One of my theories about this Republican primary is that voters like Trump because he says “I’m going to win” whereas most of the candidates say “waaah, librul media, waaaah Obama”. For example, I think a lot of the base does like a candidate who says he will know how to deal with the Muslim menace within, but isn’t impressed by the competition to see who can whine the most about Obama’s hatred of the new-born infant Jesus:
Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said on Monday that President Obama’s administration is “the most anti-Christian in American history,” according to The Iowa Statesman.
Huckabee manages to be offensive without getting much traction with the base. No wonder Mark Halperin thought he was such a formidable candidate.
kindness
We are all Anti-Christs on this bus.
redshirt
Huckabee might be the worst of this terrible bunch. He’s especially galling as it’s obvious he’s not running for President but rather just advertising his “brand”.
dedc79
The Republicans’ greatest coup was convincing a whole lot of religious folks that their religious beliefs were consistent with (or even demanded) cutthroat capitalism. That’s the Cruz platform (Hell, his marriage to goldman sachs exec is a perfect symbol of that converegence). Huckabee has the religious stuff down pat, but the wingers don’t trust him on the business/social welfare stuff.
scav
Speaking of the oppression of the righteous, have a little OT glee: Fox News in Ofcom breach for Birmingham ‘Muslim only’ claim
Amazing that, rules about not misleading the public?! Not that I’ve any idea of anything beyond the proverbial strongly worded memo.
redshirt
Also, W. would have been a great Antichrist. Still have a beer with him!
Doug!
@redshirt:
Who would you rather have a beer with, Jesus or the Antichrist?
Fester Addams
Don’t know what I want but I know how to get it!
schlemazel
@kindness:
are we going to the fair?
“A fair for all and no fair to anybody!”
“Geez, I’m standing here like an idiot, talking to myself. Might as well get on this line like an idiot, talking to myself.”
trollhattan
I’d love to bring back zombie LBJ and Goldwater to have it out with Huckabee and his enablers. They’d both have loathed him with the heat of a thousand suns, and might perhaps have shared their opinions of him using their out loud voices.
kindness
@schlemazel: Well my play was off of Firesign Theater’s We’re All Bozos On This Bus.
Roger Moore
@Doug!:
Jesus would have the advantage of the bottomless glass.
Doug!
@Roger Moore:
Yeah but he was more of a wine guy. The Antichrist drinks Rolling Rock from the bottle.
Punchy
Huckabee is the toxic lovechild of the AFA and NRA. Ive stopped caring what he says/does because its clear he’s in for the shock aspect only. Sellin’ his brand, as others have said…
redshirt
@Doug!:
Jesus, because if he’s knocking down beers he’ll probably start talking, and I’d like to hear some stories about Dad.
Villago Delenda Est
@Doug!: Heaven for the climate. Hell for the company.
Belafon
@Doug!: Jesus. The Antichrist has a huge chip on his shoulder.
scav
@Roger Moore: But I think Jesus is more of a wine guy. And I’d personally want something stronger to be drinking with the alternative, and I’d definitely want a lit match chaser, perhaps attached to a long spoon.
ETA: Eek. And to be all redundant and obvious, how shaming.
jl
I see the wingnuts are amusing themselves with nonsense about Ahmed’s clock (er… half a bomb!), that he did not really ‘invent’ so therefore is a fraud, and probably part of some deep plot.
I also heard on news this morning that CA GOP (with almost 28 percent of CA registered voters) is so nervous about Trump hammering more nails into their coffin, that they changed the wording (with great controversy) in their platform. They changed the description of undocumented workers from ‘illegal aliens’ to something like ‘people who are working in the US with temporary illegal status’. So, at least they are calling them people now, though cannot abandon language the falsely criminalizes them.
As for Trump, I saw a clip of a Trump supporter saying something like “He want’s to make America great again! It’s on HIS HAT!”
So, keep it up, GOP, I approve.
Doug R
The antichrist was supposed to be evil charismatic and fool a lot of good simple folk. So is it Calgary Cruz or hucksterin Huckabee?
