.
In case anybody wondered how seriously we need to take Mike Huckabee’s candidacy, an upbeat little travel report from the Washington Post‘s Jerusalem bureau chief:
… Among the many hats that Huckabee wears — he is also a former Fox news personality — the hat he has worn the longest is leader of the “Israel Experience With Mike Huckabee.”
He’s led dozens of tours. Huckabee said he believes that “Americans support Israel, but until they see it, they don’t get it.” He’s not hot on the idea of two states for two peoples. But he is passionate about visiting the places where the Bible comes alive for him…
Though busy preparing for another run for the White House, Huckabee is currently shepherding his flock of 253 paying guests around Israel for 10 days.
That’s six busloads — a lot more people than may follow some candidates around New Hampshire in February next year…
The price is $5,250, including round-trip airfare from New York, five-star hotel accommodations, all meals, deluxe motor-coach transport, licensed guides and all fees, tips and taxes….
So, Pastor Huck is leading his Bible-believing flocks through a carefully vetted tour of “Holy Land” sites chosen to support the fundamentalist narratives of both American Christianists and Israeli right-wingers. (Somehow one doubts there will be a modern Mark Twain riding in their midst.) Apart from the lifestyle perks available to any semi-legitimate presidential contender, all those townhall meet’n’greets should be a fantastic advertising market for his target demographic!
***********
Apart from moving one more minifig from the ‘daydream believer’ to the ‘professional grifter’ section on the GOP hexboard, what’s on the agenda for the day?
Baud
For 10 days, that seems… reasonable.
Mustang Bobby
So they’re going to include the Garden of Eden with the two naked people and the talking snake? Cool.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: “if there was a snake here I’d apologize” Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff
ThresherK
@raven: Does anyone under the age of 30 understand why the Belcher kids on “Bob’s Burgers” go to Wagstaff Elementary School?
raven
@ThresherK: try fitty!
Anne Laurie
@Baud:
Yeah, but I doubt Huckabee makes his nut off a percentage of the profits. He’s the “star” paid to bring in the believers. The question between the lines is, who’s subsidizing his five-star hotel rooms & “educational” events with Netanyahu — and why?
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
Maybe they’re selling timeshares.
Like Jesus did.
Anne Laurie
@Baud:
“… in ETERNITY, my friend!”
At the very least, I assume they’re selling mailing lists, like every other right-wing politico-media outlet. People who’ll pay to go look at the rocks where Jesus trod will presumably pay for any number of dubiously sourced “benefits” as well.
ascap_scab
And what serious contender for the White House wouldn’t be shilling his own weight loss book?
http://m.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/02/02/huckabee-becomes-pitch-man-for-diabetes-solution
Elizabelle
For our valiant Massachusetts/East Coast area commenters: I am trying to remember a funny term about the snow in Boston. It was some variant on an Alaskan word.
Help me out? What are the best phrases you’ve heard to describe our unusual winter weather?
Good morning all.
Did you watch “Better Call Saul” last night? I am really liking that show.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: Damn, I missed it. I keeled over at about 7 PM and slept for 11 hours! (I’ve got an awful cold and needed the rest.) Will have to check it out on Amazon. I loved the pilot and second show.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud:
He’d have to pay me at least 10 times that amount.
ThresherK
@raven: “You can have any kind of a home you want. You can even get stucco.”
(This is pop quiz. Please let me know if you looked this up.)
JPL
Someone needs to ask Huck and his followers whether or not Jewish people can go to heaven. I still have trouble that Huck and crew are visiting a society with socialistic healthcare.
also.. it’s snowing
mai naem mobile
I was momentarily listening to the Alan Colmes radio show last night. Huckster is doing an ad for The Diabetes Solution or some such thing. Admittedly it isn’t one of those obviously fraudulent ads like “take this herb and your diabetes will disappear.” It sounds like its a book/cd/dvd. Alan Colmes has an old fashioned 80s kind of radio show if you enjoy that kind of thing.
bemused
Rachel Maddow played audio of Rep Barbieri’s camera question and Dr. Madsen’s reply last night. The guy who barked out laughing at Madsen’s answer was awesome. I could listen to that over and over. I would love to know who that was, another legislator?
NotMax
Any one of Mr. Cole’s menagerie holds a better chance of still being in the race after the early primaries.
He’s not running for office, he’s trying to build up a brand.
Schlemazel
Going down rive tonight to Red Wing to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In addition to all the enjoyable music I know there will be some emotions. When I was a kid my mom always dragged me to see international performers. The Tamburitzans, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masakala plus a bunch I don’t remember names for. I didn’t always appreciate what we saw (I went to the bathroom to miss Robsons second encore of “Old Man River” and I know this would be the sort of thing she would have loved to see.
NotMax
@ThresherK
“Oh boy, can you get stucco.”
Next question: “Why a duck?”
