Mike Huckabee's political career is over.

Quote :

"Clemmons is a convicted criminal with a long rap sheet who had a 95-year prison sentence commuted in 2000 by then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/30/washington.police.shooting/index.html

[Edited on November 30, 2009 at 9:47 AM. Reason : ]

11/30/2009 9:46:44 AM

What are the odds of that?

11/30/2009 9:47:08 AM

all over again

11/30/2009 9:54:56 AM

Sweet. GOP, soft on crime. And that man wants to be president?

11/30/2009 10:00:46 AM

Really a sad event. I think Boone is right about this hurting huckabees political career, however Im not sure how much of one he had left.

I think this shows how the whole justice system fails, even Huckabee. This guy should have been locked up or put down.

11/30/2009 10:07:56 AM

If you read the story, his 95 year jail sentence was issued when he was 17, on charges of theft. 95 years for a black 17-year-old for theft. Without knowing the nitty-gritty details of the man's story, I would say he deserved the commutation.

The article also indicates he has, since his commutation, been accused of child-rape and is considered mentally unbalanced. Hindsight is 20-20.

[Edited on November 30, 2009 at 10:11 AM. Reason : im reposting since the article was reposted]

11/30/2009 10:10:13 AM

Quote :

"I would say he deserved the commutation."

Republican voters aren't exactly well-known for not letting their emotions interfere with the facts. But I guess we'll have to see if they treat their own like they do the other side.

11/30/2009 10:16:26 AM

Quote :

"Mike Huckabee's political career is over."

That would be nice, but I don't think it's quite as big of a deal as you make it out to be.

Quote :

"I think this shows how the whole justice system fails, even Huckabee. This guy should have been locked up or put down."

It fails in the sense that it can't predict the future. Why would he have been put down if he hadn't actually committed a capital offense yet?

11/30/2009 10:24:52 AM

^I wasnt talking about his theft at 17. But this guy has been in trouble his whole life, including raping a child. Thats enough for me.

The reason he kept getting let out was because we dont have room in the jails/prisons. So either make more or make room. THere is a study that shows when they release large amounts of prisoners bc of overcrowding, thanks ACLU, crime SHOCKINGLY goes up. It seems to me you have two options.

I agree you cannot predict the future, but this guy has a pattern and a long rap sheet and was still out on the streets. If you dont think that is failing, I cant help you.

11/30/2009 10:49:59 AM

If he was being let out because there wasn't room, that's a failure in itself. How many people are locked up because of drug-related offenses? We could legalize drugs, get those people out of prison, put drug dealers out of business in a few months time, and end all the violence that occurs because of illegal drug trade. But that's another topic entirely.

11/30/2009 10:56:22 AM

Quote :

"That would be nice, but I don't think it's quite as big of a deal as you make it out to be. "

Neither was Willie Horton until someone made an effective campaign around it.

That's the thing, either the Repub primary candidates or the Dems (if he were to win the primary) have to actually take the ball and RUN with it for it to amount to anything.

11/30/2009 1:52:59 PM

I can't really blame Huckabee at all for this without knowing what information he had access to at the time he commuted the sentence.

It seems really odd to me that a 95 year sentence would be almost entirely commuted in general, but I don't really keep track of who gets commuted either.

11/30/2009 4:50:18 PM

I don’t know where this goes, but I was amused…
apparently in Atlanta, there is a white female (mary norwood) and a black male (kasim reed) running for mayor. Atlanta hasn’t had a non-black mayor for 35 years, but Norwood is doing very well, running on a platform of change and being an “outsider.”

Quote :

"But political analysts estimate that she won just over 20 percent of the black vote in the general election, while Mr. Reed’s share of the white vote was somewhere in the teens. Matt Towery, chief executive of InsiderAdvantage, a public opinion firm that has been conducting polls on the election, said he was encouraged by the extent of such crossover voting."

11/30/2009 9:21:56 PM

I find it interesting that neither foxnews.com nor the drudgereport mentioned or linked to the huckabee pardon story.

Curious. Very curious.

11/30/2009 11:52:59 PM

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/30028.html

Interesting article on the right's reaction. Apparently some of them are giving him grief.

This is also his second Willie Horton moment. A guy he released raped some women a while ago, and Romney brought it up during the 2008 primaries.

