Huckabee: Amend Constitution to be in 'God's standards'

[Rogen]

I doubt we have any Huckabee supporters here, but just in case.

The man wants to rewrite the constitution to be about God.


"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

Link with video:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Huckabee_Amend_Constitution_to_meet_Gods_0115.html

[Lum]

There's a word (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia) for that.

[extarbags]

No, Lum, Sharia is ghastly Islamic religious law. What Huckabee is advocating for is wholesome Christian religious law.

[Brian Rucker]

So can we cut off his typing fingers now? Can we?

[Dirt]

Canon Law.

[jeffd]

This is oddly enough the first real bit of true craziness on Huckabee's part I've been made aware of.

[BlueJackalope]

This is oddly enough the first real bit of true craziness on Huckabee's part I've been made aware of.

He pardoned a rapist because...well, because of Bill Clinton

[Brian Rucker]

He caved into right winger pressure to pardon a rapist because of Bill Clinton.

[bago]

He uhh....... Forget it.

[jerri blank]

He also advocates abolition of the income tax in favor of a 23% sales tax. That's f'in' nuts.

[LesJarvis]

No way, it's not nuts, it's fair! It says so right in the title of the plan.

[Stroker Ace]

Eh... it sounds good, at least until you start thinking about the percentage of total spent on consumer goods by different income groups. Sure, Huck will give all of the truly poor a rebate, but everyone from 30k to 200k will wind up shouldering more of the tax burden than they are now. 200k+? They will pay less than they are now.

[jeffd]

Oh that's a good point. That Fair Tax stuff is totally loony; it's a straight up transfer of the tax burden away from the rich & mega rich.

[Gordon Cameron]

But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god.

Crom laughs at your living god. Laughs from his mountain.

Thanks to Conan the Barbarian, I've found the perfect line for all theological debates.

[Flowers]

But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god.


Crom laughs at your living god. Laughs from his mountain.

Thanks to Conan the Barbarian, I've found the perfect line for all theological debates.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, as far as I am concerned.

[awdougherty]

Any flat tax rate, in my mind, actually becomes a regressive tax on some level and it therefore sucks the balls. Flat/Fair taxes aren't that at all. At some point, the non-top earners pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than people in brackets above them.

I don't know if this would work, but the idealist in me always thought a great tax plan would be to drop the rates across the board and eliminate all deductions, rebates, loopholes, everything like that. You earn X, pay 10%; Y, pay 15%; Z, pay 20%. That's it. I'd hope that the lost revenue from the lower percentages would be balanced out by people actually shouldering their full part of the burden. Also brings the simplicity of a flat tax to some degree.

[Glenn]

He also advocates abolition of the income tax in favor of a 23% sales tax. That's f'in' nuts.Also, it's a 30% sales tax. It's only 23% if you intentionally calculate the number wrong, as its proponents do for obvious reasons.

[DragonPup]

Also, it's a 30% sales tax. It's only 23% if you intentionally calculate the number wrong, as its proponents do for obvious reasons.

And some say the actual % would have to be even higher than 30% for it to work, since it eliminates corporate taxes.

And yes, this futher proves Huckabee as a religious nutbar.

[NowhereDan]

Good, because I needed more proof. I'd dismissed all his other crazy-ass shenanigans as youthful indiscretions.

[rhinohelix]

Ugh, what the Left thinks Republicans are, Huckabee actually is. It's like if Bill Clinton showed up to a Moveon.org meeting with hookers, blow and Vince Foster's dried blood on his jacket.

I mean, I am all for him having strong religious beliefs. Keep your big-government Christian activism out of the already too-big federal government, please. Maybe a series of teen-percentage performances will convince him to go back to where the big money is: preaching.

Or weight-loss coaching. You did a fine job. Now get out of the race and let the adults run, thanks?

He may be the straw that breaks my 8 election straight ticket voting streak. Huckabee on the (R) side and I will probably sit out or even contemplate switching if the (D) candidate shows some centrist tendencies and understanding of the war on terror.

[Machfive]

He also advocates abolition of the income tax in favor of a 23% sales tax. That's f'in' nuts.

