Your audition assignment: Reconcile these comments from your boss.

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1) “We need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague.”

2) "The AIDS crisis was just that -- a crisis."

3) “My concern was safety first, political correctness last.”

4) "When asked about AIDS research in 1992, Huckabee said it received an unfair share of federal dollars compared to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. 'An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research,' he wrote."

Fire away, contestants. And good luck!

what is really going on here is a bunch of cutting and pasting in order to make mr. huckabee look like a big, bad monster. anyone who actually pays attention to what was happening would know better.

people seem to forget that 15 years ago, AIDS was a scary and intimidating disease. the number of new cases in the united states had been increasing ever since we discovered what AIDS was.

after the benefit of 15 years of research, we have made a lot of progress. the threat of AIDS has changed dramatically since then. and when the threat changes, so does your plan of action. all mr. huckabee did was react to the new information when it came.

With all due respect Dollyemu, by 1992 there was no question that non-sexual contact with HIV positive individuals could not lead to infection. Further, given that bigotry was more widespread at the time (due to alarmist opportunists like Huckabee) that HIV positive individuals faced a no longer justifiable social stigma. Huckabee ignored the accepted medical facts and pandered to the ignorance of bigotry. Rather than educate the public and in doing so fulfill his duty to the citizenry, Huckabee deliberately lied and fanned the flames of fear and hatred.

Of course, we should not entirely discount the possiblity that somehow Mike Huckabee was actually poorly informed, foolish, and bigoted enough to actually believe in 1992 that HIV could be spread through personal contact, but if so then he is far too stupid to be president. This only makes Huckabee's position worse, however. If you honestly believe that HIV is a plague on the level you would have to in order to even consider the HIV+ concentration camps Huckabee envisions, then it makes no sense to say that it shouldn't be funded.

There is only one coherent way to explain Huckabee's simultaneous views that (1) HIV is dangerous enough to warrant the creation of human exile colonies for the infected and (2) HIV is not dangerous enough to warrant public health research efforts. Mike Huckabee cared (and cares) absolutely nothing about the fate of gays and lesbians and would gladly stigmatize and (through the refusal to invest in research) actually demand their premature (and isolated) death in order to win an election.

But he's a heck of a nice guy, and so funny too, right?

Well, first of all, back then it was a lot easier to bash gays outright and blame them directly for AIDS. These days you have to hide behind laws "defending" marriage if you want to bash gays. Wherever the research was in '92, AIDS was still associated with "gayness" in the public consciousness then, but that's all but faded now. Now, even president Bush is fine with proposing money for fighting AIDS in far-off countries (as he did a few SOTU speeches ago). So now Huck can be anti-AIDS without seeming pro-gay, and since there is now no political advantage to disparaging AIDS victims, he has thus changed his mind and thinks it would be great if rich celebrities step in and fix this thing for him. It's still ok to bash rich celebrities, right? Yes? Ok, that's his position now.

In 1992 Mr. Huckabee did not like the gays, and wasn't afraid to say so. Now it has become PC to not disparage the gays directly. However, Mr. Huckabee still has the courage, unlike hsi opponents to call a spade a spade - he still does not like the gays.

If there is now a baby who has AIDS, Mr. Huckabee is willing to throw a few dollars at the problem.

"I think it is simply terrible that the media is concentrating on a nonissue like this in the wake of the horrific shootings at the colorado churches. Mr. Huckabee would like to extend his deepest sympathies to the victims and families involved and hopes that all americans will bow their heads for a moment of silence and reflect on this latest episode of religious persecution in our country. This senseless tragedy illustrates the depths some individuals will go to express their hatred of people who merely want to follow the good book on the path to an exemplary life. Mr. Huckabee urges the federal government to set up an agency that will enable law enforcement to better utilize the capabilities and advice the established religious community can provide in terms of counseling and guidance on social issues in the wake of atrocities such as what occurred in Colorado. It is his hope that through the use of all possible such tools, that senseless tragedies such as this can be prevented through education, intervention, and, above all, prayer."

spokesman steps away from the podium and thinks, "I'm going to hell."

And then my response as a journalist would be:

Regarding those Colorado shootings, Governor, where exactly do you stand on gun control and how can you justify your position after these tragic events?

Regarding the AIDs issues, the religious community has always been way behind in the acceptance of HIV medical information. I'm not a Mike Huckabee supporter, but it seems to me that his change of viewpoint shows a larger change within the religious community of a little more acceptance. It's not perfect and there is still a lot of homophobia, but it's getting better all the time.

