Every Time You Think It Can't Get Anymore Ridiculous, Another Huckabee Case Pops Up
By perico Posted in Archived — Comments (43) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
From the Arkansas News Bureau in 2004:
"I would not deny that my sense of the reality of redemption is a factor," the former Baptist pastor said in a radio interview with KUAR in Little Rock. "And I don't know that I can apologize for that because I would hate to think of the kind of human I would be if I thought people were beyond forgiveness and beyond reformation and beyond some sense of improvement."
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"Let's face it, I give a reason every time I do one of these, but it may not be as extensive as a publicity-seeking prosecutor is going to want," Huckabee said. "How much information do they give when they plea bargain?"
Why is it that Huckabee always attacks the messenger?
In 2004, the Arkansas Board of Parole reviewed 77 clemency cases, and 74 of them were considered to be without merit. Included in the 74 cases considered to be without merit was the case of Glen Green. Here is the link to the ARBOP report that includes Greene's case.
Governor Huckabee, at the time, rejected the Boards opinion and decided that he would grant Green Clemency. Eventually, pressure forced Huckabee to relent on his decision. If this was an isolated case, then it could be considered a grave oversight, but it is just one out of many cases where Huckabee used questionable judgement when deciding whether to grant clemency.
Huckabee's criteria for granting clemency was, at the minimum, unclear:
Until Tuesday, Huckabee didn't even demand that these killers admit their guilt before asking for clemency. The Rev. Johnny Jack-son, who had arranged the aborted clemency deal for Glen Green with his friend the governor, describes Green as a humble Christian man – apparently one of Huckabee's criteria for clemency.
But the state requires that a killer express remorse for his actions, which Green refuses to do, calling the murder "an accident." The Rev. Jackson says he accepts Green's "account of the incident"
How can one express remorse over a crime this brutal and be believed?
Green, a 22-year-old sergeant, kidnapped Helen Lynette Spencer on Little Rock Air Force Base, where he beat and kicked her as he tried to rape her in a secluded area. She broke loose and ran toward the barracks' parking lot, where he caught up with her and beat her with a pair of nunchucks.
He then stuffed her into the trunk of his car and left her there while he cleaned up. Several hours later, he drove down Graham Road, past Loop Road and stopped near a bridge in Lonoke County. Green told investigators he put her body in the front seat and raped her because her body was still warm.
He dragged Spencer out of his vehicle and put her in front of the car and ran over her several times, going back and forth. He then collected himself long enough to dump her body in Twin Prairie Bayou.
Huckabee eventually had to rescind the clemency from pressure he was facing; DuMond deja vu?
After weeks of pressure from victims' families, prosecutors and this column, Gov. Huckabee has changed his mind about granting clemency to several murderers, including a psychopath who killed a Gravel Ridge woman.
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It's a humiliating retreat for a governor who thought he was unstoppable. Until yesterday, he said his critics were politically ambitious prosecutors, but when prosecutors from his own party spoke out against his clemencies, Huckabee realized that if he didn't back down, he'd hurt the Arkansas Republican Party for a generation.
The DuMond case could possibly end in a he said/she said stalemate. The Democrat parole board vs. Huckabee's word. The problem is that Huckabee, as governor, used the same line of defense until even the republicans turned on him in 2004. Today, he has gone back to that same line of defense with the media picking up on the DuMond story. With Green, maybe his change of mind is enough to silence some critics, but the fact is that it took pressure from his own prosecutors, lawyers, and party to finally say that enough is enough.
If Huckabee wants to lead the GOP into the election next year, he must explain his reasoning then, and then how he has changed, and what shapes his reasoning today. What sort of philosophy would he use in making
"... a humble Christian man – apparently one of Huckabee's criteria for clemency."
So Huck's a sucker for jailhouse conversions.
Riddle me this: if Glen Green the convicted murderer was a Mormon instead of a Christian, would or would not Huck consider him for clemency?
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Huckabee supporters can not continue to deny the unethical behavior and bad judgment that Huck has shown. Simply throwing it up to Romney supporters is not going to cut it. Who cares who brings it to light. It needs to be public knowledge. All of the stories which are too numerous to go over show direct evidence the man not only has more skeletons than a graveyard but that he cont's. to blame others and deny responsiblity....and that is my main problem. I was for a Huck/Romney ticket. Now I am for a ROMNEY ticket.
