Huckabee: ‘I felt more fear in American cities’ than in Israel.
By on Aug 18th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Huckabee: ‘I felt more fear in American cities’ than in Israel.
Just before boarding a plane for a two-day trip to Israel, a reporter asked former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee if he was worried “about security in the violence-plagued country.” Huckabee responded by saying that he has “no fear to go to Israel” because he has “felt more fear in American cities“:
“I have no fear to go to Israel,” Huckabee said before boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport.
“I felt more fear in American cities. I can walk down the streets of Tel Aviv at night without a problem. But I, of course, have the knowledge of which places not to go at night, just like any other city in America.”
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LOL, wut?
August 18th, 2008 at 10:20 amI must get out of my metropolitan bubble more often. I had no idea that US cities were subject to that many mortar attacks and suicide bombers.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:22 amSo What? We really don't care what you're afraid of.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:22 am“I have no fear to go to Israel,” Huckabee said before boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport. “I felt more fear in American cities. I can walk down the streets of Tel Aviv at night without a problem.
- - Imagine the uproar from the Right if that statement came from Obama or his wife. Unpatriotic, indeed.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:22 amBecause they are a fascist state you dingle berry.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:22 amJust like McCains comment about downtown Baghdad, folks like you never have to leave your bubble. Must be nice.
Two days in Israel won't be enough time for Huckabible to convert all them Christ-killers to Christianity.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:24 amI can't recall the last time a suicide bomber took out a Starbucks in Detroit.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:25 amSo what? Huckabee could have said this about almost any major city in the developed world outside of the U.S. How about saying it about Paris, Mike?
Maybe this idiot should immigrate to Israel, and be drafted into the military reserves. Then let's see how safe he thinks it is in Israel.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:25 amI thought Baghdad was safer..!!
August 18th, 2008 at 10:28 amDid Huckabee talk to McCain about the Surge before he made such statment?
maybe the guy should seriously consider moving with the Republicans to TelAviv
August 18th, 2008 at 10:32 amDr. Hussein Matt Says:
I can’t recall the last time a suicide bomber took out a Starbucks in Detroit.
- - In Detroit, they tend to aim for Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:35 amIs that why Huckabee hired Chuck Norris as his body guard?
August 18th, 2008 at 10:36 amI can walk down the streets of Tel Aviv at night without a problem. But I, of course, have the knowledge of which places not to go at night, just like any other city in America."
Tel Aviv is an American city now?
August 18th, 2008 at 10:37 amRemember it's part of the Rovian game plan to keep fear in the back of every American's mind. Once there, the Rovians can play up the Patriotic macho spirit IF....you vote Republican.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:41 amThe sad part is that guys like Huck may actually believe it!
That's just because Shucksabee is just another hillbilly rube that is afraid of the city because the TV tells him it's full of black people.
Republicans are such wimps!
August 18th, 2008 at 10:41 amTel Aviv? Huckabee should try Gaza. If Israeli bombs dont kill you, the water will. Oh and Mike whatever you do, do not bring a camera, Israeli soldiers might mistake you for a journalist.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:54 amDr. Hussein Matt Says:
I can’t recall the last time a suicide bomber took out a Starbucks in Detroit.
Thanks Dr. Matt! Now I have coffee all over my laptop!
Coffee from my kitchen, not Starbucks... too scared of my little Pennsylvania town to go there!
PEACE
August 18th, 2008 at 10:57 amHow bout Boy Scout camp? I hear they have "dangerous" dogs, and if you work at the camp, are related to Huckabee and kill the dog, you WILL BE FIRED:
LINK
August 18th, 2008 at 11:02 amDaryll ~ is this the task god has bestowed on Huckabee? As we recall you relayed god had chosen Mike to be the next president.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:05 amYou should be afraid you sh*tkicker. Civilized people tend to think people like you are idiots. You better learn about indoor plumbing before you head to any cities so you don't die from humiliation, idiot.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:07 amOh and Huck, if you DO get to a city please see an orthodontist, it's never to late to stop looking like Gomer Pyle.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:08 am“I have no fear to go to Israel,” Huckabee said before boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport.
“I felt more fear in American cities."
Stay there and don't come back , Gomer Pyle.............
August 18th, 2008 at 11:09 amDaryll ~ is this the task god has bestowed on Huckabee? As we recall you relayed god had chosen Mike to be the next president.
GOD IS A LIGHT BULB, GOD IS A HEN.
