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Mike Huckabee gave clemency to Maurice Clemmons. AP Photo
Two of the more prominent media figures recently took radically different views toward Mike Huckabee's clemency of Maurice Clemmons. Huckabee shortened the prison term for Clemmons who was later paroled. Clemmons clemency then became a national story when he killed four police officers from Lakewood Police Department in Washington.
When asked about the clemency Sarah Palin said that she felt "bad" for Huckabee but still went on to call it a "horrible decision that he made." Think Progress points out that Palin may have a motive for criticizing Huckabee after he defended Katie Couric's interview of Palin. In addition if Palin runs for President in 2012 Huckabee represents a potential threat to her as they both draw votes from the same evangelical base.
Jon Stewart on the other hand seemed to let Huckabee off the hook for the clemency. Stewart has made a name for himself as a tough interviewer with his dressing down of Tucker Carlson and Jim Cramer. Yet in the following interview Stewart essentially blames liberals for going on the attack against Huckabee and allows Huckabee to blame the prosecutors and parole board for Maurice Clemmons release. Rather than getting the "Cramer treatment" Stewart seems to take the Bill O' Reilly approach to the Huckabee interview by simply allowing Huckabee to present his side of the story. Here are some facts Stewart could have asked Huckabee about had he given Huckabee the "Cramer treatment."
(1) Huckabee claims that he would have made the same decision again regarding Clemmons knowing the facts he knew at the time. Stewart could have asked Huckabee whether he knew Clemmons had tried to assault two of the guards holding him while in custody before the clemency.
(2) Huckabee blamed the parole board and prosecutors for allowing Clemmons to go free. Stewart could have asked Huckabee about reports that prosecutors urged Huckabee to not provide such clemency (possibly because they knew evidence for other charges was weak). In addition the parole board positions in Arkansas are actually appointed positions from the Governor's office yet Stewart never asked Huckabee about this fact.
(3) In addition, Stewart could have asked Huckabee about various reports that his clemency while in office was motivated by religous preferences. Some reporters have said that Huckabee may have granted clemency to convicts who "found Jesus" while in prison. It just so happens that Clemmons referred to this kind of redemption in his request for clemency from Huckabee while in prison. Once more Stewart for some reason found no reason to either research these facts or ask questions concerning these allegations.
(4) Finally Huckabee, along with Stewart, seems to condemn liberals for politicizing the issue. Yet Stewart does not ask Huckabee how he can take such a stance when it was Huckabee's political action committee (HPAC) which first released a statement on Clemmons. In the statement HPAC blames prosecutores and the parole board for Clemmon's release rather than taking any blame. In addition Huckabee did not display such senstivity for for the family of lost loved one when he attacked health care reform using Ted Kennedy as an example days after Kennedy's death.
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Comments
she's going to knock off all the republican presidential contenders one by one.
I love how the 'free Mumia'-type far-lefties are spinning this story to feign concern that many criminals are given weak sentences and go on to commit more/worse crimes.Are you now proponents of stiffer sentences and fewer liberal 'empathetic' judges that give slap-on-the-wrist punishment to criminals too?
Jon Stewart is a typical liberal and knows that this story has almost irreparably harmed the Huckster's ability to run for president. He's an extremely weak possible candidate and, if the liberals can make him the Republican choice, they will win the second term they want for the socialist in chief. So, Stewart is cutting Huckabee some slack. If you don't believe me, look at the history of last year's campaign and how the liberals succeeded in taking out every other semi-conservative contender last year (there was no really good one to go for, but Romney or Thompson would have been better than what we got) and we ended up with the RINO McCain. The liberals chose him by not attackig him until he was the nominee. You will see this again the next time the Marxist has to run again. Just keep in mind who the liberals attack the most. That will be the person they're most afraid of. How much do they attack Sarah Palin? Hmmmmm?
Anyone with any sense of justice knows that a 16 year old kid who weighs 108 pounds gets a 108 year sentence in Arkansas only if he is black and surrounded by racists. A white kid guilty of the same crimes would have been treated very differently.