Chris
@redshirt:
I thought Huckabee was absolutely the worst of the batch in 2008. (And Cain was in 2012). Haven’t decided for this batch yet.
Davis X. Machina
@dedc79:
“We’ll save the unborn babies, and let your football teams pray between snaps, but you’ve got to accept a Gini coefficient similar to Chad’s. Deal?”
And 75 million Americans said “Cool”,
greennotGreen
I think Jesus would probably rather smoke dope.
greennotGreen
@Davis X. Machina: So, you think the football teams are praying to avoid brain damage on the next play?
Davis X. Machina
@greennotGreen: They’re praying for Jehovah to smite the opposing quarterback’s ACL. Football is a very Old Testament activity.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Doug!: I think Jesus was more into wine.
Comrade Dread
Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said on Monday that President Obama’s administration is “the most anti-Christian in American history,” according to The Iowa Statesman.
Please show your work, Pastor. I’d be really curious as to how Christians are oppressed seeing as how I just went to church yesterday and heard songs about God on a Christian radio station this morning.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
People tell me I’m going to hell all the time. Good at least I’ll know people. Send me to heaven and I’m going to have to make all new friends and I bet they are boring.
boatboy_srq
@redshirt: Is it possible that the only Repub in the primary race that IS running for POTUS is Trump? Because most of the others aren’t doing much better than The Huckster.
Roger Moore
@Doug!:
Jesus it is, then.
Germy Shoemangler
@greennotGreen:
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth…
Ruckus
@greennotGreen:
Bet he does both.
jl
Jeb? demolition continues.
Jeb? ‘his own man’ Bush says we can all be assured that he will be good on national security because of he is a Bush this weekend, then a group runs a perfectly facty ad criticizing GW’s foreign policy disasters, and trolls Jeb? into doubling down on IDing himself with Dub.
Trump put out an instagram mini ad hitting Jeb? and asks whether Jeb? is high.
Looks good to me.
Looks like main electable person we have to worry about is Kasich, if Jeb? and Walker implosions continue. And Kasich is too ornery, cantankerous and insolent for the tastes of the billionaire mega-donors.
And Rubio, though Sanders is already setting him up. I saw a clip of Sanders calling Rubio ‘a smart guy’. Ha ha. Sly move, Bernie.
GregB
Apparently the Commandment about bearing false witness against others isn’t in the Huckabee version of the Bible.
dedc79
@Davis X. Machina: This atheist Giants fan has been praying for the Giants to find a way to hold onto a 10 point 4th quarter lead for two weeks now, without anything to show for it.
boatboy_srq
@Comrade Dread: Huckabee wants to be the first pResident to swear on the Constitution to uphold the Bible.
boatboy_srq
@GregB: It isn’t in the Murdoch version. Huckabee just picked up a copy of that.
Mike J
@Doug!:
Jesus could turn American beer into wine.
Brachiator
Yep.
On the other hand, I’m almost going to miss Trump when he inevitably withdraws from the race. I will miss the mischief he has caused the Republicans even as I abhor the misery he has brought to the presidential campaign.
Trump has already tipped his hand on how he will exit. He will claim that several yooooge business deals demand his personal attention, and he has to see to them personally. But he will say that he is watching the other candidates and will only back the one who is most like him. This may make it harder for the GOP to “pivot toward the center” as all of the ignorant pundits claim they must always do.
If Trump stays in the race, practical issues will finally hit him. Plutocrats like to back candidates and not run themselves because politics is not their main business. And unlike conventional wealthy candidates, Trump would find it hard to but his business interests in a blind trust. The press has not asked him the easy questions.
“Mr Trump, wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest to be president and ask the Congress to vote on laws that would be favorable to you? Mr Trump, will your ego let you sell your business interests or shift them all to your children?”
He is in a bind if he tries to be Trump the businessman president.
Also, it is clear that his ego prevents him from being reasonable, from stepping back from ignorant remarks he might make, such as his refusal to disavow birther BS and Muslim camp paranoia. Instead he tries to lie his way out like a child. “No, I didn’t say that.” His supporters have been very forgiving so far, but this stuff gets old even among true believers, and will gnaw away at his favorability ratings. He may drop back to just below peak wingnut 27 percent before he has had enough. But he is done.
