If Four Murders Didn't Do In Huckabee, This Surely Will

[Waitone]

http://documents.nytimes.com/01huckabee?src=tp#p=28

Page 28 is a prosecuting attorney objecting to Huckabee.
Page 29 is Huckabee responding to prosecuting attorney.

<Dusts hands together>That oughta 'bout do it.  Who's next, Romney?

[grampster]

I laughed out loud at page 29.  Good response.

[HankB]

Considering the rate at which Huckabee was granting clemency, I suspect someone even now is trying to track down the thousand or so other perps that Huckabee released, and see what they've been up to these past few years.

Stay tuned for a story on the "Huckabee Crime Wave."

[makattak]

That's the problem with bleeding hearts whether they claim to be conservative or admit that they are liberal.

Edit: I have to wonder why he laughed out loud. I'm guessing it's that he thought he couldn't be bothered to look into each and every case in which he was granting clemency? Sounds somewhat familiar... <cough> stimulus bill <cough>

[Standing Wolf]

Mike Huckabee should never hold an executive public office again. His self-absorbed behavior in the past forty-eight hours shows he believes his personal political aspirations are more important than a respectful mourning period for four police officers. The cops are dead in major part due to a decision Huckabee made nine years ago.

The four young police officers, all of them parents, were killed execution-style in the Seattle suburbs Sunday morning as they enjoyed a quiet coffee break. The suspect, Maurice Clemmons, was a whacked-out, multi-convicted loser who was out on bail for raping eleven- and twelve-year-old girls.

Within a few hours, the media figured out that despite his lengthy criminal record, Clemmons was freed to commit murder in Washington because former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee had commuted Clemmons' jail sentence nine years ago. The commutation set up a speedy parole for Clemmons, who then went on to other crimes, jail sentences and an apparent spiral into mental illness.

Huckabee, who hosts a Fox News talk show, served two terms as Arkansas governor, was a failed 2008 presidential candidate and has been a" hopeful" for 2012.  Recent polls showed him as one of the Republican front-runners. 

Clemmons was still on the loose, the investigation of the slayings just beginning Sunday afternoon, but Huckabee revved his publicity machine to high-speed hyper-whine.  He posted a brief mention on his website late Sunday that blithely deflected blame for Clemmons' early release to un-named others.

 "Should he (Clemmons) be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failure in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State."

That white-wash ran right down the walls of public opinion, so Monday Huckabee called in his favors with his media friends and began an unseemly campaign to save face and deny his earlier denial.

Newsmax.com obliged with a headline Monday night: "Mike Huckabee: I Take Full Responsibility for Granting Alleged Cop-Killer Clemency."  It sounded like Huckabee was "manning up," but actually he was parsing carefully.

He explained in his Newsmax.com article that he reduced Clemmons' prison sentence because Clemmons was only 16 years old when convicted of burglary and robbery, yet had been given a 108-year prison term.  Huckabee says he felt it was too much prison time. 

"For the crimes he (Clemmons) committed and the age at which he committed the crimes, it was dramatically outside the norm for sentencing."

Clemmons had a jury trial and a judge who had given him the 108 years.  Admittedly this is a very long term.  Do you think the people who sat day in and day out observing Maurice Clemmons during his trial perhaps had good reason to do what they did? 

Huckabee kept up the blame game through a series of powder-puff interviews with his Fox News co-workers Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.   Huck was allowed to condescend repeatedly to his detractors, because he was sure that we don't understand the difference between pardons, clemency, and commutation.  There was lots of complaining about "those people" or "certain reporters."  In Huck-speak, it isn't his fault that other judges or other prosecutors or other jails either didn't convict Clemmons for his later crimes or jail him long enough for them.