That fair tax stuff is crap.

And Huckabee is the nicest psycho in the race. He makes Ron Paul look sane.

[Rogen]

Ugh, what the Left thinks Republicans are, Huckabee actually is. It's like if Bill Clinton showed up to a Moveon.org meeting with hookers, blow and Vince Foster's dried blood on his jacket.

I mean, I am all for him having strong religious beliefs. Keep your big-government Christian activism out of the already too-big federal government, please. Maybe a series of teen-percentage performances will convince him to go back to where the big money is: preaching.

Or weight-loss coaching. You did a fine job. Now get out of the race and let the adults run, thanks?

He may be the straw that breaks my 8 election straight ticket voting streak. Huckabee on the (R) side and I will probably sit out or even contemplate switching if the (D) candidate shows some centrist tendencies and understanding of the war on terror.

Out of curiosity, who do you like on the (R) side?

[Kunikos]

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, as far as I am concerned.

Shush, he's busy sleeping... and boy, he's not much of a morning person.

Out of curiosity, who do you like on the (R) side?

The white fundamentalist racist guy.

[Midnight Son]

Oh, great! Another guy wants a govt. based on fairy tales.

[NowhereDan]

So wait just a second... isn't Huckabee one of the delusional people who think that this country was founded on Christian values and that our laws are based on the Ten Commandments? If that's the case, why would he need to change the Constitution?

[Nellie]

Can we wheel out all those great "laws" that litter the OT yet, especially the ones that contradict each other or involve stoning women?

[SlyFrog]

It's going to be tough getting 5-10 years for masturbating.

[Juste]

The white fundamentalist racist guy.

Which one?

[Juste]

Seriously, if i were an American this would make me wevvy, wevvy afwaid.

[Flowers]

It's going to be tough getting 5-10 years for masturbating.


I know, I can barely fill a Saturday afternoon.

[rhinohelix]

Out of curiosity, who do you like on the (R) side?

Of who is out there on the Republican side, I would have to say Romney, as I think he is probably the most capable of the bunch. I don't know if his Mormonism renders him unelectable or not, though.

[Rogen]

Capable in what sense?

Why not vote for someone you genuinely support and disregard labels like "unelectable"?

[Gordon Cameron]

If electability weren't a consideration at all, we wouldn't even vote for party nominees... we'd just write-in whoever we wanted.

Let's see, I think Carl Sagan would make a pretty good president. Wait, he's dead.... dammit...

[Calistas]

This thread wins the "Best One Liners in a Thread Today" award. Well done, well done all :)

I have nothing more to contribute other than I'm kinda warming to Obama. He looks less like The Terminator than Clinton. Thank god you guys don't give me the vote huh?

[Miramon]

Can we wheel out all those great "laws" that litter the OT yet, especially the ones that contradict each other or involve stoning women?
I'm still trying to figure out, according to Paul, what laws from the OT Christians get to ignore, and which ones they have to obey. Obviously kosher is out and the Friday sabbath, but evidently the ten commandments are still the thing, and who knows, maybe the rest of Numbers and Deuteronomy are in force too....

Heinlein had a place in his future history for a 21st century American theocracy. Huckabee is looking more and more like Nehemiah Scudder:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22If_This_Goes_On%E2%80%94%22

[Brandon Clements]

I'm only wondering why anyone is surprised about this.

[Rogen]

If electability weren't a consideration at all, we wouldn't even vote for party nominees... we'd just write-in whoever we wanted.

And that would be bad because... ?

[Tankero]

I want farmer Bob for president! You know, the good ole boy who rides in his tractor, herding his cows through the prairies of my mind... What's that? You don't want to vote for a figment of my imagination? No, it's cool, I'll vouch for him. He told me he'd make me part of his cabinet. Well, maybe.

[RichVR]

Seriously, if i were an American this would make me wevvy, wevvy afwaid.

That's vewwy, vewwy. And yes.

[Gordon Cameron]

And that would be bad because... ?

