Huck In '92: U.S. Should Not Kill Saddam Hussein
Here's another gem of a quote from Mike Huckabee's 1992 run for the Senate, in addition to his call for quarantining AIDS patients. As the world was settling into the post-Gulf War sanctions regime, he opposed taking any further military action against Saddam Hussein — and he phrased it in the most isolationist of terms.
In a candidate questionnaire from the Associated Press, one of the questions was whether the U.S. should kill Hussein. Huck's response: "The U.S. should not kill Saddam Hussein or anyone else."
Just imagine the outrage from the hard right if Ron Paul, for example, were to have said the same thing.
Comments (39)
Mike wrote on December 11, 2007 3:14 PM:a rapist supporter
and now
a Sadaam supporter
this guy is HITLER reincarnate
Jeffrey wrote on December 11, 2007 3:20 PM:Mike, don't you think your medication might need adjusting?
John McCutchen wrote on December 11, 2007 3:24 PM:Hell he's freaking prophet..It's a miracle I tell ya....
Why would you want me medicated
Jeffrey -
Dahmer
Mary wrote on December 11, 2007 3:32 PM:Mike is correct -
It's because of guys like you
Jeffrey
and
John
that we are in the political situation we are now.
You probly weren't alamed with Bush either.
Look where that got us.
You guys need to THINK
Lets see
so Huck wants to isolate gays
starts off letters to rapists with "Dear"
Says he is preordained to lead America
Whats next -
medical experiments on disabled
Jeffrey and John
you need to do a little reading up on history, and maybe pick up a newspaper or periodical titled something other then
"Bass fishin and beer drinkin"
Someone must be really worried about Huckabee to be digging up this weird, old stuff.
audit the polls wrote on December 11, 2007 3:48 PM:Even a stopped clock is right once a day. I especially liked the part about not killing anyone else.
bridoc wrote on December 11, 2007 3:54 PM:*cough* Romney *cough*
I do love watching Republicans eat their own during the primaries. Some people are distressed at how negative the Dem primary has gotten, but Republicans fighting for power is like wolves fighting over a bloody steak, only entertaining. Why didn't Michael Vick just follow electoral politics? It would have saved him about two years.
Michael A wrote on December 11, 2007 3:54 PM:The thing that I find fascinating is that there is all this "weird, old stuff" from mr. 9/11, mitt the flip and now the huckster from the 90's. Gee would any other candidates have some "weird, old stuff" from the 90's? That wouldn't by chance maybe be the dem frontrunner and mr. bill her biggest fan. Nah, they don't have any "weird, old stuff" from the 90's. If she gets the nomination, the republicans and dems will get together and sing kumbaya. No "weird, old stuff" will be dredged up. It doesn't exist, right?
Phil wrote on December 11, 2007 3:57 PM:Huckabee is my dream candidate. Not the guy I would vote for. But the guy I would like the Dems to run against.
Why is he my dream candidate? Precisely because he takes the Bible so seriously. Not just the passage about homosexuality in Leviticus, like some social conservatives. But also the Beatitudes. This is a guy who actually cares about the poor and has reservations about war, as evidenced by both his words and deeds.
Now, let's imagine the debate between, say, Obama and Huckabee. It would not be 9/11 24/7 (as in, say, a Hillary v. Rudy matchup) or social spending v free markets (as in, say, an Edwards v. Romney matchup.) No, there would be serious discussion about how to address core issues that most Democrats care about.
I won't be writing Huck any checks. But I'll be secretly rooting for him.
bridoc wrote on December 11, 2007 4:00 PM:@ Michael A
Yes, I think it is no coincidence that the anti-Hillary muckraking from the Right has abated for the primary season. I think Rush, Rove and many others can't wait to fight Hillary in the general election, then they can open the floodgates, and after a year of muck flying both directions, the voters won't remember who is most corrupt anymore, giving the Republicans the edge they couldn't live without. Convenient, for everyone but normal Americans.
owenz wrote on December 11, 2007 4:03 PM:I love this guy!
How about this tidbit from the NY Times:
"Huckabee refused to sign legislation to assist storm victims because the measure referred to tornadoes and floods as "acts of God." Putting his name on such legislation, Huckabe explained, "would be violating my own conscience" due to the bill equating "a destructive and deadly force" as "an act of God."
He's the gift that keeps on giving.
bridoc wrote on December 11, 2007 4:07 PM:Owenz, please post a link to that article!!!
Unbelievable if true, simply shocking.
Greg DeLassus wrote on December 11, 2007 4:15 PM:I won't be writing Huck any checks. But I'll be secretly rooting for him.
I am glad to see that I am not the only one. I am an Obama supporter, and even if Obama does not get the nomination I will be voting for Clinton (or whoever gets the Democratic nod, although I do not see that there is any other realistic possibility besides Obama or Clinton). That said, as republicans go we could do a lot worse than one who is willing to raise taxes in order to balance a budget instead of cutting off free-lunches to poor kids; or one who thinks that children of illegal aliens ought not to be punished for their parents crimes, but instead should be educated like any other child; or who thinks that we ought not to be in the business of assassinating world leaders whom we happen not to find commodious to our interests.
MarcNYC wrote on December 11, 2007 4:21 PM:He may not cut off free lunches and he may not deport children of illegal aliens, but he won't teach them evolution either: he doesn't believe in it. As he said, "it's just a theory". But then again so is gravity.
lestatdelc wrote on December 11, 2007 4:25 PM:bridoc wrote on December 11, 2007 4:07 PM:Owenz, please post a link to that article!!!
