David Schmidt has done a good job explaining Huck’s decision while Governor of Arkansas. In addition to this, it should be noted that the sentencing judge’s successor urged a reduction in sentence.
So, this does beg a question when Ed Morrissey suggests that Huckabee should have listened to wiser men. Like the sentencing judge or the parole board that actually released Clemmons unanimously? Or perhaps Huckabee should have travelled forward in time nine years to get the Monday Morning quarterback advise of certain bloggers.
The name of “Willie Horton” has been floated quite a bit. I think that those who are dropping the Horton reference don’t understand what was outrageous about Horton. Horton wasn’t granted clemency, he was a convicted murderer serving in jail who was out on furlough. Think about it. The issue wasn’t that somebody got parole, rather it was that they established a program in Massachusetts where they let a killer who couldn’t get a parole out on a Weekend pass. That was just pure liberal nuttiness.
What are we talking about in this instance? We’re talking about a parole of someone who had been convicted at a young age and was defensible based on the information that they had at the time. In addition, Huckabee didn’t let the killer go, he merely gave the parole board the ability to do it, which they did unanimously. This was a basic parole process that as happened as a result of reccomendations Governor Huckabee received. Plus, there were many errors on the way that we’ve discussed earlier. The singular focus on Huckabee is political by political folks.
This isn’t Willie Horton. As much as his opponents might wish it to be, it’s simply not that.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
huck’s not running, this is just the underscore.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I am willing to approach this in a fair manner but I just don’t see how this can be spun as anything other than bad news for Huck. No one has yet to convince me that this is good news for his candidacy. In fact, if I had to guess today I would say Huck doesn’t run.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
“it should be noted that the sentencing judge’s successor urged a reduction in sentence.”
What gives? DanL already proclaimed that everyone and their mom was against clemency.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
It comes down to this, Huckabee and his supporters are trying to spin this as a “failure of the system”. The system had worked just fine. The guy was in jail for many decades to come. Then Huckabee let him out.
The thing that troubles me the most about this is Huckabee’s refusal to take responsibility for his actions. It is “Who me?” all over again. “Something bad happened? I had nothing to do with it. It’s somebody else’s fault.”
I thought he had grown out of that from last year. It would appear that I was wrong.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Well Limbaugh said it was. That’s good enough for Gamecock and some of the Palindrones.
Whatever happened to Cockstradamus anyway?
November 30th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
The thing to keep in mind, it wasn’t one pardon/clemency it was 1033+. So what are the odds that out of 1033 criminals, what are the odds that at least would commit a murder, or two, or three. Out of 1033, the odds are pretty good. What are the Huckcrites going to say when it happens again, and it is most likely that out of the 1033, there will be another murder.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Well, we all know how fair Rush is to Mike.
Can we at least agree on that?
November 30th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I’m sure that answer will satisfy the police unions when Huck is being dogged by angry protesting police officers in every city he stops at. This will be bigger than Willie Horton. This guy killed 4 cops. You can’t whitewash that.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I still like Mike! Whether he runs for president or not. He did the right at the time and there is no question on that. A person can get psychotic even in just WEEKS. Blaming a guy after nine years is simply non-sense.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Oh, please. Had this been a democrat, we’d all be blaming “soft on crime liberals”, and we WOULD be blaming the liberal governor for it. Well, I’m an independent, so I have no dog in the race. I blame Huckabee here, too. HE recommended clemency. Without that specific act, the parole board could not have gone forward. HE set it into motion. HE thought a violent repeat offender should be let out. HE Needs to take responsibility for his stupid actions.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
marK,
Even if you believe that 108 years is an appropriate sentence for a 16 year old who has not committed a violent crime, what do you think should have tipped Huck, the trial judge, and the parole board off that Clemmons was going to kill 4 cops 9 years later?
November 30th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
No pardons whatsoever, people! Ever!
