More in sorrow than in anger
Iowans for Mitt Romney, in the wake of its candidate not only losing the lead in Iowa but... well, judge for yourself.... has abandoned all pretense of civil discussion of the issues and become an attack blog dedicated to smearing Mike Huckabee. It's especially trying to make mileage out of a tired incident Huckabee's political opponents in Arkansas suddenly "discovered" when Huckabee first decided to run for president.
For the uninitiated, Wayne Dumond was an apparently rehabilitated Arkansas rapist who had been made parole eligible by a Democrat- then Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker- who commuted his sentence while Gov. Bill Clinton was out of state. Upon election his to the presidency, Clinton, of course, resigned as Arkansas governor, and Tucker took office. Huckabee- a Republican- succeeded him as lieutenant governor when Tucker won a term as governor in his own right.
When Tucker was sent to prison for his role in the Whitewater affair, Huckabee succeed him once again, this time as governor. Huckabee became convinced that Dumond- a model prisoner- was innocent (the victim of the crime is a distant cousin of Clinton's, and there were suspicions all over the state that the Democratic political machine that ran Arkansas had been more interested in retaliation against the man accused of the crime than necessarily being sure that the right person was answering for it). Huckabee expressed a wish on several occasions that that Dumond be paroled, not only because of doubts about his guilt but because of horrific price Dumond- innocent or guilty- had already paid: he had been held down and forcably castrated by a mob, and his testicles pickled and displayed on the county sheriff's desk.
This sort of thing does not argue for a sober, deliberate, and consciencious criminal justice system!
The thing was, governors of Arkansas-unlike the governors of most states- have no power to issue paroles. Tucker- Clinton's lieutenant governor, and himself a Democrat- had already commuted Dumond's sentence, making him eligible for parole; this was the most a governor in Arkansas can do.
Huckabee never took official action of any kind in the case. The state Pardon and Parole Board is the party that actually makes decisions on paroles in Arkansas- and the Pardon and Parole Board consisted entirely of Democrats, and voted against granting one.
Huckabee remembers meeting the Parole Board shortly after he became governor, and discussing a number of cases with this group of his political opponents, including- in passing- Dumond's.
The board, in any case, reversed itself. Dumond went free- and subsequently raped and murdered another woman. Huckabee has expressed deep regret and sorrow over the obviously mistaken position he took ever since. He has never denied any of what you have just read, but merely repeated his wish that somehow he could go back in time and unsay those things. At the same time, he has never sought to escape responsibility for having said them.
I'll say that again: Huckabee has never sought to avoid his own responsibility for the freeing of Wayne Dumond. The issue here is really the attempt of the Democratic parole board to foist their responsibility for the blunder on Huckabee, too. Six years later, when Huckabee's presidential campaign began, three of the Democratic members of the parole board who had reversed itself on the Dumond case- interestingly, all of whom Huckabee had refused to reappoint- came forward and essentially blamed Huckabee for making them free Dumond against their wills! Mind you, Huckabee- unlike Tucker, whose commutation of Dumond's sentence had made him eligible for parole in the first place- had never actually extended executive clemency to Dumond!
Again, that he had advocated Dumond's release in the mistaken belief that he was innocent (and in consternation for the barbaric treatment Dumond had been accorded), Huckabee has never denied. But Huckabee didn't set Dumond free. Rather, Democrat Jim Guy Tucker made him parole eligible by commuting his sentence, and a Democratic parole board actually paroled him. Remember- these were politically hostile members of the opposite party, claiming to have been coerced by a newcomer to the governor's mansion with no particular political muscle-the sole major Republican player in a state dominated politically by the Democrats!
The Arkansas Times, as well as other political opponents of Huckabee, have been attempting to blame the board's action (as well as Tucker's action) on Huckabee ever since. To hold Huckabee responsible for a position he never acted upon, while blaming him for Tucker's commutation of Dumond's sentence and the Parole Board's decision to free Dumond, is pathetic and cowardly coming from partisan Democrats. But when it comes from fellow Republicans, rendered desperate by Gov. Romney's eclipse by Gov. Huckabee in Iowa, South Carolina and elsewhere, it is positively reprehensible. What ever happened to Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment," "Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican?"
