The list of liberal popular entertainers is never-ending. However, music lovers will recognize that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe deserves a place near the top of the staunchest liberal activists. (Who can forget his \”White House Stop AIDS\” t-shirt at the 1991 MTV video awards? Okay, just me? Am I dating myself?)

Anyway, it appears Stipe inexplicably has a thing for Mike Huckabee. According to Politico.com\’s \”Shenanigans\” blog from last week:

REM frontman and rabid liberal Michael Stipe likes Mike Huckabee? Kinda. While speaking on Sirius radio over the weekend, Stipe told host Jane Pratt: “I’ve never seen the guy [Mike Huckabee] talk, not even online. I have never seen him talk for 30 seconds, … [and] he’s really charming. I instantly wanted to call [Generation X author] Doug Coupland and say, ‘OK, project one year into the future for me: What the hell does this mean?’ Because he’s a creationist; he’s a Baptist minister. I can’t think of probably a single issue in which I am even remotely in the same universe as that guy … and yet, he was kind of charming and … self-deprecating. He was actually kind of a good sport, and funny, and I don’t know what that means. Maybe it’s a good thing that’s he’s being lauded right now by the right. He’s an evangelical. May God bless all living creatures, but my god … how weird.\”

Granted, Huckabee isn\’t a \”conservative\” in the strict sense (and that\’s being kind.) But this has me completely confused. I guess, in one sense, it\’s kind of cool that Stipe has opened his mind to the possibility that an evangelical minister might not be that bad of a guy. But on the other hand, it kind of throws my universe out of whack. I\’ve been a Stipe devotee for two decades, and have come to expect a certain brand of liberalism from him. Now, I think it\’s entirely possible that on my way home from work, dogs will start talking to me. Nothing makes any sense anymore.