November 30th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
What the Huckabee supporters don’t seem to understand is that this is not about the substance of what happened. It is about the perception and the 10 second sound-bite. It is in the storylines that this murderer was given clemency by Huckabee. The rest of the story takes explanation, that soundbite doesn’t. In politics, if you are explaining, you are losing. Right now, Huckabee and his supporters are explaining, so thus they are losing the debate. The Governor and his supporters need a five second sound-bite to counter the 10 second sound-bite and “this was the failure of the whole system” isn’t going to cut it.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Huck on O’Reilly’s show now. That’s good.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
O’Reilly’s going after the judges AND
showing their pictures on FOX!!!
$15k bail on EIGHT felony charges!!!
November 30th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
#13: ‘
In politics, if you are explaining, you are losing. Right now, Huckabee and his supporters are explaining, so thus they are losing the debate.
We’re losing and oh My Gosh, the first primary is 25 months away….We’re so screwed. /sarcasm off
November 30th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
The Washington judges refuse to return FOX’s calls.
O’Reilly – “They are clowns who we will expose!”
November 30th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Jonathan,
I get that. But if this is what dooms Huck, it is a travesty. Notice on this board that the degree of “outrage” from commentators is directly proportional to how they viewed him before hand.
None of them have actually debated the merits of sentencing a 16 year old to 108 years for non violent crimes. None of them have shown us what Huck missed that would tell him that this guy would kill 4 cops 9 years later. None of them have expressed any outrage at the trial judge who agreed with Huck, or the parole board who ultimately released him. None of them have expressed outrage at the prosecutors who did not enforce his subsequent parole violation. None of them have expressed outrage at the Washington judge who released him on bail.
That all shows me that this is a good excuse for a political lynching to these people, and not really about 4 dead cops at all.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
#16:
I’m not saying this is fatal, but it hurts and on the surface level, it calls into question the Governor’s judgement. It may not be accurate, or fair, but it is the reality that Huckabee will have to be deal with.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
MWS, it isn’t about 4 dead cops to you either. You revealed your utter lack of compassion when you reduced this tragedy to these few callous and trite words “a few errors in judgment born of good intentions.”
And no, I didn’t claim that everyone and their mom was against clemency. I only claimed that I was. But keep your lies coming.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
“the sentencing judge’s successor”
…and George Bush’s successor has recommended we do a lot of things differently – do you believe we should listen to him?
This is not one bad incident, one mistake by the governor. This is part of a PATTERN of Mike Huckabee releasing convicts who go back out to rape and kill more innocent civilians. Everyone on here knows the numbers – Huckabee released more people from jail than the three men who came before him. He released more people from jail than in how ever many of the states around AR.
This is not one lapse of judgement, but part of a clear. consistant. recognizable. pattern of putting criminals back out on the streets when they were safely behind bars.
Why did the judge do what he did? Who know’s – maybe its the reincarceration rate, maybe it was to send a message, or maybe it was the fact that, by 17, this man had already committed multiple crimes – INCLUDING at least one involving a weapon.
Four cops are dead (from this case alone) – and we have people on here who, like their leader, are making excuses for bad decisions and trying to get Huck elected President.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
18. You’ve got it 100% correct.
Condolences to the officers’ families are all that matters now.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
21, what constitutes a pattern ?
November 30th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
#18:
Unfortunately for candidates and public-office seekers, they don’t ultimately get to choose what the voters use when evaluating them. If the people decide to use this when judging whether or not to vote for Mike Huckabee, then that is what is going to happen, and so far, the results don’t look like they would be very favorable to him.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
“21, what constitutes a pattern ?”
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
We already knew about DuMond, now we’ve got this guy. How many other people Huckabee set free have ended up back behind bars?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
What it comes down to is that Huck believed he knew better than the judge and prosecutors. For some reason, they saw fit to put the guy away for a long time. I don’t know the case, and these Huck apologists don’t either.
I’ll trust thejudge/prosecutors over the gov who had a terrible propensity to let people off – many because they found Jesus.
