QOTD -- Ballots And Bullets

 

“Here’s the problem: If these tactics end up working to keep Trump from winning or even running in 2024, it is going to be the last American election that will be decided by ballots rather than bullets.”  -- former Arkansas Republican Governor and purported "Christian" pastor Mike Huckabee, saying if the Malignant Loser is prosecuted/ convicted and isn't elected through the ballot, he'll be violently installed as President.  This peckerwood grifter is the walking, talking definition of a Christofascist, and he's treading awfully close to sedition.  FBI?  Secret Service? 

Twit Tweet, Thwap

Civilitay!

Twit tweet:

Nancy Pelosi introduces her campaign committee for the take back of the House. pic.twitter.com/yKDhkVubck

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 23, 2018

Thwap:

This tweet is not “racially charged”.

It’s not “racially divisive”.

It's not “racialist”, or “sparking racial controversy.”

This tweet is straight up racist and the media should call it so. https://t.co/RAaMQFt6sY

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 23, 2018

Also proving the rotten apple didn't fall far from the tree.

More thwaps here.

If The Media Think Just Trump's The Problem, They're Part Of The Problem

Let's see what frequent blind squirrel Dana Milbank dug up this morning:

For months — years, really — Republicans have averted their gaze from Trump’s attacks on women, Hispanics and immigrants. Now the racism becomes more overt — and still, he goes unchallenged.  [snip]

[T]he front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination talks about the forced registration of Muslims. Republican leaders look away. And Trump surges in the polls, regaining the lead he had lost before the Paris attacks. For Republican leaders and rival candidates, these are the wages of cowardice.

Two months ago, after the second GOP debate, I saw signs that Republican hopefuls had begun to think it safe to take on Trump “consistently and jointly.” But that didn’t continue, and Republicans are now stuck with a collective-action problem. There’s no incentive for an individual Republican candidate to take on Trump only to get mowed down by his counterassault. Instead, some rivals are imitating Trump’s positions.

No shit, Sherlock!  Well, there's a reason they're the party of fear and loathing!  Milbank might wait until the final primary ballot is cast before he comes to the realization that the main difference between Rump and his rivals is that Rump is the ugly, nativist Republican id with the volume turned up and no filter, and the rest of the field simply prefers the volume lower with some weasel words to cover up the crazy.  Likewise, Milbank's editorial board at the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle is vainly looking for someone in the Republican ranks to "stand up" to the bully Rump, as though the party's problem is Rump and not the party's ignorant, nativist base that's been nurtured for 40 years to fear and hate. That's who the other moral flyweights in the party fear and to whom they knuckle under.

We'll see if The New York Times can do any better:

Mr. Trump relies on social media to spread his views. This is convenient because there’s no need to respond to questions about his fabrications. That makes it imperative that other forms of media challenge him.

Instead, as Mr. Trump stays at the top of the Republican field, it’s become a full-time job just running down falsehoods like the phony crime statistics he tweeted, which came from a white supremacist group.

Yet Mr. Trump is regularly rewarded with free TV time, where he talks right over anyone challenging him, and doubles down when called out on his lies.

This isn’t about shutting off Mr. Trump’s bullhorn. His right to spew nonsense is protected by the Constitution, but the public doesn’t need to swallow it. History teaches that failing to hold a demagogue to account is a dangerous act. It’s no easy task for journalists to interrupt Mr. Trump with the facts, but it’s an important one.  (our emphasis)

Why stop with Rump?  Why not interrupt every one of the craven, crackpot Republican candidates running for President and hold them accountable for their dangerous lies?  Is smarmy Sen. "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz any less a demagogue?  Or Dr. "Mental Ben" Carson?  How about the un-American views on religious tests for refugees spouted by "moderate" "J.E.B.!" Bush?  Or "Snarly" Carly Fiorina hallucinating about "100,000 Syrian refugees?"  And the imaginary "war" being waged on Christians, as seen by American Taliban demagogue Mike "Huckster" Huckabee? And on and on down into the sewer of American politics.

We would like to ask the frightened, "both sides do it" media to think about what it's costing our nation by failing to hold to account every one of these far- right candidates' disgusting, Islamophobic, homophobic, anti- black, anti- Hispanic, neo- fascist rantings.  Because, to this point, they've been getting away with it, and it's long past time for the media to be committing the most basic acts of journalism.

