lead over Romney in Iowa. As much as I would love to see Iowa blown into the irrelevance that it deserves, it is important with our current primary system.

If Huckabee wins Iowa and the Republican primary then there is a 100% chance that the Democratic candidate will win the general election.

Fiscal conservatives, who used to vote Republican, cannot stand the Christian values litmus test and will vote against it. They are a big swing group that the GOP ignores. And libertarians hate Huckabee's tax raising and Nanny State policies.

Huckabee: "God Gave Me 10% In the Polls"

Or something like that. Please God, help me believe that our electorate isn't so half-brained as to actually be drawn to this loose-skin, snake-oil salesman. Please.

STUDENT: Recent polls show you surging... What do you attribute this surge to?

HUCKABEE: There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of five thousand people. (Applause) That's the only way that our campaign can be doing what it's doing. And I'm not being facetious nor am I trying to be trite. There literally are thousands of people across this country who are praying that a little will become much, and it has. And it defies all explanation, it has confounded the pundits. And I'm enjoying every minute of them trying to figure it out, and until they look at it, from a, just experience beyond human, they'll never figure it out. And it's probably just as well. That's honestly why it's happening.

Wow. A "non-human factor". I'd be more apt to go with it if by non-human, he meant some kind of giant mutant tortoise that is traveling the country campaigning for him. His very own turtle version of Oprah.

More here.

More Will on Huckabee

Geroge Will, yesterday:

Many Iowans think it would be wise to nominate a candidate who, when the Republicans were asked during a debate to raise their hands if they do not believe in evolution, raised his. But, then, Huckabee believes America can be energy-independent in 10 years, so he has peculiar views about more than paleontology.

Huckabee combines pure moralism with incoherent populism: He wants Washington to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in public, show more solicitude for Americans of modest means and impose more protectionism, thereby raising the cost of living for Americans of modest means.

Although Huckabee is considered affable, two subliminal but clear enough premises of his Iowa attack on Mitt Romney are unpleasant: The almost 6 million American Mormons who consider themselves Christians are mistaken about that. And -- 55 million non-Christian Americans should take note -- America must have a Christian president.

Novak on Huckabee

The False Consevative

NRO On Huckabee

From a NRO editorial on Mike Huckabee:

Unfortunately, what Huckabee offers by way of solutions is a mixture of populism and big-government liberalism; the common theme of his policies is that they are half-baked. If an ill-considered slogan can be used to justify a policy, he is for it. He is a protectionist, because we need to have “fair trade.” He wants to put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship, because we need them “to do jobs that are going unfilled because nobody here wants to do them.” Energy subsidies and farm subsidies must be increased, because they’re a matter of “national security.”

Let's all do our part to put down the Huckabee surge. Even if I say it doesn't exist. Full article here.

Friday Links

No jokes here. 18 year old arrested for the rapes of two Baltimore women, ages 88 and 73. The 88-year old is also a cancer patient. With youth like this, how could one be pessimistic about the future of our fine city. Remember folks, just Believe!

I betcha this Anne Arundel County (MD) judge knows how to have some fun.

But Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul Harris, in a decision that has victims' rights advocates crying foul, acquitted the man charged with second-degree assault after he was accused of striking his girlfriend three times in the face. The judge said that without the woman's testimony, he could not be sure that she hadn't consented to the attack

[...]

And in a comment that has riled victims' advocates and prosecutors, Harris added, "You have very rare cases; sadomasochists sometimes like to get beat up."

Cameras no longer enough to police the mean streets of London. Say hello to street level listening devices, intended to "infiltrate gangs of youth."

I really don't like David Brooks. Never have -- but now I've developed the nearly unstoppable urge to face-fuck the douche, in his itsy-bitsy mouth, while he's wearing his overtly homosexual turtle-rimmed glasses. Is it just me? From today's Brooks column on the chances of a Huckabee win. I know, I know, I too was guessing he was talking about checkers, or some game involving guessing the number of jellybeans in a jar, because obviously he couldn't be talking about any type of electoral win, whether it be in Iowa or any other state. I was wrong.