12/1/2009 11:44:20 AM

Clemmons was gunned down while trying to escape a police officer last night in WA.

12/1/2009 1:17:49 PM

good

12/1/2009 1:29:42 PM

Hmmm, never heard of this guy, but apparently he was a very popular conservative blogger until today:

Quote :

"Why I Parted Ways With The Right Opinion | Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 6:49:45 pm PST 1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.) 2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.) 3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.) 4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.) 5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.) 6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.) 7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.) 8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.) 9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.) 10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source) And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff. I won’t be going over the cliff with them."

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/35243_Why_I_Parted_Ways_With_The_Right

12/1/2009 1:50:46 PM

So what exactly did he agree with the "right" (as if it's some kind of monolithic party) on? I'm just going to go through this list.

Support for fascists? Okay, so since some people on the "right" have supported "fascism," that's a good reason to abandon your principles? Support for bigotry/hatred/racism...the right doesn't support that, bigots on the right support that. The woman/religion thing...plenty of people on the right don't agree with that line of thinking. Clearly not everyone on the right is anti-science. Bigotry again, already covered that. For these points, his problem is with social conservative, which many people on the right have a huge problem with, myself included.

Anti-government lunacy? What? How the hell is it lunacy? The government has created this recession and is now in the process of making it worse. Government has done the wrong thing at almost every opportunity. If you're not anti-government by now, you are a lunatic.

This guy's problem is that he has spent too much time looking at the crazies. I mean, if you fall on the right of the political spectrum, you fall on the right. You don't just change your views because you don't like some of the people on your side of the political spectrum. It makes no sense. He's conflated the Republican party leadership with the "right," which makes it glaringly obvious that he doesn't know what it means to be "right" politically.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 2:22 PM. Reason : ]

12/1/2009 2:10:18 PM

I think the bigger issue is there's been little to no effort by prominent Republicans/conservatives to distance themselves from these people. The biggest example I can think of is when Michael Steele called Limbaugh's "incendiary" and "ugly" and he apologized to Limbaugh.

12/1/2009 2:51:01 PM

Looks like that guy that shot those cops might not have been an Obama fan:

Quote :

"After his arrest, Clemmons' sister told police that he "had not been himself lately" and that his behavior was "unpredictable and erratic." "He had said that the Secret Service was coming to get him because he had written a letter to the president," an affidavit quoted her as telling investigators."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/01/washington.suspect.shot/

12/1/2009 3:23:02 PM

this month has been bad for cops in seattle area.



i'm just glad they killed the cop-killer. no worries about stupid trials and media coverage for that deranged fuck.




[Edited on December 2, 2009 at 2:18 AM. Reason : ]

12/2/2009 2:17:47 AM

Tea Party Co-Founder Blasts Mainstream GOP Imitators
http://caivn.org/article/2009/11/30/tea-party-co-founder-blasts-mainstream-gop-imitators

Quote :

"... At some point, reality began piercing my passion. The tea party boat started becoming a wagon of whiners. Propelled by the moving mouths on TV and the talking heads of such ironically named organizations such as the “American Family Association” (one must agree that for an admitted adulterer with three ex-wives heading the AFA is ironic, right?), the movement lost its focus. No longer were tea partiers upset with the bipartisan corruption in Washington D.C., they are mad at the socialists communists Hitler-like Democrats. No longer did Constitutionalism mean respecting the rule of law, it meant Obama is not really our president. A movement founded on the principles of independent analysis, it has become a yelling fest for punch-drunk cynics armed with incoherent talking points. Slowly, I’ve lost some of my unrealistic idealism. As I pull back the blinders, I try to look at the tea party from the eyes of an outsider, the average American. What I see is a bunch of people reciting partisan political sermons, coddling fears, and perpetuating a superficial battle between “left” and “right”; drowning the well intentioned idealists that remain. ... "

It's kindof sad, really.

12/2/2009 1:55:34 PM

^ Maybe he woke up and realized he was in bed with the wrong crowd.

12/2/2009 1:59:17 PM

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/senate-gopers-its-al-frankens-fault-were-being-attacked-for-votes-against-anti-rape-amendment.php

Apparently Republicans are mad because they voted against that anti-contractual-rape bill Al Franken introduced, and are now being painted as pro-rape. Haha, this is what happens when you vote along party lines, douche.