Ultimately, Fiorina’s California senate race loser stank will catch up with her.
That leaves Bush, Rubio and Kasich. The hardcore GOP mainstream really loves them some Bush, you know, like Cameron loves pig; but Trump may have wounded him. Also Jeb! is his own worst enemy, much in the way of former Labour leader Ed Miliband, whose brother was cagier, but also more vile.
Meanwhile the California GOP has come out in favor of immigration reform which supposedly is not in favor of amnesty, but which also would not try to deport those already here.
http://abc7.com/politics/california-gop-softens-stance-on-immigration/993782/
They are distancing themselves from Trump and from his strongest supporters.
The Empire is striking back. And this is a tilt in favor of Darth Jeb! and young Sith Lord Rubio.
I’m wondering what the GOP presidential hopefuls will say about the Pope, especially his visit to Cuba. A smart reporter would ask them what they thought about the canonization of Father Junipero Serra. Some Latinos might be interested in this, more so that Cuba.
Too bad we don’t have enough smart reporters.
TriassicSands
My heart goes out to all the Christians who are being so brutally treated by Obama. It’s just lucky we have a down-to-earth zealot like the Huckabee to fight for beleaguered Christians.
Surely, being anti-Christian is an impeachable offense. What the hell are the House Republicans waiting for?
(If you can’t tell, this comment is drenched with tears — the tears I shed for…sniff…I’m sorry…sniff…I can’t type
any mo…….)
@redshirt:
I understand what you’re saying and why. However, I suggest that given how bad all the GOP’s presidential candidates are and on so many dimensions, it is impossible to choose one “worst of this terrible bunch.” It is more like we should choose a “worst of this terrible bunch” du jour.
boatboy_srq
@Mike J:
Which in most cases would be a significant improvement.
A guy
No way I’d ever vote for a Muslim for president.
jl
@Mike J:
” Jesus could turn American beer into wine. ”
Are you sure. Isn’t that a ‘can God make a rock so heavy He can’t lift it?’ kind of thing?
greennotGreen
@Ruckus: @Germy Shoemangler: And
Bobby Thomson
@Brachiator: you funny.
greennotGreen
@boatboy_srq: For those among us who, like moi, stopped maturing at 14 and therefore have watched Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (based in a world in which the gods of Olympus are real,) there’s a great line by Dionysus (played by Stanley Tucci) who has been cursed by Zeus. All wine he pours turns to water. He says, “The Christians have a guy who can turn water into wine. Now that’s a god!”
D58826
Last night at the Emmy Awards Julia Dryfus-Lewis made the comment that the GOP is making it harder and harder to satire politics. A case in point is making the rounds on the rightwing bubble. The wingnuts are upset at the list of people that the White house invited to a reception for the pope. seems that they list includes some gay folks. One of the leading critics is a man named Thomas Williams. In an article on Breitbart.com he said the White House invited a ‘rogue’s gallery of dissenters’.
It seems however that this guy has a bit of a history. He was a priest in the order Legionaries of Christ, an organization whose leader was a pedophile and had a number of sexual relationships. The reason he is no longer a priest has something to do with the woman that he was sleeping with and had a child with while still a priest. Seems she was the daughter of the ambassador to the Vatican under George W Bush. Even the Onion would be hard put to top this one.
jl
@Brachiator: Thanks for link on exact wording on CA GOP’s new plank on undocumented workers. I hope Trump stays in long enough to push CA GOP voter registration down below 25 percent.
” Ultimately, Fiorina’s California senate race loser stank will catch up with her. ”
Fiorina will have trouble packaging herself as a serious real-world git ‘er done, CEO candidate while also being the biggest and most outrageous double-down liar in a field full of major league liars.
greennotGreen
@Ruckus: You’re probably right, but I’m not sure how your comment got referenced in mine. Maybe it’s a miracle!
