A Son’s Past Deeds Come Back To Bite Huckabee

[kskiska]

Source: Newsweek



By Michael Isikoff and Holly Bailey | NEWSWEEK

As Mike Huckabee gains in the polls, the former Arkansas governor is finding that his record in office is getting more scrutiny. One issue likely to get attention is his handling of a sensitive family matter: allegations that one of his sons was involved in the hanging of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998. The incident led to the dismissal of David Huckabee, then 17, from his job as a counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Ark. It also prompted the local prosecuting attorney— bombarded with complaints generated by a national animal-rights group—to write a letter to the Arkansas state police seeking help investigating whether David and another teenager had violated state animal-cruelty laws. The state police never granted the request, and no charges were ever filed. But John Bailey, then the director of Arkansas's state police, tells NEWSWEEK that Governor Huckabee's chief of staff and personal lawyer both leaned on him to write a letter officially denying the local prosecutor's request. Bailey, a career officer who had been appointed chief by Huckabee's Democratic predecessor, said he viewed the lawyer's intervention as improper and terminated the conversation. Seven months later, he was called into Huckabee's office and fired. "I've lost confidence in your ability to do your job," Bailey says Huckabee told him. One reason Huckabee cited was "I couldn't get you to help me with my son when I had that problem," according to Bailey. "Without question, was making a conscious attempt to keep the state police from investigating his son," says I. C. Smith, the former FBI chief in Little Rock, who worked closely with Bailey and called him a "courageous" and "very solid" professional.

(snip)

The details of the incident remain murky. The Animal Legal Defense Fund got an anonymous fax that summer alleging that David Huckabee and another youth had been involved in the hanging of a stray dog at the camp on July 11. A local animal-rights activist, Joyce Hillard, later contacted the camp director. Notes of Hillard's report to the defense fund read, "Boys confessed & were fired. Dir. is making excuses, saying dog was sic & boys were putting him out of his misery." (The director told NEWSWEEK only that a stray dog was "put down" and that the counselors were fired for violating the Scout credo to be "kind.") The father of the other counselor was quoted by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette in August 1998 as saying that his son found the dog "hung over a limb and choking." David Huckabee did not respond to requests for comment. (In April of this year, he was arrested—and paid a fine—when he forgot to remove a loaded gun from his carry-on luggage at Little Rock airport.) His father told NEWSWEEK THAT his son did not engage in "intentional torture." "There was a dog that apparently had mange and was absolutely, I guess, emaciated." A campaign official says David "regrets" the incident and notes that he later made Eagle Scout.

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/78241

[blitzen]

1. It's not Dog Bites Man, it's Man Bites Dad

[kurth]

2. And in The Mormon's corner: Romney's Cruel Canine Vacation

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1638065,00.html

[kskiska]

4. Then there's puppy-killing Judi

It hasn't gotten much air play yet.

[meowomon]

18. What did she do?

Skin a few puppies and make a coat for the cold NYC winters?

[kskiska]

24. Judi and her first husband were both salesmen for U.S. Surgical

Judi and her first husband both worked as salespeople for U.S. Surgical. This Vanity Fair article sums it up.

(snip)

In short order both Rosses were working in Charlotte, North Carolina, for U.S. Surgical (now part of Tyco Healthcare), which eventually grew into a billion-dollar enterprise marketing surgical staplers. Judi was excellent at her work, and earned $40,000 a year by the late 70s. But problems arose when animal-rights groups began investigating the way the company sold its products—problems recently pointed out by the New York press. U.S. Surgical used dogs in demonstrations to doctors and hospitals as part of its marketing plan.

"Every salesperson at U.S. Surgical was trained for six weeks with dogs at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, and that was really brutal," explains a former employee. "They spent days and days with dogs, taking out the spleen or stomach or the lobe of a lung. Then if the dog started moaning or fidgeted, whoever was closest would push more sedative into him from the syringe. It was horrible. Then the dog would be killed with potassium chloride."

