Straight Shooter

I have to admit being very impressed with Jon Huntsman of late. He is definitely not the typical GOP asshole. Funny that the two latter day saint candidates are by far the most sober and rational of the bunch.

Yet while Romney comes off as the standard millionaire suck up to big business, the wealthier Huntsman seems much more independant and not afraid to call a spade a spade. He is going after the druids in his party with a vengeance and honesty seldom seen these days in the political arena.

Last week he tweeted in a nice shot over the evangelist's bow, "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

Today on ABC he continued to go after his opponents, particularly Rick Perry: "I think there's a serious problem. The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party - the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012."


"When we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science - Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position....I can't remember a time in our history where we actually were willing to shun science and become a - a party that - that was antithetical to science. I'm not sure that's good for our future and it's not a winning formula."

On the economy and the near default : "Well, I wouldn't necessarily trust any of my opponents right now, who were on a recent debate stage with me, when every single one of them would have allowed this country to default. You can imagine, even given the uncertainty of the marketplace the last several days and even the last couple of weeks, if we had defaulted the first time in the history of the greatest country that ever was, being 25 percent of the world's GDP and having the largest financial services sector in this world by a long shot, if we had defaulted, Jake, this marketplace would be in absolute turmoil. And people who are already losing enough as it is on their 401(k)s and retirement programs and home valuations, it would have been catastrophic."


I applaud Mr. Huntsman, a Republican with intelligence and rationality, a rare commodity on that side of the aisle these days. A religious man but not a crazy man. In the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king. Amongst Palin, Bachmann, Cain, Perry, Donder and Blitzen, this guy looks like Albert Einstein.  Although I am a Gary Johnson supporter, he unfortunately can't seem to even find his way into the debate. I think that my convergence with Huntsman probably ends on the social side of the ledger but find him far superior to his current opponents and also think that he is an excellent candidate for President of these United States. Plus he likes Captain Beefheart. This guy is not going to get the nod, the election becoming more a referendum on salvation than policy but Huntsman has paid the admission price and will be sure to keep things interesting in the coming months. He is a breath of fresh air in a sea of stupidity.