Disqualified

I just read a couple of stories about perpetual Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's appearance on The Steve Malzberg Show on WOR, New York. I have never listened to this show before, but from the little I did listen to, I gather that Steve Malzberg is just another right-wing Rush-Limbaugh-wannabe talk radio host.

I used to think of Huckabee as a kind of affable middle-of-the-road Republican who was at least worth listening to even if I might not agree with him. That was before he became a host on Fox "News", and also before a 2008 presidential debate in which he raised his hand in response to the moderator's question as to which candidates do not believe in evolution. But as far as I'm concerned, he's now completely disqualified himself from any consideration as a presidential candidate.

Listen here to what he had to say when goaded by Mr. Malzberg to discuss President Obama's US citizenship or purported lack thereof. You will find that discussion starting at minute 13:20 and ending at minute 15:20. (You are of course welcome to listen to the entire recording but I assume no responsibility for the nausea that you are likely to experience as a result.)

Now, I will concede to you that Huckabee does not take the bait when Malzberg tries to get him to say that Obama wasn't born in the US. But Huckabee does say pretty clearly (twice) that Obama grew up in Kenya, and did so under the influence of his Kenyan father and his Kenyan grandfather, and that this shaped certain aspects of his worldview. The truth, of course, is that Obama never lived in Kenya and, according to his autobiography, had only the most fleeting contact with his absentee father when he was ten years old.

Because I said so, that's why!!

Huckabee has since sought to characterize his statements as "a simple slip of the tongue", having said "Kenya" when he met to say "Indonesia". This is pretty laughable. Listen to the recording of the conversation. Substituting "Indonesia" for "Kenya" would render his statements completely incoherent. He said "Kenya" because he meant "Kenya". At best he was caught out discussing a topic which he in fact knew very little about. At worst he was taking a cue from his demagogue host to pander to what he knew would be a sympathetic audience that is more receptive to slogans than actual information. Either way he has been caught red-handed manufacturing "facts" and now he is just trying to look a little less stupid (and thereby digging the hole a little deeper). Is this guy presidential material? You tell me.