If these people ever got unfettered control of the machinery of the state, my choices would be to hide or to hang.

I'm with you Thomas. Every time I think "Wow, Huckabee can't sink any lower" he opens his mouth AGAIN and proves me wrong.

If Fuckabee is elected, I'm leaving the country. Seriously.

When thinking about "the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations," that fact that Mike Huckabee or any other conservative Republican might become president (b/c we all know now that "getting elected" and "becoming president are two separate entities) comes to mind. I don't think I can deal with another 4 (or 8?) years of the infringement on women's/human rights masquerading as TRUTH. I've been debating about whether or not to do graduate work in Australia -- this would seal the deal.

What weirded me, aside from the raging homophobia, was that he apparently thinks necrophilia is "publicly endorsed and institutionally supported". Is he nuts?

Where does cruelty to animals fall on the spectrum?

You know, it's now very difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations—from homophobia and sexism to war-mongering and racism.

I'm saying that there's a range of aberrant behavior. I consider general assholery aberrant, but that's at one end of the spectrum. Huckabeeholery is at the other end.

"He's saying there's a range of aberrant behavior. He considers homosexuality aberrant, but that's at one end of the spectrum. Necrophilia is at the other end." Yes. That is better.

And accurate. Please remember that homosexuality is still classified as a psychological disorder. It has merely been renamed as trans-gender fetishism or gender identity disorder.

In short, aberrant behavior w/ a recommended treatment or management regimen.

~Let the flames begin!

Well, according to a recent Pandagon thread cititng the same 1998 book, Huckabee also claimed that a woman should only work ouside the home with her husband's permission and that superficial welts and bruises that result in a husband "biblical disciplining" his wife should not be taken seriously.
So, a woman with her own checkbook and reasonable sense of self would probably be cosidered "aberrant" according to the Huckster.

Per the American Journal of Psychology's site:
"In 1973 homosexuality per se was removed from the DSM-II classification of mental disorders and replaced by the category Sexual Orientation Disturbance. This represented a compromise between the view that preferential homosexuality is invariably a mental disorder and the view that it is merely a normal sexual variant. While the 1973 DSM-II controversy was highly public, more recently a related but less public controversy involved what became the DSM-III category of Ego-dystonic Homosexuality. The author presents the DSM-III controversy and a reformulation of the issues involved in the diagnostic status of homosexuality. He argues that what is at issue is a value judgment about heterosexuality, rather than a factual dispute about homosexuality."

And per Wikipedia: "This was replaced with the diagnosis of ego-dystonic homosexuality in the DSM-III in 1980, but this was removed in 1987 with the release of the DSM-III-R.[3][9][10] A category of "sexual disorder not otherwise specified" continues in the DSM-IV, which may include "persistent and marked distress about one’s sexual orientation�.

So it does not appear that homosexuality is officially considered a mental illness.

http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/genderiddis.htm

This is the DSM criteria for GID, it doesn't say anything as far as homosexuality goes.

locamotivebreath-
where did you see Huckabee's comments on biblical discipline of wives? I couldn't find it.

j, that was me. here's a link referencing it:
http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/12/18/fundie-huck-fundraising-and-principles-to-live-by/#comments

it looks like the original source is here:
http://www.houstonpress.com/2005-07-21/news/doctor-nice/print

I don't think Huckabee can win. His ONLY support is evangelicals and the people who swore they'd never vote Dem; all the moderates are going Democrat.

That said, if he did, death for treason would be a small price to pay for the chance to assassinate him.

The first headline I read this morning was: "Huckabee and Giuliani tied for Republican race"
In a way, I hope Huckabee becomes their candidate. I think he is fringe enough that majority of the country will think he's a loony, too. Or maybe I have too much faith in the voters.

I dunno, y'all, I remember way back in 2000 when folks were all "There's no way this Bush fucko could win the presidency. I mean, isn't he a mildly retarded execution-happy cokehead?"
and back before that folks were all, "Ronald Regan, isn't he a failed actor of some sort? Bedtime for Bonzo? Running for president, really?"