But Huck knew better and it’s not his fault/sarcasm off.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
25, why don’t you find out then ?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I find these Huck apologists incredibly callous, especially you, Adam G.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Huck hasn’t got a Willie Horton because Adam Graham says he doesn’t. Yeah, that should work. Hehe.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
28,29, This coming from someone who is jumping up and down with glee believing that this will sink Huckabee for good. That is also ironic considering that you were wishing for eternal damnation and judgement on Mike Huckabee.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
28 Martha, I feel close to retching over the Huck apologists. Do these people have any consciences? Not one of them has the moral high ground to ever criticize any candidate, gop or dem, again.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
31, you are not one to talk. You were willing to turn this into a political issue before the bodies even grew cold. The both of you are sickening.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Trusting Huck with the presidency would be like trusting a 1033 time convicted DUI driver with a bus full of kids.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Lelouch, what makes you and your kind any different from MoveOn.org people who demand the release of terrorists being detained in Gitmo?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
In this age of soundbites and voting for people based on whether they “look presidential” and are someone you’d “like to have a beer with”, the argument that ‘Huckabee granted clemency to a guy who went and murdered 4 cops’ is a much stronger one than ‘Huckabee made a responsible decision that involved listening to the views of a number of experts in cluding the sentencing judge and the parole board. It was just bad luck that the man later killed 4 cops and it is nothing like as bad as the Willie Horton incident’.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
33, you act as though giving clemency and pardons is a bad thing. Why then, was it put into a state’s constitution ?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
34, and what makes you think your different from the Kos Kids willing to turn a crisis into an political opportunity ?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Here’s Huck blaming political correctness for the military not recognizing the danger Major Malik Hasan presented. So the military is not a place for a social experiment, but our nation’s justice system should be? Disgusted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYu6liZPi3o
November 30th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
38, that’s a strawman’s argument. Mike Huckabee never said that the justice system was an experiment.
Actually, that is not just a strawman’s argument. That is an outright lie.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Everyone must go read the comments on the previous thread. Most shocking thing that’s ever happened on this site.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
He’s demonstrated it by his actions. Note that now that the blame for this tragedy is on the right, few have the courage to call a spade a spade. Levin blames Huck and his propensity to pardon those who had found religion. Where is the outrage from Hannity and O’Reilly?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
41, maybe because they actually have a conscious ? Perhaps respect for the dead ? A willingness to see where the blame belongs, on the two judges heads for letting him out on $15000 ?
I know getting out of a one-track mindset for you is a little hard. I also know the temptation to use this issue as a lynching, but please pull yourself together.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
40. Which thread?
41. O’Reilly gave Huck a total pass.
31. Dan. How about just a smidgen of honesty from these apologists. But then, they never cared about one thing Huck did. They deny, deny, deny.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Dan,
“And no, I didn’t claim that everyone and their mom was against clemency. I only claimed that I was. But keep your lies coming.”
Oh, really? You didn’t write this?
“122 MWS, prosecutors, the judge, jurors, and the original writers of the laws under which Clemmons was convicted all felt that 108 years were justice”
http://race42008.com/2009/11/30/blaming-huckabee/#comment-650467
November 30th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
You have the facts wrong. Huck let him out for $0. I’d call that a social experiment. Huck’s hypothesis: People who have been in jail have learned their lesson. The state should forgive these people and give them a second chance. Evidence supporting this hypothesis: none. Result: Dead cops. Huck’s decision was based on worse science than climate change.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
DanL,
“You revealed your utter lack of compassion when you reduced this tragedy to these few callous and trite words “a few errors in judgment born of good intentions.””
Maybe if I turned this into a fantasy of Huck burning in hell, that would have proven my compassion?
http://race42008.com/2009/11/30/blaming-huckabee/#comment-649918
November 30th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
40. Yes, weird.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Martha,
“What it comes down to is that Huck believed he knew better than the judge and prosecutors……
I’ll trust thejudge/prosecutors over the gov”
Did you read the FPP? The JUDGE asked for A REDUCED SENTENCE.
oops..
