Jon Huntsman Jr. for President??

I can only offer a few comments concerning Jon Huntsman, recently declared candidate for US President. Before proceeding, I make due note of the fact that Jon has never written any books or (as far as I can determine) any articles That’s pretty remarkable considering that every aspiring candidate seems to have some traceable body of writings under his belt. But not so Jon Huntsman.


From Jon’s website:

I didn’t see much on Jon’s website – at http://jon2012.com/ . But I did pick up on this much:

QUOTE: “For once we could have a president who actually knows the world.”

This quote wasn’t a slip of the tongue made by someone being interviewed by a reporter. This was a blurb appearing prominently on Jon’s campaign website. Huntsman is claiming he “actually knows the world” but none of our former presidents did. Tom Jefferson? FDR? Reagan?

It would have been quite a boast if he had merely written: “For once we could have a president who knows the world better than any previous president.” But, no, he had gone much farther.

What kind of man would make such a blatantly false claim? Unless…maybe Jon “knows” the world in a special way only knowable to Mormons. This quote might not be a gross overstatement as much as it could be Huntsman’s personal belief that only a Mormon could really “know” the world. To a triumphally religious person, the world is a place that cannot be meaningfully known if its spiritual aspect or connection to God doesn’t match one’s own.

And it cannot be known at all without some kind of connection to God.

Unfortunately, you will never hear a mainstream media man ask Huntsman what he meant by this odd assertion. Our superficial interviewers, if they think of these words at all, will conclude Jon is either exaggerating or must surely be trying to contrast himself only with Obama. Even though that’s not what he said.

Maybe, though, there are other ways Huntsman’s thoughts don’t translate well into written or spoken form. For instance, consider this link to his website (click on the vid clip to hear the first 17 seconds of his speech, which I’ll quote after this link):

http://jon2012.com/htv/Jun-22-2011/Daily-Video-62211?autoplay=0

QUOTE: “We must reignite the powerful job creating engine of our economy. The industry, innovation, reliability, and trailblazing genius of Americans and their enterprises and restore confidence in our people.”

That second sentence* is a fragment. I don’t know what he was thinking but whatever it was didn’t find a home in a grammatically proper sentence. A lingual psychologist would find how he spoke that second sentence to be very revealing. Especially interesting is his “phrasing” – that is, how his voice emphasizes (or minimizes) certain words. This is only 17-seconds long, but I think it speaks volumes of this man. These 17-seconds are the tip of an iceberg worthy of exploration by a qualified analyst.

Of course, I would like to know how Jon proposes that “we…reignite the powerful job creating engine of our economy.” I suppose he’ll get around to issuing a position paper someday. If he does, I for one will be ready to tear into it, as I did during the last election when I ran against Obama, Clinton, and McCain.

Also, from Jon’s website: QUOTE: “Jon Jr. drops out of high school his senior year to play keyboards in his band, ‘Wizard.’ That fall, priorities adjusted, Jon begins taking classes at the University of Utah. After proving himself academically, he enrolls as a full-time student.”

The highlighting is mine and makes this point: Why does Jon depersonalize and distance himself with this choice of wording? Apparently, Jon has a love of music. Why disrespect that? His choice of wording makes it sound like his dad read him the riot act concluding with, “I hope you’ve got your head on straight now.”

A warmer variation of Jon’s quote would have read: “Jon Jr. drops out of high school his senior year to play keyboards in his beloved band, ‘Wizard.’ That fall, Jon begins taking classes at the University of Utah to broaden his horizons while trying to explore future directions for his life.”

Writing as he did – “That fall, priorities adjusted” – sounds pretty impersonal and detached to me.

So why is Jon running for President?

I read one bit of speculation about why young Mormon men are encouraged to do missionary work. Jon Huntsman ended up in a place (Taiwan) where his proselytizing was going to be daunting to say the least. So why encourage this Mission Impossible? The purpose is not to win converts but to socialize these young men who are quite insulated from contact with non-Mormons.

So let’s extend the logic of this speculation a bit. Maybe Jon Huntsman isn’t running for President with any serious thought of winning. Maybe this time, instead of learning socializing skills, he’s trying to win converts for his faith in a way far more effective than his old, but surely frustrating, approach of collaring people on the street.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Unlike Jon Huntsman, I am not at all secretive or lacking in program details.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

   * CORRECTION (6-24-11): There was no second sentence. I found this text copy on Jon’s website which “sentences” his words this way:

QUOTE:

We must reignite the powerful job creating engine of our economy - the industry, innovation, reliability, and trailblazing genius of Americans and their enterprises -- and restore confidence in our people.

:UNQUOTE.

After listening once again to Jon as he’d spoken these words, I can see how I’d thought he’d spoken two sentences instead of one. However, I stand by my main point which was: “A lingual psychologist would find how he spoke…to be very revealing.”

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