12/3/2009 3:27:44 PM

*votes against an amendment designed to protect rape victims*

*gets mad when someone calls me pro-rape*

12/3/2009 3:31:55 PM

Sarah Palin, birther:

Quote :

"HUMPHRIES: Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran? PALIN: Um, I think the public, rightfully, is still making it an issue. I don't have a problem with that. I don't know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think enough members of the electorate still want answers. HUMPHRIES: Do you think it's a fair question to be looking at? PALIN: I think it's a fair question, just like I think past associations, past voting records, all of that is fair game"

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/sarah_palin/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2009/12/03/palin_birther

12/5/2009 2:15:13 AM

Quote :

" all over again"

Boone

You mean you want it to be Willie Horton all over again--but it's not even close. If you weren't an ill-informed partisan hack, you'd realize this.

Horton, who was serving a life sentence for murder without the possibility of parole in Massachusetts, was granted a weekend furlough by then-Governor Michael Dukakis--again, we're talking about a violent convicted murderer who was never getting out of prison. While on furlough, Horton committed assault, armed robbery, and rape.

In contrast, Maurice Clemmons, who was a convicted multiple felon, had served 10 years of his sentence and had his 108-year sentence commuted by then-Governor Mike Huckabee to about 47 years, which made him eligible for parole. The judge who presided over the case approved of the commutation (or remission), and the Arkansas Parole Board unanimously approved Clemmons' release. Furthermore, Clemmons' move to Washington was approved by Arkansas authorities.

Reports indicate that Clemmons had numerous arrests and contacts with other officials in Washington and was very familiar to its criminal justice system. He was under the supervision of the Washington State Department of Corrections and classified as "high risk to reoffend"--this supervision was to continue until October 2015, but stopped for some reason. Clemmons had multiple run-ins with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department--for assaulting deputies; was allegedly examined by two psychologists from the Western State Hospital--for obvious reason; and was investigated by Child Protective Services--for child rape; among other various charges and incidents.

And please understand, I do not want Mike Huckabee to be president--my position has nothing to do with this. But the Horton-Clemmons comparison is simply an apples-and-oranges analogy. Furthermore, as much as the people of Washington are hurting right now--and I know they are and I ache for them--it is, in fact, numerous officials in Washington who are to blame for this tragedy more than anyone or anywhere else other than Clemmons himself.



In the end, I guess Clemmons got what was coming to him. But Willie Horton's still getting three hots, a cot, and free medical care.

[Edited on December 5, 2009 at 4:59 AM. Reason : .]

12/5/2009 4:54:35 AM

^^ wow, she has officially lost herself the 2012 election.

12/5/2009 12:43:23 PM

^^ Where did I claim the criminals or the circumstances surrounding their releases were equivalent? To claim that something will be a "Willie Horton" is to predict the political fallout of a crime resulting from a pardon-- not to draw parallels between criminals.

Before you endeavor to create a wall of text, first ask yourself "am I sure I understand wtf I'm arguing against?"

Quote :

"“This isn’t Huckabee’s first Horton moment,” Malkin continued, referring to the convicted murderer who raped a woman during a weekend furlough program supported by then-Massachusetts governor and later Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis."

Quote :

"On his conservative RedState blog, Erick Erickson wrote that the shooting “is going to be extremely problematic for Governor Huckabee.” “Of course, a lot of folks said the last guy was Mike Huckabee’s ‘Willie Horton,’ Erickson continued. “How many Willie Hortons can one man have?” "

from the article "Conservatives hammer Mike Huckabee over shooting"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/30014.html


So clearly I was correct.

12/5/2009 8:16:02 PM

it is Huckabee's fault that Clemmons wound up committing violent crimes after having his sentence commuted.

the problem is that Huckabee treated his governor's power of clemency like a pastor's counselling office: anyone who claimed they got right with Jesus, would get out of jail free. Clemmons talked a good Jesus story, and got out on parole. no surprise in hindsight that he wound up a repeat offender, when you let everyone and their brother out of prison because they found jesus and said they's sorry.

it's also Arkansas' fault for reneging on their commitment to extradite their own parolees who violate. Pierce County wanted to keep him locked up without bail on his previous charges, because he violated his AR parole. Arkansas, on learning they would have to take him back, decided to cancel their warrant. "Never mind, Washington. We don't want him. Good luck."

so Pierce County was legally bound to allow him to bail out. was the bail set too low? probably. but again, they were bound by legal restrictions on setting bail to the charges as they stood, so it still would have been something he could have probably gotten bonded on anyhow.




