At the GOP debate the other night, Mike Huckabee made an odd claim.
“When our founding fathers put their signatures on the Declaration of Independence, those 56 brave people, most of whom, by the way, were clergymen, they said that we have certain inalienable rights given to us by our creator.”
“Most” of the signers were clergy? Is that true? Actually, no.
Only one of the 56 was an active clergyman, and that was John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).
A few more of the signers were former clergymen, though it’s a little unclear just how many…. We’d like to give Huckabee every benefit of the doubt, but even if you consider former clergymen among the signers the best you could come up with is four. Out of 56. That’s not “most,” that’s Pants-on-Fire wrong.
It’s a common problem at the Republican debates — why let facts get in the way of a perfectly good soundbite?
No Trackbacks To “1 out of 56 is not ‘most’“
1+1=342
Weird because I didn’t see Hucklebee as a liar. However, he *is* a Republican so I guess it just comes with the territory. Keep lying, former fat boy.
Was Huckabee homeschooled?
Now I wonder if Hucklbee is a “real” clergyman. Uhmmmmmmm
Huckabee’s comment wasn’t so much a soundbite as it was a pander.
Historical revisionism is an evil thing.
They just can NOT tell the truth. It is impoosible for them. I wonder if he is really a man. Uhmmmmmm
Poossible? possible
“Most of them were clergy” is from the same revisionist history book that tells us we’re a Christian nation.
And how, exactly, does a presidential veto on SCHIP fit in with those inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Healthcare benefits aren’t contributory to those?
It’s the same school that gave us “The Flintstones” as documentary.
Right wing liars will repeat this bogus claim until it becomes “fact”. Just like “This nation was founded on Judeo Christian values”. The Republicans will say and do anything to appease and mislead their knuckledragging base.
Here are some other American Historical Moments according to Huckabee
He has that new software, Create-a-Fact. Just plug it in, tell it what you want to hear and it spits that back to you as a known fact. I believe it was designed by Dick Cheney back in 2001 or 2002.
Maybe Huckabee will claim gravity doesn’t exist and then jump off a window ledge to prove it.
Well, Huckabee is a Baptist Minister, so he can’t be wrong (/snark)
MOST republicans have sex in bathroom stalls with strangers…oh, and have erectile dysfunction
hero worship of the founding slave owner fathers has now turned to worship of the divine founding fathers.
This is likely the “truth” as he was taught. A factoid plucked out of some long ago lesson.
A serious problem with unscripted pols. They try to rely on the inbred teaching that prepared them for
their life. The important aspect of this and the “truths” as understood and regurgitated by people like Huck,
is that it be flayed and paraded before the country.
Welcome to the “No Child Left Behind When the Rapture Occurs” school of education. Maybe they figure, “Why bother learning FACTS when we’re all going home to sleep with our Invisible Sky Daddy any day now?” And the Repugnican’ts crave power so much they’ll say anything to appeal to those people, and they know they don’t have to even fact-check anymore.
They are so funny .Open mouth lie it’s a Repugnant trait that and policing bathroom stall floors
I don’t think one could ever claim that the current day Republicans could actually do math. Otherwise they wouldn’t keep insisting that tax-cuts pay for themselves.
Math in a republican regime:
2+2=5
I just saw Emilio Estevez’s film from last year “Bobby.”
It is so striking from hearing clips of interviews and speech of RFK that he, along with JFK, appealed to what was the very best in America: hope, community service, unity, etc.
These Republicans of today (and of yesterday) so consistently appeal to the worst in America: fear for self, fear of other, ignorance, etc. In this example from Huckabee, truth is a casualty, just something to be sidestepped while manipulating. Sad.
It’s the way the right wing brain is wired. There is a short circuit in the area of the brain that tells the truth!
Well at least he brought up the Declaration of Independence.
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Come on, you don’t expect a republican to actually know any history?
The Declaration of Independence is a document of Enlightenment. Blind faith, in the form of adherence to a religion (any religion) would indicate a profound lack of capacity for rational thought - precluding one from authoring such a secular document.
Religious people - including our current crop of Republican hopefuls - have abandoned rationality in favor of quieting their inner monkeys. Remember: when you communicate with a person who espouses religious beliefs, you are, by default, communicating with an irrational person.
Most ridiculous government program ever: Faith-based Initiatives.
Amazing how many will stand up now and claim this is the truth.
The quality of America’s leadership (?) is a direct reflection of the quality of America’s citizens.
Keep that in mind and you won’t be thoroughly disappointed or surprised at every turn.
It is not really going to matter who gets the WH at this point, the people will make sure it’s the least qualified.
Seele @ 17:
Yep… the founding fathers were imperfect, and recognized this. Franklin doubted that the American experiment of democracy would last much longer past his lifetime, and Jefferson struggled with the dilemma of owning slaves while criticizing slavery.