1) “We need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague and isolate them in nurture-rich environments like new york city, miami beach, el lay, taos and las vegas. however, if the disease continues to spread escape valves will have to automatically open to springfield, missouri; wilkes-barre, pennsylvania and sacrimento's weekend emotional buttplug--san francisco. failing all of the above mentioned venues...nasa is preparing individual jetpacks which will velcro onto the space shuttle heat shield and as my fellow freemasons say it -- repopulate mars."

2) "The AIDS crisis was just that -- a crisis. and a crisis needs considered, calculated and effective action on the part of political leaders. therefore, reverend huckabee wil take the problem to the united nations general assembly and have that 'it takes a burning village' diplomatic group grope solve it the way that they have so many other crisis-es-ez like the middle east, iraq and somalia."

3) “My concern was safety first, political correctness last with rational judgement and catatonic stupor running close behind. it's easy to second guess given the positive outcome of current treatments which have stopped this deadly, biological genetic plague in its tracks. also, no one is willfully downloading since judges started boiling defendants penises-ez in court and cardinal maloney allegedly had the shit beat out of him by someone wearing latex gloves...that's progress from a baptist's point of view on so many issues, so many levels, all at once."”

4) "When asked about AIDS research in 1992, Huckabee said it received an unfair share of federal dollars compared to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. 'An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research,' he wrote, but has retracted that statement in a new position paper (remember those, mcgovern campaigners! ? ) entitled: 'disingenuousness is not a four-letter word'. the reverend wants to make nice-nice with all and any rabid, manic-depressive celeb hoes on this issue as if they really haven't done anything meaningful with their lives recently and hold onto the bling-bling as if it were an average el lay 14-inches.'

there, now, all of that is behind us now!

do i get the (cough!) job?

"Those reporters who would disparage Governor Huckabee because he is mentally retarded are slapping the face of every developmentally disabled person in the United States. I would hope that those persons would reflect on the reasons for their attacks, and would come to understand their own lack of self-respect is no reason to attack Governor Huckabee's limited understanding of biology, medicine, and everything else. Instead, let us lift him up as an example of what the mentally retarded can do. He's not handicapped, he's handi-capable!"

This is going to be a tough decision, so many great potential press secretaries. LOL

he is playing by arkansas rules.

"Casual contact" means anything with anyone who is immediate family, otherwise it is shotgun serious.

:-)

you win, repro...

“As Mr. Huckabee has stated in the past, he believes in science which often changes, but defers to God, who doesn’t. Since 1992 science has changed its mind, and decided that AIDS cannot be spread by casual contact. Mr. Huckabee isn’t entirely certain how it is spread, but he’s pretty sure that it has something to do with homosexuals, and possibly monkeys (which people did not descend from). If you visit his website, you’ll see his plan for dealing with the AIDS crisis, part of which is the relocation of all homosexual monkeys to a colony funded by multimillionaire celebrities.”

1) “We need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague.”

Huckabee is the "christian candidate" and, as such, knows that homosexuality and casual sex is wrong. Still he's a compassionate man who, like Christ, "hates the sin, but loves the sinner. By isolating these sinners he was really advocating kindness by preventing them from having the opportunity to sin.

2) "The AIDS crisis was just that -- a crisis."

A crisis calls for action and Huckabee is a man of action.

3) “My concern was safety first, political correctness last.”

Indeed. Safety was Hucakbee's goal. Condoms fail but isolation is 100% effective.

As to the second part? The liberal left in it's politically correct stances and such ridiculous non-offensive labels such as calling short people "vertically challenged" are making a mockery of the english language.

4) "When asked about AIDS research in 1992, Huckabee said it received an unfair share of federal dollars compared to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. 'An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research,' he wrote."

This is yet another example of Huckabee's credentials as the "Christian candidate." AIDS primarily effects homosexuals, IV drug users and promiscuous heterosexuals whereas cancer, diabetes and heart disease can strike even those who abstain from all drugs and have sex as God commands, between a married man and woman for procreation only.

Shouldn't we spend money on diseases that effect all Americans over those that just effect sinners?

I generally have nothing against fundamentalists, but Huckabee's AIDS position in 1992 was an obvious pandering to a point of view that was widely expressed at that time among his target audience. The meme was that AIDS is a "plague" sent by God to punish homosexuals for their sins. Thus, it is against God's will to spend money to find a cure. I heard this over and over again from fundamentalists during that era, which was about the same time Magic Johnson was diagnosed.