Huckabee's Christian convictions, he freely concedes, made him especially concerned that prisoners in the Arkansas system who could be rehabilitated be salvaged for society, and that the innocent be vindicated. Apparently some supporters of Gov. Romney- while trumpeting their own candidate's frequent and commendable public deeds in emulation of Christ- for some reason find, in itself, this to be a bad thing.
Well, it certainly was a bad thing in the case of Wayne Dumond. But elementary fairness would seem to demand that if a man in public life is to be blamed for something, it should be for something he did- not for something he was mistakenly in favor of other people doing! Huckabee has admitted that he was tragically wrong in the Dumond case, and spoken often of the burden of having to bear the responsibility for the consequences of his mistake.
The question here is whether he should also bear the responsibility which properly belongs to the people who actually set Wayne Dumond free.
Whichever way the battle for the nomination goes, the increasingly nasty tone and tactics of the Romney camp will be something the former Massachusetts governor's supporters will eventually have reason to regret. Here's hoping that in doing Hillary Clinton's dirty work for her, they aren't giving the rest of us a reason to regret it, too.
In the meantime, Huckabee continues to follow Reagan's advice. He isn't slinging mud in return- something I think voters will notice.
For the uninitiated, Wayne Dumond was an apparently rehabilitated Arkansas rapist who had been made parole eligible by a Democrat- then Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker- who commuted his sentence while Gov. Bill Clinton was out of state. Upon election his to the presidency, Clinton, of course, resigned as Arkansas governor, and Tucker took office. Huckabee- a Republican- succeeded him as lieutenant governor when Tucker won a term as governor in his own right.
When Tucker was sent to prison for his role in the Whitewater affair, Huckabee succeed him once again, this time as governor. Huckabee became convinced that Dumond- a model prisoner- was innocent (the victim of the crime is a distant cousin of Clinton's, and there were suspicions all over the state that the Democratic political machine that ran Arkansas had been more interested in retaliation against the man accused of the crime than necessarily being sure that the right person was answering for it). Huckabee expressed a wish on several occasions that that Dumond be paroled, not only because of doubts about his guilt but because of horrific price Dumond- innocent or guilty- had already paid: he had been held down and forcably castrated by a mob, and his testicles pickled and displayed on the county sheriff's desk.
This sort of thing does not argue for a sober, deliberate, and consciencious criminal justice system!
The thing was, governors of Arkansas-unlike the governors of most states- have no power to issue paroles. Tucker- Clinton's lieutenant governor, and himself a Democrat- had already commuted Dumond's sentence, making him eligible for parole; this was the most a governor in Arkansas can do.
Huckabee never took official action of any kind in the case. The state Pardon and Parole Board is the party that actually makes decisions on paroles in Arkansas- and the Pardon and Parole Board consisted entirely of Democrats, and voted against granting one.
Huckabee remembers meeting the Parole Board shortly after he became governor, and discussing a number of cases with this group of his political opponents, including- in passing- Dumond's.
The board, in any case, reversed itself. Dumond went free- and subsequently raped and murdered another woman. Huckabee has expressed deep regret and sorrow over the obviously mistaken position he took ever since. He has never denied any of what you have just read, but merely repeated his wish that somehow he could go back in time and unsay those things. At the same time, he has never sought to escape responsibility for having said them.
I'll say that again: Huckabee has never sought to avoid his own responsibility for the freeing of Wayne Dumond. The issue here is really the attempt of the Democratic parole board to foist their responsibility for the blunder on Huckabee, too. Six years later, when Huckabee's presidential campaign began, three of the Democratic members of the parole board who had reversed itself on the Dumond case- interestingly, all of whom Huckabee had refused to reappoint- came forward and essentially blamed Huckabee for making them free Dumond against their wills! Mind you, Huckabee- unlike Tucker, whose commutation of Dumond's sentence had made him eligible for parole in the first place- had never actually extended executive clemency to Dumond!
