Mike Huckabee's Media Meltdown
Now we bring you some news from beyond the Beltway. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the fitness fanatic and likely 2008 presidential candidate, is in a spat right now with the Arkansas Times. And things have gotten ugly.
An Arkansas correspondent informs us:
[P]ossible presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has decided to purge the Arkansas Times from all of the governor's office notification lists. He defends his action by saying the alt weekly isn't a "news organization." This is most definitely in retaliation to the Times' criticism of Huckabee and his wthics transgressions, the latest of which is his abuse of a state-funded airplane.
Huckabee is a petty, vindictive little man who gets upset when you call him on his challenged ethics and his penchant for giving clemency to prisoners who claim to love Jesus and then go out and kill (look up the story on Wayne Dumond).
The saga continues, after the jump.
The Arkansas Times blogged about their being blackballed by Governor Huckabee. Then Huckabee responded on the governor's official website, in what another reader described as "a long rant" that's "something to behold, especially coming from a 10-year sitting governor and presidential aspirant."
We took a look at said rant -- which goes on, and on, and on -- and we're inclined to agree. Here's the money quote from the intemperate governor:
It is apparent this tabloid's editor is behaving like a hobo who, when provided free food from a restaurant, proceeds to tell everyone it tastes bad and then wonders why he isn't invited to have the best table in the house for free. Especially in this situation, it is apparent "sour grapes" do indeed make a very pungent "whine."
So Mike Huckabee is an Arkansas governor with a bad temper and an adversarial relationship with certain media outlets. Perhaps he has a better shot at the presidency than we thought.
Finally, an Irony Alert. Huckabee shut off the Arkansas Times because it's not "a legitimate news organization." But he was more than happy to appear last night on The Colbert Report.
(By the way, did y'all catch his appearance? He did a nice job -- he was relaxed, charming, and funny, but without forsaking his proper role as "straight man" to Colbert's "funny man.")
The Governor's Office Goes Silent [Arkansas Blog]
The Governor's Official Web Site -- Accessible to All [Arkansas.gov via Romenesko ]
Fair and Balanced -- That's Us [Arkansas Blog]