Huckabee did the right thing. Those on the far left want to make an issue of it because they don't want a pro-life Republican to be President, and those on the far right want to make an issue of it because they don't want a President who would disable the Washington to Wall Street axis.
DavidE7 says:
"Anyone with any sense of justice knows that a 16 year old kid who weighs 108 pounds gets a 108 year sentence in Arkansas only if he is black and surrounded by racists. A white kid guilty of the same crimes would have been treated very differently..."
yes, the left understands and agrees with you on all that...it is not the left making the "tough on crime" noise, it is the right...what Huckabee did would fit right in with what most liberals would do in Huckabee's shoes...it is the right that is making the most of Huckabee's situation...it is the right that will be Huckabee's demons poking at him with their forks when Huckabee next runs for anything, not the left...as for anti-choice, the left believes that all conservatives are interchangable on anti-choice, so that is a non-issue...the left would rather choose the lesser of 2 evils if Huckabee had his finger on the nuke button than an idiot ROGUE that might decide to go ROGUE at any minute...THE HORROR!
The ONLY thing that Jon Stewart can "Pass" is Gas.
But a more important illustration is the two commentors below:
DavidE7,
"Huckabee did the right thing."
Walrus,
"yes the left agrees with you on all that....the left would rather choose the lessor of two Evils IE. Huckabee."
I would love for you two cowards to stand in front of the families of those 4 officers and shout that at them....I would love to see that, better if it was captured on video.
You two are the proper bookends for the Sick, Twisted Democrat/ Liberal Left. You and all of those like minded are what is destroying the moral fiber in this country, While your Democrat Congress, Marxist Obama, and anti-Constitutional judiciary dismantle the legal structure and government of our Republic. You espouse legal decisions based on race. Because killing 4 WHITE cops is the right thing in the long run. Because in your sick demented world the term "justice" means some kind of reparations. You are full of hate.
jaime says:
The ONLY thing that Jon Stewart can "Pass" is Gas.
But a more important illustration is the two commentors below:
DavidE7,
"Huckabee did the right thing."
Walrus,
"...I would love for you two cowards to stand in front of the families of those 4 officers and shout that at them....I would love to see that, better if it was captured on video..."
and right on cue is one of those "right-sided" demons I told you about ready to poke Huckabee with her fork...Like I said, it's the right that wants Huckabee's head, not the left...she even played the "white" card when everyone else had seen 4 cops and not 4 white cops before she mentioned it...I, myself had to go back to their photos to see that, yeah, she's right, they were white.
Butcha Didnit have to go too far to see Clemmons' proud oppressed dark-painted skin...afore you KNEW that the right thing had been done,,,"cause everybodyknows....a BLACK kid gets 108 years ONLY if he was Black." So your race card is played. and the crime doesn't matter anymore..only that the outcome be letting.. The Bothers go free.
jaime says:
"Butcha Didnit have to go too far to see Clemmons' proud oppressed dark-painted skin...afore you KNEW that the right thing had been done,,,"cause everybodyknows....a BLACK kid gets 108 years ONLY if he was Black." So your race card is played. and the crime doesn't matter anymore..only that the outcome be letting.. The Bothers go free."
the race card had been played when "The Brother" got 108 years for something that should had gotten him no more than 5 or 10...you get 108 years for murder, not burglary (how many years should Glenn and Rush have gotten for illegal drug activities?)...Huckabee saw it as a "white" injustice...and "The Brother" only went free after having served several years of hard time and only after the parole board let him out...we saw it as 4 cops being murdered, you saw it as 4 WHITE cops being murdered.
Sorry Walrus but the RACE card was played first by DavidE7 Dec 10 2:23.
Just keep changing the facts. lol
jaime says:
"Sorry Walrus but the RACE card was played first by DavidE7 Dec 10 2:23.
Just keep changing the facts. lol"
DavidE7 doesn't speak for me, if you want to continue this debate with him, do so...if you want to continue this debate with me, do so...don't mix and match and pick and choose.
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