After training, the salespeople marketed the staplers to doctors, and, once again, in many cases large dogs were used, as they had organs comparable in size to those possessed by humans. "After the stapling, sometimes they'd put a big clamp above and below the staple lines of the dog, and fill with lots of fluid," the ex-employee says. "It would fill up like a balloon, and the salesperson would say to the doctor, 'See—it doesn't leak!' That's how they marketed and sold the product." (Some years ago, former C.E.O. Leon Hirsch defended the company's practice of using dogs, claiming that there was no proper substitute.)

more…
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/09/giuliani200709?printable=true¤tPage=all

[Seabiscuit]

40. Why do Repukes feel compelled to turture animals???

Remember Shrub and his frogs?

It seems the only Repukes not into animal cruelty all "have a wide stance".

[lynnertic]

42. are you referring to the animal research? not exclusively republican.

I wonder how much of what we touch in a day was developed via animal testing.... dyes, plastics, makeup, soaps and other cleaning solvents...

on edit: medicines...

[kskiska]

48. Judi wasn't in research

This was strictly sales - killing the dogs to make a sale.

[lynnertic]

72. Which is just... psychopathic.

There, now I stated a position.

[greymattermom]

49. toxic?

So how would you like us to find out that lead and mercury are toxic? Test on kids?

[lynnertic]

71. Did I state a position on animal testing?

Read before reacting.

[Seabiscuit]

97. Duh... No.

[Ilsa]

57. Oh goddess, that is beyond cruel for sake of cruelty; sprinkle in some greed. nt

[Critters2]

88. "If the dog started moaning or fidgeted"....

That just makes me sick!! How do people live with themselves?!

[Hersheygirl]

59. The likeness of the two photos

is chilling. I have always said he reminded me of Bundy in more than one way.

[ingac70]

10. What an asshole...

:mad:

[onehandle]

3. Scumbag. nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

5. Typical family traits of the GOP...

Blech :puke:

[K Gardner]

6. Oh lord.. I could've done without reading that.. ::erase, erase, backspace:::

Now I'll have nightmares, ugh.

[0007]

27. Happy nightmares

[gateley]

31. Matching outfits. Nice touch. nt

[JBoy]

70. I commend them on the choice of VERTICAL stripes.

Very slimming.

[rambler_american]

47. Wow!

Big Family

[City Lights]

65. Merry Xmas from the Fuckuhbeez.

Charming. Simply charming. :eyes: :puke:

Nice find, BTW. ;-)

[Hepburn]

68. Sheesh.....

...the dog is the ONLY decent looking thing in that pic. We are talking a family that should only make appearances on SNL.

[BearSquirrel2]

76. Looks like the Hogg clan ..

Boss Hogg, Lady Hogg, Hogg Jr., Red Hog and Pork Chop. The royal family of Hazard County.

[0007]

99. LOL!! Like to see 'em at the feeding trough, 'eh?

Something like this cartoon....

[hisownpetard]

78. The son in the middle looks like Ricky Gervais, after sucking on an air pump all day.

[Fenris]

7. What a sick fuck.

[kurth]

8. Looks like white trash retard

Well bred, I'm sure.

[Acadia Blue]

100. Serial Killers start with animals when they are young. Danger is

what this means. I hope they sent him to the Psychiatrist

[BearSquirrel2]

75. Michael Vick "finds god"

I see it. Michael Vick will find god and Huckabee will pardon him.

[Acadia Blue]

101. Michael Vick is a Neanderthal pig. Anyone who tortures dogs is

worthless filth inho.

[ingac70]

9. I seriously doubt...

That most folks who vote Republican, especially the "dominion over animals" religious crowd really give to flips that his son hung a dog.

That said, David Huckabee is only a couple of notches above child molester in my esteem because of his horrid deed.

Speaks a lot as to his raising, if ya know what I mean.

And his Daddy's excuse for it (that the animal was in bad shape anyway) is sick too. Who slowly chokes to death an already suffering animal? Why not just shoot it in the head? Bizarre....