It’s when people exalt something as being perfect, and then change that something to fit their view in order to equate it with perfection, is when we get into trouble.
A huge percentage of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were rich influential men. By the time the revolutionary war was over most of them had their fortunes and many lost their families and during the war, if they were caught by the British, they were beaten, jailed and tortured. Do you think any of these wannabes would sign their name to such a document? These Chickenhawks who are so willing to send our kids off to war? These chicken hawks who for the most part did everything they could (Can you say “I have pimple on my ass?) to get out of the Vietnam war? These convenient Christians.
Who is going to get it out to all the viewers that happened to be misinformed, and now probably are allowing themselves to believe this? Who is going to correct all the erroneous comments the president, republican backrunners, and current “representatives,” have made.
Where are the “elder statesmen” of yesteryear now that we need them the most? Those whose reasons for becoming members of the Legislature were a sense of duty to their country and their fellow man, not just for a few pieces of silver to pad their purses with? The ones who listened to the people, and addressed issues with an eye towards what was best for the country as a whole, not just what was best for their current BFFs?
I’m less worried about his grasp of history than about those “inalienable rights” that his party is determined to relieve us of.
Ask President Bill Clinton about the signers. I betcha right off the top of his head he could tell you about each and every one of them. He knows history and facts.
That’s the difference between an intelligent man and a guy selling religious political snake oil. Intelligent men and women rely on proven facts and history. Desperate men and women warp the facts to fit their own personal case.
The Political Junkie @ 15:
since old hucks a baptist minister does that mean he gets to pick the best females in the front of his church to have fried chicken and screw if the gals husband aint home sunday after church serveises, most baptist ministers i know love fried chicken and free nookie !
Smitty @ 22:
don’t forget this great equation: hundreds of thousands dead - approximately 4,000 soldiers dead (this figure would not include suicides, or American “Contractors”) = progress
Geez, and people wonder why Arkansas is ranked near the bottom in regards to education.
I’m embarrassed for the state, and for that I apologize.
That’s like saying “most” of the Republican candidates for Presidents are members of a fascist cabal of war mongering wantwits… Oh, wait a minute, never mind.
tyree @ 36:
Actually, Huckabee has a bit more class than that. He’s a pretty decent guy. Misguided at best, but decent. I would trust him, but not to teach history.
Bob Jones University classic. The lessons taught in Sunday School, religious instruction, religious home-education textbooks, and Sunday sermons are based upon a romantic tradition. Without scrutiny, they are intended to inspire, rather than teach. The blur between fact and fiction is no accident. Much like the magical realism tradition in Southern hemishere (where religion often is used as a political force) countries, it is fast becoming mainstream in America. This is a distinctly Southern tradition, filling a void, where historians were not on hand to document actual events. Romantic ante-bellum writers would embellish stories about local figures, and civil war and post-civil war continued the trend. The lack of historians in the South led to a Romantic tradition in historical references. Northern Historians could not be relied upon to provide an “unbiased” report.
It is no accident that a distinctly Southern tradition has taken root in much of the population, including religious, (Southern Baptist Convention), an alternative history, heirarchal values, and racial tension. It is imperative that we examine and understand the cultural expansion of Southern traditions.
ThunderMonkey @ 40:
maby some ones husband caught him and beat the shit out of him,
Captain Kangaroo @ 31:
That too. While most of the founding fathers were wealthy white men, they were willing to put their fortunes on the line to fight against the British. The wealthy white men of today whine that they were “on the front lines” when a building some miles away from them collapses.
By that logic, most Americans support Bush, Congress, and the Republican party.
Blue Buddha @ 43:
yeah thats why washington had to beg the continetal congress for every bean bayonet and bullets to defeat the british!!!!
Clergymen’s votes count more, you see.
Mullah Mike has a true talent indeed. Only people like him would lie about a historical document like the Declaration of Independence while simultaneously wiping their butts with Constitution and Bill of Rights.
“Is that true”? You even had to ask the question? Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with American history knows that “most” of the founders were not clergymen, and, in fact, many of them were deists like Jefferson and Franklin who did not believe in organized religion at all. This should not even be controversial.
tyree @ 36:
He’s a former Arkansas governor, ty. Wouldn’t happen.
Lying and clergypersons aside, I think there is a fundamental issue that everyone is conspicuously avoiding. When does “most” happen? I’m thinking when you have a total of 56 then most doesn’t happen until at least five or six, right?
Sorry, but I can’t move forward on this topic until that question is answered.
By the way, as I recall Adolf Hitler had his own warped views on history and religion and we know how that turned out. Oddly enough, if you look at Huckabee’s picture and add a mustache the similarities between Huckabee and a youthful looking Hitler are uncanny.
CafeenMan @ 50:
5 or 6 would be enough. You are correct.
it doesn’t matter if it’s true, as followers will still believe it… the Republicant Party lives on misinformation…