Another hit piece from the simple-mined cultural Left. And now the simple-minded right is also using it. Let's reason together:

It was 1992, only about ten years after we first learned about AIDS.
"Isolation" does NOT mean "incarceration," so to compare Huckabee's stance on AIDS patients to his mistake in support of freeing a convicted rapist is either dishonest or morally stupid.

Male-male anal sex IS, in fact, riskier vis-a-vis HIV. See http://www.avert.org/msm.htm

And why should AIDS research get more federal funding than cancer research or research on heart disease besides the fact that AIDS is a more glamorous cause for our celebrities? I thought Libertarians were against more government spending.

This only thing dishonest and "morally stupid" is the insinuation that homosexuality "could" pose a public health risk. We are not talking about the health risks that two individuals assume when they engage in a sex act, which you seem to be so eager to talk about.

As the folks at the NRO have noted, by 1992 it was a well known fact that AIDS could not be transmitted the same way as tuberculosis, for example.

Perhaps the reason you are so defensive of Huckabee is because you are a bigot yourself.

"Isolation" does NOT mean "incarceration"...

You want to talk about stupid. What the hell? You are still using the force of government to strip away liberties of individuals that pose no public health threat.

I thought Libertarians were against more government spending.

Most of us, myself included, are against any government funding of such research. Funding should come voluntarily from private sources.

Jason, you had better be careful. I would be willing to bet that most of the Republicans who frequent this site don't even know that it's possible to be gay and conservative at the same time.

Jeez. Had he said that bit about isolation in 1982, I might be willing to overlook his statement now. We were all scared stupid about AIDS back then, before we knew much about it. But having said that in 1992 when we knew so much more about how it spread, well, it's unforgivable. And it does seem to me that it's playing to a certain stereotype about AIDS, and that alone is unforgivable.

Every new thing I hear about Huckabee makes me dislike him more and more. That man has to be stopped.

Again, let's REASON together:

"This only thing dishonest and 'morally stupid' is the insinuation that homosexuality 'could' pose a public health risk."

This is another one of those areas where Conservatives depart from pure Libertarian views. On the one hand, any sex act is private. On the other hand, any sex act has public implications. I assume you, as a Libertarian, do not believe it is the government's role to evaluate public health risk at all.

"Perhaps the reason you are so defensive of Huckabee is because you are a bigot yourself."

Calling me a bigot is your attempt to silence any real dialogue.

I wrote "isolation" does NOT mean "incarceration," and Huckabee said the same. Don't you think it's moral to make sure that people with AIDS do not have sex with people who do not have AIDS? How is this "stupid"?

"I would be willing to bet that most of the Republicans who frequent this site don't even know that it's possible to be gay and conservative at the same time."

The issue is about sex acts that pose health risks, it's not about "being gay." Of course you can be gay and be Conservative. For Conseratives, it's irrelevant what you are. There are Right-wing bigots, which is why people shouldn't throw around the word "bigot."
Again, Jace, this statement is another way to silence any real dialogue: just imply that Conservatives are bigots.

On the one hand, any sex act is private. On the other hand, any sex act has public implications.

I think it's silly to make a statement that any sex act between two consenting adults (whether straight or homosexual) is some how a matter of public health.

I wrote "isolation" does NOT mean "incarceration," and Huckabee said the same. Don't you think it's moral to make sure that people with AIDS do not have sex with people who do not have AIDS? How is this "stupid"?

Isolation is pulling someone away from the general population, because they pose a threat to the public health. In the case of an AIDS patient, it is unnecessary, as was known in 1992.

Huckabee's response (and yours as well) that "isolation isn't incarceration" is disingenuous.

Calling me a bigot is your attempt to silence any real dialogue.

Not at all. I am simply pointing out a fact.

Back in the 1960's my brother had scarlet fever and our entire family was quarantined to our home for three weeks. It was the public health officials way of NOT allowing this illness to be transmitted to anyone else. We did not bitch and complain-we stayed inside until we were given the OK to have contact with people within our community and not jeopordize their health and/or life.

When AIDS reared its ugly head for the first time many people, like myself, were unsure and many even afraid of just how this disease was spread so early on I am sure health officials were not sure themselves and quarantine may have been an alternative, and rightfuly so, until we actually knew how AIDS was transmitted. Being cautious and making sure we were not allowing some sort of plague to take over and infect hundreds of thousands of citizens may have been an idea back then but not now since we know more about this disease. What Huckabee said may very well be taken out of context. I for one would rather be safe then sorry regarding a possible pandemic where we did not err on the side of caution to protect other citizens.

"I think it's silly to make a statement that any sex act between two consenting adults (whether straight or homosexual) is some how a matter of public health."

Of course you do. It's consistent with Libertarianism. For you, the government must not be allowed to judge anyone or any behavior as a "public health risk." I disagree with you. I think the government can try to protect its citizen's lives by educating people on the risks of certain sex acts.

What is disingenuous and dispicable is trying to make Mike Huckabee seem like he wants to put AIDS patients into concentration camps. This is why people distrust and hate the mainstream media. Huckabee used the word "isolation" and not "quarantine" or "incarceration" for a reason. Sahahrah understands. For certain diseases quarentines are ok. For AIDS it means making sure no one with AIDS has sex or shares needles or gives blood to someone without AIDS. The mainstream media is either not sophisticated enough to understand this or they are lying about Huckabee's position. The Leftist media is projecting their bigotry onto Mike Huckabee. The Left is bigoted towards conservative Christians, so they must accuse conservative Christians of bigotry.

"It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."

Robbie, what part of "isolate from the general population" do you not understand?

In other words, Huckabee is confused why Aids patients aren't isolated from the general public like people with the Bubonic Plague were.

It's either stupidity or outright bigotry toward gays. Either way, your man Huckabee is severelly troubled.

Another plague he could be referring to is leprosy...they used to "isolate" lepars in their own special colonies. Perhaps this was the "plague" Hickabee was referring to?

Even if you disagee with Huckabee's stance on AIDS patients, what does that have to do with gays? In other words, why is it bigotry towards gays if Huckabee wants AIDS patients isolated?

The context says everything. The way Mike Huckabee used it, the word "isolated" does not mean the same as "quarantined." One could only isolate the Black Plague from the general population by taking the carriers of the Plague out of the general population. One can isolate AIDS from the population by pointing out, "Here are the people with AIDS. Do not have sex or share needles with them. Do not get blood from them."

Huckabee in that same statement goes on to say that the real problem is homosexuality and that homosexuality poses a public health threat.

Mike Huckabee was using the Aids quarantine thing as a way to energize his religious extremist base to vote for him. The real epidimic in his mind was homosexuality.

What does any of this outrage matter if quarantine, mandatory testing and tracking could have prevented how many millions of AIDS deaths?