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. Oh, I'm sure he was just dealing with a bad situation as best he could

because the camp had no telephone with which he could call FUCKING ANIMAL CONTROL. So he HAD to put it out of its misery by slowly strangling it.

[lynnertic]

41. firing a weapon at a boy scout camp...

... frightening.

[ingac70]

62. Rifle and Shotgun firing...

one of the Eagle Scout merit badges.

[Critters2]

89. Yep. My brother learned to shoot at Boy Scout camp.

He's a pretty good shot at the range. And we sure as hell never had any guns in the house growing up.

[Acadia Blue]

102. People know how to shoot without killing animals or people. Does

someone just see a gun and think "hm, I see a gun, therefore I will go commit a horrible crime or kill someone's dog." This kind of person would use a knife if they had no gun.

[Eagle_Eye]

46. I wonder if he followed the hunter's creed of eating what he kills?

[Mend]

60. hungry dog ate one of the pork rinds that fell out of his food-shovel hole

that'll teach him to take eatin's from his dominion.

[Bozita]

11. He's just looking to lure the Michael Vick voting bloc.

Too bad Vick's parents weren't able to quash a criminal investigation like the Huckabees.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

12. Yessir.

The behavior of a serial killer in the making.

[Scurrilous]

13. "Be Like Mike"...

...Michael Vick.

BTW...don't people go to prison for killing dogs?

[harmonicon]

15. not governors' sons

[meowomon]

19. Let's not forget Jeb's kids

Great mug shots. GOP family values. Why aren't Jeb's kid serving in the military?

[harmonicon]

22. are those W's "little brown ones"? So sad ... wait, nope, I could care less what happens to them.

[reggie the dog]

44. Don't forget that

Al Gore the III went to jail too, cannabis possession I believe....Why pick on the kids, the candidates have enough of their own flaws, picking on their kids just seems petty. His son was 17 when this happend, not even an adult.

[rateyes]

51. His dad covered it up. That's why he's to be held account in this.

[reggie the dog]

87. ok

then the coverup is the main story, the stuff with the dog is sick and makes me not think too highly of the son but the coverup is something to be talked about. I see the importance of the coverup but would we all want the whole country to know what kind of trouble we got into before we were 18?

[treestar]

90. I agree. Those this dog hanging thing strikes me as extra creepy

A lot of kids fool with marijuana, but not that many people do a sick thing like hang a dog.

[Historic NY]

14. Lets waterboard him...........it won't be intentional.

[0007]

16. One sick Mo Fo . . . family values learned at home?

Daddy should tell junior Humane Societies take care of dogs that have mange and are emaciated.

Why this story is important

We already know that Republicans are kinked about animals; there are more than enough data points:

We’ve got Rick Santorum’s obsession with “man on dog” sex, we’ve got Bill “Hello Kitty” Frist stealing cats from the pound, treating them like pets, and only then dissecting them, we’ve got George Felix Allen “shoving” a severed deer’s head into a mailbox, we’ve got Bush himself blowing up frogs by shoving firecrackers up their ass and lighting the fuse, we’ve got one Janet Rowland comparing gay marriage to a man marrying a sheep, and of course, we’ve got Willard Mitt Romney strapping his dog Seamus on top of his car until a “brown liquid” ran down the back window.

And now we’ve got the son of likeable Mike Huckabee, Republican candidate for President, killing a dog using a “particular process” that was, to say the least, not “kind.” Makes you wonder how these guys bring up their kids, doesn’t it?

Here in The Mighty Corrente Building we view Republican and Conservative abuse of power as a seamless garment. It is not a coincidence that the Party that normalized torture for humans is also the party of many (including Dear Leader) who abuse animals. Not to mention pages. And boys.

more goodies at link;

http://www.correntewire.com/so_how_exactly_did_mike_huckabees_son_david_kill_that_dog_back_in_the_day_when_he_was_a_boy_scout

[Shallah Kali]

32. pets today, tomorrow the world!

abuse not stop progresses in severity. Animal abuse is a stepping stone to cruelty to fellow humans.