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party - On The Road From Damascus Edition

The caucus of crazy, racist demagogues calling themselves the Republican Party are responding as expected to the terrorist attacks in Paris.  You can get a summary of their ugliness here, so we're just going to focus on a few representative comments from one of their never- going- to- be- President candidates, the Albert Schweitzer of the Ozarks and "Christian" minister (!) former Gov. Mike "Huckster" Huckabee (American Taliban- AR):

"It's time to wake up and smell the falafel...What we saw in Paris was the result of open borders in Europe."  -- to Fox "News'" Bret Baier.  No, Jethro, it was not the result of open borders; they were largely homegrown terrorists.  Nice dig with the "falafel," though.  We're surprised you even know about that.

Wait, there's more:

“Can you imagine bringing in a bunch of Syrian refugees who’ve lived in the desert their whole lives that are suddenly thrown into an English speaking community? Where it’s maybe in Minnesota where it is 20 degrees below zero? I mean just I don’t understand what we possibly can be thinking.” -- on the John Gibson show.   They're called coats, Jethro.  You put coats on, and boots.  Also, if you lived in an urban area like Damascus or Aleppo, you were hardly living in the desert.  Finally, you might want to consult with the Hmong people who were transplanted from subtropical Southeast Asia nearly 40 years ago to Minnesota;  they appear to have survived the ordeal, you bulbous cornpone jackass.

Make it stop - our brains hurt.

Clueless: A Tragi-Comedy In Two Scenes

Here are two prime examples of why we can't have nice things in this country (with editorial asides). First, regarding Donald "Rump" Trump supporters:

Bloomberg Politics' John Heilemann sat down Wednesday night with a focus group of 12 Trump supporters in the Granite State who riffed on why they thought the billionaire was the best candidate in a crowded GOP presidential field.

“He's like one of us," Janet, a former dog breeder, explained. "He may be a millionaire (sic), which separates him from everybody else. But besides the money issue, he's still in tune with what everybody is wanting.” [Ed.:  Yes, aside from his TEN BILLION DOLLARS, he's a man of the people!]

Many also cited Trump's vast wealth in identifying with him.

"I knew that he was a wealthy, successful man and I remember asking my mother if I could write him a letter to ask him how he made his money so that I could do it too," Jessica, a data analyst, said.  [Ed.:  He inherited it from his daddy. And he filed for bankruptcy 4 times.  A regular Horatio Alger success story.]

Heilemann further asked the focus group what they believed a Trump presidency would look like.

“Classy,” Cheryl, a real estate agent, answered confidently. [Ed.:  (head hitting desk top)]

Then there were these folks at an African American church in Manning, South Carolina, following a "sermon" by Preacher Mike "Huckster" Huckabee:

There were signs in Manning that Huckabee, at a minimum, will find a friendly audience. After the former governor led a prayer for Tricia Bouttry, a black congregant who is battling breast cancer, she said, “I didn’t know anything about him, but his speech was so uplifting and his prayer was so heartfelt, I cried.  [Ed.: Maybe you should find out more about him.]

“I’m a Democrat, but he would have my vote,” said Bouttry, 51, a mental health worker. “I want somebody who’s spiritual in the White House — a pastor that knows the word as president.”   [Ed.:  "The Christian Republic of America, Mike Huckabee, Pastor- in- Chief"]  [snip]

Huckabee preached in Manning at the invitation of Pastor Leon Winn, an active Republican who last year ran unsuccessfully against Rep. James E. Clyburn (D).  [snip]

When the service concluded, Nathaniel Pugh, 55, a black man who works as a heavy-equipment operator, greeted Huckabee and posed for a picture with him.

“I’m a Democrat, but I might cross the line to vote for him,” Pugh said afterward. “We can talk till we’re blue in the face, but until our hearts get right, there still will be racism. For Governor Huckabee to come into our little town and talk about this, that’s huge. He got my attention.”   [Ed.:  You're a discerning man, Mr. Pugh, to have identified Huckster as someone who's heart is in the right place.  Mmmhmm.]

As long as low-information, distracted, and (o.k. we'll go there) downright stupid voters like this can be swayed by demagogues like Rump,  Huckster, and the rest of the Republican field, we will suffer as a nation.  Sic transit gloria, America.