Governor Won't Sign an 'Acts of God' Bill
Michael A wrote on December 11, 2007 4:32 PM:Thanks bridoc. I get constantly slammed for trying to bring it up. Dems just want to pretend that there is nothing there. I really wish some people would start bringing it up. At a minimum, if its out there 11 months before the election it will be totally old news by next november. People will be insulated, like the obama madrassa garbage. If that was sprung right before the election, it could have caused an unnecessary problem, like the kerry swift-boat garbage.
Greg DeLassus wrote on December 11, 2007 4:35 PM:but he won't teach them evolution either: he doesn't believe in it.
Hey, I never said he was my dream candidate. Far from it. There are all sorts of things to say against him, but that is true of any candidate of any party. My only point is that, as republicans go, he seems far better in many ways than the others. When it comes to the point that leading GOP candidates cannot acknowledge that water-boarding is torture, one has to admit that those few on the GOP side (McCain and Huckabee) who admit as much are at least some small degree better than their competition.
Incidentally, Huckabee never moved to suppress the teaching of Darwinian evolution in Arkansas. I am certainly in favor of teaching Darwin and certainly against teaching either "scientific" creationism or its kissing-cousin I.D., but given that Huckabee never attempted to foist either of these on the students of Arkansas' public schools as either an alternative or a supplementary to real science education, it hardly seems fair to make out as if he is gaming to suppress Darwin in the schools.
Titzel wrote on December 11, 2007 4:36 PM:It has begun!
Mike at the top of this stack mentioned Huckabee's Hitlerian atributes. Photoshop the little mustache on a recent Huckabee picture and the resemblance is there.
Someone ought to ask him if Jews need to be perfected.
Eric Kleefeld wrote on December 11, 2007 4:43 PM:To "owenz":
Thanks, I've turned the "act of God" thing into a post.
gcs wrote on December 11, 2007 4:54 PM:The best candidates would be Huckabee and Edwards. Both Southerners, both actually believe in the ideals of this country, and both are passionate and articulate.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a real campaign about ideas for once?
I can dream, can't I?
Charlotte wrote on December 11, 2007 4:55 PM:Huckabee has to gang up on the LGBT community to show us what a real man he is. If he has to pick on a group of American citizens why doesn't he pick a group that has the same rights, benefits & protections as he has?
BJL wrote on December 11, 2007 4:59 PM:I agree with Greg and support Obama as well. As far as GOP politicians go, Huckabee comes about as close as you can get to actually displaying Christian Charity. That said he's still a GOPer and got caught up in the illusion during the 90's, that saying things to make the radical evangelical right tingle was necessary to win an election.
Dirt McGirt wrote on December 11, 2007 5:01 PM:What's the big deal about not wanting to kill Saddam right after the gulf war? No one did back then. And we didn't even kill him this time, the Iraqis did (I know, I know a fine distinction, but still).
votenic wrote on December 11, 2007 5:02 PM:2008 Presidential Election Weekly Poll
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I will bet anybody a lunch that Mr. bill said the same thing at some point in the 90's and maybe even clinton II. Any takers?
votenic wrote on December 11, 2007 5:04 PM:2008 Presidential Candidate Weekly Poll
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What is wrong with you people? So NOW you advocate the US killing people? Josh Marshall, the looney left has taken over your website!
za wrote on December 11, 2007 5:27 PM:He was right, if he was saying that we shouldn't murder Saddam or anyone else. Why, what is he saying now?
Anonymous wrote on December 11, 2007 5:49 PM:If he is so against the government killing people, then why did he execute so many people as the governor of Arkansas then?
That's not what Jesus would do.
turtleguy wrote on December 11, 2007 6:11 PM:I don't get it. What's so bad about saying we shouldn't kill Saddaam? This might be the first thing he's ever said that I agree with, especially since it was 1992, right after the 1st gulf War.
Granted, it does go against his GOP base and it might hurt him for them to know he said it, but I don't know why dems should be outraged by his statement.
Andrew wrote on December 11, 2007 7:10 PM:There's something quite offbase about this whole post. Why is Huckabee's *not* advocating assassination back in 92 presented as a liability of some kind ?
Actually, that was (and is) the correct position - so why the "gotcha" presentation ? Why is this a story at all ?
Mr. Marshall you need to exercise some quality control over what is usually an excellent site
ma860zda wrote on December 11, 2007 8:13 PM:c529t
John Ryan wrote on December 11, 2007 8:58 PM:Everybody is Hitler except me and a couple of my friends, but everyone else is. Definitely.
fljim wrote on December 11, 2007 10:00 PM:John Ryan:
"Everybody is Hitler except me and a couple of my friends, but everyone else is. Definitely."
And mind you, some of those friends even are getting a little too close to the edge, too.
Anonymous (5:49 PM) wrote: "If he is so against the government killing people, then why did he execute so many people as the governor of Arkansas then?"
-- 16 people in 10.5 years is "many"? Bill Clinton allowed four executions during his last two years as Governor; his successor, Jim Guy Tucker (Dem.), allowed 7 executions in 1.5 years! That's a rate of 2.0 for Clinton, 4.7 for Tucker, and 1.5 for Huckabee. [Taking into account Tucker's total of 3.5 years in office, that's still a rate of 2.0 ... higher than Huckabee.]
I think we can take it that Huckabee is against killing the leader of another country, other than as a casualty of war or as the result of a war crimes trial.
Goldspinner wrote on December 12, 2007 4:37 AM:Huckabee's take on Saddam Hussein was shared by most of us who were paying attention during the Desert Storm years. Removing Hussein left a power vacuum that led to the current state of affairs in the region. Our troops are mired in Iraq because our current POTUS wanted payback for his Poppy...and Saddam's gun hanging as a trophy in the Oval Office.
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