[Edited on December 6, 2009 at 3:22 AM. Reason : ]

12/6/2009 3:08:30 AM

GOVERNMENT

ACADEMIA

MEDIA

SCIENCE

RAWR

12/7/2009 6:24:09 PM

^^ where did you see that clemmons was released because he found god?

12/7/2009 6:42:50 PM

Could someone make a full sized Obama-as-Doc Brown image? That little bit there is pretty sweet.

12/7/2009 8:01:30 PM

12/8/2009 5:00:59 PM

Quote :

"I guess I'm racist reading directly from a card."

You'd think they could get at least slightly better acting in commercials like that...

12/8/2009 5:10:38 PM

WOOPS!

12/8/2009 9:01:02 PM

Liz Cheney is at it again!

Quote :

"President Obama's speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize this past week has won unlikely plaudits from conservatives, who say he injected a bit of militaristic realism into a committee founded on the lofty notion of world peace. But not everyone is applauding. Liz Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president and one of the most tenacious defenders of the Bush administration's use of torture, accused the president on Sunday of slandering the CIA during his Nobel address. Her basis: that Obama criticized American actions at GITMO. From Cheney's appearance on Fox News Sunday: There were certainly parts of his speech with which I wholeheartedly agree. And I think it was really good frankly to have the president finally enunciate some of these things, talk about the insufficiency of engagement with respect to dealing with terror, or dealing with enemies; talk about the importance of America supporting democracy around the world, and also talk about the role that America has played, particularly in post World War II Europe. I think the key now will be whether the policies follow that. And I certainly hope that they do. But we still had in this speech, you know, it is almost like it has become reflexive, this notion that America abandoned its ideals after 9/11. And I think that as we see this president repeatedly go on foreign soil, and accuse America of having tortured people, talk about Guantanamo Bay as an abandonment of our ideals, you know, that part of the speech to me really is nothing short of shameful. And it is not just an attack on political opponents. It really is casting dispersions and, I would say, slandering the men and women in the CIA who carried out key programs to keep us safe and the people frankly right now at Guantanamo Bay who are guarding some of the worst terrorists. So I think that part of the speech represents something I hope the president will stop soon."

Obama could read a speech co-written by Cheney, Rush, Newt, and Bill Kristol and republicans would still find a way to criticize it. If the words are spoken by Obama, we'll create some disingenuous criticism!


[Edited on December 13, 2009 at 11:47 AM. Reason : /]

12/13/2009 11:47:01 AM

^^^^ Who made that video? It's very... odd.

12% of voters? Is this really a number that should spawn a video campaign? The Race Card Card is getting out of hand.

12/13/2009 12:19:58 PM

How much did they have to pay those Black people to do that commercial?

12/14/2009 12:54:45 PM

hopefully 0. who wants to pay them anything.

12/14/2009 1:04:27 PM

12/14/2009 4:38:37 PM

I would vote for Denny Crane for president. Its such a drag that show went to shit.

12/14/2009 4:54:57 PM

Quote :

" recent Rasmussen poll revealed that if the Tea party were an actual party it would eclipse the Republicans. In a hypothetical, three-way race, Democrats received 36% of the vote, the non-existent Tea party got 23% and Republicans got just 18%; a further 22% were undecided. … they are almost exclusively white. In a town such as Leitchfield, which is 97% white, in a state such as Kentucky, which is 90% white, that is not really a problem. But in places such as Arizona, Florida, New Mexico or Nevada – key swing states where non-whites are more than a third – it virtually ensures defeat. That does not make them racist. But they have been a magnet for some racists, whose crude rhetoric and anti-Obama hysteria has made their lack of diversity a liability. ... On Thursday Paul’s (Ron Paul’s son Rand Paul— no joke) spokesman, Christopher Hightower, resigned after it was discovered that a picture of lynching, posted close to Martin Luther King Day and containing the message "Happy Nigger Day", had been on his Myspace page for almost two years. … Asked whether he thought Obama was a Muslim and born in the US, Paul said he didn't know but: "Those are things that I would never bring up in a speech and don't have a belief that coincides with people who brought those up as issues." The trouble is, while they may find the birthers embarrassing, their challenge is not feasible without them. "I call it the national open mic movement," jokes Paul. "It's kind of good in a way. Some people were tired of not being able to speak their piece. But I don't think it has a cohesion yet."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/20/republicans-obama-tea-party

lol

I like that some texture is re-developing in American politics, but it’s still sadly tainted by some holdouts from opponents to Civil Rights.

