Huckabee to conservatives: Stop whining about Obama’s Nobel

Dude why would you say something like that? I’m not a fan of Huck but he seems to be a good and decent person. There’s no hint of scandal. What a wretched sentiment. That you would think it is one thing. That you would embarrass yourself publicly by posting it is stupid.

ronsfi on October 9, 2009 at 7:19 PM

There was a lot more than a hint of scandal when he was Governor. Getting a Police Chief fired for looking into his son’s hanging of a dog. I think Huckabee was investigated dozens of times for corruption/bribe taking.

MB4 on October 9, 2009 at 7:40 PM

In Arkansas, Mr. Huckabee was investigated by the state ethics committee at least 14 times. Most of the complaints centered on what appears to be a serial disregard for government rules about gifts and outside financial compensation. He reported $112,000 worth of gifts in one year alone, nearly double his $67,000 salary.

Five of the 14 investigations resulted in admonishments: Two for failing to report gifts (one was later overturned), the other three for some $80,000 that Mr. Huckabee and his wife received but failed to initially report. One of these admonishments involved a $23,500 payment to Mr. Huckabee from an opaque organization called Action America that he helped found in 1994 while lieutenant governor, and that was designed to coordinate his speeches and supplement his income.

Mr. Huckabee caused an uproar when he used a $60,000 account intended to maintain the governor’s mansion for personal expenses, including restaurant meals, dry cleaning and boat supplies. He also faced a lawsuit over his assertion that $70,000 worth of furniture donated to the mansion was his to keep. Sprinkled among all this are complaints about the misuse of state planes and campaign funds, mistakes on financial disclosure forms, and fights over documents related to ethics investigations.

Any one of these episodes individually may appear penny ante, but they add up to a disturbing pattern. People I’ve spoken with who worked with Mr. Huckabee in Arkansas dispute the idea that he is “corrupt.” They instead ascribe his ethical mishaps to a “blind spot” rooted in his beginnings as a Baptist minister and a Southern culture of gift-giving; they suggest he never made the mental transition to public office.

Some will also argue Mr. Huckabee is no more ethically challenged than Mr. Giuliani, who is getting pounded with questions about Judith Nathan’s security detail and Giuliani Partner clients. The difference is that Hizzoner is a celebrity whose past bones were long ago picked clean by the media crows. Even the Nathan flap is an extension of news that made the rounds five years ago.

The obscure governor from Arkansas is, in contrast, a deep sea for media diving. Most recent have been stories about his pardons and commutations, as well as the news that R.J. Reynolds contributed to Action America. Mr. Huckabee–who now wants a national smoking ban in public places–responded that he never knew he accepted tobacco money, which has inspired a former adviser to claim Mr. Huckabee is being “less than truthful.” What’s next?
- Kimberley A. Strassel

MB4 on October 9, 2009 at 7:42 PM

I have LONG suspected that the commenter who goes by “MB4″ is in actuality the leftist pig from The Arkansas Times, Max Brantley.

Al-Ozarka on October 9, 2009 at 10:16 PM

Don’t give up your day job to become a psychic as you will surly starve.

BTW, are you Saint Olaf by any chance?

MB4 on October 10, 2009 at 12:37 AM