Germy Shoemangler
@Brachiator:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/mike-huckabee-popes-white-house-visit-is-a-cattle-call-for-gay-and-pro-abortion-activists/
Mike Huckabee: “Pope’s White House Visit Is A Cattle Call For Gay And Pro-Abortion Activists”
redshirt
@greennotGreen:
WITNESS!!!
jl
@D58826: Obama probably knows the Bible better than the Bible thumpers. Parable of the Great Banquet.
I hope Obama invites some good Bible-believing Christians like Huck of Santorum to meet the pope, and they excuse themselves saying that they have more important things to do.
redshirt
@jl:
I like it a lot!
boatboy_srq
@TriassicSands: There’s a very small part of me that wishes for that most Catholic of remedies for Xtian persecution: the Inquisition…
@greennotGreen: Only reasons I watched the first one were Kevin McKidd and Sean Bean. But I understand how you got there. (said in my best Brion James / Leon voice)
jl
@redshirt: Looks like it was a fortuitous typo.
NotMax
If one follows Huckabee’s statements and positions over the years, they point directly to Jesus being anti-Christian.
The man is psychologically more twisted than a bag of pretzels.
boatboy_srq
@Germy Shoemangler: Just think: a mere couple thousand years ago it would have been the prostitutes and the tax collectors…
Capri
@Punchy: I’m not a big Bill Maher fan, he is too smarmy for my taste. But he took apart Huckabee when he came on real time to sell his latest opus: God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy and it was a thing of beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBknm3HgBVU
elmo
It’s a little like the joke about 1984 being a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual – the current crop of Repubs read Sinclair Lewis’s line about “wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross,” and said “Oh COOL! I’ll do THAT!”
D58826
@jl: According to the article there are 15k people invited and they represent a cross section of Christianity from right to left, as well as other faith traditions. The only folks not on the list are Jews because of the High Holy day and they understand the issue of scheduling so there are no hard feelings. They will meet with the pope the next day
gelfling545
In my very Catholic upbringing there was a lot of talk about behaving so as to not “scandalize” the name of Jesus & the Church. I’d say that Huckabee & his ilk have done more to turn people away from religion & damage the cause of Christianity than any number of sinners, atheists, humanists, etc. could possibly do.
boatboy_srq
@D58826: I still say that each and every “sin” the Dems are accused of by the GOTea is projection, pure and simple. It’s no wonder the Reichwing thinks The Onion is an actual news source when their every day is stranger (and sicker) than anything The Onion could print.
jl
Nice to see most of the GOP primary field being narrow minded bigots over Muslim-Americans. Every one of them. They are all Trump in fancy clothes and polite gestures, or Trump-Lite.
If I were running in the primary and asked, I’d say that any one of any faith who respects the separation of church and state is fine for President or any other high office.
If I really wanted to make headlines, I would add that, sure, some Muslims think the Koran teaches against separation of church and state, so hypothetically, that could be a problem if a conservative Muslim were president or Supreme Court justice. But since the country is full of Christian politicians who clearly do not believe in separation of church and state, and some of them are running for president, they are the more clear and present danger.
dmsilev
NYT breaking-news thingy says Walker is dropping out. 2 down, 2321 to go.
Chris
@boatboy_srq:
Even better, they think Colbert is a conservative.
boatboy_srq
@Chris: That’s just an absence of a sense of humour.
sharl
Governor Doofus Homunculus may be dropping out of the campaign today.
rikyrah
From Frank Rich about Donald Trump – the absolute truth
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Holy cats, NYT reporting Walker’s gonna drop out.
ETA: I don’t know if I”ve ever seen a (would be) leading candidate embrace reality that quickly. Governor Christie, Senators Graham and Paul, take the hint.
David Koch
NYT: WALKER DROPS OUT
I guess God was trolling him when he told Walker to run for the presidency.
Where does his zero support go to now?
BWHAHAHAAHHHHHHAHHAHHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
redshirt
Where goes the Koch now?
Chris
YAAAAAY!!!!
Don’t get me wrong, the others will be just as bad.
But YAAAAAY!!!! all the same.
jl
@sharl: Wow. Thanks. Gives me time to see if I can score some Pabst Blue Ribbon and a box of hot rolls and ham to celebrate when he announces he is out.
