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Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer
42 minutes ago

Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."

As a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.

Huckabee said Saturday that his comments came at a time when the public was still learning about HIV and AIDS and promised to do "everything possible to transform the promise of a vaccine and a cure into reality."

In 1992, Huckabee wrote, "If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague."

"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."

The AP submitted the questionnaire to both candidates in the 1992 senate race; only Huckabee responded. Incumbent Sen. Dale Bumpers won his fourth term; Huckabee was elected lieutenant governor the next year and became governor in 1996.

When asked about AIDS research in 1992, Huckabee complained that AIDS research received an unfair share of federal dollars when compared to cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

"In light of the extraordinary funds already being given for AIDS research, it does not seem that additional federal spending can be justified," Huckabee wrote. "An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor (,) Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research."

Huckabee said in a prepared statement released by his campaign Saturday afternoon that he called for quarantine when there was a lot of confusion about how AIDS is spread. He said he wanted at the time to follow traditional medical practices used for dealing with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

"We now know that the virus that causes AIDS is spread differently, with a lower level of contact than with TB," Huckabee said. "But looking back almost 20 years, my concern was the uncertain risk to the general population — if we got it wrong, many people would die needlessly. My concern was safety first, political correctness last."

When Huckabee wrote his answers in 1992, it was common knowledge that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact. In late 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 195,718 AIDS patients in the country and that 126,159 people had died from the syndrome.

The nation had an increased awareness of AIDS at the time because pro basketball star Magic Johnson had recently disclosed he carried the virus responsible for it. Johnson retired but returned to the NBA briefly during the 1995-96 season.

Since becoming a presidential candidate this year, Huckabee has supported increased federal funding for AIDS research through the National Institutes of Health.

"My administration will be the first to have an overarching strategy for dealing with HIV and AIDS here in the United States, with a partnership between the public and private sectors that will provide necessary financing and a realistic path toward our goals," Huckabee said in a statement posted on his campaign Web site last month.

Also in the wide-ranging AP questionnaire in 1992, Huckabee said, "I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."

A Southern Baptist preacher, Huckabee has been a favorite among social conservatives for his vocal opposition to gay marriage. In 2003, Huckabee said that the U.S. Supreme Court was probably right to strike down anti-sodomy laws, but that states still should be able to restrict things such as gay marriage or domestic partner benefits.

"What people do in the privacy of their own lives as adults is their business," Huckabee said. "If they bring it into the public square and ask me as a taxpayer to support it or to endorse it, then it becomes a matter of public discussion and discourse."

Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients - Yahoo! News

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Dwarven Pirate

There was alot of this sort of talk at the time, believe it or not. Probably a sound political strategy for him back then.

bonehead

Isolating patients with infectious diseases is the best way to slow down/stop the spread. The method works for anything from the common colds to ebola, and even aids.
A "cure" is a pipe dream and the sooner people realize this the less people will end up dying of this modern day plague. The cure for aids does not lay in medicine, but in changing lifestyles.

Stan187

If we start isolating people who have AIDS, then those who suspect they might have it and wanna get tested will probably forego getting tested.

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smilingassassin

If the isolation is like being on a desert island alone or being in solitary confinement, yes. Who says it has to be that way?

__________________
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-- Larry Elder

dalem

AIDS is hard to get and hard to transmit. I'm tired of hearing about it.

-dale

bonehead

Millions have already died because of AIDS so it can't be that hard to get. Mostly we hear of aids because of the people who have it and are pining for the rest of us to make it go away. They gambled, lost, and somehow feel they do not have to be responsible for their actions. Many not only do not care if they spread the disease, but are actively trying to do just that. I am afraid we will have AIDS thrust in our face until the last patient has died of it.

dalem

Sure - sex with the unknown and needles from the unkown - that's the only way.

Easy to stop.

So Like I said, I'm sick of it.

-dale

Bigfella

Then shut the f**k up & leave the topic to those who ARE interested. I'm sure there are plenty of threads hereabouts where you can whine about things you know little & care less about. Go pollute them.

On the important topic at hand, Huckabee's position circa 1992 is a fair representation of a particular segment of American society. It was pressure from this segment that ensured that America's response to AIDS was crippled from the outset & has never developed properly.