Guess you’re going to have to amend your statement, and tell us you don’t really trust judges either……
November 30th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
“The JUDGE asked for A REDUCED SENTENCE.
oops..
Guess you’re going to have to amend your statement, and tell us you don’t really trust judges either……
Leave a Reply”
WRONG. A JUDGE asked for a different sentence. NOT THE JUDGE WHO SENTENCED HIM.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Martha, how bout the thread “Blaming Huckabee”? Specifically comments #9 on up ? Did that jog your memory ?
45, Your argument is fundamentally flawed considering that premise #1 is you own opinion, rather than fact. Premise #2 is flawed because you attributed a false motive to Huckabee. If I recall correctly, he never said that. Because your premises are flawed, your conclusion is flawed.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
44 MWS, failure of logic there on your part. Or perhaps a simple case of obfuscation. In that quote you linked I said nothing about clemencies, but rather about sentencing. You really can’t be honest can you?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
asparagus,
So you are saying that any and all clemencies and paroles are “social experiments.” Nothing should be altered after sentencing? But then, when you think about it, the whole idea behind clemency and paroles is but an extension of the idea behind sentencing. There is nothing in holy writ that says armed robbery get 15 years (no more, no less), or that snorting coke for the 3rd time gets 5 years (no more, no less).
Carrying your argument to its absurd (but logical) conclusion, we should simply shoot all criminals, as any releasing of them is but a “social experiment.”
November 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Dan,
“In that quote you linked I said nothing about clemencies, but rather about sentencing. You really can’t be honest can you?”
WTF do you think clemency means?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
48. The SUCCESSOR to the original judge asked for leniency.
There is a discrepancy between what Huck told O’Reilly, and what the prosecutor said. He claimed that his office did oppose clemency, but Huck said they had no info from the prosecutors’s office.
Hmmm.
Anyway, here’s a little tidbit on Clemmons.
In his application for clemency, Clemmons wrote that he prayed Huckabee would show him compassion and said at the time of his crimes he had just moved to Arkansas from Seattle. Clemmons also wrote that he had changed his life since “the angel of death has visited and taken away my dear sweet mother.”
In 1989, Clemmons, then 17, was convicted in Little Rock for aggravated robbery and other charges and sentenced to 95 years. Between 1989 and 1998, Clemmons broke prison rules more than two dozen times — sometimes violently, said state prison system spokeswoman Dina Tyler.
Um, yeah. The guy broke prison rules more than 24 times, sometimes violently. Probably should have stayed in jail. Ya think?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
David Schmidt made it sound like Clemmons was a petty criminal, well is that why he had to be shackled in the courtroom to keep him from attacking the Baliffs and the Judge…He showed violent behavior, and should never have been paroled. Huckabee should take full responsibility for it. He shouldn’t say I’m responsible for letting him out, but…it was a breakdown of the judicial system…
That’s like saying I am not responsible for my dog attacking your child even though I let him out of my backyard to run the streets.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
MWS, not only did you treat their deaths with callousness, but then you also condemned me of blasphemy, (ironically judging me just as you were telling me not to judge Huck) thereby condemning me to burning in hell. You’re a real work.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Martha:
I heard Huckabee say that too. That goes against everything I’ve read and heard.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
57. Huck is always all about the CYA.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
To move to the political implications, there is no doubt that if Huck gained traction this would form a pretty nasty 30 second ad against the Huckster. Iowans would be asking him difficult questions on the number of people who Huck pardoned/commuted. Soft on crime is not a good place to be in the GOP primary.
That being the case, his political aspirations are wounded, no question.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
56, you started it first.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
53 MWS, my initial reaction to what you wrote is that you are a dumbass. But I know that really isn’t true, you’ve proved often that you are quite sharp. Then we are left with the only other explanation, you are flat out dishonest.
The sentence of 108 years of incarceration were handed down by the judge or jury after the trial had concluded. Clemency is a distinctly different legal action taken by a completely different set of people 10 years later.