[havocmom]

20. Hmm, put Huckabee in WH and have ANOTHER sociopath presidential scion running amok .

Then, in a few years, DAVID can run for prez. It'd be the 41/43 thing all over again.

Sick sons of crooked fathers.... There's a pattern here.

[ClintonTyree]

37. But he's a baptist minister........

and such a good religious man. God wants him to be president which is why he's "surging" in the polls. :puke:

These people and their religious bullshit! Wearing it like an ornament, saying "see, you can trust me, I'm religious"! :mad:

That's one sick, stupid and overfed family. I thought gluttony was one of the 7 deadly sins? Not when you're a psychotic baptist minister, republican, hypocrite, I guess. :eyes:

[MisterP]

105. reminds me of Robert Mitchum's characters

[defendandprotect]

21. This is the George/frog story transposed to the Huck dog family --- !!!

What is wrong with these people ---???

Do they ever wonder if they're in contact with "god" or with Satan --- ???

[TwilightGardener]

23. I guess if a dog is skinny and has mange, that must mean he is grateful

for being whacked with rocks, hung, and having his throat slit. Clearly it was an act of mercy, and I'm sure the dog felt no pain or fear....:sarcasm:

The Huckabillies are one sick white-trash crew.

[RamboLiberal]

25. I remember posting info on his arrest for the gun at the airport

And I remember the allegations in the dog hanging were that he and his buddy had not only hung the dog but also slit its throat and stoned it. Sick!

[orleans]

26. good for newsweek for running this story. i thought it would get

buried.

[TheWraith]

28. What the hell is it with Republicans and animal cruelty?

Romney tying his dog to the top of a car... Giuliani's girlfriend demonstrating a surgical stapler on live puppies... Bill Frist killing cats for medical experimentation... and now this?

Those are some sick fucking people.

[fujiyama]

35. Well it's not like they care about cruelty toward humans either

After all they support torture for God's sake.

Truly a party of sick and demented sociopaths.

The key point to get across this election is simple - It's not just Bush! It's the fucking party.

[Frank Cannon]

53. Don't forget Lil Dubya and his firecrackers up frogs' asses

Or Dick Cheney and his canned duck hunts.

I'm really starting to think there is something more to this than meets the eye. It's like the Republican string pullers don't vet you for high office unless you're a demonstrated sick fuck with no empathy whatsoever.

[Hulk]

29. Do you HAVE TO BE a sick bastard to be a repug?

[ClintonTyree]

38. Not really....

but if you want to climb up the republican food chain it sure helps. Lack of empathy, hypocrisy, repressed homosexual tendencies, sado-masochism, bigotry and greed are a few more "good traits" the right looks for in a "leader".
Yet the American public continues to look upon these cretins as paragons of virtue, worthy of the highest office in the land. :banghead: So what does that tell you about the average American?

[maddiejoan]

30. Hucakabee's choice of VP?

Cat killer Frist.

It will balance the ticket.

[Olney Blue]

64. Huckabee/Frist Ticket: Protecting America from its Pets

[nealmhughes]

33. How could someone get that sick in such a short period of time?

Both physically and emotionally? Every time I see a photo of Fat Dave, I literally want to go out and just wail on his fat ass and lard cheeks. He honestly looks as if he might know how human flesh tastes.

This SOB isn't even 30 years old yet and look at him -- this is what he has been caught doing. Only he knows what he has done and not been caught or caught and it covered up.

What kind of parent tries to cover up sadistic behavior with a "it was for the good of the dog" excuse and a firing for those who have ethical guidelines.

What 28 year old man with a supposed college education gets onto an airplane in 2007 with a gun? Anyone else not a son of the unchubby Huck or the Corporate Anti-terrorist Ayn Rand with a Bible Party muckymuck would have a boot in their back and still be looking for a lawyer to get bail.

