Author: Trish

Details of Huckabee Son’s Dog Torture Episode Coming Out

Trish
photo-david-huckabee
David Huckabee’s mug shot after his April, 2007 weapons arrest in Little Rock

UPDATE: January 2015 – Testing the waters for another presidential run, Mike Huckabee — whose son tortured and killed a dog — has sought attention by criticizing the Obamas’ parenting skills. Click here…

Original article from 2007

The White House has boarded its share of unsavory family members of occupants. During Pres. George H.W. Bush’s term, no doubt coke was snorted in the hallowed halls by his sons and their friends. Everyone still remembers what it was like when Billy Bob Carter came to town. And the daughters of today’s Pres. Bush could not be considered boring.

But if Mike Huckabee makes it to Pennsylvania Avenue, should we expect Michael Vick to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom?

David Huckabee “admitted to catching a stray dog during their summer session at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, AR, and hanging the dog by his neck, slitting his throat and stoning him to death”

Huckabee’s eldest and tubbiest son, David, would have made Vick proud when he was 18 and fired from his Boy Scout counseling job for torturing and killing a stray dog. David most recently made headlines when he was arrested for forgetting about the Glock pistol in his bag at the Little Rock airport.

But a few years earlier, when his dad was still governor, Big Boy was in a different kind of trouble. Corrente has been all over this story but the site is down now, probably due to excessive hits. This is from the Crooks & Liars quote from Corrente:

Here’s the barebones story of how 18-year-old Mike Huckabee’s son, David, and 17-year-old Clayton Frady killed a dog when they were Boy Scouts, and got fired for it. From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1998 (as quoted in DogBlog):

[David Huckabee,] the younger son of Gov. Mike Huckabee and another teen were fired last month from jobs at a Boy Scout camp after the killing of a stray dog.[..]

So, how and why did David Huckabee (and Clayton Frady) kill the dog?

[…]

Republicans Connie Mack and Mary Bono Finally Make It Legal

Trish

Best wishes to the House’s newest newlyweds, Florida Rep. Connie Mack IV (R-Naples), and California Rep. Mary Bono (R-Palm Springs). The two are moderate GOPers, if you define moderate as referring to themselves by their first names on their official websites. They were married in Asheville, N.C. over the weekend.

Actually both have shown signs of independence from the Bush White House and Republican leadership. Connie, as we are invited to call him, is the latest of the dynasty that began with his great-grandfather the baseball guy. Last month, Connie rebuked Bushite Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, for saying Americans no longer expect privacy. In a press release titled, “Mack Blasts Administration for Waving White Flag on Freedom,” Connie went all Democrat on his ass.

“Dr. Kerr’s comments suggest that he believes government ought to be entrusted to protect the private data of 300 million Americans. That’s absurd.

“Safeguarding our nation’s security is paramount. But so too is preserving our freedom. To bolster the first by disintegrating the latter runs counter to every democratic principle known to man.

“The American people have expectations of privacy and constitutional protections from government intrusion. Sadly, it seems that Dr. Kerr and his colleagues need a refresher course in Civics 101.”

Mary, as she is familiarly known, has also demonstrated skipping whole days of Kool-aid drinking. In October, she voted to override Bush’s veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, and expressed her frustration with those who would use children as political pawns.

“During the past few months, I have been dismayed by the political gamesmanship on this issue that has replaced compromise and bipartisanship,” said Bono. “While I am disappointed that we were unable to override the President’s veto, I believe that we must now take this opportunity to craft a viable compromise that will serve the needs of America’s children.”

This is a second marriage for both. Mary, of course, is the widow of Sonny Bono, who died in a skiing accident in 1998. Connie divorced his wife, Ann, mother of his children Addison and — you guessed it — Connie V at some hard to determine point in his relationship with Mary.

How they will continue to represent their districts remains to be seen. Both are maintaining residences back home, while living in their shared household in the northern Virginia ‘burbs.

2008 Strategy: Zing First, Apologize Later

Trish

A pattern is emerging as the countdown to the Iowa caucuses brings out the desperation in presidential candidates: slam your opponent under the guise of playing devil’s advocate, then profess, “My bad!” and claim you’re really about the politics of hope.

Such widespread “I’m just sayin'” negativity is a new tactic in politics

Mike Huckabee and Hillary Clinton are the latest to fall into the “Whoops” category. Huckabee is apologizing in advance for an article to be published in the New York Times Magazine this weekend. Possibly after watching the YouTube video which makes Mormonism look even wackier than conventional religions by explaining its foundation, Huckabee asked a question, just purely wondering, you understand, about Mitt Romney’s chosen faith.

“Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”

…Huckabee said he offered the question to the reporter during a conversation about Mormonism, not as a statement or a backhanded way of raising Romney’s religion as a campaign issue.

“I asked the question because I had heard that, and I asked it not to create something,” he said. “I never thought it would make the story.”

Yeah, who would have thunk that?

Meanwhile, Clinton is expressing remorse for one of her supporters musing about how the other side, not them of course, might question Barack Obama’s past drug use.

Billy Shaheen…told The Washington Post that should Obama get the Democratic nomination, “one of the things Republicans are certainly going to jump on is his drug use.”

In his 1996 memoir, “Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance,” Obama wrote candidly about his high school-era drug use: “Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.”

Shaheen said Obama’s having been so open…will “open the door to further queries on the matter.

“It’ll be, ‘When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'” Shaheen said. “There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It’s hard to overcome.”