I don’t see them developing cohesion by the next presidential election, which means they are just going to distract from the Republican candidate. But it’s possible with time it could transform the Republican party, which will force change in the Democratic party.

[Edited on December 20, 2009 at 3:49 PM. Reason : ]

12/20/2009 3:43:07 PM

Quote :

"Washington (CNN) -- Despite the bruising battle over their proposals to overhaul health care, congressional Democrats have maintained an advantage over their Republican counterparts on one key measure, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday indicates that a bare majority of Americans, 51 percent, believe that the Democrats' policies are good for the country, with 46 percent saying that those policies would take the U.S. in the wrong direction. Fifty-three percent of people questioned in the poll said the GOP's polices would move the nation in the wrong direction, with 42 percent saying Republican policies are good for the country."

Quote :

"According to the poll, Lieberman's favorable rating has dropped 9 percentage points, from 40 percent to 31 percent, from early December. His unfavorable rating has risen 6 percentage points, from 28 percent to 34 percent. "Lieberman's biggest decline -- a 14-point drop -- came among independents," Holland said. "Only Republicans continue to like Lieberman.""

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/23/poll.parties.policy/

12/25/2009 5:55:56 PM

^Frankly I'm surprised that anyone on either side still likes Lieberman. 31 percent? That's practically a miracle for that guy.

12/26/2009 3:43:42 AM

Quote :

"How Big a Spender was Bush II Compared to all presidents, 1952-2008, here's Bush II's record: Measure #1: Annual Change in Total Real Spending: 4.9% - second only to LBJ Measure #2: Annual Change in Total Real Spending, not counting interest on the federal debt: 4.6% - second only to LBJ Measure #3: Annual Change in Total Real Non-Defense Spending, not counting interest: 5.4% - fifth. Fun fact: Republicans presided over both the largest and smallest changes in Measure #3: It grew at 9.8% under Nixon and 1.0% under Reagan. Extra fun fact: Even by Measure #3, Clinton was second only to Reagan."

http://ow.ly/QNfP


I'm so fucking sick of the creepy cult of St. Reagan

12/30/2009 12:33:25 PM

But I thought they were fiscal CONSERVATIVES? I'm so confused!

12/30/2009 12:36:55 PM

I don’t know which thread this should go in, but i’m putting it here:

Quote :

"The skirmish moved to a higher level as Mr. Cheney sent a statement to Politico accusing Mr. Obama of “trying to pretend we are not at war” with terrorists. “We are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe,” Mr. Cheney said. “Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society.” The White House has pointed out that the system that missed the would-be bomber was put in place by President George W. Bush and responded sharply to Mr. Cheney on its own Web site on Wednesday afternoon. “The former Vice President makes the clearly untrue claim that the President — who is this nation’s Commander-in-Chief — needs to realize we are at War,” Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, wrote on a blog posting. “I don’t think anyone realizes this very hard reality more than President Obama.” Although Mr. Obama has eschewed the Bush-era phrase “war on terror,” arguing that terror is a tactic, not an enemy, Mr. Pfeiffer pointed out that Mr. Obama has repeatedly said the nation is at war with Al Qaeda, even if he “doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it,” like the last administration."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/cheney-attacks-white-house-hits-back/

Cheney says “OBama doesn’t realize we’re ‘at war’” , obama admin says “of course we do, you guys let al-q go to beat your chest in Iraq"

12/30/2009 7:37:34 PM

Rush Limbaug rushed to hospital
http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11750857

Quote :

"ABC affiliate KITV in Hawaii is reporting that conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been taken to a Honolulu area hospital in serious condition. Paramedics were called to the Kahala hotel where Limbaugh was staying at 2:41p.m. Hawaii time, the radio host reportedly had chest pains. According to the report Limbaugh was staying at the hotel for the holidays. "

12/30/2009 10:49:17 PM