Recently Kripto said that Huckabee pardoned 700 criminals. It turns out that the number is more like 1,000. More than the three previous Arkansas governors combined.
Don't you think that the Obama campaign or the Clinton campaign could make hamburger out of Huckabee in a general election based on this?
Republicans. Please come to your senses soon. Before you lead the party into a defeat worse than 1964.
Sean was quizzing him on his own words written to DuMmond and his response was to cry foul play and pull the Clinton card of the politics of personal destruction defense, not good.
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
part was when Hannity gave him another chance, and he addressed the issue by claiming he will not be painted as being soft on crime.
News to Huck...it's not that they think you are soft on crime, it's your judgement that is being questioned.
And I have to say...now I'm questioning if he has what it takes to get the nomination.
" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised
Sean was guiding him along to an answer that would help make sense of the mess he was making (Huck) and instead of smelling the coffee he thought he saw an ambush from the guy that is the primary cheerleader of our side on Fox News. At one point I thought Hannity was going to tell him to shut up and pay attention, I'm trying to help you dig yourself out of a hole...
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
"the scramble factor"...and he just missed it.
" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised
Huckabee is the only Republican candidate that I will absolutely NOT vote for in the general election.
If he wasn't a Christian preacher who opposes abortion it would be a stretch to even call him a conservative.
He's not a Conservative. Like Bush, the correct term to use is "Socially Conservative Big Spending GOP Moderate"
*****
The greatest single cause of Atheism today is Christians who profess Jesus with their lips & then go out and deny him by their lifestyle. That's what an unbelieving world simply finds...unbelievable -DC Talk
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
but its been so long since I've considered that concept, I wonder if we can trademarkTM the term for future use?
*****
The greatest single cause of Atheism today is Christians who profess Jesus with their lips & then go out and deny him by their lifestyle. That's what an unbelieving world simply finds...unbelievable -DC Talk
I hate to say this, but I'd sooner vote for Ron Paul in the general than Huckabee. 4-8 years of deadlock, veto-overrides, and bad foreign policy can be survived; on the domestic side, even enjoyed.
CC² would sell us all down the river to be liked.
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Brian Epps
RandomNumbers.us
Baad Spelarz Uv Tha Wurld, Yunyte!
(CC² = Clinton x Carter Squared)
There's no end to the Huckabee evidence. It's like watching the O.J. Simpson trial. One piece of damning evidence after another. But don't be surprised if the Huckabee supporters continue to support him. Most are simply following the marching orders of their preachers.
My perception is that he comes across as a man of faith and that deeply connects with many people on a gut level. The politics behind/following him are not connecting yet to those people who have the warm fuzzies still. Realization and an honest look will hopefully follow that initial glow...
Look at the people that fell all over Thompson at first before he left so many of them cold but for different reasons.
We are if anything a rational, pragmatic party, guided by our ideals rather than our emotions in the long haul. I have faith we will do the right thing.
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
Otherwise, were acting just like the Democrats in 1976 when the evangelicals noticed Jimmy Carter. There is certainly a striking similarity between the two men and the two elections. Jimmy Carter was bar none the worst economic president to serve the office.
I kept wondering if I was the only one with this eerie deja vu feeling about Huck 2008 and Jimmy Carter 1976. The last time evangelicals voted for one of their own just because he was an evangelical, well ... let's just say it did not come out so well.
If he can endure the slings and arrows of his fellow Republicans, maybe he can beat Hillary.
Then again, that doesn't seem very likely to me.
Romney/Barbour 2008
Just another issue that Huckabee is liberal on. Other than gays, guns, and abortions you can count the issues that Huckabee is conservative on with only one hand.
Your comment should have read:
Other thanEven with gays, guns, and abortions, you can count the issues that Huckabee is conservative on with only one hand.
Vos can't ledo astrum si vos intentio pro clouds
Formerly known as ShowMeConservatism. For more common sense conservatism, visit the Show Me Conservatism blog.
by the number the people that support this guy? To show how amazed I am, I was going to link the SNL Seth & Amy "Really?" Vick skit... It's been pulled. Well I guess I can always count on NBC to be a let down.