UPDATE:  Huckster goes full Juan Peron.

Huckabee Apprentices For Trump; Israelis React To "Door Of The Oven" Comment

(click on image to enlarge)

(Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The grits are still hitting the fan for Cornpone Republican who- will- never- be- President Mike "Huckster" Huckabee who's now getting flak from the Israeli government for his outrageous comments on the Iran nuclear deal, which were intended to give him some oxygen in the ever-crazier Republican clown car bus race, but have only exposed him as a "Trump lite" demagogue.

Then there was Jon Stewart's speechless reaction.

Jennifer Rubin: I See Crackpots!

At first blush, reading Republican neo-con Likudnik Jennifer Rubin's piece in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, we could be excused for thinking someone had stolen her password and was sending in semi-coherent columns:

[After an obligatory dig at Hillary Clinton...] Republicans have their own problem: They tolerate far too many crackpots.

Dr. Ben Carson joins Mike Huckabee in refusing to accept that Supreme Court decisions, on gay marriage for example, are binding. Pressed by Chris Wallace, Carson insisted that Marbury v. Madison and more than 200 years of history have not settled the issue. “It is an open question. It needs to be discussed.” Actually, it’s not open, and him taking this seriously should disqualify him from office since he is telling us up front he won’t be bound by court decisions, something not even President Obama has done.

Huckabee has said much the same thing. And to boot he’s hawked “nutritional supplements” as a cure to diabetes. He insisted on Sunday, “One of the elements of the plan was dietary supplements, but it is not the fundamental thing.” (Then why encourage people to buy them?) He declared, “I don’t have to defend everything that I’ve ever done.” So he’s both a constitutional and dietary charlatan. Either one should disqualify him.

Then there is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who cynically chooses to pander to the conspiracy-mongers who turning a military exercise primarily in Texas into a secret plan to impose martial law. Cruz has taken their nonsense as legitimate and made inquiries at the Pentagon. [snip]

In less obvious ways, some presidential hopefuls also play on the ignorance and fear of the public. How many times has Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) falsely suggested the National Security Agency is listening to the content of millions of phone calls? Before reversing himself, he also gave support to the anti-vaccine hooey. At what point do voters say, you know, that’s not the mindset or character of someone who we’d want as president? (our emphasis)

Ouch.  Well, o.k.  Two points here.  First, Carson, Huckabee, Cruz and Paul are all several bulbs short of a chandelier.  If you noticed, though, she eased over the biggest political story of the past 50 years:  that the Republican Party -- her Republican Party -- doesn't just tolerate crackpots, it has actively fed and encouraged a crackpot base, then recruited and elected crackpots for many decades.  It is the Party of Crackpots.  Rubin and her fellow cogs in the right-wing noise machine can take a lot of the credit for that.

Also, note the names Rubin has omitted from her Crackpot Call-out:  Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio, Gov. Scott "Koch Head" Walker, and John Ellis "J.E.B." Bush, all of whom Rubin has promoted in past columns, and who would pass auditions for the Shelly Adelson/ Koch brothers billionaire "establishment" blessing.  However, while not quite descending to the Carson/ Huckabee/ Cruz/ Paul level of crackpottery, all three are outside the American mainstream on issues such as immigration reform, same sex marriage, global climate change, and economic fairness and growth.  They'd also like to bust unions and take health insurance away from millions of Americans.  Call them proto- crackpots.

But then, in her piece de derp, Rubin says "responsible conservatives" (an oxymoron these days) should "name and shame [the crackpots] — lest the GOP be seen as a haven for the unhinged."  Hahahahaha. Too late!

(Image: Jennifer Rubin, in search of crackpots; doesn't own a mirror --via Sparklepony)

Guess Which Republican Ron Fournier Is Working For Now

The National Journal's resident not- so- crypto- Republican Ron "Leadership!" Fournier once famously sent an email to Bush assministration political "whiz" Karl "Turdblossom" Rove, encouraging Rove to "keep up the fight."  Last February, he gave little brother Bush a thoroughgoing tongue-bath following a speech "J.E.B." made at the Detroit Economic Club.