I’m sure Barack appreciates Billy’s concern and that of the Clinton camp. No doubt a thank you note is already in the mail.

Such widespread “I’m just sayin'” negativity is a new tactic in politics. We’re betting it will be more effective than the old school open attack strategies of the past.

Hilarious But True: Bush Reads Wrong Phone Number in Speech

Trish

“Call 1-800-DUMBASS.”

You just can’t make this stuff up:

ABC News’ Jennifer Duck Reports: President Bush announced new steps to help homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments. However, the president gave the wrong phone number to millions of viewers watching his statement on live TV.

President Bush said, “I directed Secretaries Paulson and Jackson to expand the public awareness campaign. And I have a message for every homeowner worried about rising mortgage payments: The best you can do for your family is to call 1-800-995-HOPE.”

However the president was off by a few digits. The real phone number is 1-888-995-HOPE.

The original phone number President Bush read to viewers apparently belongs to the Freedom Christian Academy* which has a full mailbox according to a recorded message heard by an ABC News producer.

The White House immediately sent an email correction to members of the press and a very loud overhead page was heard in the press room at the White House announcing the correct phone number.

The “best thing you can do for your family” is to find a way to get Bush/Cheney out of Washington. Try calling 1-800-DUMBASS.

*Freedom Christian Academy assists Christian home schoolers from its offices in Ponder, Tex. I’m just saying.

White House Admits Bush Lied About Iran; Biden Threatens to Impeach if Bush Acts

Trish

Nobody does incredulous as well as Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) After hearing George Bush claim he wasn’t specifically told until now that Iran shut down its nuclear program in 2003 just like we asked it to, Biden threatened to bring impeachment charges against him if he orders an attack on Iran without the consent of Congress.

A day later we find out, via an email from Press Secretary Dana Perino, that Bush was lying about everything.

Biden yesterday: “Are you telling me a president who’s briefed every single morning, who’s fixated on Iran, is not told back in August that the tentative conclusion of 16 intelligence agencies of the United States government said [Iran] had abandoned their effort for nuclear weapons in 2003?” White House today: “Oh yeah, we just remembered, we were told in August.”

During a press conference on Tuesday, the President told reporters that he was briefed that there was new intelligence information about Iran, but nothing specific.

“I was made aware of the NIE last week,” Bush said Tuesday. “In August, I think it was [Director of National Intelligence] Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn’t tell me what the information was; he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze.”

However today the White House is saying the President was told much more…

Perino stated Bush had been told in August that Iran suspended it’s (sic) covert nuclear weapons program.

“In August, DNI Director McConnell advised President Bush that the intelligence community would not be able to meet a congressionally imposed deadline requiring a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran because new information had been obtained just as they were about to finalize the report,” Perino wrote in an emailed response…

Perino also said McConnell told the President the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran’s covert nuclear program.

Biden was proven correctomundo in challenging Bush’s version of the facts. PR Editor Jon was also right that Bush was dishonestly blaming his intelligence director.

“Are you telling me a president who’s briefed every single morning, who’s fixated on Iran, is not told back in August that the tentative conclusion of 16 intelligence agencies of the United States government said [Iran] had abandoned their effort for nuclear weapons in 2003?” [Biden asked.]

…Senator Biden also today reiterated that should President Bush initiate an attack on Iran without Congress approval, Biden would call for impeachment. In an afternoon Democratic debate hosted by NPR, Biden stated flatly, “you cannot trust this president.”

It’s Not O.K. to Say “Merry Christmas” To Us

Trish

As part of Pensito Review’s War on Christmas during this, the holiest of all shopping seasons*, we want everyone to know it’s not O.K. to say “Merry Christmas” to us. Save it. Zip it. Nip it.

The “It’s O.K. to Say Merry Christmas to Me” merchandising campaign has pushed us, when commanded on how to observe this holiday, from simply wincing on behalf of non-Christians, to groaning and rolling our eyes on behalf of reasonable people, to all-out open hostilities, as they say in the military, which incidentally, fights real wars.

We find the latest gambit from the Focus on the Fambly folks, whose revenues during 2005 were nearly $140 million, especially repellent. Through its Alliance Defense Fund (2004 revenues: $18 million), it claims an astounding 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. That would be a huge jump from Oct., 2005, when a Harper’s article identified considerably fewer Christians in this country.

Depending on which poll you look at and how the question is asked, somewhere around 85 percent of us call ourselves Christian…a smaller number of Americans—about 75 percent—claim they actually pray to God on a daily basis, and only 33 percent say they manage to get to church every week.

But, Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Other, we evidently loves us some Christmas!

We’re not buying it — literally. We personally know both Christians and Non who do not celebrate the birth of Christ, or more accurately, Cool, Now What Else Did You Get Me Day.

What those who use the holiday to ostracize people who choose to do something else on Dec. 25 is really all about is apparent from the ADF “It’s O.K.” web site. “Products” is listed first in the home page navigation, followed by “Donate,” “E-Card,” “Your Rights,” “Attacks on Christmas” and “Legal Request.”

My favorite is the rip-off (can you rip off a rip-off?) site “itsoktosay.com.” It offers design-free t-shirts with the hostile phrase, along with the complaint, “IT’S HIS BRITHDAY AND YOU CANT EVEN SAY HIS NAME!” Maybe they should ask Santa for a spell checker this Xmas.

* Thanks, Earline Gilley