Gah. Just Gah. Cuz you know, private business between 2 adults is totally like necrophilia... how about we put necrophilia, rape, and pedophilia on the same scale instead?

13lesslee: Of course, if you remember, Bush didn't actually win in 2000...

He didn't just say that homosexuality is on one end of the "aberrant" scale and necrophilia on the other, he said that homosexuality and pedophilia are on one end and sadomasochism and necrophilia are on the other. His scale is just all fucked up. BDSM's worse than pedophilia? And not just by a little bit, but pedophilia's at the bottom of the scale while BDSM holds up the top? And as 13lesslee points out, domestic violence is just fine?! So beating your wife is a normal part of Christian marriage to him, but spank her when she asks and that's worse than molesting your kids!?

Huckabee is a psychotic loon. It scares me that so many people actually support him.

Right, Basiorana, which is even scarier and proves my point further:
there is a good possibility that the Huckster could become president.
do not underestimate him even though he is clearly a. batshit crazy, b. from the past, and c. hates everyone who is not white, male, wealthy or an evangelical christian.

Locomotivebreath's comment makes me want to go home and have receptive anal sex.

I cannot endorse transgender fetishism, however. Those of us who have sex with transfolk should treat them respectfully as full human beings, like we should all of our other sex partners.

Aberration - A departure from the normal or typical.

What % of the population is currently believed to be gay? Wikipedia says between 1% and 10%, although I take anything on Wikipedia with a grain of salt. If that is approximately correct, though, then homosexuality is, in fact, an aberration. What then, is the problem with his statement?

I think some of you might be mixing up “aberrant� with “abhorrent“.

13lesslee-- The only states Huckabee could win would be in the Bible Belt. He won't get any of the swing states. What's more, if he did try to rig the election like Bush did, people would be furious. Bush at least got some borderline states, Huckabee won't get any.

And noname, the objection is not that he called it an aberration-- I'm a college student who doesn't party, I'm an aberration. The objection is that he clearly puts it into the same category as necrophilia and pedophilia, even with a "spectrum," and that that is a sign of intolerance.

Oh, please, noname... the guy lumps homosexuality in with necrophilia and pedophilia and you think he's just using the "deviating from the usual" definition?

He's not. He's using the definition "straying from the right or natural way". He's not just suggesting that homosexuality is atypical, he's suggesting that it's wrong. And, yes, abhorrent.

Basiorana - He compares it to the others, I think, because they are all sexual aberrations. While I think Huckabee probably doesn't like homosexuality much, this particular statement reveals no such value judgement.

roymacIII - You are putting words into his mouth that he didn't say.

Further: If he was just saying that it's a departure from the norm, the comment about it being on a spectrum doesn't make sense. It's either a deviation from the norm, or it's not. It's because he's placing a value judgement on it that he can remark about it existing on a spectrum.

His choice to associate homosexuality with pedophilia was intentional, and it does say something about his feelings on it. The statement comes from a book about why kids kill, and is part of the explanation. He is passing moral judgement on homosexuality, and I don't see the value in pretending he isn't.

No, I'm not. His words are there for anyone to read, and they were written as part of a criticism of modern culture. His words not some dispassionate remark like "pizza without cheese is aberrant", they were part of a passionate criticism and a call to action. There are several definitions of aberrant- one that is free of judgement, and one that is not. I don't see any reason to believe that he was using the former, and lots of reason to believe that he was using the later.

fair enough, i don't want to derail the thread, but how furious were people over the fact that Bush rigged an election? furious enough to get him impeached? furious enough to get to the bottom of the election mess in order to find out what really happened? or furious enough to let him reign practically unfettered for another 8 damn years?
just sayin'. this Huckabee dood is cut from similar cloth. he's not as much of a legacy, but what he lacks in ancestory he makes up for in crazy.
also, by putting homosexuality on the same scale as necrophilia, i daresay that Huckabee is using the terms aberrant and abhorrant pretty much interchangably. also, what state-supported insititutions support necrophilia, BDSM or pedophilia?

