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News & ArtsMonday, August 22, 2011
2012 Let Us Now Take a Moment to Praise Jon Huntsman
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 11:20 AM
Over the weekend, Jon Huntsman said this:
The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party - the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012. When we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science - Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position.
Huntsman also went ballistic on his fellow Republican presidential candidates, calling them "fringe" candidates who have "zero substance." Do I think this helps Huntsman in the upcoming primaries? No, I don't. But I tell you this: In my ideal world, Jon Huntsman would be the Republican candidate for president in 2012, and there would be substantive debate about the things that matter along the way, providing Americans with a real choice for president in November.
The vision that Huntsman has for America—one in which Americans are free to live their lives the way they want, in which everyone has a shot at prosperity, in which government is there to help us out when we run out of choices—should be the baseline, the American concept that every candidate believes in. The argument should come in how we reach that goal. Every other Republican candidate is abandoning their responsibility to the country by arguing that baseline concept; they want to give us an every-man-for-himself America—and in a reasonable world, they would be the fringe candidates. I'm not saying I'd vote for Huntsman, but I do think that Huntsman would make Obama a better, and more Democratic, candidate.
1
Like musicians who seem to need drugs to function, I want to have a GOP intervention for Huntsman, but I wonder if that would just strip him of the things I find appealing about him. He's a Republican who doesn't seem to be a terrible person through and through.
2
I'd be happy if it came down to a debate, first, between Huntsman and Ron Paul - who might be crazy, but is at least steadfastly crazy, and apart from his pro-life stance, often in the right directions (getting out of Iraq, getting rid of the drug war, etc). At least then it'd be an argument between people who don't pander (as much) to the bottom of the barrel.
4
Poor bastard doesn't understand yet that being anti-science has become not only a plank in the GOP platform, but a structural beam that keeps the whole thing together. Being entitled to the moral superiority of your own delusion is an indispensable core concept of the Republican party these days - maybe not for every Republican who's a private citizen, but certainly in the media and at the convention.
5
I think it's pretty clear that Huntsman is actually laying groundwork for 2016 by playing the moderate in a toxic primary whose victor can't win a general election against Obama anyway. 2016 will be the backlash GOP primary of "moderation" after having been hammered in 2012, they'll be looking at an open race with no incumbant, and my guess is that Huntsman is betting that party elders will remember how poorly it went in 2012 when they nominated a radical. In swoops the statesman who once even worked in a democratic white house. I think it's too easy to get caught up in what happens every 2 or 4 years as if those cycles exist in isolation. These are professionals vying for the highest office in the land; needless to say, they play the full 90 minutes at that level. Huntsman is actually playing it incredibly well.
6
Hear, hear, Paul! I couldn't have said it better myself.
I am impressed with Huntsman (at least so far) primarily because he seems to have enough integrity to be true to what he actually believes, rather than pandering to a party base that in 2011/12 seems hell-bent on nominating a lunatic.
I am impressed with Huntsman (at least so far) primarily because he seems to have enough integrity to be true to what he actually believes, rather than pandering to a party base that in 2011/12 seems hell-bent on nominating a lunatic.
7
did anyone notice that he even corrected himself on the proper name for the Academy - when he said National Academy of Science he corrected himself to say Sciences. The dude is paying attention.
It's a stupid little detail but it impressed me.
It's a stupid little detail but it impressed me.
8
@bleedingheartlibertarian. The name suggests you'd be a Ron Paul fan, no? Is he one of the "lunatics"?
9
Wow, that is impressive to hear from a Republican. It would be nice to have a return to normal from that party, but it's been crazy for so long, I really don't know if it's possible.
10
No, I don't think Ron Paul is a lunatic. Eccentric, a little overly-focused on the gold standard and the Fed, and probably too cranky of an ideologue to actually be good at the *job* of being president, but no, not a lunatic. I do think his voice (particularly on foreign policy) is a valuable thing to have, and it will be a shame to lose it in congress when he retires.
I gave him $25 in 2007.