[....]Second, each of the top-tier candidates makes certain parts of the party uncomfortable. Huckabee is the one candidate acceptable to all factions.

Third, Huckabee is the most normal person running for president (a trait that might come in handy in a race against Hillary Clinton). He is funny and engaging — almost impossible not to like. He has no history of flip-flopping in order to be electable. He doesn’t seem to be visibly calculating every gesture. Far from being narcissistic, he is, if anything, too neighborly to seem presidential.

Whoa. I should have saved this for a separate post, but quickly -- First, "Huckabee is the one candidate acceptable to all factions". Huh? That GOP tent has gotten so big that they had to push us libertarian leaning, limited government types out of the tent to make room for all those compassionate, social conservatives. Enjoy the circle jerk fellas. [I've made substantive arguments against Huckabee, just click through the Huckabee tag] As for this line, "Huckabee is the most normal person running for president." Do I need to reiterate that this is the guy who said it his religious beliefs are not important to the question of whether he could or should be president? Even if his religious beliefs claim that the earth was created 3,000 years ago, and that evolution is just a silly guess made by some guy named Darwin. Or that kids in elementary schools should be weighed by the state. If this is the "most normal person running for president" then we have some serious issues as an electorate.

Last, but certainly not least, one of the last two brewpubs in Baltimore -- and the closest one to me -- is looking to leave the city. It's part of a disturbing trend that has brewpubs fleeing high-rent, urban areas for the spacious suburbs. I'll end it with my quote of the week, from the above article:

"It's sort of like the melting of the ice caps," said Dominic Cantalupo, a 46-year-old Catonsville resident and president of the Chesapeake Bay branch of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood. The society promotes beer brewed with traditional methods.

Maybe We Need to Lose the Pedaphilia Tag...And Rob...And Cicero...And Post Titles Alluding to Obama's Penis...

Once we do that, double our readership to two dozen, we'll start getting invitations to blogger conference calls with '08 candidates. Until then, I'll just continue to put up the "Conference Call" sign on my office door every afternoon at 1, pretending I'm talking to presidential candidates; when in reality I'm racking up international phone bills on Vietnamese phone sex. Leaving you readers with notes from other bloggers who are actually on conference calls with queers like Mike Huckabee. Enjoy.

"One of the reasons that I got the endorsement of the machinist union. … Further complicated by the buying up of currency. … Free trade is a great thing … but if it is not fair trade, it is not free trade. … Violations of human rights and disregard of the environment. … We do expect them to treat workers with respect. … A regulatory system that is more effect and more like ours. …Protect this country."

[...]

"I am supported by the true economic conservatives. … I believe that risk ought to be rewarded. .. The attacks come from special interest groups who have an interest in protecting a certain segment. … One of the reasons that I support the Fair Tax is that it doesn’t pick winners and losers. … When we have reforms on tax policy, it ought not be good for a few CEOs and hedge fund managers .. but for everybody. …Hedge fund managers make 2200 times what the average worker makes. … Hundreds of millions of dollars in instant profit… As a Christian, not just an economic issue, but a moral issue. When you have real success, you share it with the people who helped you.

Full thing here.

TtP to Mike Huckabee: Smokers are God's Children Too

Mike Huckabee just called for a national smoking ban similar to what we see at the state and local levels now. Really, no one should be surprised by this. I'm sure he believes in it (he did it in Arkansas and his entire nanny-stater resume is impeccable), and I'm sure he thought it was a bold-move-that-wasn't-really-a-bold-move. You know, attract attention without saying something along the lines of "Let's get the fuck out of Iraq right now."

Here's what he had to say:

1. Said he would not only sign the law if Congress brought it to him, but that he would encourage it.
   
2. Get this---He's not for banning smoking in bars and restaurants, because that's a consumer issue. But he's for banning smoking in bars and restaurants under the guise of a workplace safety issue. To simplify -- He's for banning smoking anywhere more than 3 people work. Including bars and restaurants. I now vaguely remember this douche bag doing the same double talk while trying to pass the Arkansas smoking ban.
   
3. It's a workplace issue....I quote him "[...]for the same reason that we don't let people pour radon gas into a workplace, is the same reason we shouldn't allow people to pour the toxic nauseous fumes of a cigarette into a place where people have to work.
   
