Posted on 12/31/2007 6:00:00 PM PST by Checkers
Jonah, that Powerline blogger you link to does make an excellent case that Huckabee's 110-pound weight loss in a year, and other physical changes are more consistent with bariatric surgery than unassisted diet and exercise. I had wondered about it, but am always happy to believe it is possible to do it without the surgery. From everything we now know about obesity, however, while it is possible to overcome, it is pretty difficult for someone with the dread "fat gene" to keep it off for a long time without constant vigilance. (Indeed, recent pictures suggest that campaign life is taking a toll on his waistline. Or was that just the hunting jacket?)
So, if Huck had the surgery, I for one, would not blame him or think any less of him. (That would be true even if I thought highly of him.) I regard it as a radical but increasingly common solution to a persistent problem. No more or less. Nor do I really think it is anyone's business, though, like plastic surgery, it isn't so easy to hide and unless you are exceptionally vain, you will probably be happier admitting it. At least that applies in private life. It's a different ballgame now that he wants to be president. In that case being honest is warranted, since it is a serious operation, with ongoing health implications.
Even if he did it for pure health reasons, he would have had to consider the fact that his career could not progress without the weight loss, however effected. Because, as is clear, fat is the last taboo in the upper reaches of American power. The days of 300-lb. presidents — Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft — are over, if only because whatever intelligence, wisdom, and energy they might bring to the task, the ubiquitous, angle-loving camera would do them in before they got off the ground. And, in our morally challenged culture, physical fitness is considered a proxy for moral fitness, regardless of the individual truth of the matter, or the general justice of the equation.
In Huckabee's case, acknowledging the surgery (if true), would also, unhappily for him, deprive him of moral credit for what is, in his own telling, his signal personal accomplishment. He has made much of his victory over the flesh, and spent much time cajoling the population of Arkansas — and the rest of us — to follow suit. His health care policy, for heaven's sake, is based on having all of us lose weight and get exercise so we don't need insurance or medicine. If he had the surgery, his preaching is based on a deep deception about the road to health. Not so good.
Ask Charlie Weiss.
lol, you think their daughter starved to death?
Has she been seen lately?
[No, I support the Fred, not the Huck]
This Huckabee-had-secret-surgery speculation struck me as pretty far-fetched. But you always have to ask about such stuff, so I sent a note to a top Huckabee aide, who answered:
The governor ran 9 miles yesterday and 3 this morning. He is training for the Boston Marathon while running for President. You don’t get in shape by having surgery. His weight loss was a process that many people watched him go through and can attest to. These rumors are just silly.
When you get a response like that, you always have to follow up, so I sent another note: OK, but did he have this surgery that people are talking about? The response:
No, the governor did not have bariatric surgery.
So the Huckabee campaign is on the record: no surgery. I think we’ll need to see more than speculation to claim otherwise.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/
Huckabee, Before and After [Jonah Goldberg]
A reader responds to Lisa and me:
Jonah and Lisa,
Just to clear this up: Mike Huckabee lost his weight on a supervised,
carefully managed meal replacement program begun at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences, here in Little Rock. My dad lost a huge
amount of weight in this program—not as much as Huckabee, but as I
remember, 65-70 pounds. And he did it with startling rapidity, just
like Huckabee. I participated in the program this past summer but,
sadly, had to quit: as a baby attorney, I have zero spare time and not
nearly enough money to stay on the program (for now).
The program is legitimate and the people running it are strict:
participants have weekly weigh-ins and counseling, a weekly group
meeting led by a nutrionist, and regular doctor’s appointments/blood
tests. If you don’t follow the rules, you have to leave. It’s very
intense and it works quickly, as many Arkansans can attest.
I’m not 100% on the Huckabee bandwagon, but he really did buckle down
and work incredibly hard to achieve something that, I’m here to tell
you, is extremely difficult. I think he should get credit for that, not
casual insinuations of dishonesty.
Here’s just one of the news stories quoting Dr. Phillip Kern, who
started the UAMS program and oversaw Huckabee’s weight loss.
And here’s the website for the UAMS weight loss program.
If there’s hard evidence backing up the surgery rumor, I apologize. But
if there isn’t, could you please correct your posts on the Corner?
Disappointing.
wow...I hate to say this, but I wouldn’t want that family as the face of America. Sorry.
In 1988 Oprah Winfrey lost 67 pounds in 4 months on the liquid diet.
Watch for loony Romneybots coming out with theories how that couldn’t have happened.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-11-16-oprah-liquid-diet_x.htm
WHAT IF HUCKABEE’S SIGNATURE ISSUE IS A SCAM?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1937730/posts
See post 9.
Bariatric surgery???? This assumption is based on what? A guess? An emotional hunch? Wishful thinking? Gawd who cares? If he has lost weight, is healthier, then it’s all good.
I stopped with all the process food, no sugar, no fast food, small portion sizes...I also do not eat fried foods...I weigh 115-116 lbs. Healthy eating...
Thats the face of Arkansas and the Ozarks. ..What's wrong with them people?
All those folks on “The Biggest Loser” take off beaucoup lbs. in a short time. They have very strict coaches and dieticians pushing them.
I think Huck’s weight loss is the legit result of a tough diet and exercise program.
He’s no Starr Jones.
I must be a hideous north-eastern elistist, but please spare me from another Clampett clan in the White House.
Freeper Plutarch already plowed this field, superbly.
Anybody have Plutarch’s thread link handy?
And every pound he lost his children gained.
That said, Huckabee looked better as a fat man.
sw
They look like they could put a few ‘all you can eat’ buffets out of business.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.