Huckabee and the Jewish Vote

THE FINE FIVE:

(1) Holding out hope for the two 14-year-olds from Jupiter, Florida, who have been missing for several days and whose boat was found near Jacksonville earlier today. A vigil took place this evening. Not looking good; hoping for better news soon.

(2) Yesterday, one of the most impressive sports streaks came to a crashing end, when the Chicago Cubs were no-hit by Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the first time the Cubs had been no-hit since Sandy Koufax's perfect game in September 1965. The streak was 7,920 games long. Given the futility of the Cubs over the years, the streak is even more impressive. The Cincinnati Reds now own the longest regular-season streak without being no-hit, with just over 7,000 games. The Reds haven't been no-hit during the regular season since June 1972.

(3) Several long-time friends of mine have posted photos of their children on Facebook. Nothing unusual about that. The photos of their kids were taken at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, which I attended several times during my high school orchestra years. And the shirts are the same light blue polos that were our fashion statement in the early 1980s. Good to see some things never change.

(4) Tigers vs Boston on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Given their current records, this probably wasn't what the network's brass expected. Pretty sure it's not what the management of either team, or their fan bases, expected either.

(5) Don't count on GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee getting much of the Jewish vote. I recognize that the majority of Jews in the United States vote Democrat, and that there are likely better options than Huckabee on the Republican side of things for Jews who vote on the right, but any hope he had just blew up in his face.

In discussing a variety of topics during an interview with Breitbart News, Huckabee oped his mouth and brought the Holocaust into the mix. "[President Barack Obama's] foreign policy is the most feckless in American history. It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven." Idiot. The full link to the story is in the next item.

CAMPAIGN 2016 NEWS OF THE DAY:

From Brietbart: "Huckabee: Obama Marching Israelis to 'Door of Oven'" - I'll let the National Jewish Democratic Council handle this one:

The National Jewish Democratic Council today denounced comments made by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in the strongest possible terms after the Republican presidential candidate stated that President Obama is leading Israelis “to the door of the oven.” The organization called on the numerous Republican presidential candidates to denounce the offensive remarks at once, noting that the field had no such qualms about doing so when Donald Trump launched a personal attack at fellow Republican Sen. John McCain.

Far, far too often, this organization has found itself forced to denounce politicians for invoking the Holocaust in inappropriate and offensive ways. These comments by Gov. Mike Huckabee, however, may be the most inexcusable we've encountered in recent memory. To state that President Obama is leading Israelis 'to the door of the oven' is not only disgustingly offensive to the President and the White House, but shows utter, callous disregard for the millions of lives lost in the Shoah and to the pain still felt by their descendants today.

In our eyes, it is almost pointless to demand Gov. Huckabee apologize for his remarks, although he certainly should. This was not a random, off-the-cuff remark, and the Jewish community deserves better than to hear a false apology that we doubt will stop the former Governor from offending again in the future. What we do demand is that Gov. Huckabee's fellow Republican presidential candidates denounce his offensive statement at once. Republicans have fallen over themselves to speak out against Donald Trump's outrageous rhetoric on immigration and veterans. Will they now do the same and speak out against this unacceptable attack against President Obama that smears the memory of Holocaust victims, as they did when Trump attacked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)? Or will they stand by in silence and implicit approval? We call on every candidate to condemn Gov. Huckabee's disgusting statement and to show where they truly stand.

FACEPALM NEWS OF THE DAY:

From The Hill: "Senate's ObamaCare repeal effort falls short" - That's 58, or one for each 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

FLORIDA NEWS OF THE DAY:

From The Tampa Bay Times: "Pinellas Park man charged with arson - on his own house" - He was cleaning the motorcycle and acting erratically and indifferent to the fact that his house was on fire, authorities said.

WEIRD NEWS OF THE DAY:

From Pink News: "Man organises ‘straight pride’ parade, blames gays when no-one turns up" - Of course he does.

SPORTS NEWS OF THE DAY:

From ESPN: "Mets discover baby raccoon in clubhouse weight room" - No word on when he will undergo Tommy John surgery.

VIDEO OF THE DAY:

Train 1, Limo 0.

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY:

The Rolling Stones, "Waiting On A Friend"