You can't even make it through the first paragraph of the recent Max Blumenthal column without tripping over two outright lies and one example of extreme hypocrisy.

His article, accusing Mike Huckabee of being a "radical cleric" (attempting to insult Huckabee with comparisons to terrorism), begins by claiming Huckabee "called for quarantining homosexuals".  That's a complete lie. The truth is that about 16 years ago, Mike Huckabee was speaking during the height of public fears about AIDS at a time when little was still known about the disease, and he said that in such a public health crisis it was surprising that infected persons were not being isolated from the general public the way any other serious public health risk would be isolated. His point was that standard medical and social safety procedures were not being used because of political implications. Remember the recent stories about TB infected airline passengers? They were grabbed and forcibly isolated fast. Considering the speed with which AIDS was spreading, how deadly and miserable the disease was, and how we now face a global public health crisis because so little was done for so many years to address the problem, it's hard to imagine how anyone can totally hold Huckabee's remarks against him since in fact his idea would have probably saved a lot of lives -- a lot of lives of homosexuals, too.

At any rate, Max Blumenthal's assertion is false, and he owes Huckabee an apology. Come to think of it, he owes homosexuals an apology too, since he is implying that Huckabee's desire to isolate people with AIDS automatically translates into quarantining gays. Isn't that presumptuous of Blumenthal?

Blumenthal also grossly exaggerates Huckabee's overall view towards homosexuality by expanding the "isolation" suggestion from just AIDS patients to all gay people, giving the impression Huckabee was not just concerned about a major health threat to our nation and the globe, but rather was concerned with denying all civil liberty to all gay people everywhere. Well, Huckabee's actual position has been one of opposing homosexuality as behavior, and indeed seeking to prevent granting special privileges and extending traditional benefits to people choosing such behavior. However, he has NOT tried to deny basic rights to gay people, and as he noted publicly on CNN's "Larry King Live" last month, he would allow homosexuals to work in his administration:


Being against a behavior, and being unwilling to grant special rights and privileges for that behavior, is not the same as willingness to openly discriminate against a person in all aspects of their lives. Mike Huckabee never suggested a broad intent to separate gays from all of society, the way Max Blumenthal dishonestly tries to imply.

This hack also goes on to claim Huckabee compared homosexuality to necrophilia. That's another lie. Huckabee didn't "compare" anything. He wrote a book in 1998 called "Kids Who Kill", in which he referred to "publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations" that he was speaking out against, and he listed them as "homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia." If you said that you you are against abortion and high taxes, are you comparing high tax rates to the murder of unborn children? Or a closer parallel might be to say "I oppose publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations such as homosexuality, abortion, profane music entertainment, and atheism." Well, I can tell you now that I do not consider profanity anywhere near comparable to abortion, or atheism, or homosexuality. And I don't think homosexuality approaches the aberrant nature of killing unborn children in their mothers' wombs. But are they all legitimate examples of aberrant aspects of our society that are endorsed and supported openly and institutionally? Yes. Huckabee was listing several things that are specifically related to sexual behavior, but that does not mean he is attempting to equate one with another in a literal sense. Sex with a dead body is vile in ways entirely different than raping children, folks -- and both are horrible in ways very different than someone engaging in sadomasochism with another sadomasochist.

But of course, Max Blumenthal wants to give the false impression that Huckabee actually said that homosexuality was comparable in and of itself to necrophilia, as if there was a direct equation of the two. Mike Huckabee did indeed denounce homosexual behavior, and has many times said he thinks it is sinful. However, Blumenthal is using alarmist language and lies to give the impression that Huckabee's words and intent are more radical and fringe than is really the case. Do most Americans think that consensual gay sex is literally the same as someone digging up a corpse and molesting it? Probably not. Do most Americans oppose gay marriage? Yes, they do. Being opposed to gay lifestyles is not some fringe attitude, and Blumenthal is dishonest for trying to misrepresent Huckabee's position.

Blumenthal then goes on to sling mud at Mike Huckabee because of Kenneth Copeland, one of the members of the board of regents at Oral Roberts University being investigated regarding misuse of funds. Well, first of all let's keep in mind that Mr. Copeland has not been convicted of ANYTHING, much less indicted. But hey, Blumenthal apparently has the special power of knowing someone is guilty or not without need for due process, evidence, or things like that.

More to the point, this whole "guilt-by-association" attempt he's making to attack Huckabee seems a bit surprising, in light of things like Obama's links to indicted crooks in Illinois and shady political characters in Hawaii. Might Hillary Clinton also have some potentially questionable links to a bad fundraiser that you can think of? Oh, but they are liberals, so they won't get any mud tossed on them for their "guilt-by-association", will they Mr. Blumenthal? Especially not a Clinton, eh? My suspicion is that Blumenthal's contempt for Copeland stems not from the potential fundraising scandal, but instead from the mere fact that Mr. Copeland is a televangelist. The overall tone of Blumenthal's article, attacking Huckabee primarily because of the candidate's openness about his faith and Christian views. Watch the little video that Max Blumenthal and Thomas Shomaker created to mock Huckabee's own "Christian Leader" ad, to see their disrespectful use of images of Christ's crucifixion to attack Huckabee's faith and positions. That's the real thrust of Blumenthal's and other people's disdain and repeated attacks on Huckabee -- his faith, his willingness to discuss his faith, and that Huckabee represents people in this nation who elitists like Blumenthal (and some within our own party, sadly) look down upon.

Well, luckily, Blumenthal and his ilk make our job easy. Their shamelessness leads them time and again to lie so openly and quickly, that refuting them requires little more than just pointing out exactly what they said. But it is important to do so, to point and denounce their lies, to let them know they will NOT get away with it. I hope others will spread the word, and call out liars like Max Blumenthal and any others who think they can get away with such dishonesty.