Hannity Listens While Romney Spins the Truth about Huckabee

Today presented another example of why I am fed up with what has come to be called the "Republican Establishment." Among this group are the conservative media entities, which mostly is comprised of blogs and talk radio. Today, Sean Hannity had Governor Romney on his radio program. I have not been impressed with Governor Romney, and have stated that I will not vote for him. Today's radio interview presented a keen example of exactly why I am fed up with the "Conservative Establishment" in general, and Governor Romney in particular.

Among the criticisms that Governor Romney spoke about on Hannity's radio program today was that Governor Mike Huckabee supports "tuition breaks for illegal immigrants." Of course, the governor is referring to a bill that Governor Huckabee supported while governing Arkansas. What was not mentioned was the fact that Governor Huckabee simply has not said he supports tuition breaks for illegal immigrants in his campaign for President. Governor Huckabee has not advocated such a policy in his run for the Presidency. This is common knowledge, and is an inarguable fact. Yet Governor Romney today said that Governor Huckabee "supports tuition breaks for illegals." The key word, here, is the word "supports," which Romney says in the present tense. Thus, Romney asserts that this is a position that Governor Huckabee is currently advocating. Said another way, Romney presents it as if it is without a doubt true that Governor Hucakbee, upon becoming President, will enact tuition breaks for illegals at the federal level. This is simply untrue. This is not a position that Governor Huckabee holds, and Romney knows that. Yet that did not stop him from asserting it today. That is shameful and worthy of rebuke.

To make matters worse, the show's host, Sean Hannity, did not bother to correct this very important error. Conservative talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity have earned a positive reputation among conservatives for seeking and reporting the truth; and this is one of the major reasons they have become so popular. But I want to say that, whatever Hannity's view of Governor Huckabee is (and it strikes me as particularly negative), he ought not to have allowed Governor Romney to present something as fact which is blatantly false. Many folks in America have come to rely on people like Sean Hannity because they are perceived as trustworthy advocates of truth. I must say that today's show has, for me at least, convinced me of a disheartening fact. Apparently Sean Hannity and others are concerned with the truth, but only when it advances their particular agenda. Should the truth reflect poorly on their underlying agenda, they will just as soon resort to dishonesty. That is also shameful and equally worthy of rebuke.

Honestly, the Dishonesty is Disheartening

Governor Romney, as expected, has waited until the final week before the Iowa caucus to unleash attack ads against governor Huckabee. The support that governor Huckabee has won with his resonating message in the last couple of months governor Romney is trying to buy back by slamming the airwaves with negative, dishonest 30 second television ads. Governor Huckabee responded to the false attacks with an incredibly concise, yet accurate statement:

"If a person is dishonest in his approach to get the job, do you believe he will be honest in telling you the truth when he does get the job? You need a president who gets the job honestly. Because if they don't get it honestly he probably won't serve honestly."

Herein is one of the major reasons that Huckabee supporters like myself support governor Huckabee over governor Romney. It is not because Huckabee is a Christian and Romney is a Mormon. It is because Huckabee is trustworthy, and Romney is not. It is because governor Huckabee has made the hard decisions, and governor Romney has not. It is because governor Huckabee will say what is true whatever the cost, and governor Romney will not. For instance, see here and here.

Governor Romney has distorted the truth. He has not only misrepresented the records of his opponents, he has also misrepresented his own record. He does not deserve the high honor that is the office of the President. Should he become the nominee, I will not vote for him. I suspect there are many like me in that regard; possibly enough like me to ensure that governor Romney will not win the White House in 2008.

If governor Romney is the nominee, then in order to get me to vote for him, one would need to try and persuade me that having a dishonest Republican is better than having a dishonest Democrat. If the only difference is that the dishonest Republican will cut my taxes, whereas the dishonest Democrat will raise them, I'm afraid I would have to respond by saying that I simply cannot vote for either a dishonest Republican or a dishonest Democrat. If presented with such a situation, I will gladly and proudly write governor Huckabee in as my candidate.

Coulter Attacks; Huckabee Responds

Ann Coulter has criticized Governor Huckabee in a column and several interviews this week. Her full column can be found here. We will post a snippet from that column, and we have also posted the video of one of her interviews below. First, the video.

