I DON'T Heart Huckabee

The revelation that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee had stated back in 1992 that he believed that AIDS patients should be "isolated" (in other words, quarantined) does not surprise me. He also thought that the federal government should stop funding research toward a cure. Between his blatant ignorance, Ronald Reagan's infamous long silence, George W. Bush's asinine abstinence first HIV prevention plan and every other ridiculous idea coming from Republicans, it's no wonder HIV/AIDS cases are once again rising rapidly.

Huckabee also stated in that 1992 Associated Press candidate questionnaire that "I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk." Well, I think people like Huckabee pose a dangerous public health risk, a hazard to liberty, and an insult to our nation.

But let me pose some open questions to Mr. Huckabee.

1) So, Mike. How do you propose to find all the people living with HIV/AIDS? Raid the private medical records? Might be a good (if highly unethical) start. But what of those who are not receiving treatment? What of those who have never been tested? So, will you spend billions forcing EVERY American to be tested? What about non-Americans that are here (legally or not)? What test would you use? The standard antibody test will return a negative result for about six weeks to six MONTHS after infection. How frequently would you force people to be tested to ensure you didn't miss anybody? A viral load test would show a positive result immediately, but is more costly. That's why it's not done, even though the sooner it's known, the quicker the person can get into care.

2) Huckster. May I call you Huckster? Oh well, I'll do it anyway. Where would you put us all? The CDC estimated about 1.2 MILLION people in the U.S. were living with HIV -- at the end of 2003. Recently, the CDC announced that they may have drastically underestimated the number of people who are positive and don't know it. Duh. But to keep up with the rate of new infections (about 40,000/year reported), we will need space for at least 2 million persons. Probably closer to three or four. We don't want to be crowded. And don't think you can do to us what was done to the natives of this land. We don't want to go to Santa Fe or Phoenix.

3) What about our jobs, our friends and families? What about our HIV-negative partners who are quite familiar with safe sex practices? What about our homes? Would they be fumigated and sold at auction, or just burnt to the ground?

4) Who will pay for all of this? The testing, the relocation, building our condos, the Ikea furnishings?

Sure, some of what I wrote here was tongue-in-cheek, but it's a serious topic overall. It scares me that this man is running. It scares me even more that people will vote for him.