I also don't think he has a chance in hell of winning the GOP nomination.
I gave him $25 in 2007.
I also don't think he has a chance in hell of winning the GOP nomination.
11
I suspect that most republicans are in denial about climate change because their corporate masters pay them to be.
Can't have environmental regulations getting in the way of making a profit.
Can't have environmental regulations getting in the way of making a profit.
12
I really wish the Democrats would take these science-bashers on and brand their anti-fact idiocy as un-American. Because it is.
13
@12, they do, more often than you think. It just doesn't make the news, because 1) the far right is steering the cultural dialogue at this point, and 2) most media outlets are still playing the chickenshit "fair and balanced" game at this point, in which they're happy to run stories about who said who was "immoral" or "un-American" but they're really cagey about making statements regarding actual, you know, facts, even in quotes, lest they be seen as taking sides.
14
I wish the Republican Party was full of guys like Huntsman. Maybe we'd actually get shit done in government!
16
But they already are the "anti-science" party. They have to be. They can't accept the truth when everything about them is a lie. Their right wing ideology is and always has been a lie. It was designed for and by crooks and liars.
18
Dear Jon Huntsman,
When you leave the Sane Republicans Club, please remember to turn off the lights.
Thank you.
When you leave the Sane Republicans Club, please remember to turn off the lights.
Thank you.
20
Shhhh, shhh... don't be too approving. He hears this kind of praise coming from a den of leftist obscenity like this and he might get spooked and make a hard dash to the right, T-PAW style.
22
Like a lot of Mormons, Huntsman has two serious character flaws:
1) He believes in ridiculous religious tenets.
2) He's conservative on most issues.
Other than that, seems like a nice guy to have as a neighbor.
1) He believes in ridiculous religious tenets.
2) He's conservative on most issues.
Other than that, seems like a nice guy to have as a neighbor.
23
couldn't disagree more w/ the premise of this post. i'd rather have bachman or perry. the gop are nihilists. let the people see that. imo, it is the only hope for change. huntsman would be a lie as the gop presidential candidate. that is not what the party stands for, that is not what the party would do w/ power. don't fall for the hype, there is no saving the gop. they are a lost cause. best option is to speed up the insanity, so people realize who & what they are as quickly as possible. more rand pauls, more sarah palins ,more michelle bachmans & more rick perrys please.
25
PSD: "the gop are nihilists...best option is to speed up the insanity, so people realize who & what they are as quickly as possible. more rand pauls, more sarah palins ,more michelle bachmans & more rick perrys please..."
Nothing nihilistic about cheering for the lunatics in the only viable opposition party, is there?
You do realize that about 40% of the electorate will vote for a chimpanzee dressed as Napoleon if that's who the GOP nominates, right? And you yourself have pointed out how unresponsive the Dems are in WA state where they enjoy near-permanent majority status.
Look, I hate the political duopoly. But weak parties make for weak politics, and weak policy. Which (I think) was Mr. Constant's main point, here.
Nothing nihilistic about cheering for the lunatics in the only viable opposition party, is there?
You do realize that about 40% of the electorate will vote for a chimpanzee dressed as Napoleon if that's who the GOP nominates, right? And you yourself have pointed out how unresponsive the Dems are in WA state where they enjoy near-permanent majority status.
Look, I hate the political duopoly. But weak parties make for weak politics, and weak policy. Which (I think) was Mr. Constant's main point, here.
26
@25 30-35% would vote for a chimpanzee, imo. not 40%. and no, i don't think i'm being a nihilist at all. i'm being a realist. the republicans ARE nihilists. no matter who they put up there, they will govern as nihilists. i'm for acknowledging this. there will be no 'saving the party from themselves.' they are a 100% lost cause. the only question is how long they can maintain legitimacy & whether they can destroy the nation in the meantime. i'm for putting who they are out there front and center. it is the only way i see for america to have a chance to step back from the brink. personally, i think we're fucked to the core. but this is the only path that leads to an out that i see.
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