In my case it would be bad, because Carl Sagan wouldn't win. Even if he were alive. And then I would have thrown my vote away.

[drewl]

I want farmer Bob for president! You know, the good ole boy who rides in his tractor, herding his cows through the prairies of my mind... What's that? You don't want to vote for a figment of my imagination? No, it's cool, I'll vouch for him. He told me he'd make me part of his cabinet. Well, maybe.

We did that already.....hasn't turned out very well.

[extarbags]

Seriously, if i were an American this would make me wevvy, wevvy afwaid.

Nah. He'll never be President, so it's not really scary; I actually hope he wins the nomination, because he'd be so easy to beat. Of course, if he did win the Presidency somehow, and starting enacting this stuff, I'd probably have to give serious thought to leaving the country.

The stuff that someone like, say, McCain says is a lot more frightening despite being a lot milder, because it actually has a chance of coming true.

[Gav]

And that would be bad because... ?
It's been tried and failed. The Founding Fathers didn't believe in political parties at first -- they considered them loathsome. Guess how long the non-party bliss lasted?

[Ben Sones]

The president doesn't have the power to amend the Constitution even if he wants to. In fact, he doesn't even get to sign Amendments, and has no veto power over them. Instead, they get ratified by the states. So the idea of Huckabee amending anything to the Constitution is absurd.

[Gav]

The president doesn't have the power to amend the Constitution even if he wants to. In fact, he doesn't even get to sign Amendments, and has no veto power over them. Instead, they get ratified by the states. So the idea of Huckabee amending anything to the Constitution is absurd.
That's technically true, but not so simple. The President has the bully pulpit, and can try swing public opinion behind all sorts of things to force Congress to go along. (The President isn't allowed to declare war either, but look at how effectively Bush pushed Congress into giving him that power)

Certainly a President Huckabee would be able to claim a mandate of some sort, which would be good leverage with Congress.

[Hugin]

And that would be bad because... ?

Because the lowest common denominator candidate would always win, minority interests would be hideously marginalized, and the election process would be even more fractured and ugly than they are now as the incentive to form coalitions would be reduced. And of course, for the most part your vote would never go to someone who actually got elected, effectively disenfranchising yourself.

You could ameliorate that somewhat by going to a multiparty parlimentary government, but then you'd just be shifting the compromise choosing from your vote to the vote of whoever you voted for, who'd immediately piss you off by making deals with precisely the people you weren't pragmatic enough to consider voting for in the first place, and that's before you could even get to the actual political opposition.

You want an entire ideological apple pie, but with your strategy you'll rarely even get a slice of blueberry pie, and most of the time you'll just be helping the country get ice cream, and you're going to have to eat that ice cream 4 or 8 years, even though you're lactose intolerant.

Now I'm hungry.

[extarbags]

You want an entire ideological apple pie, but with your strategy you'll rarely even get a slice of blueberry pie, and most of the time you'll just be helping the country get ice cream, and you're going to have to eat that ice cream 4 or 8 years, even though you're lactose intolerant.


WTF the fuck?

[Glenn]

WTF the fuck?Sometimes what appears to be a delicious morsel of chocolate is in actuality a carob-covered raisin. So we must always be wary when reaching into grandma's candy dish.

Even if you're starving because it's 4PM and you haven't eaten since breakfast because she's making a holiday dinner and it's going to have forty courses, and the only thing to do is sit there watching twenty year old episodes of Press Your Luck on the Game Show Network with your aunt, and the whole house smells like turkey but the only food that's set out is the olives and cornichons platter... and that bridge mix. That poisoned bridge mix. With its little carob IED's tucked away inside, nestled inconspicously among the delicious civilians.

[Ben Sones]

Certainly a President Huckabee would be able to claim a mandate of some sort, which would be good leverage with Congress.

This is true, but having leverage to propose an amendment and being able to pass an amendment are two entirely different things. The amendment process is set up the way it is so that you need overwhelming consensus--not just in Congress, but with the states as well--in order to make it happen. There is no way you'd ever get 2/3rds of the states to agree to an amendment of that nature, let alone 2/3rds of Congress.