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New York, 10:11 PM
Wed Dec 2
51 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of unclevanya unclevanya
    11/30/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    Let's see how his Faux News buddies launch a full frontal assault on anyone who dast blame their friend Mike.

    It still amazes me that their answer to an election that didn't go their boss' way is to give the Repug frontrunner a weekly show to say whatever he wants in anticipation of launching his campaign. It's so plodding and obvious, there should be equal-time rules applied to their schedule.
     Reply
    unclevanya was starred unclevanya was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @unclevanya: "...there should be equal-time rules applied to their schedule."

    This is why there aren't: [www.museum.tv]
     Reply
    Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of unclevanya unclevanya
    11/30/09

    @Lysergic Asset: Aware of that, I was saying "should be" -- just my pollyanna wishing upon a star. At some point, the facade of FNC being a "news channel" needs to be torn down, but that's tough to do by decree in this country. The more blatant their bias becomes (it's not just their evening comedy line-up, it's in the "hard news" as well), the higher their ratings seem to go, which just makes me sadder in general.

    As an unabashed lefty, even I don't want the news to be skewed to make me feel better; I just want the goddam truth, and I'll decide what to think about it. The fact that Fox has been able to successfully sell themeselves as doing just that while doing just the opposite makes me wanna scream. It's hard not to want some kind of higher authority to sweep in and declare that they can't call themselves a news channel anymore in their current form, but again, that's tough to do in this country.
     Reply
    Edited by unclevanya at 11/30/09 1:30 PM unclevanya was starred unclevanya was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @unclevanya: Agreed, with bells on.

    It's all Florida's fault (again):

    Court Ruling: Fox News Has a First Amendment Right to Lie: [www.propeller.com]
     Reply
    Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of heywhat heywhat
    11/30/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    I can already see that people are going to use this to politically attack Huckabee but I have a real problem with that. There are so many flaws in our justice system and so many kids are never offered the chance for rehabilitation or much need second chance. Many politicians push for mandatory minimums and capital punishment to appear to be tough on crime but the results often lead to youthful offenders falling through the cracks.

    I remember when Clinton flew to Arkansas in the middle of his first Presidential campaign to affirm Ricky Ray Rector's execution just to show that he wasn't some softie liberal who cared about prisoner's rights more than he did victims. I know people who are still upset with Clinton to this day over that stunt. It's nice to know that Huckabee at least understood justice system unfortunately does not work the same for everyone and he was willing to take the time to evaluate each person on a case by case basis. Nice to know he wasn't just a "lock'em up and throw away the key" guy.
     Reply
    Edited by heywhat at 11/30/09 12:46 AM heywhat was starred heywhat was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @heywhat: You've gotta appreciate the devious hypocrisy of this philosophy, though: you can't kill unborn babies, but everything else is fair game once it's out of the womb: just give us our guns, our wars, our executions of innocent men.
     Reply
    Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    And secessionist Governor Rick Perry in Texas executes innocent men.

    [www.newyorker.com]

    Sadly, the criminal justice system seems to be more criminal than just.
     Reply
    Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/30/09

    @Lysergic Asset: I live in Texas, and worked on the capital punishment clinic when I was in law school in Austin, and this story makes.me.ill. Our capital punishment system is a joke.

    Sadly, this story received very little mainstream press. I'm sure the Huckabee/Clemmons' situation will raise much more of a stink, though I think a government cover-up of the execution of an innocent man should be at least as important.
     Reply
    Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @Atilla the Bun: Firstly: I hope you live in Austin also; otherwise, my sincere condolences. If Texas secedes, Mexico might fight to take it back, and trust me, the Mexican army would be successful in that endeavor, regardless of how many guns the average Texan owns. (Se habla español?)

