Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Oh, C'mon, Mike Huckabee

Did you know that Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a possible presidential candidate, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in his youth? Or that he was involved in a rather messy sexual harassment case? Or that he flunked out of college...twice?

Oh, wait, hold on, I'm sorry, I misspoke. These things are not true. They are not associated with Mike Huckabee, but with a fellow named Huck Huckabee, a county sheriff from Missouri. I really do want to apologize for suggesting anything that might twist or distort Mr. Huckabee's record in the public mind. Please forgive me.

What I say above is no more outrageous or ridiculous than the lies Mike Huckabee recently spewed on a right wing radio program about President Obama. Michael Shear in the New York Times reports that Huckabee expressed concerns about the "fact" that Obama was raised by a Kenyan father in Kenya and that his critical stance toward British imperialism stems from a feeling that a "bunch of imperialists persecuted his grandfather."

Except that Obama was not raised in Kenya, though he did spend significant time in Indonesia, and saw very little of his father, in any case. A spokesperson for Huckabee said that he misspoke, but what both Huckabee and any spokesman should have said is that all the conspiracy theories about Obama are hateful, racist, and distractions from the things that really matter. How about it, Huckabee? From now on, why don't you pledge to keep the focus on the issues, not your made up stories about the duly elected President of the United States?

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