More On Mike Huckabee

Last Friday, Tony Norman pointed out the dishonesty in some of Governor Mike Huckabee's walkback of his near-birther charge that President Obama had been raised in Kenya by his father and grandfather. Something about the British,

None of it was true (as Obama was raised in Hawaii and then Indonesia) but it fit the birther myth so he went with it anyway I guess. He now says he misspoke on the Kenya thing. He really meant that Obama's Indonesian father taught him to hate the Brits because of Kenya. Or something like that. None of it makes any sense. Here's Tony:

Now, Mr. Huckabee would have us believe that every word out of his mouth on that subject was a "misstatement" -- not stupidity, lying or pandering to the worst elements of his party's base.

Now, that's a stretch! With the majority of Republicans in the "Obama is an alien" camp, humoring audiences with birther proclivities shows how far even relatively sane candidates will sink for a few extra votes. It's pathetic.

But that's not the latest "Opps, I did it again, I misspoke" from Huckabee. He's now saying he didn't criticise Oscar winner Natalie Portman. From Politico:

Mike Huckabee walked back his criticisms of actress Natalie Portman for "glamorizing" out-of-wedlock pregnancies Friday, with a statement insisting he was only talking about society and that he's glad the Oscar winner plans to wed her baby's father.

And:

"In a recent media interview about my new book, A Simple Government, I discussed the first chapter, 'The Most Important Form of Government Is a Father, Mother, and Children,' " Huckabee said, referring to his appearance on The Michael Medved Show.

"I was asked about Oscar-winner Natalie Portman's out-of-wedlock pregnancy," he added. "Natalie is an extraordinary actor, very deserving of her recent Oscar and I am glad she will marry her baby's father.

"However, contrary to what the Hollywood media reported, I did not 'slam' or 'attack' Natalie Portman, nor did I criticize the hardworking single mothers in our country," he said.

"My comments were about the statistical reality that most single moms are very poor, under-educated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death. That's the story that we're not seeing, and it's unfortunate that society often glorifies and glamorizes the idea of having children out of wedlock."

Huh. Well what DID the "Hollywood media" report? Here's USMagazine:

She won over the Academy, but Natalie Portman doesn't have a fan in presidential prospect Mike Huckabee.

The former Arkansas governor and Fox News Channel host attacked the best actress winner, 29, who's currently expecting her first child with fiance Benjamin Millepied.

"People see a Natalie Portman who boasts, 'We're not married but we're having these children and they're doing just fine," Huckabee told radio host Michael Medved on his show Monday. "I think it gives a distorted image. It's unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out-of- wedlock children."

Calling Portman's pregnancy "troubling," Huckabee went on to say that many single parents don't have the resources to hire help, the way someone like the Black Swan star would.

"Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care," he said. "And that's the story that we're not seeing."

OF COURSE, he's not criticizing Portman's "troubling" pregnancy when he says she's "boasting" about doing just fine. He's also not criticizing anyone or anything when he says it "gives a distorted image" to all the poor, uneducated, unemployed single moms who's kids would be dead were it not for guv'ment help.

Of course not.

The interesting thing is how consistent Governor Mike Huckabee is. Consider this interview from a few years ago.

When asked in 2008 about whether he thinks Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter (that would be Bristol Palin who was 18 and unmarried at the time, though she's no longer 18, still unmarried) will effect upcoming election he answered:

The way the media went after the daughter is the most shameful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. If anything, it just caused [evangelicals] to run to her. Everyone understands that the basis of being a Christian is that everyone has fallen short of God’s ideal. Everyone understands that. We do understand is that when there’s a problem or failures, the family sticks together. We saw a mother who gave her unconditional love to her daughter. That embodies what Christianity means. We all mess up, the issue is how we respond to it. What she showed us is exactly what we wanted to see in terms of a witness.

So on the one hand if it's a unmarried Christian teenager, who's a high school drop out and who just happens to be the daughter of a prominent Conservative, it's OK - it's the media that's acting shameful. But on the other, if it's an engaged Ivy League educated Jewish woman in her 30s who just won an Oscar who also just happens to be a supporter of the Democratic Party, it's bad bad bad for our nation.

Media Coincidences - You Gotta Love 'Em!

The same day we learn that Governor Palin's daughter Bristol gave birth:

Bristol Palin gave birth to her much-anticipated baby son on Sunday, People.com reported this evening.

The first grandchild of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, weighing in at seven pounds, four ounces.

When it was announced shortly after Gov. Palin was named John McCain's running mate that her teenage daughter was expecting, it triggered national debates on teen pregnancy and marriage, abstinence education, the VP vetting process, the privacy of political families and, well, just about everything.

Bristol Palin is 18, as is her boyfriend of three years, Levi Johnston, a former high school hockey player. Both have dropped out of high school -- she to complete her diploma through correspondence courses, People reports, and he to become an apprentice electrician, he told the AP this fall. They have said they plan to marry in 2009. (Johnston's mother Sherry was arrested earlier this month on felony drug charges for allegedly selling OxyContin.)

(Side note: both of these crazy kids are High School drop outs and his mother's been arrested on drug charges. Just imagine the hand-wringing and tooth-gnashing from the self-appointed guardians of our culture in God's Own Party if this bunch had been Democrats - "Oh what will we tell the children??")

We also learned yet again that Virginity Pledges just don't work. In fact, they can lead to more pregnancies and more STDs:

Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today.

The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge," but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers.

What will we tell the children??

Questions? Comments? Remarks? Drop me an e-mail.

UPDATE from the Bramster:

I had this conversation a lot during the election -- basically, why don't social conservatives see the hypocrisy, or at least the futility, of being anti-sex ed, anti-contraception, anti-choice and pro-shame and then let their children get knocked up and their lives upended like this on a regular basis? Some people expected social conservatives would turn on Palin as a bad mother (why wasn't she around the house to make sure her daughter didn't become a whore?) or turn against social conservatism as daft and futile.

My thoughts on this were always, of course not!!! It's easy to be pro-shame, pro-ignorance and pro-hatred of "young whores", yet be totally embracing of everyone who fail to live up to their strict conservative standards, and whose lives get totally upended. In fact, it's a badge of honor. Although Ozzy and Harriet are still held up as the only righteous way to live, they can look at a family like the Palins and think, "Hey, they're total hypocrites -- just like me! They failed to raise their kids right and now their family is all messed up -- just like me!" The point isn't actually to live up to high moral standards -- only to be self-righteous towards everybody and force them to try. The fact that it doesn't work and causes dropouts and worse doesn't matter. I knew it'd make them more sympathetic.

UPDATE from Fillippelli the (Wannabe) Cook:

Shocking that these don't work, eh? Undoubtedly, this will mean that those creepy daddy and his little girl virginity balls will only increase in popularity.

UPDATE from Laurie Mann:

Like I've been saying, Bristol Palin is the poster child for abstenance-only education. And is sounds like her baby's other grandmother is the poster-child for drug abuse.