Again, that he had advocated Dumond's release in the mistaken belief that he was innocent (and in consternation for the barbaric treatment Dumond had been accorded), Huckabee has never denied. But Huckabee didn't set Dumond free. Rather, Democrat Jim Guy Tucker made him parole eligible by commuting his sentence, and a Democratic parole board actually paroled him. Remember- these were politically hostile members of the opposite party, claiming to have been coerced by a newcomer to the governor's mansion with no particular political muscle-the sole major Republican player in a state dominated politically by the Democrats!
The Arkansas Times, as well as other political opponents of Huckabee, have been attempting to blame the board's action (as well as Tucker's action) on Huckabee ever since. To hold Huckabee responsible for a position he never acted upon, while blaming him for Tucker's commutation of Dumond's sentence and the Parole Board's decision to free Dumond, is pathetic and cowardly coming from partisan Democrats. But when it comes from fellow Republicans, rendered desperate by Gov. Romney's eclipse by Gov. Huckabee in Iowa, South Carolina and elsewhere, it is positively reprehensible. What ever happened to Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment," "Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican?"
Huckabee's Christian convictions, he freely concedes, made him especially concerned that prisoners in the Arkansas system who could be rehabilitated be salvaged for society, and that the innocent be vindicated. Apparently some supporters of Gov. Romney- while trumpeting their own candidate's frequent and commendable public deeds in emulation of Christ- for some reason find, in itself, this to be a bad thing.
Well, it certainly was a bad thing in the case of Wayne Dumond. But elementary fairness would seem to demand that if a man in public life is to be blamed for something, it should be for something he did- not for something he was mistakenly in favor of other people doing! Huckabee has admitted that he was tragically wrong in the Dumond case, and spoken often of the burden of having to bear the responsibility for the consequences of his mistake.
The question here is whether he should also bear the responsibility which properly belongs to the people who actually set Wayne Dumond free.
Whichever way the battle for the nomination goes, the increasingly nasty tone and tactics of the Romney camp will be something the former Massachusetts governor's supporters will eventually have reason to regret. Here's hoping that in doing Hillary Clinton's dirty work for her, they aren't giving the rest of us a reason to regret it, too.
In the meantime, Huckabee continues to follow Reagan's advice. He isn't slinging mud in return- something I think voters will notice.
Comments
Mike was playing to his base of "Clinton Haters" who felt that Dumond was persecuted by Clinton since one of the rape victims was a distant cousin of Clinton.
Huckabee is the most dangerous kind of hypocrite and this issue is not going away.
The "evidence" that Huckabee "pressured" the parole board is consists entirely of the accusations of three people with strong political motivations for lying- people who were:
1)trying to avoid their own responsibility for actually letting Dumond go by blaming Huckabee, who- unlike them- took absolutely no official action to free Dumond;
2)well motivated to get revenge against a governor who had declined to reappoint all three of them;
3)possessed of a strong political motivation to discredit the strongest Republican politically in the state of Arkansas; and
4)people with terribly convenient memories, having recalled being pressured only several years later when Huckabee decided to run for president.
This much is fact, and no amount of mud-slinging at Huckabee will change it: the question of what went on in that parole board meeting is strictly his word against theirs. Except, of course, that accepting their word requires
a belief that an unelected Republican governor with, at the time, slim prospects for election in his own right and absolutely no political muscle had the means by which to intimidate members of an entrenched political machine.
You choose to believe the Democrats. I would like to gently suggest that you have political motives for believing them, nicht wahr?
But the fact is that the case for your assumption boils down to the testimony of three Democratic politicians with every
motivation to lie, and absolutely no collaborating evidence. There is absolutely no objective criterion for accepting the politically convenient accusation of these career politicians over that of a former minister. There is only a subjective desire not to believe Huckabee!
I have no doubt that the Dumond story will be around for a long time, for the same reason, for example, that the lies about President Bush being AWOL from National Guard service in Alabama continued to be repeated for years after fellow guardsman came forward to share their memories of having served with him there during the period in question. Slanders tend to take on a life of their own, especially in the hands of those who have no better arguments to make.