Yesterday, Fournier writes a blistering piece on recent Republican clown car entrant Mike "Huckster" Huckabee, calling him a, well, "huckster," and a lot more.  (He scores added Republican mole points for getting in some shots of the Clintons, of course.)  We won't be surprised if, in between future salvos at the Clintons and more Bush ass-kissing, Fournier gets in some shots at "J.E.B."'s other Republican rivals -- not that we mind if he does.

We realize we gave it away right at the top when we dropped the names Bush and Rove, but could it be any more obvious that this ostensibly neutral, professional political "analyst" has more than a rooting interest in a particular candidate and a particular party?  (To be fair, Fournier also seems to have a stiffie for Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio, too;  poor man doesn't seem to know to whom to give his heart.)

BONUS:  This kinda bolsters (if it were needed) an observation/ acorn found by Politic-ho "media" blind squirrel Dylan Byers:

[T]he national media have never been more primed to take down Hillary Clinton (and, by the same token, elevate a Republican candidate). Even before she announced her presidential bid, The New York Times alone had published more than 40 articles related to her private email account, spurring other stories across the national print, digital and television media. Since announcing her bid, the national media have spent the bulk of their time investigating potential lines of influence between Clinton Foundation donations/speaking fees and Clinton's actions as secretary of state. The Times, The Washington Post and others even struck deals for early access to anti-Clinton research. (our emphasis)

"Liberal media," our asses.

(Photo:  We're thinking "eight ball, side pocket.")

"Slim Chances"

Jon Stewart on the Slim Shady Chances of the most recent entrants to the Republican presidential candidate clown car:

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The Latest Republican Who Will Never Be President: Mike Huckabee

(Yawn)  Yet another Republican- who- will- never- be- President is announcing his candidacy today: former Arkansas Governor, failed Presidential contender and Fox "News" grifter Mike "Huckster" Huckabee.  Really, all you need to know about Huckster's politics is contained in the title of his book, "God, Guns, Grits and Gravy." Mmmm, yeah, that speaks to us.

Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly has a good perspective on Huckster (which will have to do until The Onion gives us its thumbnail on him*).  But, think of him as campaigning as a right-wing talibangelist "populist" who would be appealing to the Sarah Palin wing of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party (that being the last two elements).

Unfortunately, Huckster has already been caught in a lie, one of many we expect this Bible-thumping pol cum "Christian" preacher to emit for as long as he stays in the race. But, with the torrent of lies and smears coming from the cast of thousands that is the Republican presidential clown car field, he's going to have to up his game to stand out in the crowd.  We have faith that Huckster will sink to the challenge.

* And here it is.

BONUS:  Mother Jones has some things you should know about Huckster.

Freudian Slip Of The Day - Fox "News" Edition

“Joining me now, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who’s the host of Fuckabee — Huckabee!” -  Cunning linguist Fox model Megyn Kelly, introducing the man who will henceforth have a new nickname on this blog, on her "The Kelly File" show last night.   Bwahahahaha.

Huckabee Still Not Scoring With The Ladies

The toobz are abuzz today with comments made by Bible banger and former Gov. Mike "Huckleberry" Huckabee (R-Genitalia) at the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting.  Seems like the once and future Republican candidate for President has some thoughts about the Republican War on Women -  er, make that the Demoncrat War on Women.  Sensing that the women of America wanted to hear yet another middle-aged, uptight, white Republican school them on politics and sex,

Huckabee said Democrats tell women “they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing them for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of government.”  [our emphasis]

Of all the ripostes to Huckleberry's attempt at oratorical ju-jitsu, we like TBogg's best:

So there you have it. Democrats know that the ladies would like to be sexing and succubusing the shit out of men 24/7 because of their out of control “libido” but  the gals also don’t want to be pooping out a baby every nine months. So Democrats will give women free birth control in exchange for their votes in much the same way that they give the blacks free Obamaphones. If you are a black lady, check your mailbox, you may have won twice!

If Huckleberry's "reading" of "the ladies" is representative of "thinking" in Republican circles, we despair of their "rebranding."

BONUS:  Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog reminds us who Huckleberry is channeling (hint: "Oink-oink.")

BONUS II:  Preacher Huckleberry has a consistency hypocrisy problem, we think.  Shocking!