GOD IS A BALLPOINT PEN.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:11 amI am reminded of a line from Plan 9 From Outer Space: Republicans are stupid, stupid, stupid!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:13 amIt all has to do with what you are used to. I work in NYC, and I have no fear of racial and ethnic diversity. It's religious zealots (with whom Huck is right at home) who scare me.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:19 amIf a Democrat said this, there would be a national shortage of ink due to every newspaper in America printing special editions headlined "Democrat Hates America".
August 18th, 2008 at 11:29 amI like how the thinkprogress title says 'feel,' while Huckabee clearly said, 'felt.' It changes the meaning enough to be decieving. He has, in the past, felt more fear in American cities than in his trips to Israel. It is not a universal feeling of being safer in Tel Aviv than NYC, as tp would seem to be implying.
I can empathize. I felt safer in Moscow (the parts where a foreigner would be liable to go) than in New York City (getting lost trying to find the Friends soup kitchen!). I do not feel safer in Moscow (in general due to a plethora of reasons) than in New York City (in general, because I tend to know which areas to avoid).
See the difference?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:40 amWow Niffy, if you're going to split hairs like that why not point out that perhaps the fear he "felt in American cities" wasn't his own fear but the fear of the people in those American cities!
Why not point out that Huckabee seems to think that Tel Aviv is just another American city?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:48 amI felt safer in Moscow (the parts where a foreigner would be liable to go) than in New York City (getting lost trying to find the Friends soup kitchen!).
You should've stayed in Moscow then, little chickenshit. You mean you enjoyed the heavy-handed police presence everywhere you went in Moscow, right.
Boy, our Government's really done a number on your "fear factor".
August 18th, 2008 at 11:49 amWhat is he worried about? American terrorists tend to be right-wing Republican Christians, just like Huckabee.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:50 amBut I am glad, Niffy, that you liked TP's title.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:50 amShoeless,
Good post!
I wonder if he was talking about the Murrah building in Ok. City (Bombed by a Right wing X-tian) or maybe in that Baptist church recently (Also by a right wing X-tian nut-job)?
If so, I can see his point!
August 18th, 2008 at 12:05 pmFrankly, if I were given to being fearful I'd be afraid of Huckabee -- knowing that as he walked through the streets of Anytown, Israel, he'd like to see every person "perfected," and would rain down destruction and death, in the name of the Second Coming of Jesus.
Terrifying.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:06 pmupside, that was a Unitarian church. The Republican nutcase mudered all those people because they practice the tolerance espoused by Jesus. Huckabee can go to his Baptist church safe in the knowledge that right-wing Republican fanatics, like himself, won't target the Baptists, as they are extremly intolerant.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pmMary,
I agree completely on the point about Tel Aviv being 'another American city.' I would have mentioned it but I am attempting to be more concise!
I'm not trying to split hairs, I'm tring to demonstrate that there is a keen difference between word choice that TP chose for the title. If he said 'felt,' why not put it in the title, why chose a more misleading word to alter his meaning? There's a lot more out there to blog about that has substance.
Incorrect, but thanks for trying. If you take issue with my example of Moscow, then feel free to replace with Edinburg instead, as the statement would remain unchanged.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pmIsn't this one of those guys that would actually welcome the Armageddon?
August 18th, 2008 at 12:40 pmNiffy, well it appears that TP is sensitive to your charge and has changed the title. I'm not convinced that TP was out to deceive anyone.
If Israel is so safe why are we spending so much time and money (not to mention international political capital) on their security?
August 18th, 2008 at 12:56 pmMary,
Thank you for the discussion. I'm glad to be mistaken about TP's intentions, and I'm glad it was changed to be more straightforward.
I think Israel is 'safe' for the reasons you mention, because we spend so much time, money and political capital on that being so. It is a relatively safety, though, and not a total one as anyone with a cable or internet connection can see. Is that the course we should be taking? That question is better served in a different debate!
August 18th, 2008 at 1:24 pmWas Mike carrying his gun?
August 18th, 2008 at 1:40 pmWhat a stupid statement! I'd be happy to take Mike to somewhere in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or (better yet) D. C. and drop him off for a few hours. I'm sure he'd end up either in a hospital or on a morgue table just because of his white face and nothing else.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:45 pm(hit the return key too quickly!) But he needs to spend some time on the borders and settlements. He may not come back just because of random chance.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:46 pmWhere are members of the Bush administration or the McCain campaign pointing out the unpatriotic nature of Huckabee's statement?
