I had hoped, in part because he seemed like a nice-enough guy, that Mike Huckabee would not descend to the level of pandering epitomized by the other Republican candidates. There were warning signs last fall, when he revealed he was getting up to speed on Middle East issues by reading books written by far-right messianic Fundamentalists. Then he started hanging out with some really strange cats like John Hagee, a megachurch evangelist who routinely advocates military strikes on Iran, denies that Palestine or Palestinians ever existed, and is doing his damnedest to expedite his rabid fantasies about Armageddon. Just a hunch, but I don’t think Hagee’s face-to-face with Jesus is going to go so well…
The last straw that broke this curmudgeon’s back was Huckabee’s opinion piece in today’s Jerusalem Post. It is titled “We must defeat Islamofascism” and is little more than a litany of platitudes, a last-stand pandering to Jewish and Christian(ist?) voters he is betting have been conditioned to reject the uncomfortable nuances of their gray realities. A few weeks ago, his opponents were berating Huckabee for suggesting that our lame-duck emperor is perhaps scantily clothed (if not naked). Now, in this piece, he is a born-again firebrand for every foolishness ever perpetrated by George Bush. The way he parrots made-up words like “Islamofascism” makes me wonder if Rudy Giuliani sucked the real Huckabee out of his skin and crawled inside. Here are a few foul-smelling nuggets from today’s article:
“Those who don’t understand that the war in Iraq is a critical part of the war on terror, don’t get it.”
“…I share Israel’s concern about an aggressive unchecked Iran. And I share Israel’s determination that Iran will not become a nuclear power. As president, I will not take the military option off the table.”
“As president, I will ensure that Israel always has the state-of-the-art weaponry and technology she needs. And in addition, I will dramatically increase American defense spending. Before there can be true peace, there must be the basic recognition of Israel’s right to exist and an end to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel lies and propaganda.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202064581092&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull or http://tinyurl.com/2pnbex