I know you’re not stupid, quit obfuscating.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
59, wounded people recover.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Dan,
Let me try to break this down for you into digestible bits:
1. We are to judge ACTIONS, not souls.
2. Judging souls is the province of God alone.
3. One type of blasphemy is attributing to oneself divine power.
4. You declared that Huck would be condemned to hell.
5. Therefore you assumed for yourself a divine attribute which belongs to God alone (the judging of souls).
6. Therefore you committed blasphemy.
7. When I point that out, I am judging your action, not your soul, which, as I’ve pointed out, belongs to God alone.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Lelouch, I am just fine with what I said in the other thread. And I am just fine with God judging me by those same standards. I’m not worried at all with MWS applying his perverted view of blasphemy to me either.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Dan,
Please tell me if anything in #63 didn’t make sense to you.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Yes, of course they are social experiments. Wasn’t the Willie Horton furlough idea an experiment? If you can’t know the end results, its basically an experiment. Prisons are designed not to correct behavior, but to keep dangerous people away from the population. Gov. Huckabee should have known that issuing so many pardons and commutations would result in dangerous people being set free. Now either he was willing to risk these lives so that others would live free, or he was naive as to the consequences. Neither is an attractive trait in a Presidential candidate.
You can complain that Gov. Romney was too cautious in not issuing any pardons, but at least he erred on the side of protecting the people, not the criminals. This is a conservative site, isn’t it? Whatever happened to being tough on crime?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
And I suppose you are also fine with the consequences of your actions, mainly religous blasphemy ?
November 30th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Dan,
“I’m not worried at all with MWS applying his perverted view of blasphemy to me either.”
It’s not perverse. It’s the charge for which Jesus Christ was condemned under the Law. The irony of course, is that he truly was, and is, God.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
asparagus,
“If you can’t know the end results, its basically an experiment.”
Well, hell, every morning when I get up, it’s an experiment.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
MWS, you are a condescending, patronizing ass.
Did I really judge Huck’s soul? A judge has power to sentence and see that the sentence is enforced. Do I have the power to consign Huck’s soul to hell? Of course I don’t. And if I can’t administer the punishment, then clearly I can’t attribute to myself divine power.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
66, good God, if you would only listen to your own words. Clemency and pardons exist in the constitution for a reason. Namely for the executive branch to keep the judicial system in check.
Gov. Huckabee, Asparagus, never issued clemecies and pardons because he felt they had done their time. He issued clemecies and pardons mainly becuase he felt that the justice system was in error at the time. He mainly issued clemencies and pardons to people that had committed felonies at a young age, and ended up screwing themselves out of a job.
It’s called mercy, something you seem to have a lack of.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
MWS, Christ categorically claimed to be God when he claimed to be I AM. He also claimed to be the Son of God. I have done no such thing.
Elijah judged the priests of Baal, but he wasn’t God. Is he therefore a blasphemer? John the Baptist judged Herod, but he isn’t God. Did he blaspheme? Samson judged the Philistines, and he wasn’t even a righteous man, in fact he was clearly unworthy of God’s approval. Yet God upheld Samson’s judgments.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I am going to repeat what I posted in another thread. The first bit is a quote from DanL:
You reduce the tragedy of four murders into these trite words “a few errors in judgment born of good intentions.”
You are a vile, hateful, small and petty man.
Dude … what’s hateful are personal attacks. Over a disagreement on how much blame Huckabee bears for the murders. MWS did not reduce the tragedy of the murders. Of course the murders are tragic and senseless.
Nobody is perfect. Mike Huckabee is not perfect, and in fact, DanL, you may be right about how much blame he bears for the murders. But MWS is right about blasphemy. It is blasphemous and hateful to consign Huckabee to hell, declaring that God will condemn him. For one thing, it is not our place to consign anyone to hell. For another, have you heard of grace? “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Huckabee professes Christ, and it is not my place to see into his soul, just as it is not my place to see into yours, DanL, or MWS’s.
DanL, I’m not judging you here. You are probably a fine person, and we would enjoy meeting. If we would not enjoy it, it would probably be my fault, as I tend to be a quiet and bashful loner type. I think the same of MWS.