For years the problem was denied, labelled a 'gay' issue & ignored. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were dead or dying before Reagan could even bring himself to say AIDS. Money that could & should have been spent on prevention & cure was not. Why? because evangalicals & conservatives like Huckabee made anything to do with homosexuality, sex or drug use out of bounds. Anything beyond 'just say no' was not going to happen.

The result? 500,000 dead & another million infected. Among Western countries only Spain has a worse record.

List of countries by HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The alternative? AIDS was first diagnosed in Australia in 1983. Fortunately Australia had just elected a social/Democrat government (thoug, to be fair, our Conservatives weren't nearly so captured by religious nutjobs then, so they might have done OK). Our policy was prevention by information, especially to those groups most at risk. 'Safe Sex' campaigns were rapidly launched. Condoms were presented as the frontline against infection. the gay community - still illegal in some states - was brought on board as an essential partner in the campaign. For IV drug users needle exchanges were set up. Most important, the campaign was launched early.

The campaign was not perfect. There were missteps & hiccups. It has, however, become the template for AIDS prevention in the Western world & beyond.

The result? Australia has an infection rate 1/6 that of America.

Personally I'd have people like Huckabee isolated. They kill a lot more people than any AIDS patient ever could.

smilingassassin

You know for a person who has whined about how Bluesman dosn't treat you with the respect a liberal nut like yourself deserves you seem quite eager to dish out the blustery nonsence.

How about you just take a breather?

Julie

Okay, okay....yall are getting too hot-headed on this subject, let's calm down a little.

Dale, what about the people who were infected with Aids from tainted blood transfusions? Many of those have occurred, and are innocent victims of this disease, and transmitted it unknowingly.

Bigfella, you said, "Personally I'd have people like Huckabee isolated. They kill a lot more people than any AIDS patient ever could." I disagree. One of the #1 killers is heart disease, so what do we do, inform society to lay off of Big Mac hamburgers? Ban greasy fast food restaurants? That aint gona happen. Everyone knows things are bad for you but people will do it anyway, because they like it. Stopping people from having casual sex won't happen either.

dalem

Wrong side of the bed today? Open topics like this are free for anyone with an opinion. Even someone with an opinion like mine. So deal with it.

And what would be a "proper" response? We told people to stop poking strange guys in the heinie and to stop shooting drugs. Oh, and we helped develop the only valid medical treatments to boot.

This is "crippled" to you?

Please, it's all I've heard about for almost 20 years. And it *IS* mostly a "gay issue". You have numbers that prove otherwise?

And sadly now we don't practice sound medicine with that disease, instead we practice social policy, same as Hep C. I don't know that there is a better way though.

-dale

dalem

Yep, but they are a small percentage and, to be completely cold, a one-time shot. That vector is done. The stats I could grab on the web, admittedly pretty old, all had the homosexual contact infection at about 50% and IV drug use at about 25%. Of course, the UN group just admitted that its stats were inflated and needed adjusting down, so I don't know which numbers to trust.

What I do know is that the much-ballyhooed "hetero AIDS outbreak" never happened.

Because there's really only two ways to get it now, and most people are hetero and most people don't use IV drugs.

Actually, what you describe WILL happen in liberal areas. NYC just banned trans-fats, or tried, for instance. Liberals will always try to control your life to fit what they think is correct, only instead of using morals they use laws. Trust me - if liberals someday decide that homosexuality ain't cool anymore, half of San Francisco will be nailed to telephone poles in a month.

Liberals are scary.

-dale

Dwarven Pirate

Banning stuff is not just a liberal thing. So they want to ban trans-fats to help deal with medical problems. [cut out below]

What is the conservative agenda for banning pornography and sex-industries, and sex education? To save on government medical expenditures? No, to foist religion upon the populace.

Conservatives are much more scary to me.

[EDIT: cut this as I read the post wrong " A thing yourself just mentioned."]

Julie

I could connect the dots with using morals as a tool to contain the spread of AIDS. But I'm a little confused about how morals is going to stop me from going through the McDonalds drive-thru and getting a large order of fries that I just sinfully love to death ! Wouldn't the FDA be more apt to handle that problem. FDA=Government entity=legislative laws?