O'Reilly and Hannity, whom I watch nearly every day, studiously avoided making their co-worker Huckabee answer for any of his horrible 10-year history of playing patty-cake with notorious Arkansas criminals. They did not mention or inquire about any of the following:

 Kevin Hall of The Des Moines Conservative Examiner writes:

The Clemmons incident is far from being the only case of Huckabee's activism toward freeing dangerous felons.  During his 10 years as Arkansas governor, Huckabee granted clemency to 1,033 convicts.  That is more than double his three predecessors combined.  The clemencies also exceeded Arkansas' six neighboring states combined.  The freed prisoners included murderers, drunk drivers, armed robbers and rapists.

Another notorious case is that of Wayne Dumond, who kidnapped and raped a 17-year old.  Huckabee believed Dumond was innocent, so he pressured the parole board to free him.  They complied.  Dumond proved he belonged behind bars when he raped and murdered at least one woman in Missouri.

Hall recites an astounding list of murders, rapists and thugs who were released or given much shorter sentences by Governor Huckabee's hand and found the reasons for the leniency fell into four categories: Huckabee felt " the justice system treated them more harshly than most, they knew a person who had known the governor, they worked at the Governor's Mansion, or a minister interceded for them."

Garrick Feldman of the Arkansas Leader wrote critically during Huckabee's tenure as governor:

"...he ignored both public opinion and state law when he refused to say why he was releasing murderers from prison, often over the objections of his own parole board.  The suspicion was that jailhouse conversions (to Christianity) got killers out of prison..."

Arkansas Online found the O'Reilly interview with Huckabee lacking good follow-up questions:

Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, whose office opposed Clemmons' parole in 2000 and 2004, said Huckabee's comments were "red herrings." "My word to Mr. Huckabee is man up and own what you did," Jegley said.

Mike Huckabee will waste a lot of money and other people's votes if he thinks he is somehow still viable in presidential politics.  He is done. He is a nice man, and kind of cute playing his guitar on his television show.  He should not ever hold a public office where he might make executive branch decisions, because he has shown he is weirdly or naively soft on criminals. Good people have been hurt.  He has shown us this week that just giving the impression of being sorry is difficult.   He was doing full-out "damage control" for himself, when he should have just shut up until the funerals were over. I perceive a creepy, intimidating undercurrent that refusing Mike Huckabee "forgiveness" is somehow not "Christian."

There is no forgiveness for what you did, Mr. Huckabee.  You had ten years to stop.

It is true that many things went wrong for many years so that a hopelessly-hardened criminal like Maurice Clemmons was free to gun down good cops in a coffee shop.  However, none of those other events would have happened if Mike Huckabee had not decided that he was wiser than a jury of 12 citizens and a sentencing judge.

Maurice Clemmons would still be drilling holes in Arkansas license plates. Four cops in Lakewood, Washington would be celebrating Christmas with their kids this month.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/shameless_huckstering.html

In exactly one word familiar to all: oh.

[HankB]

During his 10 years as Arkansas governor, Huckabee granted clemency to 1,033 convicts.  That is more than double his three predecessors combined (emphasis added.).

Clemmons is bad enough . . . but if/when it turns out that Clemmons was only one of many recidivists with serious post-clemency felonies, Huckabee's future poltical aspirations are toast.

[Balog]

Clemmons is bad enough . . . but if/when it turns out that Clemmons was only one of many recidivists with serious post-clemency felonies, Huckabee's future poltical aspirations are toast.

Let's hope.

[AJ Dual]

Wouldn't natural political CYA make clemency restricted to non-violent offenders, or those where some smoking-gun issue like DNA evidence or prosecutorial misconduct made it a good idea?

Who exactly is the "soft on crime" voting base anyway?

[Balog]

People who are related to criminals mostly.

[Angel Eyes]

From Cory Cox's response:

The governor read you [sic] letter and laughed out loud.

"Your letter", dimwit.

[Seenterman]

Have you guys read Huckabee's response to this?

You should cause if what he's saying is true, then he really shouldn't be blamed. Plenty of people dropped the ball on this one and caused 4 officers to lose their lives.