"It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations—from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia."

Wait, necrophilia is publically endorsed and institutionally supported now? Hot damn! Where's my shovel?

noname: Yes, they are all aberrations by the typical definition, but why describe them together, in the form of a list? Why not include other aberrations, like people who have sex only for the purpose of having children, men who don't masturbate regularly, or people who have only one sexual partner their entire lives? He was making a point. That seems very clear. He was making a point that even if they are on a spectrum, they are all heading towards the "bad" side of aberrant, not the good.

13lesslee: I hate Bush. But I will say this much for him-- he's not a former Baptist preacher. I think that the reaction to Huckabee getting in unfairly would be far worse than the reaction to Bush getting in. When Bush got in, most people (who didn't do their research) didn't realize just how bad he was. And he didn't get kicked out of office after 4 years because we were in a time of war and we never kick out incumbents in times of war, or almost never. Plus, Huckabee won't be facing Kerry, who was like the worst candidate the Democrats could have nominated...

Noname, I suggest looking up connotation and denotation, and pondering the differences for a while.

Basiorana- those are all good points and I agree overall. Still, though, I fear Huckabee and his Jesus-wants-me-for-a-sunbeam eyes.

13lesslee: Oh, don't worry, I have a healthy fear of the man as well, same as all power-hungry religious nutjobs.

@ locomotivebreath1901

You need to go back and read an updated version of the DSM. Homosexuality and trans issues (specifically GID and Transvestic Fetishism) are not the same thing. Yes, as a trans person I can honestly say that we spend a lot of time in the same community. Yes, trans people can be gay. I happen to be a lesbian but that's totally separate from my transness. So. Related via social interaction and society's insistence to shove us all in the same box like you just did, yes. Actually the same thing, no.

On that, I think the Huckster is as frightening a character as I've seen in politics in a long time. He's more willing to put his crazy views out there in the open than Bush is, and more willing to try and cram them down the country's throat. You thought Bush was scary? Buy your plane tickets before the flights are all full.

I hope to God the Republicans nominate Huckabee for the candidacy. He would be, by far, the easiest candidate for any of the top three Democrats to beat. This guy has a dirty, sordid past as governor of Arkansas, which has only partly been exposed so far. For example, did you know that he pushed for the early release of a serial rapist, who later went on to rape and murder again? The reason for the clemency? Huckabee had caved to pressure from anti-Clinton groups (the rapist had assaulted a distant cousin of Bill Clinton, and conservatives thought he was put in jail simply at Clinton's whim). This is only one example of Huckabee's awful leadership skills, which will come to light in the general election. I HOPE the idiot gets nominated.

If you want to read about the serial rapist Huckabee freed:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/04/documents-expose-huckabee_n_75362.html

huckster has no money, so i'm not too confident in his ability to get the nomination. he's got all this press for being a dark horse, and he may do very well in iowa and new hampshire, but he lacks the resource to campaign in the 20 or so other states with primaries on super tuesday simultaneously.

anyway, if he does get it, i think his radical views on social issues will alienate too many moderates to win. of course, that depends on who gets the democratic nomination.

Where does cruelty to animals fall on the spectrum?

Oh, he doesn't care about cruelty to animals at all. He tried to cover for his son who hung a stray dog, slit it's throat then stoned it to death.

Then there's the case with the rapist that badnfluence is talking about.

And, he wants to separate HIV+ people from the rest of the population and put them in camps.

I made this comment on one of my forums:

"Rape, dog stoning, putting HIV+ people in camps, is there anything this man finds morally wrong?"

To which someone replied:

"Rights for women and homosexuals."

I just thought that was funny (in a true scary kind of way).

For example, did you know that he pushed for the early release of a serial rapist, who later went on to rape and murder again?

I think this is fairly common knowlegde by now (or maybe I think that because I don't get my news from MSM - have they covered this?). Sadly, it hasn't slowed his rise to the top of the pool of candidates for the Repubs.
I would hope, however, that, if he did win candidacy, that it would make a difference in the actual Presidetial race.