Ann Coulter: Neil Cavuto Show (FoxNews)

Second, a snippet from the column:

...And yet, Huckabee has said he agrees with the Supreme Court's lunatic opinion that sodomy is a constitutional right.

Lawrence was promptly denounced not only by Republican governors and Christian groups across the nation, but also by anyone with sufficient reading comprehension skills to see that the Constitution says nothing about a right to sodomy. But when Huckabee was asked about this jaw-dropping ruling from the high court, he said the majority opinion "probably was appropriate."

Huckabee Response

Naturally, we are concerned whenever a potential presidential candidate explicitly suggests that a decision such as Lawrence was decided correctly. We have looked further into the issue, and have come across Governor Huckabee's response to the criticism. We have posted it in its entirety.

Ann Coulter's comments are based on a response I made during a radio call-in show in which a caller asked what I thought about the Supreme Court ruling on Lawrence v. Texas. At the time I had not read the ruling and was basing my opinion on the summary by the caller. After reading the decision I believe it is obvious that the ruling was wrongly decided. Lawrence v. Texas is an extreme example of judicial activism. It could, in fact, be inappropriately used to attack our marriage laws nationwide.

I am in agreement with the dissent by Justices Scalia, Rehnquist, and Thomas:

[The ruling] dismantles the structure of constitutional law that has permitted a distinction to be made between heterosexual and homosexual unions, insofar as formal recognition in marriage is concerned. If moral disapprobation of homosexual conduct is 'no legitimate state interest' for purposes of proscribing that conduct, ...what justification could there possibly be for denying the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples exercising 'the liberty protected by the Constitution'?

Furthermore, As Justice Thomas said, we might disagree with the wisdom of a law, but that is the province of the Legislature, not unelected judges. No such activist Justices will be appointed as long as I am President.

I wish Ms. Coulter had contacted me or my campaign to discuss my position in detail before writing her column. I would have appreciated the opportunity to clarify this matter.

Bottom Line

Governor Huckabee's response indicates that he might agree with the policy of repealing anti-sodomy laws, but that he disagrees with the notion that the Supreme Court of the United States has the authority to do so. Rather, Governor Huckabee seems to believe that if anti-sodomy laws are to be repealed, then it is the legislatures of the individual states that are to do so, not the Federal Courts. This is precisely the position that is expressed by Justice Clarence Thomas in his dissenting opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. We will not go as far as to say that Ann Coulter's criticism was unfair; but we will say that when all of the facts are known, her concern on this matter is unfounded.

Ms. Coulter also criticizes Huckabee on his position on evolution and school textbooks. We will address that particular criticism in a future post.

Huckabee Press Conference: On Christmas and Pardons

Here is a video of a press conference where Governor Huckabee discusses his "controversial" Christmas ad, commutations and pardons, and Governor Romney's vicious and disingenuous attacks against his record.

Fact-Check: Huckabee Hard-Drive "Scandal"

As we have been noticing, now that Governor Huckabee is generating some momentum in the race for President, the media, as well as interest groups, have taken it upon themselves to attack Huckabee. Do not expect to hear truth from these sources, however. Consider this example.

In an opinion piece for the US News and World Report, Bonnie Erbe tries to create a scandal by resorting to the well-known (and highly effective) strategy of reporting half-truths. Says Ms. Erbe:

Other questions surrounding his [Huckabee's] tenure are even more puzzling. One is why earlier this year, as Huckabee was leaving office, he apparently ordered the destruction of more than 100 computers in the governor's office.

What!? The Governor ordered the destruction of more than 100 computers in the governor's office? Is my mind changed? No. Here's why.

The incident Ms. Erbe refers to, and which she tries to manufacture a scandal, is an instruction of the Governor to destroy more than 90 (not "over 100" Ms. Erbe) computer hard-drives (not "computers", Ms. Erbe) in order to "protect sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers" from being leaked (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 18, 2007).

The destruction of the hard-drives hardly constitutes a scandal. On March 17, 2007, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that an ethics panel had cleared Governor Huckabee of any wrong doing regarding the destruction of the hard-drives. A Jim Parsons had filed a complaint that Huckabee had violated the law in destroying the hard drives. From the Gazette:

Jim Parsons of Bella Vista filed the complaint, claiming that Huckabee violated Arkansas Code 7-9-410, which requires that records regarding public ballot initiatives be retained for four years.