Botsplainer
@Baud:
I don’t know who they’re fooling with the phrase “five star” at that price. That’s a 2-3 star rate; they’re staying at the Israeli equivalent of the Red Roof Inn and their guides are recent immigrants from Moldova, with English skills that are somewhat…challenged.
ThresherK
@NotMax: Close enough.
“Via no chicken?”
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: VCR alert for Better Call Saul, Episode 4. AMC at 4:00 a.m. Eastern overnight.
I rarely “commit” to a TV series, but this one looks worth it. Think the last time I was this interested in a series was the original Twin Peaks. Prob says more about my attention span than anything else …
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Even I don’t use a VCR anymore.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: I read awhile back there’s actually going to be a reboot of “Twin Peaks.” I hope that’s true.
raven
@Schlemazel: I hope Hugh does the Train Song!
raven
@Elizabelle: It’s funny as hell, the 1st ten minutes of the first show is hilarious!
Steeplejack (phone)
@Betty Cracker:
Reruns at about 3:30-4:00 a.m. Wednesday and Sunday, if you’ve got a DVR.
raven
Georgia SNOW freakout!!!
NotMax
@raven
Peach sno-cones.
Mmmmmm.
Baud
@raven:
Stay off the highway.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Just had a class get cancelled because snow. I’m about to head to the grocery — we’re out of apples — and pick up a package before it gets really bad. Predictions for Raleigh were anywhere from 1″ to 6″ today, depending on which model you preferred, and the guys predicting the 6″ are now saying it’s worse than expected.
raven
@Baud: Until Sunday and then In have to got to Chattanooga for 3 days. There is this trend now to have conferences that start on Sundays. It should only be a 3 hr drive so I’m going up at 5:30 Sunday am.
Baud
@raven:
Should be OK. I think it’s supposed to warm up this weekend.
Elizabelle
@raven: I missed seeing all of the first show, but I did record it and will catch it soon.
Enjoy the road trip to Chatanooga. Love a good road trip. Without icy roads, though.
WereBear
@mai naem mobile: A lot of people with Type II can change their eating habits and put their diabetes in remission. But it’s not by “cutting out the junk food” or “simple exercise.” It’s Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution.
In any case, Huck didn’t do that. I’m convinced he had bariatric surgery.
raven
@Elizabelle: We went up through the mountains in November and hit Chickamauga at sunrise. That was nice.This is at Southern Adventist University and I told my colleague I am not attending the session by the Liberty University faculty PERIOD!
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Looks like it’ll be rainy and 50s for you.
The Ancient Randonneur
I’m all set. It doesn’t cost me a penny to NOT spend time with Huck.
Matt McIrvin
@Elizabelle: I’ve heard that Bostonians have 300 swear words for snow.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Yea, not a great scene to gaze from Lookout Mountain. There is, however, The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame & Museum!
Elizabelle
@raven: Wise choice about the Liberty “University” folks.
If you are ever forced into attending anything with or by them, you must make yourself an “I stand with Larry (Flynt)” button. And wear it proudly.
(I realize those two became friends, of a sort, later in life. Odd fact that makes them both more interesting.)
Elizabelle
@Matt McIrvin: So let’s hear some of them!
Came across a very funny and descriptive madeup word for Boston’s snowfall, but don’t recall where or what it was.
Help me out, folks.
MattF
@Mustang Bobby: Old joke:
A: It’s so nice that you haver a blblical name.
B: Yeah, my cousin has a biblical name too.
A: What’s that?
B: “Snake”
MattF
This reveals a thing or two about Govenor Huck. I won’t say he’s just a grifter, but there’s a lot of money changing hands here.
Elizabelle
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Good lord, they have a name for this storm. “Winter Storm Quantum.”
The weather media industrial complex is getting out of control.
Michael Bersin
Interestingly, the republican controlled Missouri General Assembly is greatly concerned about the welfare of low-income residents of the state of California when it comes to eggs but not at all worried about low-income Missourians when it comes to access to affordable health care.
It’s their world, the rest of us have to live in it.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
In a few years, we’ll have Light Drizzle Stacy.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Elizabelle: Twitter.
They’re naming storms to make it easy to tweet reports.
Mobile Grumpy Code Monkey
@Baud:
That’s not reasonable, that’s goddamned cheap. Must be heavily subsidized.
MomSense
@Matt McIrvin:
It’s probably more like 10 phrases with some combination of fucking snow and slightly different inflections.
Ever hear a bar fight in Boston? Goes something like this.
Bostonian Meathead#1 “Fuck you”
Bostonian Meathead#2 “Nooh, fuck you”
Bostonian Meathead #1 “Go to hell”
Bostonian Meathead #2 “No, you go to hell”
And then the bar tv shows Jeter being interviewed and everyone yells at the tv.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Mobile Grumpy Code Monkey: I dunno about Israel, but it’s about the cost of similar star-led group trips I’ve looked at recently.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Wow, how exciting! That ranks right up there with the Vacuum Cleaner Museum in St. James, MO. It’s a must see for anyone traveling thru the Ozarks.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Mobile Grumpy Code Monkey: It’s about the same cost of similar star-led group trips I’ve looked at recently.