    I read that New Yorker story when it first came out with tears streaming down my face. Not only did they execute an innocent man, they used fabricated evidence to convince his ex-wife (with whom he was on very amicable terms and who steadfastly believed in his innocence) that he murdered their two little kids and she turned against him in his darkest hour. All ten circles of Hell are not enough for the people who did that.
     Reply
    Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of thatgirlinnewyork thatgirlinnewyork
    11/30/09

    @Lysergic Asset: ack. that story made me ill. didn't receive enough mainstream press, and in those stories that quote perry as saying "je ne regrette rien". secede away.
     Reply
    thatgirlinnewyork was starred thatgirlinnewyork was unstarred
    Image of i'm a bottle i'm a bottle
    11/30/09

    @Lysergic Asset: I thought the talk about his being a secessionist was just a joke -- but then I looked at his Wikipedia page. Wow, Texas sure can pick them, can't it?
     Reply
    i'm a bottle was starred i'm a bottle was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/30/09

    @Lysergic Asset: No, I'm in Dallas and have been since graduation from law school. There are various personal and professional exigent circumstances that have kept me here. Though Dallas county did vote majority democrat in the last election and there are some very dedicated liberals in this town.

    But this story in the article you linked to is a tragedy. The circumstances of the man's conviction are bad enough, but that the governor would blatantly obstruct an investigation into it the way that he did is abhorrent. And it got very little press in Texas. Perry knows his constituency. The last thing most of them want to hear is that their ideas of cowboy justice could ever be wrong. Makes me ill that we have had this hair model as our governor for as long as we have.
     Reply
    Edited by Atilla the Bun at 11/30/09 4:50 AM Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @Atilla the Bun: No offense to you, Austin or Dallas County, but I think Carrie Prejean would win governorship of your state... and I'm talking contemporaneously.

    The execution of innocent people is horrific, but here's the thing directly related to the topic of this post that makes the 'cowboys' difficult to reason with (aside from the fact that they are insane): there's a knee-jerk reaction that people have to the idea of a violent criminal being freed to kill (perhaps many) more people; as in "that guy could've killed me or my family." When an innocent person is sent to die, it's 'just one person.'

    "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it's still a beautiful world." - Max Ehrmann

    I've enjoyed our discourse - thanks!
     Reply
    Edited by Lysergic Asset at 11/30/09 9:07 AM Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @i'm a bottle:

    I highly recommend this blog: [crooksandliars.com]
     Reply
    Edited by Lysergic Asset at 11/30/09 9:10 AM Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of DahlELama DahlELama
    11/30/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    The part I'm really stuck on is the fact that the guy was actually granted bail. He had an insanely long sentence, which I suppose I can somewhat accept was commuted because the crimes weren't violent and he was still under-18 at the time, and although I'm not particularly merciful, it's probably a good thing that some people are, but how was he granted bail after committing all new felonies including second degree rape of a child?! Who thought it was remotely acceptable for this man to be released back into society under any circumstances?

    God, there is so much about the justice system I cannot begin to understand.
     Reply
    DahlELama was starred DahlELama was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/30/09

    @DahlELama: I agree that it seems more blame should be placed on those who released him NOW rather than nine years ago.
     Reply
    Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of belltolls belltolls
    11/30/09

    @DahlELama: Insanely is the operative word. If this is the man who killed these police, he has been reported to have been severely mentally ill. I read some contemporaneous reports on Huckebee's time as governor regarding this issue and there was strong oppositions in Arkansas against his actions. One prosecutor said the best way to get out of prison was to rake leaves at the Governor's mansion.
     Reply
    belltolls was starred belltolls was unstarred
    Image of kappakappaspankme kappakappaspankme
    11/30/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    "When Clemmons received the 60-year sentence, he was already serving 48 years on five felony convictions and facing up to 95 more years on charges of robbery."

    Phuck. The. What.

    You know, I was prepared to be rational and consider the fact that people make decisions with the best information they have at the time (that one doesn't know everything). But, if commuting this person's sentence is the best decision one can make with the data above - phuck him. My infant son has greater reasoning skills than Hukabee in this instance.
     Reply
    kappakappaspankme was starred kappakappaspankme was unstarred
    Image of sarrible sarrible
    11/29/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    Didn't Huckabee also free a rapist who went on to rape and murder another person? For some reason that's stuck in my head.

