Arkansas Tonight

Huckabee and those pesky little commutations

2009-12-01T14:30:00.004-06:00

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee just can’t seem to stay out of the spotlight these days. You’d think a guy who lost a bid for the Republican presidential nomination might fade away into oblivion, but the killing of four police officers on Sunday in Washington State brought Huckabee’s record of commutations as governor of our great state back into the spotlight.

Why, you ask, is the killing of four police officers in Washington State tied to Huckabee's commutation record? The answer is because Huckabee commuted the 95-year sentence of the accused killer, Maurice Clemmons, who himself is now dead after being shot by police. CNN reports that Clemmons had his sentence commuted in 2000 by then-Gov. Huckabee and has since gone on to be accused of numerous crimes and has served jail time since then, such as in 2001 when he returned to prison, only to be paroled in 2004. He has been in trouble with the law on and off ever since, including in May of this year when CNN reports in the same article that he was accused of child rape and assaulting a police officer. But, just as before, he was put back on the streets.

None of these crimes would have happened had Huckabee not commuted his sentence. There are numerous crimes, actually, that would not have happened if Mike Huckabee had not commuted certain individual's sentences. Remember the uproar over Wayne DuMond? His parole, which Huckabee allowed to happen, caused the death of two women. If he, just like Clemmons, had been kept in jail, those two women would be alive today. MSNBC says this about Huckabee’s record on commutations as governor:

By the end of his 10-and-a-half years as governor, Huckabee had issued 1,033 [commutations]. As of 2004, Huckabee had issued more pardons than the leaders of six neighboring states combined -- Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Missouri -- in the preceding eight years.

I am at a complete loss for why Huckabee would have compassion for these men who clearly should not be on the streets. I wonder about Huckabee’s decisions just like many in 1988 wondered about Michael Dukakis’ decisions regarding Willie Horton. I don’t know if Huckabee thought he was doing convicts a service by allowing them to get of jail in order to try to start a new life, but if that’s what Huckabee felt he was doing and he thinks it was noble, then good for him. But shame on him for putting all of the rest of society at risk. Putting men on the street who will kill is not noble, it is shameful and sinful, Rev. Huckabee. Since Huckabee is a man of God, he should clearly understand the meaning in Romans 13:2: “If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible.” Get ready, Rev. Huckabee. God will hold you responsible.

Suspect in Washington State cop murders given clemency during Huckabee administration

2009-11-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

So it appears that former Gov. Mike Huckabee's problems of recommending clemency for convicted criminals is still haunting him. The Huffington Post is reporting that Maurice Clemmons, whom Gov. Huckabee granted clemency over nine years ago, is wanted for killing four police officers in the Tacoma, Washington, area yesterday. Gov. Huckabee released the following statement in response to today's news that Clemmons was wanted in connection with the murders:

The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and in Washington State. The murder of any individual is a profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within.

Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, this commutation made him parole eligible and he was then paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers.

Happy Thanksgiving from Arkansas Tonight!

2009-11-26T05:05:00.001-06:00

From all of us at Arkansas Tonight (all of us being Cris, Don, Isaac, Rick, and me), Happy Thanksgiving! We will all be enjoying time with family and friends and then we will return next week.

Now he can't do a live TV

2009-11-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

I want to take a second to thank KARK-TV for some great clips. I wonder what happened to this guy? Anyone know?

"F*@#ing mutt!"

2009-11-25T09:09:00.003-06:00

I guess filming a tease was a little too much for this fomer KARK-TV reporter. I doubt the entire video ever made the air, but thanks to YouTube, it always makes it to the internet.

Newsweek wants to know: "What's the Matter With Arkansas?"

2009-11-25T08:59:00.002-06:00

Newsweek has a really great article up at their web site about Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Arkansas politics. It's a great read. If you get a chance to read it, you definitely should.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: What's the Matter With Arkansas? | Newsweek.com

Matthews rips the Catholic church on abortion rights

2009-11-24T06:00:00.001-06:00

Did you catch Chris Matthews' interview with Bishop Thomas Tobin yesterday? I was just half-watching and stopped what I was doing to see the smack down that Matthews did on the right reverend. Enjoy what I think will become a classic Chris Matthews clip.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

HOW BRAIN-DAMAGED ARE PALIN SUPPORTERS?

2009-11-23T21:46:00.001-06:00

We're pretty convinced that Palin supporters may be as brain-dead when it comes to the the technical aspects of governance as she is. No wonder they follow her, and no wonder they can't explain why they like her - the mentally challenged voting for, and buying books from, the mentally challenged.