OzarkHillbilly
@Michael Bersin:
Only those of us in the state of Misery. My little bro who opened his restaurant about a year ago had to lie on the Obamacare website to get health insurance for his wife who has already had 2 cancers. They inflated their income so they’d be eligible.
Not sure how that is going to work out come tax time next year.
JPL
@raven: I got a 1/2 inch but the road in front of the house is slush. Fulton cty
canceled school last week for a non event and I imagine that they will take grief for not canceling today. A lot of the high school students drive so that’s not good.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
Last fall, the Farmer’s Almanac people were predicting this winter would be known as “RefrigerNation.” Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t believe them; now I do. Bastards.
MomSense
@debbie:
The farmer who delivered soil and manure and such last fall told me that “the squirrels were nesting high up in the trees” which meant it would be a bad winter. How the hell did the squirrels know?
NotMax
Stayed up until 4 in the a.m. in order to put in an order for cigars from my preferred source on the East coast when they opened today and now too wide awake to even begin to contemplate sleep.
ThresherK
@MomSense: It gets even dicier in Connecticut, the border state.
(Disclaimer: I used to live in that town, and I think it’s designated Yankee territory, based on my memory of any number of survey maps drawn up of CT.)
Matt McIrvin
Sounds like we’re getting two or three inches of snow tonight. We’re at the point where something like that is just background noise (unless it actually happens during the evening commute).
Paul in KY
@Schlemazel: I saw them a couple of years ago. Beautiful harmonies.
debbie
@MomSense:
Everything seems to know this stuff except us humans. When I was a kid, I remember leaves turning over on the trees and birds flying lower to the ground just before a thunderstorm.
MomSense
@ThresherK:
WOW!
Gin & Tonic
@Schlemazel: They put on a good show. Saw them a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed the performance.
geg6
Getting ready for a VA compliance survey over spring break in about a week and half. Managing all of the recruitment scholarships. Preparing for a Student Success Committee workshop for freshman on Wednesday evening based on the game of Life. Tracing back the latest discrepancy list for VA student accounts. Prepping for awarding for freshmen, slated to happen in 3 weeks. Completing my annual state police, child abuse and FBI background checks and completing annual mandated reporter and Clery Act training. Helping out with a young prospect event here on campus today. And completing my homework for a University-wide student aid office training on Thursday on making a hand calculation for EFC (expected family contribution) using the newest FAFSA formulas, something which no school ever does these days because, well…computers, but the University insists on us doing every year.
So, yeah, a little busy today.
Mike in NC
In the midst of one of our “winter” ice storms, with sleet and .01 inches of white stuff on the ground. People are saying that they didn’t move far enough south.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Only ten times, to sit with a group that wants to tour “religious sites” with Huck?
That’s pretty low in my book. Maybe if I was stoned the entire time. No, that still wouldn’t be enough.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Heck, if one is so inclined (and hardy enough), can snow ski here in the 50th state. video
BubbaDave
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Here in Dallas it’s colder right now than it is in Portland, OR and Anchorage, AK.
Dammit, Texas, we had a deal! I put up with Texans so I don’t have to put up with cold!
boatboy_srq
@Mustang Bobby: They’re also including the Ark’s beaching site. Supposedly that’s somewhere in eastern Turkey. Wonder what the Kurds will think of that…
boatboy_srq
@BubbaDave: I was in Houston one Christmas when it hit five degrees. Every ATM froze solid.
@Elizabelle: If it ain’t scary, it ain’t news, and they don’t get eyeballs. They need all those viewers so they can sell adverts. I really miss the days when things like CNN, Weather Channel and MTV were spawned simply because cable could send umpteen million channels and the providers had no idea what to do with them.
PurpleGirl
@ThresherK: Have to say it (grin) FTFY (in honor of Steve Gilliard).
catclub
@Botsplainer: I think if you can get 250 people paying $500/day
you can probably get a pretty good hotel to accept that block reservation.
Especially if it is two persons per room.
I don’t think Huckabee needs anyone else sponsoring this to make good money on it.
boatboy_srq
@Baud: I’m waiting for Fog Omar.
boatboy_srq
@Elizabelle: Don’t know any particular funny terms, but for snow in Boston I’d go with “Tuesday.”
ThresherK
@PurpleGirl: I married a Worcester girl, who doesn’t particularly care for baseball, but has known since forever that she hates the Yankees.
I am agnostic on the matter, having pledged myself to a team elsewhere, and now I hate Bud Selig and Jeff Loria with a passion.
JustRuss
@catclub: Maybe. But that $500/day also covers food, transportation–including airfare–and that adds up. But when you’re buying in units of 250, you get some pretty good breaks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Graham ends up with some change in his pocket. The real plum, of course, is a he gets a list of 250 people with $5000 to blow who chose to spend 10 days bonding with him. Political gold.