Brachiator
@Bobby Thomson:
Don’t matter. Trump is done. He just doesn’t realize it yet. He’s knocked out on his feet.
Right to Rise
Walker out!
One less establishment alternative to Jeb again. When does Christie call it quits? The path is opening.
bum, bum, bum, another one bites the dust….
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@redshirt: I’d bet Bush. They want that pen.
@jl: hot rolls and ham? I like the sound of that
the Conster
Walker dropping out of the race today. LOL. Dumbass at least knows when to go away.
Right to Rise
Don’t know why you’re celebrating. Walker dropping out is another Jeb competitor gone, proving only Jeb has the staying power, name, and most importantly the Benjamins to stay around through the Trumpgasm.
the Conster
@Right to Rise:
JEB! gets all of Walker’s asterisk.
Right to Rise
@the Conster:
I’m talking funding more than votes. The Koch Kash should come rolling in now.
Chyron HR
@Right to Rise:
What happened to that awesome “JEB! hates elderly black women” campaign slogan you were parroting in every one of your posts yesterday? That one disappeared even quicker than #HeKeptUsSafe.
If I were a Republican, I’d be wondering why I should trust JEB! with the Presidency when he can’t even manage his primary campaign.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Twitter Nixon has always viewed Walker with contempt
Brachiator
@Germy Shoemangler:
Huckabee is true to form.
Let’s see now. Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio are both Catholic. Maybe some other presidential hopefuls are as well. Are they also going to diss the pope?
schlemazel
@kindness:
as was mine, I was not sure about yours so I tossed a couple other lines.
the President says:
“Many busy executives ask me, “What about the job displacement market program in the city of the future?” Well, count on us to be there, Jim, because, if we’re lucky tomorrow, we won’t have to deal with questions like yours ever again.”
You may have heard JEB? quote him on this.
Gian
@dedc79:
they were successfully under the over-under of 50 this week, so I haven’t seen a story about Manning telling the running back not to score yesterday
Surreal American
Clearly Walker is planning for a 3rd party run. He’ll take his 0% and tell the GOP to kiss off!
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Walker seems to be addicted to Wisconsin hot rolls and ham. Repeatedly tweeting that he is picking up some hot rolls and ham seems to be his way of showing he a regular guy, who also has quite the lively personality and is interesting.
I saw a compilation of Walker’s hot rolls and ham tweets someplace on the ‘tubes. It was quite long.
Roger Moore
@sharl:
The only sad part about this is that he’ll now have more free time to do horrible things as governor.
boatboy_srq
@BileToRise: figures you’d use a song by a gay band about a mass shooting with automatic weapons to describe the GOTea primary field…
David Koch
@jl: “hot or rolls or ham”compilation
jl
@David Koch: What I saw must have gotten some from his facebook too. There is more. Walker has a ham and rolls problem. Maybe the real reason he is dropping out.
glory b
New allegations against Jeb!’s son, Gorge, he’s accused of padding the payroll in his office, hiring unqualified friends and relatives, paying an average of $90,00 per year and failing to fulfill the state’s reprting requirements for hiring.
it is suppoedly like a frat house there.
Villago Delenda Est
@sharl:
The morans of the Village. Competing with Piyush Jindal to be the epitome of stoopid.
Villago Delenda Est
@glory b: Chip off the old blockhead.
Right to Rise
@glory b:
George P will,he the fourth Bush to become president, it’s already being set up quite nicely for him
This is merely a smear against his “reboot” of the land office- over 100 career bearucrat positions have been eliminated saving the taxpayer money and improving efficiency .
Villago Delenda Est
@Right to Rise: Just as Mittens Rmoney was the first Mormon to become President.
boatboy_srq
@glory b:
NOW I get it. GtR is HIS troll.
sharl
@glory b:
AH-HAH!!!
Soooo, mayyyybe my theory about RtR is right after all!!
Suck it Steeps!
sharl
@boatboy_srq: EXACTLY!!!
Calouste
@jl: A good line for Trump to attack Fiorina is ask what the heck she has done since she got sacked from HP 10 years ago.
jl
Wonder how the Founders would have answered that difficult and controversial question about a Muslim president?
