Thursday, December 27, 2007

Mike Huckabee's Reaction to Bhutto Assassination Continues to Reverberate

Mike Huckabee's botched reaction to the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan continues to reverberate around the world.

He first stumbled by "apologizing" to the people of Pakistan for her passing.

Later, his campaign's damage control spokes people offered an update in which he offered that he meant to "sympathize" with the people of Pakistan, not apologize to them.

Of course, it didn't help that he also got the current status of martial law in Pakistan wrong in the same press briefing today (It's been lifted, he called for it to be lifted. He apparently meant to say he didn't want it to be re-instated. At least, that's what we guess he meant to say. It's hard for the listener to understand the difference between what he says today and what he means tomorrow).

Here's how the blogosphere commented on his foreign policy performance today:

powerlineblog.com
According to this report from CBS News , Mike Huckabee reacted to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto by expressing "our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan." I'm hoping that Huckabee simply misspoke because otherwise he'll need to explain what the U.S. has to apologize for. Nothing comes to mind unless one is prone, in the fashion of Jimmy Carter, mindlessly to "blame America first." Huckabee also said that the U.S. needs to consider "what impact does [the assassination have] on whether or not there's going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan.

reason.com
I'm speaking of Mike Huckabee, who partially botched his response (speaking to a crowd that was 88 percent his supporers, 12 percent Ron Paul supporters): He made a bad choice of words when saying the U.S. needs to consider "what impact does it have on whether or not there's going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan." He should have said whether or not martial law will be reinstated - it was lifted nearly two weeks ago. A minor slip, maybe, but not a subject he wants to mess up on when he is already considered weak in the area of foreign policy.

instapundit.com
MUCH MORE ON THE BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASSINATION, including statements from various Presidential candidates, at The Corner. Plus, a questionable reaction from Bill Richardson. UPDATE: Dropping the ball at NBC. And Huckabee apologizes. Apologizes? Jeez, he is Jimmy Carter.

polipundit.com
The Huckster : Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of "Right Now" by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing "our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan." Apologies? I knew he was a no-good, tax-hiking, nanny-stater who raised his son to torture animals, but even I had no idea he was behind the Bhutto assassination. -- W.C. Varones


www.dailypundit.com
Huckabee Reaction to Bhutto Assassination - From The Road ORLANDO, FLA. -- With about 150 supporters crowded around a podium set up on the tarmac of Orlando Executive airport (and about 20 Ron Paul supporters waving signs outside) Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of "Right Now" by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing "our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan." Apologies? Apologies???!!!

townhall.com
Everyone is having all kinds of fun talking about silly-ol' Huckabee apologizing for Bhutto's assassination, expressing "our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan."

www.tigerhawk.blogspot.com
Huckabee apologizes for al Qaeda

1 comment:

John said...

Nice summary.

Despite his status as a possible Republican nominee, I find Huckabee's instincts, as you highlight here, to be more typical of a Democrat than Republican.