    Ah. Yes. [www.huffingtonpost.com]
     Reply
    sarrible was starred sarrible was unstarred
    Image of ampersandparade ampersandparade
    11/29/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    I am no fan of Huckabee by any means, but I cannot imagine the guilt that comes alongside showing someone mercy only to see them commit such a horrifying act of violence against other people. It's rare to see someone who uses his Christian faith in a way that helps people politically (and I qualify this by acknowledging the guy is a conservative bigot), which leads me to believe that conservatives are going to be quite negative towards him for this. I suppose this is the flipside of a man like Bush whose actions showed he was quite stoic about his disbelief in clemency, someone who was a serial believer in the idea that the system can actually reform.

    It's just a horrific story all around: the idea that Huckabee acknowledging the system's flaws and society's barrel-bottom effects allowed him to actually think kindly about this man's plight, only for him to be turned out on the world with a criminal vengeance. And those dead policemen and their families. The increasing commonness of unprovoked brutality makes my skin crawl.
     Reply
    ampersandparade was starred ampersandparade was unstarred
    Image of DahlELama DahlELama
    11/30/09

    @ampersandparade: I keep wanting to reply to this but there's really nothing I can say that you didn't already express perfectly.
     Reply
    DahlELama was starred DahlELama was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/30/09

    @ampersandparade: Very well said.
     Reply
    Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of Buttafooco Buttafooco
    11/30/09

    @ampersandparade: in this particular case, the flaw in the system was in allowing him to roam free after 8 felonies and the second degree raping of a child...........after he was given a second chance (if what's reported has been accurate) I would also have to respectfully disagree with you when you refer to his "plight." Unless you were referring to the guilt Huckabee is facing, I am not sure I see the alleged shooter's life as one of plight, barring some sort of mental illness.
     Reply
    Buttafooco was starred Buttafooco was unstarred
    Image of Lysergic Asset Lysergic Asset
    11/30/09

    @ampersandparade: Beautifully said.
     Reply
    Lysergic Asset was starred Lysergic Asset was unstarred
    Image of ampersandparade ampersandparade
    11/30/09

    @Buttafooco: I was referring to the idea that system is unfair towards those of color who are under legal age, and tend to put them away for life sentences rather than attempting to reform these errant youths, which would be the purpose the American judicial system, especially in regards to minors. I suspect this is what Huckabee thought as well when he pardoned him some time ago for crimes that didn't result in anyone's injury or death, only to see this second chance lead to nothing but senseless crime and violence, ending in the startling and horrific events of today. Governor Huckabee couldn't have foreseen what happened, and I don't blame him for the man's continued freedom after committing his further crimes. This is why I was able to articulate sympathy for the plight of a man who I vehemently disagree with religiously and politically, and at the same time see how he sympathized with the plight of a young boy he believed was steamrolled by the judicial system. While I appreciate your attempt to engage, your strawman arguments make your comment largely useless to me, except in forcing me to explain my position in labored detail.
     Reply
    ampersandparade was starred ampersandparade was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/30/09

    @Buttafooco: A "plight" is just a difficult or unfortunate situation. A 17 year-old sentenced to 90 years in jail for robbery is in a difficult or unfortunate situation, even if it is one of his own making, and one which Huckabee had empathy for.
     Reply
    Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of Buttafooco Buttafooco
    11/30/09

    @ampersandparade: as someone who studies criminal behavior and the law as part of my profession, I should have realized when you said he used his Christian faith to help people politically, it was a silly point (mine) to make. My apologies.
     Reply
    Buttafooco was starred Buttafooco was unstarred
    Image of Buttafooco Buttafooco
    11/30/09

    @Atilla the Bun: I don't disagree, and to the Governor's credit, this falls more on the parole board, than it does
    him. Though I am sure he will feel some guilt, I don't necessarily blame him for this. However, the notion that somehow people repent and find Jesus and that is one criteria in justifying their release (he's actually stated that several times on his Fox show) make my willies jingle. I would just prefer they leave Jesus out of the political and judicial system. He's got enough problems to solve.
     Reply
    Edited by Buttafooco at 11/30/09 1:44 AM Buttafooco was starred Buttafooco was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/29/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    This is going to cause all kinds of cognitive dissonance among some of the wingnuts.