Serious comment this time:

"Please remember that homosexuality is still classified as a psychological disorder."

Incorrect. Homosexuality does not appear in the DSM IV.

"It has merely been renamed as trans-gender fetishism or gender identity disorder."

Incorrect again. TGF and GID are not "homosexuality renamed," any more than Narcissistic Personality Disorder or Body Dismorphic Disorder are "vanity renamed."

TGF, GID, NPD, and BDD are all psychological disorders that significantly impair the sufferer's ability to live a normal, happy life.

Homosexuality and vanity are not. Both may make you unpopular among certain people, but the fact that those people don't like you doesn't make you mentally ill--no matter how much those people would like to pretend that it does.

ShelbyWoo: Actually, I didn't know that at all, and I intend to quote it often to my Republican friends if they even so much as think about voting for him. It's not as out there as you think.

This guy is scary.
I am moving to Canada next week, so I am on one hand, personally very excited to not have to CONSIDER this man to be my leader, but on the other hand, because I am almost incapable of not thinking on a macro level, I am extremely disturbed that he is rising in the polls. My step-dad supports him. I am having a REALLY, REALLY hard time with that. He also called Hilary a bitch. I am pretty mad at him right now.

"Homosexuality kinda similar to necrophilia"

I would say, Huckabee, honey, you weren't doing it right. If that was your first experience, believe me, you needed a better partner.

Lifelong Arkansan here, and let me vouch for the previous poster who said that Fuckabee is evil.

Along with the release of the serial rapist he also tried to cut Tefra (which is the state health insurance for disabled minors). There was a massive uprising of marchers and protesters, thankfully they kept it from being cut off completely.

He also wouldn't so anything about all the run-off from the chicken houses. Because of this nasty run-off our rivers and the groundwater is pretty nasty.

I would really like to know what these alleged government-supported necrophilia programs are. Huckabee is pond scum with a tenuous--at best--grip on reality.

Mike Huckabee: the Britney Spears of politics.

Oh, he doesn't care about cruelty to animals at all. He tried to cover for his son who hung a stray dog, slit it's throat then stoned it to death.

The scariest part about that is that cruelty to animals on that level is often a warning sign of a future serial killer. By getting him out of responsibility for the dog, he may end up killing 5 or 10 or a dozen women.

Huckabee's a fundie, though, so women don't count. Only sonny boy counts, what with his penis and all.

People like Huck (religious fundamentalists) make no distinction between consentual sexual behavior (BDSM, homosexual sex) and non-consentual sexual behavior (rape necrophilia, pedophilia). To them, it's all "sexual immorality." Rape is no more immoral than sex between two women.
That's what's truly disturbing. The concept of consent means nothing to them. All wrongs are wrongs against "god." That certain actions hurt people is immaterial to them.

That's what's truly disturbing. The concept of consent means nothing to them.

Nicely put, SarahMC. I don't really have anything else to add, but I thought this bore repeating :).

Thank you, SarahMC. You've summed up perfectly what is so disturbing about this.

does anyone else regard huckabee with a sort of morbid curiosity? i mean, usually the things he comes out with make me angry/frustrated/horrified... but i can usually laugh them off because his opinions just seem SO out there.

but then i'm continually shocked to see his standing in the polls. people (lots of people!) really take him seriously?

i guess i've been naive :(

werechick: Or men. Serial killers can kill men too. Huckabee doesn't just put his son ahead of women, he puts his son ahead of everyone. Is that really what we want in a President? Someone who cares more about his son's freedom and his own reputation than the safety and well-being of the general populace? More about his son's freedom and his own reputation than his son's mental health?

SarahMC: I agree with you and would like to add: Consent, to them, only matters if they're trying to figure out if they should blame both people or one person.

We need a Huckabee website similar to Baptists for Brownback.

I think the Huckster is as frightening a character as I've seen in politics in a long time. He's more willing to put his crazy views out there in the open than Bush is, and more willing to try and cram them down the country's throat. You thought Bush was scary? Buy your plane tickets before the flights are all full.free online games