Mike Huckabee's fatally bad judgment

Salon by Joe Conason | Nov. 30, 2009 (Opinion)
Brutality by another Huck-pardoned criminal suggests the 2012 GOP hopeful listened more to pastors than prosecutors

If clemency for Maurice Clemmons -- now the fugitive suspect in the shooting deaths of four police officers -- were the only fatal error committed by Mike Huckabee as governor of Arkansas, he might be able to shift blame to the state's law enforcement system and even run for president again in 2012. Yet the Clemmons commutation that he granted nine years ago is only one among several cases that raise serious questions about Huckabee's judgment. Full Story »

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4.1
 by Dwight Rousu - Nov. 30, 2009

Conason exposes a pattern of delusional behavior by Huckabee that belies his attempt to shift away responsibility for a multiple murder of policemen by one of his religion based pardonees.

The damage to his political future will hinge on how deeply news organizations now delve into those cases — and the bizarre faith-based rationale behind his use of the clemency and pardon powers of the governor.

Nowhere in his record as governor was the influence of religious zeal felt more heavily than in the distribution of pardons and commutations, as his own explanations have indicated.

During the 2008 campaign, Huckabee’s arrogance and stupidity mostly escaped the full scrutiny of the national press corps, in part because his stint as a contender was so brief. But next time, if there is a next time, he should get no such free pass — and his claims to divine guidance ought to be thoroughly debunked.

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