    That said...hingsight is 20/20, but I understand why Huckabee granted this kid clemency back then. His crimes weren't violent and he was a 17 year-old weakling when he committed them, so an almost life-sentence seemed too harsh.
     Reply
    Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of Cicada Cicada
    11/29/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    Methinks this doesn't bode well for the Huckster's possible 2012 run. If his Republican primary opponents can't find a way to Willie Horton this, they aren't fit to call themselves Republicans.
     Reply
    Cicada was starred Cicada was unstarred
    Image of RandomLunatic RandomLunatic
    11/29/09

    In reply to Nine Years After Mike Huckabee Freed Him, Man is Wanted in Cop Killings
    Nothing in the bible about dealing with a modern-day stone-cold psychopath, Mikey. Probably should have gone with any psych evals over the word of Clemmons's preachers in this instance.

    Because I guarantee you if a minister or chaplain fronted for this guy, it swayed the Huckster towards clemency.
     Reply
    RandomLunatic was starred RandomLunatic was unstarred
    Image of Atilla the Bun Atilla the Bun
    11/30/09

    @RandomLunatic: Do you really know there was anything in his criminal history when Huckabee granted clemency that suggested that this guy was a "stone-cold psychopath" or that Huckabee ignored psych evaluations before making the decision?"
     Reply
    Atilla the Bun was starred Atilla the Bun was unstarred
    Image of barbarawalterslover barbarawalterslover
    11/28/09

    In reply to White House Party Crashers Are Awesome, Sad

    Ron Emanuel.
     Reply
    Claire Buoyant promoted this comment barbarawalterslover was starred barbarawalterslover was unstarred
    Image of cassandra cassandra
    11/27/09

    In reply to White House Party Crashers Are Awesome, Sad
    Why do all the Housewives have that same face? That long face and stringy blonde hair?
     Reply
    cassandra was starred cassandra was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    11/30/09

    @cassandra: Chin implants and a fascination with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, whose hair was ALSO very expensively fried to a crisp.
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of CODiva CODiva
    11/27/09

    In reply to White House Party Crashers Are Awesome, Sad
    So Larry King's producers (do they moonlight at the Bravo Network?) are giving these creepy crawlers a showcase Monday night, to talk about their Excellent White House Adventure, and record optimum camera angles in their ongoing and so far successful bid to land a spot on the reality series? We're slipping fast, people.
     Reply
    Edited by CODiva at 11/27/09 8:57 PM CODiva was starred CODiva was unstarred
    Image of nicepony nicepony
    11/26/09

    In reply to White House Party Crashers Are Awesome, Sad
    calla lilies. people like them always like
    calla lilies.
     Reply
    nicepony was starred nicepony was unstarred
    Image of JohnAgamemnon JohnAgamemnon
    11/26/09

    In reply to White House Party Crashers Are Awesome, Sad
    There is only funny in this because nobody died.

    You don't need guns to kill people, you don' t need to bring weapons of your own to kill people. There are knives at the state dinner, and hey, look how close the woman got to both Vice Prez Biden and Chief of Staff Rahm.

    This is a !@#$%^ disgrace.

    ...and remember Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko? Poisoned. (Possibly at a dinner meeting; [news.bbc.co.uk])

    ...and who else got in there? We knew these two have crashed the party because they made high profile about it, but who else got in that wasn't known?
     Reply
    formergr promoted this comment Claire Buoyant approved this comment JohnAgamemnon was starred JohnAgamemnon was unstarred
    Image of gawkimo gawkimo
    11/29/09

    @JohnAgamemnon: OMG THEY COULD HAVE PEED IN THE LHASA!
     Reply
    gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred
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