tommyjohnson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQEO2g5fcek

Demented and sounds like a rudy comment a while back and everyone was like,WTF. Huck is demented.

Big Duane

I LOVED it - he's a frickin HUNTER, has a concealed weapons permit and can make jokes - I am falling very deeply in love with him

tommyjohnson

Did you know that red is to fire? Give me a break here.Everyone should know how to work the safety of a gun.Yes huck,red means it is ready to fire is now off safe.

Big Duane

good gawd tommyjohnson he's a lifelong HUNTER - did you listen the interview ? it said he MISSED several birds, THEN Huckabee was JOKING about the safety thing - he couldn't have fired the gun if he didn't know the safety was one !! ... he was having a good fun day afield HUNTING, joking all the way

Alsatian

Yah, tommyjohnson, I think you misunderstood. Sounds like humor there. The guy says he goes duck hunting many times a season, I suspect he knows how to operate the safety. I'm guessing this was a self-deprecating joke that resulted when he tried to shoot a bird and had the safety on. Have you ever experienced that, shoot on wild game only to find the safety is still on? My deer hunting partner did that this year on a buck. When he flipped the safety off the buck heard the sound and bolted. Drat! Hate it when that happens. I hada similar experiencethis past weekend. I drew down on a duck, pulled the trigger, and heard a loud "Click!" Two shells in the magazine of my pump shotgun and none in the chamber!!! I guess I could have joked, "the shell is fired from the long tube with the open end, not from the short tube with the closed end. Got it!" We had gotten pretty busy with a lot of duck activity and in the confusion I loaded the magazine but didn't shuck one into the chamber. I think I was reloading while wading out to fetch a downed duck -- sort of like walking and talking at the same time, or rubbing your stomach while patting your head at the same time -- complicated.

With respect to the "vote for me and you live" comment, clearly this was intended as humor. I think itwas kind of funny, but I can see where PC media types could turn this against the guy. I suppose the anti-gun, liberal eastern media will be appalled at this and discount it as the coarse tactlessness of a backwoods Bubba.

Talking about media turning things against someone, I noted with interest that they showed a picture of what I suppose may have been Huckabee shooting and killing a pheasant. Now some people who are not hunters are very squeamish about killing animals. They don't do it. They don't see it done with their Tyson chicken or their chuck roast in those convenient square plastic tubs with transparent plastic wrap at the store. That could turn some people off. I suppose it would be worse if he shot and killed a warm, furry mammal, such as a deer -- maybe a deer with big pretty eyes. Still . . . kind of risky to let the press tag along on such a hunting trip. Yes, he endeared himself to hunters, but what is the effect on the other 90% of the public. Maybe he just says "what the heck, let the chips fall where they amy. This is who and what I am, end of story." I find that attitude admirable.

I know nothing about the guy's politics, so I'm not advocating him or singing his praises. Just commenting on this hunting trip of his.

ipscshooter

I'm SO glad we have this new smiley... AND a reason to use it...

DougMD

He was clearly joking on the "vote for me and you'll live" statement. However, his track record is increased taxes and open borders, and that is DEEPLY disturbing to me. If he wins the nomination, I'll vote for him while holding my nose for sure.

ipscshooter

Doug,

You might want to check his website. I believe his immigration policy has evolved significantly since the time he was governor, and he has made clear his understanding that what may have been best for Arkansas is not necessarily what is best for the entire country, and if he is elected President, his mandate will be to do what is best for the entire country.

I'm not sure how to read him on taxes. As I understand it, most of the increases were items he proposed, and then placed on the ballot to be voted on by the citizens of the state. I'm not as troubled by that as I would be if he raised taxes over the objection of the people.

I'm also slightly concerned about the sales job being done on the "Fair Tax." In Houston, we have an 8% sales tax. Buy something for $1.00, and it costs $1.08 because of the 8% tax. The Fair Tax is being sold as a 23% sales tax. But, they go at the math from the opposite end. If you buy something for $1.00, it costs $1.30. Seems to me that, under common understanding and usage, that is a 30% tax. But, they try to tell us its only a 23% tax because the .30 is only 23% of $1.30... AND, that is going to have a HUGE effect on the price of major items like automobiles and houses. $60,000 added to the price of a $200,000 house is obscene.

The Rev

Chill out, don't you recognize political humor when you hear it? Maybe you've been listening to too many left wing liberals who don't have a thing to smile or joke about.

Alsatian

ipscshooter: They are wrong. That is a 30% tax.They can't redefine the way mathematics is done just because you are running for presidential office. What was that expression about "you can fool some of the people . . . " That applies here. I think anyone who tries to sell that 30% tax as a 23% tax is going to get pretty well lambasted as a snake oil salesman. Of course, I know you aren't siding with them on this mode of calculation, my comment is directed at them not you.

I don't advocate one position or another on taxes. My experience in life has taught me that . . . I'm going to be taxed up the ying-yang . . . by Democrats, by Republicans, by Libertarians, it don't matter . . . I'm gonna be taxed. I suppose it could get worse, it could be like in Europe, for example Denmark. But I don't know that I can point to any particular time that my taxes have gone down appreciably or gone up appreciably. The biggest change in my tax burden has resulted from my interest rate going down when I refinanced from 7.5% to 5.5% interest in 2003 and the resulting lower mortgate interest payments dropped me out of the itemized tax deduction bracket. That HURT! One time my tax burden went down was when I moved to Texas from Oklahoma -- in Oklahoma I had a state income tax and sales tax on food; in Texas there is no state income tax and no sales tax on food. Granted, in Texas property taxes are much higher to pay for public schools, but on net I still saved a couple of thousand bucks a year in taxes moving south of the Red River. God bless Texas! Additionally, at least in my suburb north of Dallas, we have a flat out kick a$$ public school system for the property taxes we are paying. Very good academic programs, in my opinion.

I'm not advocating the tax plan you mention, but there is an interesting elment of it that I would like to point out. It is a tax on consumption and hence discourages consumption or, viewed from the other end of the telescope, encourages savings. The US has one of the lowest savings rates of any country in the world, at least partly because our tax structure does not encourage savings as do some other tax structures. Now, increasing savings in the US would . . . have some interesting consequences. First, a higher savings rate would probably have some good effects. Maybe we wouldn't have to depend so heavily on foreign purchases of US bonds to float our deficit. Second, a higher savings rate would probably have some bad effects. Our economy is biased for growth. For a long time our growth has been based on consumer spending . . . spend, spend, spend. What would happen to our economy if suddenly people took pleasure and satisfaction from saving rather than spending? If rather than buying a new Lexus every other year we put the money in the savings account and made do with our 1998 Chevy 4-door 6-cylinder sedan, what would happen to our economy?

Anyway, I don't have the answers, but I sometimes have some observations which I will freely share with others.