Disagreement, even strong disagreement where it seems that the other person can’t see straight about something, doesn’t mean that the other person is immoral.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Dan,
“Did I really judge Huck’s soul? A judge has power to sentence and see that the sentence is enforced. Do I have the power to consign Huck’s soul to hell? Of course I don’t. And if I can’t administer the punishment, then clearly I can’t attribute to myself divine power.”
So do you really WANT to judge Huck’s soul, or were you just indulging a self-righteous fantasy?
November 30th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Hannity hasn’t even mentioned one of the worst police killings in America’s history, and O’reilly took 30 miniutes mention it. Oh yeah, and Clemmons is still at large. Tiger Woods is a bigger story on FOX than the murder of 4 Police officers.
Huckabee is a FOX commodity and they are trying to white wash it. Top story on Greta is Tiger Woods.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
75 lkv, Fawn News has covered this shooting more shamefully than the MSM covered the Ft. Hood shooting. I am severely tempted to call my cable provider and change my service to the basic package as it doesn’t include Fawn News.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Dan,
“Christ categorically claimed to be God when he claimed to be I AM. He also claimed to be the Son of God. I have done no such thing.”
You claimed to know whether Huck will be deemed worthy to enter heaven. Only God can know that.
So either admit that you were wrong to presume Holy Judgment, or own up to what you are claiming.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Dan,
1. Elijah, Sampson, and John the Baptist did not send those people to hell, nor did they condemn them there. The most they would ever do in that regard is deliver a message from God.
2. You are not Elijah, Sampson, or John the Baptist.
Were you delivering a message from God, or judging Huck by your own standards?
November 30th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Soooo, Huckabee grants clemency to hundreds of criminals, overturning the jury’s that actually sat in on their trials, yet he bears NO responsibility for the horriable and violent crimes they commit afterward?!?!?!?
The only way Obama could lose to Huckabee now is if Obama actually kills somebody with his own bare hands (somebody people like).
November 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
aft,
Reagan granted clemency to hundreds of criminals.
Clemency doesn’t overturn a verdict.
Reagan beat Carter (quite soundly, actually).
Carter never killed anybody that anyone liked.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Dan:….There is no excuse for this lack of coverage on their part just to protect Huckabee…They have access to him and should be grilling him for the truth, not CYA answers with no followup questions….
November 30th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Drudge isn’t covering the story either. Is he a Huckabee fan?
November 30th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Jay,
It was linked on Drudge earlier today. I don’t know about now.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:19 am
O’Reilly kissed his butt, Drudge took it down already. What the H?
December 1st, 2009 at 12:20 am
MWS,
You are insufferable most of the time now. You never have a real point. It’s all some kind of game, except that it’s not interesting or fun.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:20 am
84, Haha.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:38 am
Here’s the thing. Huckabee is scum. He is scum because he isn’t Romney. Were he Romney he’d be resplendent in the glorious radiance of his white-light brilliance, a figure of surpassing excellence deserving of our thanks and praise. But since Huckabee is not Romney, Huckabee is like the toxic waste lagoon of an industrial hog farm: shiny in the moonlight, but poisonous and stinky.
Let us all take a moment to meditate on the material success, managerial competence, and stable family life of Willard Romney.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:39 am
DrudgeReport.com is an anti-mormon hate site!
December 1st, 2009 at 12:41 am
Fox News is an anti-Mormon hate machine!–a veritable manure-spreader of lies and half-truths.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:48 am
Yes. Amen. Preach it, brother. I shall raise holy hands in tribute to your truth. I know there are some poor benighted souls who mewl and carp about how RomneyCare imperils more lives in MA than any spree killer with a grudge in his heart could accomplish, but what those belly-crawlers fail to acknowledge is how RomneyCare has greatly increased the quality of life of a number of state workers and public employee union bosses. So what if essential medical services are rationed or denied? Romney knows what’s best for all of us. Bask in the warm glow of his radiant wisdom.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Kavon? WHere are you? This garbage is completely out of hand!!!!!