Funny story: in 2005, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee signed a law mandating Arkansas insurance plans provide contraception coverage, including church-affiliated organizations such as hospitals and universities. 

Nine years ago, Huckabee thought that the government should ensure that everyone had access to contraception. In fact, as the Los Angeles Times detailed in 2012, all sorts of Republicans were happily embracing contraception coverage mandates in the days of Bush and Clinton.

(Photo:  "The Lord says, 'Control your libido without the help of gummint,' ladies!")

How Tweet It Is!

(click to enlarge)

Huckster Mike's Willie Horton?

Police in Takoma, Washington are seeking a man in the ambush killing of 4 police officers. The man being sought, Maurice Clemmons, was in prison in Arkansas a decade ago, when then-Gov. "Huckster" Mike Huckabee commuted his 95-year sentence for aggravated robbery in 2000. Guess Clemmons found the Lord in prison. Since his release, Clemmons has had a string of felony charges against him, most recently assault on a police officer and second-degree rape of a child. Guess Clemmons lost the Lord after being sprung from prison.

Time Magazine's Mark "Drudge Rules Our World" Halperin will announce this is "good for Huckabee" any moment now.

(photo: Huckster Mike announcing he's assigning Walker, Texas Ranger, to help find Clemmons)

Hucksterbee's Deep Thought

Former Governor and Rethug presidential hopeful Mike "Hucksterbee" said recently on the "Manatee" & Colmes show on the Fux Channel that the Rethuglican Party needs to "move away from the mushy middle" and become more conservative.

Yes, we agree a move much further to the right than, say, Gov. Winky You Betcha's wingnuttery is in order. That will certainly attract those mushy centrists and wavering Reagan Democrats that went for Obama. Maybe proposing a monarchy would work. Next perhaps Hucksterbee will recommend that the Rethuglicans adopt a standard uniform and salute (brown shirts, and an arm extended/palm down as a way of saying "hello there"?).

Go for it, Gov!

(photo: Fingers together, arm stiff; now, let's try again Governor)

Hucksterbee Takes Redneck Vote From Willard

West Virginia's Rethug convention voted its delegates to Hucksterbee, a blow to Willard "Flip/Mousse/Mutt/Mitt" Romney, the man for all seasons. Hucksterbee is expected to do well in the Bible belt, at the expense of Willard, whose campaign is burning his sons' inheritance money at a rapid clip. In the Pastor vs. Plastic race, Pastor Hucksterbee has won the first round.

Praise the Lord and pass the decaffinated Coke!

UPDATE: Pastor Huck wins the primaries in the south, making Plastic Mitt more and more irrelevant.

Quote of the Week - Crackpot Edition

"I'm here to tell you, if either of these two guys get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party. It's going to change it forever, be the end of it." --Crackpot pill-popper Rush Limbaugh, Jan. 15, referring to McCain and Hucksterbee. One hopes Limpballs, who is never right about anything, is right about this.

Pundits Flameout in Iowa

Glenn Greenwald has a great post on the wishful/magical thinking of many pundits regarding what they thought would be Hucksterbee's Iowa showing. From Joe Klein to Michelle Malkin, they completely missed (or ignored) what was happening on the ground in Iowa. Next wishful/magical thinking moments: Obama won't translate his Iowa win to a win in New Hampshire; Walnuts McCain is BACK!! Ronald Raygun is being kept alive cryogenically!

Quote of the Week

"I wonder whether conservative Christians such as presidential candidate Mike Huckabee have considered that Jesus and his parents were undocumented immigrants in the land of Egypt. They were just lucky that there were no Minutemen or politicians looking to evoke useful hatreds and demand that they be sent back where they came from, where the soldiers of King Herod were looking for them." Denise Barker, letter to the editor, WaPo, 12/15/07. Nicely said.

Say Whuh?

Don't expect any members of the Washington elite pundit "Village" to refer to the statement by Rethug Presidential candidate Mike "Huckster-bee" that we should be "free of energy consumption in this country within a decade." OK, I guess if Rethug Presidents continue to launch wars, some day there may be no one around to consume energy. As Kevin Drum points out in the Washington Monthly, ever since Ronnie Raygun's gaffes ("trees cause pollution"), Rethugs are generally given a pass by the mainstream media when they make goofy statements because, well, that's what Rethugs running for President do.