4. Again, I quote "We know without a doubt that secondhand smoke is deadly"
   

Here's what Huckabee had to say last year at the signing ceremony for the Arkansas bill:

"This is not a bill against smokers, and I want to make that clear," Huckabee said at the bill-signing ceremony at the state Capitol. "This is a bill for people who, for their own reasons, whether it's health, or just personal, choose not to smoke."

Video here. NYT article on Huckabee and his do-goodness here. More on the Arkansas ban here. Related video of Huckabee claiming you're the idiot for not believing the Earth was made 6,000 years ago in 6 days by God, here.

Mike Huckabee?

I'm not in a position to criticize bloggers for saying outrageous things. Turns out, if you go back through the archives, I've written some pretty awful things. Still though, I have the refuge of knowing that rarely if ever, am I sober when posting. So that's my excuse -- What's Jim Henley's?

Meanwhile, let me be the first to predict that Mike Huckabee will be the Republican nominee for President - or close to the first.

Humm...How's that?

He scores high on likeability. He’s conservative as such things are defined today, with a longer track record of support for Christian Right issues than the current front-runners. The Mormon and the cross-dresser make spectacularly flawed candidates to “the base,” and I suspect that Fred Thompson, if he runs, will turn out to be too transparently stupid even for the GOP. The cat has already curled up on the bed of the McCain campaign. Tancredo and Brownback aren’t TV-friendly. The 26%ers despise Ron Paul.

That's just plain silly. Huckabee is a nobody candidate, with no support or name recognition nation-wide. Tancredo won't win because he is fucking nuts and everyone knows this. Brownback is a nobody with zero political skills (See the way he handled the immigration debacle in the Senate---In the worst possible way.) I'd say Ron Paul has a better shot at the nomination than Huckabee. Not that I think Ron Paul has a shot, but I'm saying that you could see a scenario like a 1964 possibly evolving. Huge odds against it, it won't happen, but at least a candidate like Paul has an opening. Same thing with Gingrich. If anyone has a shot at this thing besides the top three candidates (which I don't think is the case) it's gotta be Gingrich. Him or Thompson. My guess would be Gingrich. And I don't say that because I agree with Jim or the CW that Thompson is an empty suit -- I highly doubt he's any dumber than our average politician. I go with Gingrich because I don't think Thompson -- politically that is -- is ready for a presidential election...and I'm talking about the primaries here. The guy hasn't even formally announced and he's gone through three campaign managers. When he's questioned he has a look -- not of a moron -- but of a candidate who has never been prepared for a question. My guess -- he runs out of steam early.

Let me make one last point about something that annoys the fuck out of me. Giuliani can and most likely will be the Republican nominee for President. He is by far the strongest guy in the field for both the primary and the general election. How it's possible for the front runner, who has consistently been leading the rest of the field by 8-10 points for the past year, to be looked at not as the front runner is mind-boggling. Plain stupid. My opinion, and my opinion only, is that the case against Giuliani is being way overstated. Again politically. Please don't berate me about how he is going to be the next totalitarian President of our great country. Don't care about that. Right now I'm only concerned with who will win and who won't. And there is no reason he won't, barring a collapse of course, but the guy is a strong politician in every way. To act like his support will vanish once people learn about his stances on abortion, gun control, gay rights, etc. is foolish. People are worried about it and are talking about it. But his numbers stay steady and they only increase if McCain dies. And by dies, I actually mean dies. Have you seen the him lately? Yikes. As for the base; right now it's all about the wars. War on Terror and the Iraq War. Once you get past that, it's who can beat Hillary.

School Obesity Fight Gets Some Backlash

There are a lot more fat kids than there used to be, and that is not good, but the tactics that schools have embraced to combat it have gotten so extreme that there is a backlash among parents, as the WSJ [subscription only] reported today.

At issue are not non-coercive measures such as improving the quality of school meals or taking out soda machines. Instead, what is causing backlash is that the government battle against obesity has become very invasive, with schools measuring students' body mass index (BMI) and including it on their report card. Even worse, the heaviest kids are "invited" to participate in school fitness and nutrition programs.

