Fried squirrels are window dressing [updated]

Homeboy image from commercial site

While folks laugh (or get queasy) about Mike Huckabee and his college-era penchant for squirrels fried in a popcorn popper (video here), let's not kid ourselves about the theocratic perspective this man represents.

Tristero on Digby's Hullaballoo revisits a post he did against theocracy last year:

Back in 1998, when he was still serving as governor, he [Huckabee] helped write "Kids Who Kill," a short book purporting to analyze the outbreak of school shootings by teenagers. His coauthor was George Grant, a well-known militant Christian reconstructionist author, activist and educator. That same year, the libertarian Reason magazine published an exposé of reconstructionism titled "Invitation to a Stoning," which identified Grant and quoted him on the movement's ambition for "world conquest." Scorning the moderation of other conservative Christians, Grant explained, "It is dominion we are after. Not just a voice ... not just influence ... not just equal time. It is dominion we are after."

Huckabee is more discreet than this and may not fully agree with Grant but he cannot pretend to have no connections with Dominionism.

Tristero continues in today's post:

I'll say it again: Huckabee is not a joke and he has no business being one of the frontrunners of a major political party. That he has come this far is extremely ominous. If he were to get the nomination, it would be a terrible catastrophe even if he were to lose, as he almost surely would, the presidential race. Why? Because Christian Reconstruction will take one more giant step towards the mainstream.
...
Don't kid yourself. Huckabee and his ilk play for keeps. It may take another 40 years, but as long as normals continue to underestimate and dismiss christianism with a superior snicker instead of fighting back as hard as possible, the most repulsive notions of the religious right will further dominate our discourse. This is a war; christianists are acting like it is. And the rest of us are laughing ourselves silly at the very idea that such ignorant phonies and weirdos could be that dangerous.

Alex Koppelman and Vincent Rossmeier provide "A list of religious extremists linked to the GOP candidate" in an article in Salon. They note the following:

Ideas like the ones some of Huckabee's supporters hold stem from two radical doctrines, reconstructionism and dominionism. As Conason writes, these ideas come down to "the notion that America, indeed every nation on earth, is meant to be governed by biblical law." Additionally, they stem from a belief that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, then betrayed by secular humanist liberals who created a myth of separation of church and state in the 20th century, leading the country to immorality and godlessness, and that the United States must be taken back by Christians. Some of the proponents of this idea are unashamed about using the word "theocracy" to describe their goal. The most radical among them -- including two of the movement's leading lights and progenitors, R.J. Rushdoony and his son-in-law Gary North -- advocate a return to the practice of stoning as a method of execution, and expanding this death sentence to the crimes of homosexuality, blasphemy and cursing one's parents.

For both more complete information and some nuancing, one should read the entire article. I am less familiar with some of the characters they describe but I have been on the e-mail list for Donald Wildmon's group and know that their agenda is cultural and political with little linking to its alleged biblical basis (and that is severely distorted). I believe the technical term is "batshit insane," but I have not reviewed the DSM-IV to verify that. They are, snark aside, very dangerous people and they mislead the uninformed faithful very day.

In short, Huckabee's candidacy is no joke. It is a threat to constitutional democracy and a way for religious extemism to move into the "acceptable" mainstream. The American people are not prepared for what Huckabee and his allies have to offer but his folksy, pleasant manner can lull the public into thinking he is a fine fellow. A homeboy. Plus, he's not Mormon (if you have that prejudice or one against flip-flopping plastic), not a corrupt egocentric philander, not too old for two terms, and not half asleep during his campaing (not to name names).

Be concerned. And be sure you let people know just how far out on the fringe this man is.

UPDATE:
The Cunning Runt over at Little Bang Theory has an eloquent discourse on this issue set in a larger historic context. I highly recommend it. He has really pretty pictures too. Glad he's getting back in form after arm surgery.

UPDATE 2:

John Aravosis has a note from Americablog:

Does Huckabee pray to Jesus with that mouth? So much for our Christ-invoking preacher. Now he's suggesting that civil rights advocates shove flag poles up their ass. Not a very nice, or mature, thing for any adult candidate to be saying, let alone the guy who says that God wants him to be president and that he's going to amend the Constitution to bring it in line with the Bible. I don't think the Bible says anything about shoving flag poles up your ass.

Oh yeah, Huckabee's also hanging out with the same white supremacist that Trent Lott and far too many southern Republican racists hang out with.

You can read the story about Myrtle Beach here. A Nation opinion article comments:

Again and again on the campaign trail in South Carolina, the state that led the south into rebellion against the Union, Huckabee has gone out of his way to discuss and defend the "right" of southerners to fly the Confederate flag in official settings.

UPDATE 3:
Comments on this and how it is being ignored in the MSM at TPM. David Kurtz notes:
As far as I can tell, Huckabee hasn't done anything to distance himself from APAC or its ads, which may be difficult since the ads simply tout Huckabee's undisputed public position on the issue.

--the BB