December 1st, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Mike Huckabee: I Take Full Responsibility
December 1st, 2009
From Mike Huckabee:
Mike Huckabee: I Take Full Responsibility
The nation was stunned by the senseless and savage cold-blooded murders of 4 young police officers in Lakewood, Washington. Whenever a police officer or soldier is killed, I feel the loss is even more profound for they are the ones who stand between our freedom and anarchy.
At the time I write these words, police are still searching for Maurice Clemmons who is believed to be the one committing these unspeakable acts. Nine years ago, that name crossed my desk. I commuted his sentence from 108 years to 47 years. Many news reports, talk show hosts, and bloggers have erroneously said that he was granted a “pardon.” Others speak of me “setting him free.” As one who now hosts a talk show and who does daily radio commentaries, I can attest to how easy commentary is compared to actually governing. I am not seeking to justify or defend my actions of nine years ago, but it’s important that I answer for my actions and give some explanation as to how and why his sentence was commuted.
I take full responsibility for my actions of nine years ago. I acted on the facts presented to me in 2000. If I could have possibly known what Clemmons would do nine years later, I obviously would have made a different decision. But if the same file was presented to me today, I would have likely made the same decision.
Each state is different, but in Arkansas, a governor doesn’t initiate a parole—the Post Prison Transfer Board does after it conducts a thorough review of an inmate’s file and request. The board then makes a recommendation to the governor, who decides to grant or deny.
If the decision is made to grant any form of clemency (the broad term for a commutation or a full pardon), the governor gives notice of intent and the file is sent to the prosecutor, judge, law enforcement officials, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State as well as to the news media. A period of 30 days is then started for there to be public input as well as response from the above named officials. At the end of the public response period, the final decision is rendered.
Between 1,000 and 1,200 requests for some form of clemency came to my desk each and every one of the 10 ½ years I was governor. Ninety-two percent of the time, I denied the requests. When I did grant them, it was usually based on the recommendation of at least five of the members of the PPTB, with consideration given to the input from public officials.
Maurice Clemmons was 16 years old when he was charged with burglary and robbery. He was sentenced to a total of 108 years based on the way in which the sentences were stacked. For the crimes he committed and the age at which he committed the crimes, it was dramatically outside the norm for sentencing. The PPTB recommended in 2000 by a 5-0 vote for his sentence to be commuted.
He had served 11 years of his sentence. A pardon would have set him free and cleared his record. A commutation to “time served” would have set him free and released him from any parole reporting. As per the recommendation, I commuted his sentence to the term of 47 years, still a long sentence for the type of crime he had committed, but it would make him parole eligible. It would not parole him, as governors do not have that power in Arkansas. He would have to separately apply for parole and meet the criteria for that.
Despite news reports to the contrary, the only record of public response to the notice to commute was from the trial judge, who recommended the commendation in concert with the board. There were letters of support, but no record of letters of opposition.
Following the commutation, he met the criteria for parole and was paroled to supervision in late 2000. When he violated terms of his parole by participating in additional crimes, he was returned to prison and should have stayed there. For reasons only the prosecutor can explain, charges were not brought forth in a timely way and the prosecutor ended up dropping the charges, allowing him to leave prison and return to supervised parole.
He moved to Washington state and had intermittent criminal activity that increased in violence and frequency. He was allowed to post bail in Washington state and while on bail from there committed the unspeakable acts of murdering four valiant police officers. I can’t explain why he wasn’t prosecuted properly for the parole violations or why he was allowed to make bail in Washington state and not incarcerated earlier for crimes committed there.
I wish his file had never crossed my desk, but it did. The decision I made is one that I now wish were different, but I could only look backwards at his case, not forward. None of this is of any comfort to the families of these police officers nor should it be. Their loss is senseless. No words or deeds by anyone will bring them back to their loved ones. Our system is not perfect and neither are those responsible for administering it.
The system and those of us who are supposed to make sure it works sometimes fail. In this case, we clearly did.