There is a photo of the stupid fat sheriff in MS who was tried for the Philadelphia murders with his cud of chaw in his mouth, reared back roaring with contempt at the witnesses that looks almost like Huck, Jr.

He was playing with fire, that Young Huckster, torturing a dog in the South. That is still considered a reasonable grounds for summary execution of the lex talonis. I would love if Fat Dave came around campaigning for dad near me. . .

[scarface2004]

34. probably blew up frogs with firecrackers too!!

like the lord g w bush!!

[fujiyama]

36. I'll give the republicans this - they're consistant in their cruelty and evil

It looks like they don't treat animals any better than they do humans.

[liberal hypnotist]

39. God works in mysterious ways.

HuckaBuck is a Baptist minister! This is a man that gets his direction from god. Who are we to question his actions and motives. This reminds me of Abraham and being asked by god to sacrifice his son-kinda like a god joke. Then, when Abe went to do it god laughed and said he was only kidding.

Another case of David and Goliath. Plus, he's white. Black people go to jail for hanging dogs and stuff.

[reggie the dog]

43. Why should his kids actions

Have anything to do with voting for him?

Seriously, why pick on things the kids of candidates do. Are there not enough policy issues to confront Huckabee on?

[vankuria]

52. This is why

Not just the fact that this is party that claims to have a monopoly on ethics and families values but Rev. Huck has been bragging nonstop about what a good Christian he is, his cell phone talks with God, and his surge in the polls is coming from above. In the meantime we learn he thwarted a criminal investigation involving his son, fired everyone involved in upholding the law and abusing his position as Governor. This is important and the public needs to know, not just because his creepy overfed son is involved, but because of Huck's abuse of power.

I'd also like to know how Rev. Huck was able to diagnose this dog as having mange, did God tell him in one of their cell phone conversations? Any decent human being who saw an animal suffering would call animal control, a vet, or something. To strangle a poor defenseless animal is an outrage and it makes me sick.

[superduperfarleft]

66. This is an issue for Huckabee directly

because what he did was essentially obstruction of justice. Combine that with freeing a convicted rapist due to political pressure, and it shows a pattern of behavior that should make any reasonable person question whether this man has the integrity to be president (that is, if his other examples of batshit insaneness aren't enough for you).

[reggie the dog]

86. obstruction of justice ok

but a lot of folks here were just picking on the son for the sick shit he did to the dog. What the father did is worse, if he actually abused the power of his office.

[kath]

73. uh, helloooo. It's not the kid's actions, it's the obstruction of justice and cover-up.

[Eagle_Eye]

45. Apples don't fall far from the tree

[Vinca]

50. Who would Jesus hang?

The creatures of this world - man and beast - suffer at the hands of idiots like this who strut and preen and brag about being good Christians. They build megachurches instead of homeless shelters, they worship the embryo but won't fund health care for kids, they look at stray mutts and stray men as not worthy of life. The more that comes out about Huckabee the worse it gets. He's greedy, self-centered, dishonest and has a view for America that amounts to biding our time until Armageddon.

[whistle]

54. Actually, didn't Shrub* do something similar when he was younger

...like blowing up frogs with fire crackers?

I see the makings of a new Bush style crime family dynasty here :puke:

[mwb970]

55. Republicans have become vile and disgusting.

This is not the party of Eisenhower, that's for sure! Now it's the Gonzales-cheney-Craig-Foley party, consisting of criminals, perverts, toadies, suckups, and sociopaths who are desperately sick in the head. Scandal after scandal, each more grotesque than the one before, underline the moral depravity of this collection of miscreants.

I am so sick of them I could SCREAM!

[0007]

56. bttft

[Ilsa]

58. I don't always blame the parent for the sins of the offspring.

But I do have to consider the reaction of the parent to the transgression. MH is an unreasonable man, expecting others to cover for his son's cruel streak.

[alfredo]

61. Make sure this link is mailed out to friends and family. Quote the

above text that highlights Huckleberry's corruption.