The commissioner of the ethics committee, in a letter to Governor Huckabee, wrote that the commission had dismissed the claim by a vote of 4-0. From the Gazette:

Sloan wrote that the law didn't require Huckabee to keep those records. Furthermore, he wrote that such records usually are in paper, not electronic, form.

So, an independent ethics committee cleared Huckabee of any wrongdoing in the destruction of the hard-drives. But that is not all.

On July 18, 2007, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Huckabee had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Arkansas State Attorney General. Said the Gazette:

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Tuesday that his office's research has determined that former Gov. Mike Huckabee and people in his administration broke no laws when more than 90 [not "over 100" Ms. Erbe] computer hard drives [not "computers", Ms. Erbe] were crushed before Huckabee left office in January

So, an independent ethics board unanimously cleared Governor Huckabee of any wrongdoing, and an investigation by the Attorney General's office concluded the same thing.

Conclusion:

Ms. Erbe not only misstates the facts, she also only reports half of the truth. She tries to manufacture a scandal out of the destruction of hard-drives upon termination of the Governor's tenure in office, and yet an independent ethics committee, as well as the Attorney General's office, has cleared him of wrongdoing. Ms. Erbe's reporting is irresponsible, incorrect, and deserving of rebuke.

Huckabee Roundup

A Note From the Editor

It typically is the duty of a blog that favors a particular candidate to paint that candidate in the best possible light. Sometimes doing that would require either totally ignoring, or else positively spinning, criticism that the candidate receives. This blog is not going to do that. Rather than ignoring or spinning criticism of Governor Huckabee, I will try to present and respond to the criticism to show why, even in the face of such criticism, I still support Governor Hucakbee for President. Sometimes the criticisms might be true, and other time they might be distortions; nevertheless, it is important that they be presented and addressed. Toward that end, here is what has been happening over the past few days

Not surprisingly, Governor Huckabee's surge has prompted some attacks on his record.

On Friday, John Fund wrote unfavorably of Mike Huckabee in the Opinion Journal. Here's some snippets:

I have known and liked him for years; on the stump he often tells the story of how we first met outside his boarded-up office in the state Capitol, which had been sealed by Arkansas Democrats who refused to accept he had won an upset election for lieutenant governor in 1993. But I also know he is not the "consistent conservative" he now claims to be.

Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum, is even more blunt. "He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles," she says. "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee."

Lucas Roebuck, former opinion page editor of the Benton County Daily Record, former assignment editor for KNWA-NBC, and former managing editor for the Northwest Arkansas Times, wrote a rebuttal to the Opinion Journal piece. Here is a snippet:

Fund attempts to make the case that Huckabee is “not the ‘consistent conservative’ he claims to be.” However, instead of constructing a well-researched case of examples of Huckabee’s supposed conservative inconsistencies, Fund strings together a handful of individuals who simply accuse Huckabee of being liberal with little or no factual support. Furthermore, what little evidence Fund does present is skewed by critical omissions of relevant fact.

The Huckabee campaign released its own rebuttal of the Fund article.

The Governor has apparently done so well in the last week or so that CBN News decided to scrutinize his theology.

On Sunday, Time reported that Governor Romney took a shot at Huckabee.

He wanted in-state tuition breaks for illegal aliens in his state. I think that’s the wrong way to go.

Governor Huckabee's response:

I guess I’d be coming after me too. I’d also be crying, if I’d spent all that money.

I've been doing a little research of my own of the main criticisms that are coming out about the Governor. I have to say that in most instances I find the criticisms to either be distortions of the truth, or I find that the criticisms are insignificant according to my hierarchy of values. I will do my best to present my conclusions in following posts. In doing so I am likely to break the golden rule of blogging that says never to construct a post that is longer than 500 words. Well, if we want to get to the truth of the matter, sometimes we need more than 500 words. And if people want to get to the truth, they should be willing to endure a lengthy post; if they are not willing to get to the truth, they probably should not bother reading this blog.