I foresee terrible things ahead. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/2012 Getty Images

Mike Huckabee predicted today that the Benghazi story will lead to President Obama being forced to leave office. “I believe that before it’s all over, this president will not fill out his full term,” he said. “I remind you, as bad as Watergate was, because it broke the trust between the president and the people, no one died. This is more serious because four Americans did in fact die.”

Technically, this “people did in fact die” standard would justify impeaching a president for any deadly event, regardless of culpability. Why not impeach a president every time soldiers die in combat? Or in a training exercise? Or any time there’s a fatal car crash somewhere?

The comments are breathlessly reported by Breitbart media, which carefully assures us that this isn’t some random kook talking here — this is Mike Huckabee:

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee is hardly a flame-thrower. His daily, syndicated talk show has been billed as “conversation, not confrontation.” He’s not the type to bang pots and pans on the air and rant until red in the face. For Huckabee to make such a bold statement is not only newsworthy, but could very well be based on inside information the former governor and presidential candidate has been able to obtain through his powerful connections within the government.



It could indeed “very well be based on inside information.” And “powerful connections”! On the other hand, this circles back to the underlying problem that “well-connected Republican” and “random kook” are not mutually exclusive categories.