http://www.counterpunch.com/cockburn12222007.html

Long time readers of Cockburn will note that this piece is consistent with his long standing tendency to fawn over figures on the far right. I remember when he was fawning over leaders of the militias back in the 1990s. And in the same article he manages to fawn over Ron Paul as well, so this article was a two-for. And Cockburn despite his own decades long history as a progressive journalist, is quite capable of writing or talking in such a manner as to remind us (as if we didn’t already know) that Evelyn and Aubrey Waugh were cousins of his.

Nevertheless, Cockburn is correct concerning Huckabee’s record as governor. As governor of Arkansas, Huckabee often did take relatively progressive stances on certain economic issues and sometimes on criminal justice issues too, and also on illegal immigration. However, as a presidential candidate he is running as the candidate for the far right and certainly of the Christian right. He is not running as a progressive (hence his current position as an implacable opponent of illegal immigrants). However, I suspect that Cockburn does not really care about any of this, since in his view, whatever stirs the pot will inevitably do some good, even if it is someone from the far right who is doing the stirring.