[lame54]

63. Made Eagle Scout? - the knot in the rope must have been perfect

[City Lights]

67. Total degenerate.

Luv them Christian values he wuz raized with. :puke:

I wouldn't want to piss him off. :scared:

[fascisthunter]

69. Good God, That is Disgusting

Serial killers start out that way.

[TwilightGardener]

74. I am reasonably certain, looking at their photographs and hearing

about their misdeeds, that the Huckabillies are not going to be our First Family. We haven't even gotten around to the little wifeski, Janet, who's done and said some questionable things herself.

[benny05]

77. WTF? First Mittens then Huckabee's Son?

To paraphrase Oliver Willis, what is it about Republicans and their dogs? War on Dogs?

This is the war of terror--on animals--that we should fight, not the GWOT that Bush and his ilk chose on Iraq. :banghead: :banghead: :grr: :grr:

[slackmaster]

79. This is the kind of personal crap that has no legitimate place in political decisions

Unless you can make a good case that Huckabee's performance as a parent had much to do with the misdeeds of a 17-year-old who is away from home.

[Brrrp]

80. I think the political issue is the coverup. nt

[slackmaster]

83. Yes, so the headline should concern that rather than what the stupid kid did

:hi:

[TwilightGardener]

81. Did you miss the part about Fuck-a-Huck firing the state trooper chief

for not helping cover up his son's crime? Hucky's actions speak very poorly of him--he used his power as gov to get his son off the hook, and he tries to rationalize away his son's unspeakable behavior as an act of mercy--PLEASE! And his son's obvious sickness and cruelty does NOT speak well of Hucky as a father either.

[slackmaster]

82. There you go - The issue is abuse of political power, not the son's behavior

Thank you.

[lolly]

94. Umm . . . ever hear the phrase "family values?"

It's both--the son's behavior AND the cover-up--because the Republicans have made it both.

My family isn't perfect, but I never tried to convince somebody to vote me under the premise that my family and my values were better than everybody else's.

If I did, and then it turned out that my child was an animal torturer, then it's an issue.

[treestar]

91. This is extreme though

And is thought to be the behavior of potential killers.

The candidate did raise this child, too. And probably claims to be a Christian.

I would say it is fair to consider, not to give it controlling weight or anything, but to just wonder if the parenting had something to do with it, and what it says about the parenting.

[MadMaddie]

96. You are right of course unfortunately the Republicans have

set the stage for this kind environment.

But it also goes to show that Huckabee will use his power to protect criminal acts done by his family, friends or anyone else he wants to. He will use his religion to pardon convicted murderers because of said convicted murderers born again status-which cost two women their lives.

This election is more than pivotal - this election will determine if the US can fix what is broken by electing a Democratic President or slide into the abysmal hell that we have been living in for the last 6 years.

We either need to learn how to fight and expose the bastards for who they really are or pack up and shut up and become the Good Germans.

[slackmaster]

98. Any hard look at Huckabee reveals him as self-serving and greedy

He spends too much time eating from the public trough.

For me, his lack of understanding of science alone is enough reason not to give him any consideration. None.

[Franc_Lee]

84. Huckabee & Romney got a thing about dogs.

[AnnieBW]

85. What is it with Bible-thumpers and animals?

Do they get off on torturing them, or do they just not care?

[brentspeak]

92. If there were any justice, a bunch of angry dogs would be biting both Huckabees

[humbled_opinion]

93. Sexual Regression?

[sellitman]

95. One Republican is worse than the next.

You just can't make this shit up.

[Dr Fate]

103. This matters. So does the cover up. n/t

n/t

[crawfish]

104. I have cousins in Arkansas...

He reminds me a lot of them as kids. Overweight hicks who were cruel to animals. Fortunately, they turned out to be pretty good adults.

Sounds like Dave might be the weak link in the Huckabee armor, though.

[JeanGrey]

106. This needs to STOP!! I can't stand Huckabee but trashing

candidates and their children is too low. We could do the same to any of them even Gore. LEAVE THEIR FAMILY OUT OF IT.

[yurbud]

107. kick