Across the country, the new rules are also sparking a backlash among parents, children and even some teachers and school officials. The efforts often draw derision for being too extreme and demonizing children. Arkansas, the first state to pass legislation requiring schools measure students' body-mass index, backtracked last month and now allows parents to refuse the assessment. The question of weight in Arkansas has been a sensitive one since former Gov. Mike Huckabee shed more than 100 pounds a few years ago and encouraged locals to follow his example.

Note to self: Huckabee is a Nanny Stater. More from the article:

Even determining who is overweight has proven nettlesome. Nine-year old Jeremy Holwell, who attends Lakeview Elementary, swims in a local league several nights a week and plays baseball in the summer. In January, Mrs. Holwell noticed a fitness assessment at the bottom of his nearly straight-A report card. Jeremy placed in the 97th national percentile: "overweight," according to the report.

As is clear in the case of Jeremy, BMI is an imprecise measure of fitness, as it is a crude height/weight calculation that does not measure actual body fat or correct for muscle weight. Ergo 56% of NFL players are considered obese, yet they are in better shape than 99.9% of the population and work out constantly. Yes, some of them are fat, but a majority of them are just very muscular. And how devastating to be Jeremy Holwell, who is a committed athlete at a fragile age to be deemed "obese" on his report card?

I Missed This?

I knew Mike Huckabee was a zealous do-gooder, but this is just too much. Go back to the pies governor and leave the kids alone.

He has not skimped on health initiatives. His programs have included early intervention for diabetes prevention aimed at reducing the huge impact of diabetes on state Medicaid costs, substitution of exercise breaks in lieu of smoking breaks for state workers, state-funded smoking cessation programs, and most controversially, weighing and issuing health report cards for school children. As to the required weigh-ins, Huckabee explains: “I felt it was vital to pass a law to make it mandatory that every student have their Body Mass Index measured.” He believes that, because of this program, “Arkansas is the only state in the nation which showed a drop in the childhood obesity rate.”

And some think he could be the "authentic" conservative candidate in '08. Humm. Full NRO article here.

All You Need is (Heterosexual) Love

Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (featured right) isn't just content with a total ban on cigarette sales. He also wants to prohibit gay and lesbian couples from being foster parents (third story down in the link). You know, because babies are better off being beaten by drunk, heterosexual rednecks in a trailer park than being cared for in a rich and loving gay home (all hell, let's call it a gome).

"What we are talking about is whether the state should place a child in a relationship that is not recognized by the state as a marriage," the Republican governor, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, told the Associated Press on Saturday.

Requiring someone to be in a state-sanctioned marriage to be a foster parent is a bizarre requirement. Presumably Governor Wannabee also opposes the following people being foster parents:

--Unmarried heterosexual couples
--Two friends who live together
--A brother and sister (unless they're married)
--A single person who has a pet fish
--A single billionaire with 100 servants
--Seven unmarried Baptists who live together in a group home
--Billy Bob Thornton
--Chelsea Clinton
--John Grisham, if he got divorced
--The Arkansas Razorbacks
--Jesus Christ

If Life Begins at Moment of Conception, Bob Mathis Wants to Ban Post-Coital Cigarette

Just days after Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he'd prefer a total ban on cigarette sales in his state, chicken-state Rep. Bob Mathis, a former smoker, is giving momentum to the idea. Not to worry, though, because it's all for the (unborn) children.

If you're pregnant and you smoke, a Hot Springs legislator wants you to stop. In fact, Representative Bob Mathis wants his colleagues to study whether it should be against the law for you to smoke.

During this spring's special session, Mathis led the charge to ban smoking in cars with children. He told lawmakers on Saturday that children born to smokers face the risk of long-term health problems and questioned whether it was "constitutional" for a mother to smoke while pregnant.

The word "constitutional" is not a synonym for "the right thing to do" or "good for people," Bob. It refers, Bob, to the text of the U.S. Constitution, which happens to be an actual document. And as long as the word "constitutional" still refers to the Constitution, Bob, yes: Smoking by pregnant women is both "constitutional" and odious. Now die, stupid man.