Mike Huckabee dropped any pretense of being a kinder and gentler religious right leader long ago. Remember, he was among the first to suggest that the Sandy Hook shooting happened because we kicked God out of our schools. But a speech he gave at the New Hampshire Freedom Summit yesterday proves he isn’t even trying to sound moderate anymore. In an apparent attempt to out-conservative Ted Cruz and Rand Paul–with whom he was sharing the stage–Huckabee actually suggested that North Korea may have more freedom than the United States.
?My gosh, I’m beginning to think that there’s more freedom in North Korea sometimes than there is in the United States,? he said in his remarks. ?When I go to the airport, I have to get in the surrender position, people put hands all over me, and I have to provide photo ID and a couple of different forms and prove that I really am not going to terrorize the airplane ? but if I want to go vote I don’t need a thing.?
Apparently Huckabee doesn’t know that in North Korea, you’re essentially required to worship the country’s leader. Or that voting against the single candidate appearing on the ballot in elections can put you at serious risk. Or that television and radio sets are pretuned to state media. Or that North Korea has been at the very bottom of nearly every measure of press freedom and human rights for the better part of the last 60 years. And on, and on.
But then again, consider who sponsored this gathering–Citizens United and Americans for Prosperity, both tea party organizations. As we all know, the right is pushing the meme that Obama is a dictator, and such minor details as facts never got in the way of a tea-infused conspiracy theory.
Edited/Published by: SB
Darrell Lucus is a radical lefty Jesus-lover with several passions–the Lord, the Tar Heels, the Phillies, and fighting for lasting change. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus.
