Huckabee Jokes About Bush Reading Intelligence Reports
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has already come under (GOP) fire for comments “dissing” President George Bush’s foreign policy, getting into a tussle with Republican icon Rush Limbaugh — and then there was his (in)famous press conference with the Romney ad. Has he stuck his foot in his mouth again?
The latest incident that could provide conservative weblogs, Rush Limbaugh, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and others hours of rage-pleasure comes via an interview with the Quad-City Times:
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee defended his failure to read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran in early December, joking in an interview Monday that President Bush didn’t read intelligence reports for four years.
Huckabee came under fire in early December when, in response to a reporter’s question about the Iran report, Huckabee said he wasn’t aware of it. Huckabee’s lack of familiarity with the National Intelligence Estimate — a report that showed Iran had discontinued its nuclear program — provided fuel for his critics who said he was a lightweight on foreign policy.
“The whole perception was based on an ambush question on the NIE report,” Huckabee said in an interview Monday with the Quad-City Times. “From there, it was like, ‘Wow.’ That was released at 10 o’clock in the morning. At 5:30 in the afternoon, somebody says, ‘Have you read the report?’ Maybe I should’ve said, ‘Have you read the report?’ President Bush didn’t read it for four years; I don’t know why I should read it in four hours.”
Rush now has his Wednesday show all laid out for him…
His comment about President Bush appears to be a reference to allegations made by Bush’s critics that Bush didn’t pay close enough attention to intelligence reports, particularly in the early years of his presidency.
When asked to clarify, Huckabee said this:
“The point I’m trying to make is that, on the campaign trail, nobody’s going to be able, if they’ve been campaigning as hard as we have been, to keep up with every single thing, from what happened to Britney last night to who won ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ ”
Actually, Huckabee is correct.
And his “sin” is in talking as a normal human being would talk — with humor, sarcasm, and making an observation that does not edit out an unflattering reference to someone who is his party’s guy in the White House. It IS refreshing.
The only problem is, the GOP establishment doesn’t like him anyway and he’s running in Iowa and needs to get the votes of GOPers. He could still win in Iowa but this latest comment may mean that more than ever some of the powers that be will want to get behind Arizona Senator John McCain or Mitt Romney. His comment will also make a great quote for a Democratic Party TV ad somewhere along the line.
But, again, do he and his consultant Ed Rollins know something we don’t know? Could it be that talking like a normal human being and not praising The Leader of Your Party at every turn or playing defense lawyer for him if his performance (or cover story) wasn’t stellar will appeal to many Republicans who have had enough with the elite now running the GOP? Could it be that his press conference won’t backfire on him but helped him get his message out?
Part of the answer will arrive on Jan. 3.
But it’s safe to say some powerful folks in the White House (and powerful talk show hosts with private airplanes whose shows are almost always done from the perspective of the White House and the RNC) won’t find his joke funny.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
8 Responses to “Huckabee Jokes About Bush Reading Intelligence Reports”
Let us hope that even the religious right is more intelligent then to select someone who seems to be Barack Obama’s political polar opposite twin.
Neither have experience, both are trying to rely on Charisma instead of Experience and depending on a “BASE” to propel them to the Nomination.
Lets hope both parties reject their ambitions.
I think that many people, Rep and Dem alike, don’t like Bush because he comes across as an idiot. Remember Bush’s down home appeal and simple language…. Huckabee is showing he’s just like Bush- right down to his combative stance with people who disagree with him (even leaders).
Huckabee isn’t expected to read all the reports that are in the news. But I would expect that Huckabee has advisors who keep him informed of at least the major breaking news stories, particularly news stories with a direct impact on US national security. But I guess Huckabee doesn’t feel he needs to know what’s happening in the world until he’s elected Prez- and this is just another example of how Huckabee is like Bush.
Bush is surrounded by advisors whose job is to keep him in the best possible public light. Bush likes his “yes” men and does not consider or welcome dissenting opinions.
Apparently Huckabee likes his advisors to focus on getting him elected, and does not want to be kept up to date in important matters that directly affect US security. I don’t know how he expects to successfully debate anyone if he doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on.
Huckabee, the new Bush.
Huckabee has equal, if not more ,executive political experience than Romney and Guliani. Maybe people think Huckabee would help them change a flat or share a beer, whereas the others are just phonies in public’s perceptions.
To be honest I’m not sure what to make of the “experience” debate. Having political executive experience does not mean you’re any good. I mean look at Bush- he had executive political experience but he still managed to screw-up the US. Bush was helped by his family connections….
My man Obama may not have been a governor, but he did great in law school, was a community organizer in Chicago, and climbed the ladder to become a US Senator with no help from family connections and (with what could be viewed as a handicap) he is an African-American. I’d like to believe that Obama is smart, worldly and knows the value of having good advisers. Given that he’s gotten to this point on his own (with a lot of hard work and some luck) tells me that he has enough experience to be President.
No one, except for osmotic Hillary, has the experience of being President before they become President.
You won’t be sharing a beer with old Huck – he is more likely to outlaw beer. Which is perfectly ok with the evangelical wing of the Iowa GOP which is dominating this caucus.
Huck has such great principles that the attack commercial that he claims to have killed, is actually running on the ABC station in Cedar Rapids (Iowa’s second largest TV market) – I saw it running several times last night
Lets face it —the candidates either have executive experience and no foreign policy experience (former governors) or foreign policy experience and no executive experience (current Senators and Representatives). The only person with both is Bill Richardson, ( unless you count Clinton’s years as First Lady) and he has performed poorly in the Democratic debates.
Huckabee has made some incredibly uninformed comments about the Bhutto assasination, and then claimed it was impossible to be updated on all issues. Sounds too much like what we have now to me.
George Bush had executive experience, but his lack of foreign policy experience left him vulnerable, allowing Dick Cheney and the neocons to run the show. Traditionally, the Sec of State has a much larger role to play, but under Bush/Cheney Colin Powell had almost no influence, and Condi got a late start for her agenda, having to battle Cheney for control. We need to elect someone who has confidence in this area and who will restore the State Depts role.
kritt, that’s pretty good- thanks!
Your welcome, StockBoy!