August 18th, 2008 at 3:20 pmuhhh, there is truth to this, so what is the point. Israel has far better security than most US cities. Israel does not mess around with security.
They do not have the ACLU that holds them hostage when they need to protect their citizens. Unlike in the US where the rights of the criminals come before the rights of its citizens.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:25 pmWell then, he should freaking move there -- and good riddance.
What an asshat.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:30 pmSounds like someone wants to move to Israel. Me I'mjust fine with the ACLU. I can look after myself just fine...
August 18th, 2008 at 3:31 pmJust let me start out by saying that I deplore Huckabee and Ive never voted Republican nor will I ever.
that being said, I would sooner walk down the street in any Israeli town at 3 am at night then I would in my home town of Los Angeles, and have done so many times.
There is very little personal violence in Israel because the police are very efficient and everyone was at one time or another a solider. Most people can defend themselves.
The odds on being mugged, rapped or murder are very low.
Can you say that about cities in America? I would never walk down the street most anywhere in LA by myself.
Probably not.
Therefore I don't think the nature of his statement is Anti-American. I don't think it even has anything to do with terrorism. Its just true statement about the nature of personal safety in Israel.
Calling him names (while probably deserved) is a very "Free Repulic" way of discussing his statement. Lets raise the bar of the argument. At least here.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pmBy the way, Niffy, dear - you DO know that "niffy" is slang for "smelly," right...?
Just wondering.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:34 pmYeah, gee, Timmy - in Israel, they would shoot you first and ask questions later.
Great policy! Why don't you move there too?
August 18th, 2008 at 3:35 pmWell Mr. Huckabee... pack your bags and move then!
August 18th, 2008 at 3:39 pmSingapore has lots of rules too. I just wished they had caned that spoiled brat harder and more frequently... It's all apples to oranges...
August 18th, 2008 at 3:44 pmGood I am sure Arkansas would be happy to see their embarrassment Huckabee Hounddog move to Israel
August 18th, 2008 at 3:50 pmIf this kook moves to Israel can Daryll's god still mistake him for the president elect? God I hate fallable gods...
August 18th, 2008 at 4:07 pmI know one place not to go at night and that's to one of Mike Huckabee's sermons.
You have been conned into being a shill for Israel, Mike, like so many other so-called Christian leaders. Actually, Israel has a reputation of being a Nazi-style police state, Preacher Man. You need to do some research instead of falling for the Chosen 50¢ Propaganda Tour.
Why are you running down your own country, you stupid man? A country, by the way, that is run primerily by the Jews, your holy friends. So if there's a problem here, they have something to do with it.
The last time I read the New Testament, Jesus came to criticize the arrogant chosen ones and they crucified him for it. And we haven't heard any apologies yet.
Who do you follow, Mike?
August 18th, 2008 at 4:35 pmHuckabee likes fascism. He likes to know there's a military policemen holding an assault rifle in Tel Aviv...He wishes Bush and McCain would enact similar policies.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:58 pmPeople used to ask me if I wasn't afraid to live in London with all those IRA bombinhs, 20-25 years ago. I said that there were only about 20 deaths per year in London out of the 10 million people---while one year in Los Angeles (1981?), there were 1,100 homicides. Don't know the rate of killings in Tel Aviv, but some foreign cities are far safer than some American cities. The easy access to guns in the US (which conservatives favor) is a major factor.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:44 pmDOES HUCKABEE HATE AMERICA?
HUCKABEE WANTS TO DESTROY AMERICAN CITIES...?
But he loves their money and wanted to be their President?
August 19th, 2008 at 3:24 amTim43 Says:
uhhh, there is truth to this, so what is the point. Israel has far better security than most US cities. Israel does not mess around with security.
They do not have the ACLU that holds them hostage when they need to protect their citizens. Unlike in the US where the rights of the criminals come before the rights of its citizens.
So in other words MORON you dont like our civil liberties and are another of those cowardly bedwetters who whine to the government to take away your freedom so you can FEEL safer. Well coward the problem is that takes away MY freedom too and I dont like the idea. Franklin said those who would give away essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither, that is YOU coward you dont deserve safety OR freedom. You Pavlovian conditioned morons just salivate when hyou THINK about the ACLU since you HATE our freedom you hate those who fight FOR our freedom. Go back to cowering under your mommys bed and let the adults talk.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:08 am