The case before me was of a 16 year old who received a disproportionate sentence of 108 years for burglary and robbery charges. He had already served 11 years in Arkansas prison by that time, which is more time actually served than most similar cases would have netted in sentencing alone.

Why Huck commuted his sentence.

An Arkansas prosecutor had an opportunity to lock Clemmons up but decided to drop the case.

in 2004 when Clemmons was back in prison for a parole violation, his office failed to pursue charges and in fact dropped them, allowing Clemmons to go free, move to Washington, and for reasons beyond me, continue to avoid extradition back to Arkansas

Not even a fan of Huckabee but I don't like people getting saddled with all the blame that deserves to be passed around. Parole Boards and Governors aren't clairvoyant,  Huckabee did this in 2000 when other officials from passed on chances to lock him up in 2004 and then released him on bail in 2008 on a rape of a minor charge.  (I believe by two separate prosecutors even though I'm no sure on that) Huckabee's getting most of the blame just because he's the biggest name connected to this scumbag.

[Balog]

I'd like to see everyone involved in letting him off get burned. But only one of those people is trying to run for POTUS so yeah, of course we'll burn him first and worst.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Why not blame the bastard that pulled the trigger.

Huckabe will be fine. Sure this will bens bump, but I don't think it will ruin any plans that have or have not been made.

[longeyes]

As I said in another thread, he's pardon-happy.  And this kind of serial compassionating is rightly seen as a form of pride and arrogance.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

As I said in another thread, he's pardon-happy.  And this kind of serial compassionating is rightly seen as a form of pride and arrogance.

I suspect that it was a vote-garnering attempt.

[Jamisjockey]

Why not blame the bastard that pulled the trigger.

Huckabe will be fine. Sure this will bens bump, but I don't think it will ruin any plans that have or have not been made.

Now why would we do that?  Someone else had to have caused it!

[Balog]

You don't see a causal relationship between the people who repeatedly let him out of jail, and the fect that he was free to commit the crime?

[Waitone]

Huckabe will be fine. Sure this will bens bump, but I don't think it will ruin any plans that have or have not been made.

Study up on Willie Horton and the effect the Willie Horton ads had on Mike Dukakis election campaign.  He was destroyed in detail by the ads.

Huckabee guaranteed will be given the full treatment.

[longeyes]

Huckabee had/has Restless Hand Syndrome.   Has to sign a clemency order every few days or...

[slingshot]

Huckabee only communted the sentence to a sentence that allowed the parole board to consider him for parole.  Some of you make too much of these things.  I guess none of you saw or listened to Huckabee's response on Fox.  I didn't see his statement challenged as being not factual.  There is blame to go around, but the Governor is only one spoke in the wheel.

[Balog]

There is blame to go around, but the Governor is only one spoke in the wheel.

Again, no one is saying otherwise. He's the only spoke who wants to be PotUS however.

[agricola]

http://documents.nytimes.com/01huckabee?src=tp#p=28

Page 28 is a prosecuting attorney objecting to Huckabee.
Page 29 is Huckabee responding to prosecuting attorney.

<Dusts hands together>That oughta 'bout do it.  Who's next, Romney?

As with everything, when it comes to legal wit the mother country has you rebels beaten hands-down.  I refer you all to the infamous case of Arkell vs Pressdram:

http://www.nasw.org/users/nbauman/arkell.htm

(nsfw)

 

[Jamisjockey]

You don't see a causal relationship between the people who repeatedly let him out of jail, and the fect that he was free to commit the crime?

Sure.  But it still boils down to the fact that he committed the crime himself.

[Balog]

Sure.  But it still boils down to the fact that he committed the crime himself.

I don't see anyone not holding him accountable for his actions. What I see, is people seeking to hold everyone accountable for their actions, including the only presidential candidate who was involved.

[Perd Hapley]

I guess I don't see the point in absolving Huck for his part in this.  At least outside the circle of die-hard Huck-for-Prez types. 

Yeah, Huck's getting some blame.  Why shouldn't he?