Here’s the Madison guy:
” [T]here is great reason to fear that a positive declaration of some of the most essential rights could not be obtained in the requisite latitude. I am sure that the rights of Conscience in particular, if submitted to public definition would be narrowed much more than they are likely ever to be by an assumed power. One of the objections in New England was that the Constitution by prohibiting religious tests opened a door for Jews Turks & infidels. ”
http://www.dohiyimir.org/2015/02/remember-pinckney-remembering-frequently.html
Turks!!??
And Charles Pinckney, from South Carolina of all places:
‘ he was asked by one of the legislators about that exact Article VI paragraph, and more exactly about whether it would mean that “a Muslim could run for office in these United States?” Pinckney’s answer? “Yes, it does, and I hope to live to see it happen.” ‘
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/if-charles-pinckney-1780s-southern-politician-fought-islamophobia-we-can-too
Meanwhile, fundy Christians start to eat themselves, with controversy over whether Seventh Day Adventist Carson is a ‘real’ Christian. Something else the Founders predicted from mixing church and state: fractious cult squabbles between narrow Christian sects.
Mike J
@jl:
That’s his code name for David Cameron.
Ruckus
@greennotGreen:
Was wondering the same thing. But I’m going to need a lot more than that to believe in miracles.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
well, to be fair, he grew up watching unqualified friends and relatives being appointed to gov’t offices
I remember he filmed ads for Dumbya, and even then he seemed like he could out-smug-entitlement a Mitttlet. I would very much like to see him indicted.
Right to Rise
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
A Bush holding office isn’t going to be indicted.
bystander
@glory b: Is it too late for George to declare? Now that Walker and Perry are out, there’s an entire open berth in the clown car.
Cervantes
We could say it’s his parochial version of “Christianity” he’s defending but, in this particular case, the Pope seems to agree with him.
Villago Delenda Est
@Right to Rise: Given that your predictive powers are Bill Kristol legendary, we’ll hesitate to take that comment to the bank.
David Koch
@jl: I thought all the ham and roll stuff on his twitter feed was a lot by itself. To think he did even more of it on FBack is laughably sad.
Brachiator
@Villago Delenda Est:
Weren’t some pundits saying something similar about New York Mayor Rudy G Inevitable back in 2008?
Oh, well.
J R in WV
@Mike J:
Well, but can he turn Bud or Miller into real IPA beer? I think not!
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
He can turn water into wine but piss into beer?
That may be too much to ask.
catclub
This was in some long response here. My suspicion is that 1) the blind trust is not a legal requirement, but is a way to avoid accusations of conflict of interest. Those would just roll off of Trumps back.
2) any blind trust that you cannot continue to control was set up by an incompetent lawyer.
J R in WV
@A guy:
But do you know that your position is contradictory to the requirements of the constitution?
Article VI of the constitution says “No religious Test shall be Required as a Qualification for any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Then came the Supreme Court in the 1961 case, Torcaso v. Watkins. Relying upon the First Amendment religion clauses, the Court struck down religious tests for any public office in the United States. Dog catcher, even!
So your uneducated and bigoted opinion is completely unAmerican!
And fuck you very much for being so unpatriotic! Dumbass!
D58826
@glory b:
That has been the Bush family MO for years but its ok his a Bush.
@Right to Rise: He will be the nominee as long as he has the $$$$$$ and he does. It’s the bucks that give him the staying power. The establishment might swallow hard at what an incompetent candidate he is but they will take him over any of the others.
Schlemazel
@Mike J:
I’d be happy if he turned American beer into real beer!
Schlemazel
@Right to Rise:
Like a blind sow you finally hit an acorn
bum, bum, bum
A description of the current GOP field
A guy
J. r “…..do you realize that the qualification test you cite has nothing to do with how I vote. I didn’t say a Muslim can’t seek office. I said I ain’t voting for one. You must be a product of public education. If not, ask for your money back
mclaren
I’m waiting for a Republican candidate to channel Lord Humungous from the film MAD MAD 2:
redshirt
@mclaren: It’s a fair proposal and indicative of Lord Humungus’s noble nature.