Mike’s Major Huck Up: Pakistan Reason for Border Fence…but I Stayed In a Holiday Inn Express
Posted on December 28, 2007
Well, don’t get me wrong…he’s had many, many potential ones. He has had to come back and correct his mis-statements with the media too many times. Why is this one the major one? It is the one that the MSM is actually picking up on. I heard ol’ Carl Cameron on FOX news just say that his response to the Bhutto assassination is really getting to Iowa voters, and that his response wasn’t something worthy of a person wanting the mantle of the Oval Office. Don’t quote that, but it’s close I’m sure.
CNN:
For Mike Huckabee, this is the moment he was NOT looking forward to. After riding a surge to the top of the polls in Iowa, NOW, his own jokes about not having foreign policy experience, the one in which he said, “..but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night”, is precisely the kind of stuff that can trip him up.
On Thursday night he told reporters in Orlando, Fla.: “We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there’s any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country.â€
On Friday, in Pella, Iowa, he expanded on those remarks.
“When I say single them out I am making the observation that we have more Pakistani illegals coming across our border than all other nationalities except those immediately south of the border,†he told reporters in Pella. “And in light of what is happening in Pakistan it ought to give us pause as to why are so many illegals coming across these borders.â€
In fact, far more illegal immigrants come from the Philippines, Korea, China and Vietnam, according to recent estimates from the Department of Homeland Security.
Asked how a border fence would help keep out Pakistani immigrants, Mr. Huckabee argued that airplane security was already strong, but that security at the southern United States border was dangerously weak.
“The fact is that the immigration issue is not so much about people coming to pick lettuce or make beds, it’s about someone coming with a shoulder-fired missile,†he said.
The sudden emergency in Pakistan and Mr. Huckabee’s response come at a time when he has come under increasing scrutiny from opponents for his lack of fluency in foreign policy issues, and the situation in Pakistan appeared to have challenged him.
“We have seen what happens in the Musharraf government,†Mr. Huckabee said on MSNBC. “He has told us he does not have enough control of those eastern borders near Afghanistan to be able go after the terrorists. But on the other hand, did he not want us going in, so what do we do?†Those borders are actually on the west, not the east.
Further, he offered an Orlando crowd his “apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.†His aides said later that he meant to say “sympathies.†He also said he was worried about martial law “continuing†in Pakistan, although Mr. Musharraf lifted the state of emergency on Dec. 15. His campaign told CBS News that his statement was not a blunder.
The media’s covering this with surprising attentiveness, doubtless not so much because of Huck’s shakiness on the facts than his audacious suggestion that people hailing from the nation where the “real terrorists†are and behaving unusually might warrant a bit of extra scrutiny. Oh well. If that’s what it takes to get them off the Huck bandwagon, so be it. Attack, media! Attack like the wind!
I guess the blush is off the rose as far as the media and Huckabee are concerned. Romney’s ground game in Iowa should either give him a win, or a closer second than what some may be thinking. By Super Tuesday, I imagine Huckabee will be done. But it remains unclear how the rest of the race will play out.
Want more? A few weeks back, after a different Huck-up, Huckabee touted Frank Gaffney among his foreign policy advisers. Here was Frank’s response:
In recent days, Mike Huckabee has tried to answer long-standing questions about who is on his foreign policy team. On Friday morning, he listed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as someone with whom he either has “spoken or will continue to speak.â€
At a Thursday evening press conference, Huckabee said, “I’ve corresponded with John Bolton, who’s agreed to work with us on developing foreign policy.â€
Bolton, however, has a different view. “I’d be happy to speak with Huckabee, but I haven’t spoken with him yet,†said Bolton, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.
“I’m not an official or unofficial adviser to anyone,†said Bolton, who mentioned he’d had conversations with other Republican candidates but refused to name any names.
This goes beyond mere cluelessness to outright stupidity.
I would think that the millions of Mexican illegals who flow across our border every year would be enough to warrant a border fence without resorting to rather bizarre concerns over illegals coming from a nation on the other side of the globe. But Huckabee’s concerns about Pakistani illegals are even more bizarre when you factor in his support for entitlements for illegal immigrants already in this country.
Don’t worry…it gets even worse.
I think it is simple. Huckabee jumps the gun on a current issue in order to patch up his weak positions on the border and immigration. He gets too eager and doesn’t make sure of the facts. Presidential material? I don’t think so. Hey Iowa…just follow Peggy’s advice…be reasonable.
In the meantime…lets get Huckabee a map. Not your foreign policy candidate for sure.
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, Border Control/Homeland Security, News, Politics As Usual, Video, War On Terror
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7 Responses to “Mike’s Major Huck Up: Pakistan Reason for Border Fence…but I Stayed In a Holiday Inn Express”
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Huckabee is right .While Illegal Mexicans are a grave burden they are not a terrorist threat. I am sure many Muslims are coming over the border.
I am a Canadian who was reading Huckabee’s statement about Pakistany (or is it Pakistanis) would be terrorists breaching your obviously porous border. It immediately occured to me that there must be more sneaky yet cute and harmless illegal Canadians than those would be terroristic above mentioned folks crossing over. I was ammused to read on and discover I was right in my assumption, and officialy knew more abooot your foreign policy than Governor Huckabee. Alright eh!
I can just see all them evangelical types thinking to themselves, “he’s still good, he’s still good”, just like Homer Simpson chasing that flyin pig all over Springfield.
Huckleberry is a loser.
He attracts people with his loud and cloying announcements of piety. And unfortunately, Christianity has taken such a beating in the public discourse in recent years that a lot of nearly punch-drunk folks go for his all too public holiness. It’s almost a relief.
But if you ignore his bible breathing for even just a moment you see that the Huckleberry is a knucklehead.
Another big government liberal wolf in Republican clothing.
When he was Governor of AR, he was a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyson Food (perhaps the single largest employer of illegal aliens). Now that he’s running for prez, he wants to puff up his national security resume with… this?
*feh* Huckabee for dogcatcher: the sure way to have packs of feral dogs running the town.
#7 i am one of those ‘evangelical types” and i assure you we are actually saying…. he’s Jimmah all over again.
and anyone touting their credentials for president because “i am a Christian” (or for any other position) is along the lines of vote for me because, “i am a woman”, “african american”, or hey,” “i am the wife of a former president” sheesh
His foibles are as bad as John Murtha saying that we should redeploy to Okinawa. Both are dimwits!