He simply cannot win the general election if nominated. The Republican Party would be shooting itself in the foot, absolutely and completely, if they nominated Huckabee. Though conservative Christian values are very important to the Evangelical wing of the Republican Party, Evangelical Christians simply do not make up a large enough voting bloc to get a pastor in the Oval Office. Huckabee simply doesn't have the resume, experience, or blemish-free history that will allow people other than Evangelicals to vote for him. Solidifying around a candidate with qualifications other than his faith, say Mitt Romney, is the best bet for Evangelical Christians, in that Romney has other qualifications beside his social conservatism that will appeal to other votes, across the spectrum.
Why is every blog you write an attack on Huckabee or Romney?
You say you are a Thompson support yet the last blog you wrote in support of Thompson was 2 months and 10 blog entries ago?
There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy
In looking at that campaign, folks have been left with little to blog about. Thompson's a great guy and all that but he's a horrible candidate/campaigner.
Besides many of his supporters have gone the same way he has, negative right from the start. Something I thought odd from a man with so much more to offer, many of his supporters.... not so much!
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
go to my other sites. I update there every day on Thompson. Actually, Thompson has enough bloggers here, and if I remember correctly, I wrote a pro Thompson blog here more recently than that.
#2, because I have researched them and am not going to give them free passes without fully discussing negatives.
And if you follow my comments, I have actually warmed up to Romney in recent weeks, and have quit going after him.
Tommy Oliver
www.race42008.com
You went after Romney when he was gaining momentum. You are now focused on Huckabee because he is gaining momentum.
It's your choice, I guess. You can write as many hit jobs as you want. However when you go all negative people tend to disregard your message.
There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not. - Robert Kennedy
Romney at least has thrown some bones in my direction, and when it comes down to it, I am more comfortable with Romney, if he wins.
Thompson's record is out there. Huckabee's is still getting researched. If you peek in the last month, you're going to be under scrutiny.
And to be honest, I've been uncomfortable with the way Huckabee has campaigned. I feel it was subliminally aimed towards Romney's religion, and then he thinks that he's got it tougher on religion than Romney, which is a joke.
Tommy Oliver
www.race42008.com
I started off actually liking the guy, but the more I learn, the less and less comfortable I get. I would have a hard time voting for him, unless he proves me wrong, which he has yet to do.
The bottom line is this, he's good on life and pro marriage, and mixed on everything else. What else is there? He was the weakest candidate on immigration, until he decided to do a 180. He's the weakest candidate on foreign policy (Cuba embargo? NIE?). It's a real stretch to say he's fiscally sound, and his clemency record is questionable. What's the point of blind support, at this late stage?
Tommy Oliver
www.race42008.com
...that any unpleasant information about Mike Huckabee is always denounced by Huckabee groupies as an attack? I started out liking Huckabee because he is solid on the pro-life issues. That is my starting point, as it is for many others. And the Fair Tax is something I'm inclined to support. BUT his statements about immigration and foreign policy are profoundly troubling, and leave me in the position where I would probably support Giuliani(because of his promise on judges)before I would support Huckabee. My thinking on this is that the world is a dangerous place, and if the monsters sneak a nuke into our country or some other such cataclysm occurs, Roe v. Wade won't matter anymore.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that Fred Thompson is the one and only true conservative we have running in '08. A "compassionate conservative", a "moderate",is NOT a Conservative. When the dust settles, I am confident Fred will be the front-runner.........Fred is 2nd to none!!
the governor is his comments on AIDS and that get little play on this website. It is amazing how far we have fallen. I know one thing: If I were Mike Huckabee and I won the Republican Nomination, I would pull out all the HATRED spewing from conservatives and say "you try to paint me as some kind of exreme conservative." Now, why is it that I got so much hatred from them.
I don't know of another candidate that how had to put up with so much hatred (with the exception of Giuliani).
Anyways, I would be loving getting attacked by conservatives. It is like Tony Blair getting bashed by his party for supporting the war.
For the past several decades, dating back to the 1960s, the Republican party has been the party known as "tough on crime." It's the Democrat party that has been considered more interested in the rights of criminals than the rights of victims and the right of people to live in a safe society.
Mike Huckabee's record and his emergence as the Republican front runner put all of this in doubt. To think that Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama might be able to run to the right of the Republicans on the crime issue.
If we nominate Huckabee, we need to have our heads examined.