Former Arkansas governor, and 2008 GOP hopeful, Mike Huckabee was on The Daily Show on Monday the 12th. Now before I made this transformation into a bible denying, "vote Obama", I heart socialism, loser that I am today; I thought I could vote for Mike.
The year was 2008. I had just voted for whatever Libertarian candidate that party had fielded (I vote in Oklahoma...vote Republican or your vote doesn't really matter). I was a republican but I couldn't get behind McCain/Palin (Sarah Palin? Really?), and didn't feel the GOP ticket really spoke for me, so in a fit of moral activism I voted Libertarian, knowing full well the futility of that act. Then I heard Huckabee speaking post election. I hadn't really paid attention to him up until then.
He sounded like a reasonable candidate. Someone I disagreed with in some respects, but not enough to make me vote Libertarian or god forbid Democrat. He seemed to endorse government for all, not just those who believed the way he did. Election 2012, and super PACs, changed that.
During The Daily Show they played a commercial Huckabee did during the campaign. He makes some semi-vague religious references, the point being "You know who God would vote for...and it ain't the colored fella." At the end he has the balls to say something like, "cast a vote that will stand the test of fire."
Now; I'm no conspiracy theorist (which is what most conspiracy theorists say right before they tell you their conspiracy), but am the only one who agrees with Jon Stewart? The implication is; vote Romney/Ryan, or face hell. Now to his credit Huckabee tries to explain he was referring to a bible verse about "purifying with fire" or some such bull shit. I think that ad was a clearly targeted campaign to subtly, or not so subtly, imply god is on the GOP side and/or "a vote for Obama equals a vote for satan."
Sure, you can say..."unh uh sugarpooh...thats a well known bible verse and you're just persecuting us because of our faith," (news flash, you're white, you're christian, and you live in America...you have not tasted persecution for your faith). But I'll submit this: Americans as a majority are pretty uninformed. About world events, about science, and yes..about the bible.
I know I was. You went to church and for the most part you are told, "this is what the bible says about that." And that becomes your answer..no one really bothers to check the context, the authors, the history of the time in which some of these words were written. They just take at face value what their pastor has told them the bible says and what it means.
Now I say all of that to say this; they had to have known that VERY FEW people watching a nation-wide commercial like that would say to themselves, "Ohhhh...like that bible verse. I get it." No. I believe that was PURELY intended to say what I mentioned above, Obama = Satan. Of course they have that plausible deniability based on that verse, "what? Oh no no no....you silly little liberal man. You obviously don't read your bible that much if that's what you thought we meant."
Let's face it....both sides are guilty of that kind of game. That's why our system sucks sooooo badly. Shit like that works! And if you call them out on it, they have a convenient excuse as to what the ad should have been taken as, if only you weren't so close-minded to understand. Then somebody like Jon Stewart calls bullshit on that, and he's a liberal who doesn't believe in their right to religious freedom or speech...And the vicious cycle continues.
Anyway, I respect Mike Huckabee for having the courage to go on a show like the Daily Show and face a guy as sharp as Stewart. But I just can't believe I thought only four short years ago, "I could vote for that guy!"
And BTW: if you are from Oklahoma and looking for a good read about politics and whatnot in the Sooner State check out The Lost Ogle. It's kinda like the Daily Show. Only in a blog. And almost exclusively about Oklahoma. If you are a TOSH.0 fan The Lost Ogle is who first brought us Oklahoma City's own Sweet Brown. It can be entertaining even for those not from Oklahoma.
In Reason,
Sugarpooh
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