Courtesy of: Palin Supporters Struggle To Explain Why They Support Palin (VIDEO).

South Carolina's Sanford facing 37 ethics charges

2009-11-23T17:30:00.001-06:00

Dang, 37 ethics violations charges. It sucks to be Mark Sanford, although it was probably fun while it lasted. I am guessing that Sanford will still not resign from office, even though he will likely be 1) censured or 2) impeached (let's hope).

Many people ask me, "Ryan, why do you want Sanford impeached? What makes him different from Bill Clinton? You think he shouldn't have been impeached." Well, good question and good point. Let me take a minute to answer that.

Bill Clinton was getting action all the time and doing some weird, freaky stuff. The cigar thing was something I would have never thought of. Really. But the key to his affair is that he was still able to work. He never left the White House and many times didn't even leave the Oval Office. In some cases, he was even taking phone calls from big wigs while he was getting serviced.

Now in the case of Mark Sanford, he left the country and didn't even tell his lieutenant governor that he was going to be gone. So what would have happened had there been a disaster that needed executive leadership while Sanford was in South America getting laid? No one, not even he closest staff members, could get in touch with him.

The other big issue with Sanford was that in some cases he was accused of using state funds to visit his mistress, even sitting first class on his flights. It would be one thing if he was doing this on his own dime.

It's a terrible thing to do to his wife, but it wouldn't be impeachable if he had flown down there on his own dime and let his number two know he would be out of touch and transfer power for the time being. Governors do it all the time. In many states, Arkansas included, the governor must transfer certain powers by law if they are out of the state.

What do you think? Should Sanford be booted from office? Could he ever rehabilitate his image (I'm thinking of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's recent image rehabilitation after his dalliances with an expensive hooker)? Tell me what you think. Leave a comment and let's get the conversation started.

KATV has a stalker outside their River Market studio

2009-11-23T17:25:00.005-06:00

I know I said we were going to be doing some news bloopers and we will continue that, but I think this video should be included in the best local bloopers contest even though it isn't a news blooper.

Now in case you are wondering what this video is all about, the gentleman doing the video is a homeless man (or was homeless last time I heard) who has a video camera and basically stalks the KATV crews and harasses them. He does that and also posts other rants and raves on his YouTube channel (I'm assuming he posts his videos from the public library). I remember seeing him every now and then when I was a volunteer at the Union Station national headquarters of Wesley Clark's presidential campaign in 2004. He never really gave anyone a hard time when we saw him in the parking lot but he was always talking to himself and now apparently he is talking to the rest of the world online.

Also, he ends with this, "...know that this is a shitty-ass TV station." If any of you all can figure out why he feels that way about KATV, please let me know because I've watched some of his videos and I can't figure it out.

Rowdy LSU fans?

2009-11-22T06:30:00.000-06:00

Continuing with our look at some of the best local news bloopers, today we feature Mike Irwin of 5 News. There really isn't much to say about this clip except how funny it was great to hear Mike say damn on air and even better when Garrett Lewis threw it to commercial with this, "Find out if Mike opens up a can." That, and appearing on Dr. Phil, is why Garrett is my favorite local weather man.

Lincoln and Pryor vote in favor of allowing health care bill to make it to floor

2009-11-21T22:05:00.002-06:00

Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor were among the 58 Democrats and two independents who voted in favor of allowing debate to continue regarding a health care bill that is approaching consideration on the Senate floor. Reporter Kelly Dudzik of Fox 16 in Little Rock had an interview with Sen. Lincoln earlier today after her vote and asked why she voted with the other 59 to allow debate to continue. Check out the interview HERE.

What is the best local news blooper?

2009-11-21T09:24:00.004-06:00

Over the next two weeks, we here at Arkansas Tonight are on the lookout for the best local news bloopers. They can be old, new, during news or sports or weather. With any luck, they are on a high-rated station, not Fox 24. But anyway, if you know of any good clips on stations in Northwest Arkansas, Little Rock or Jonesboro, click HERE to e-mail me the link. If we (Cris and me) like it, we'll post it. Then in two weeks, we will rank our favorite local news bloopers.And like I said on the post about Neile Jones, it's too bad Don Elkins doesn't have any embarrassing bloopers. It would be nice to have at least one blooper produced by an individual who is in-house.

We'll start this little adventure with the blooper seen around the world. Enjoy.

TEA PARTY ON, DUDES!

2009-11-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

Funny, unintentionally, and totally on-the-level. A new documentary about the tea party movement. The sound bites are amazing by themselves.

Read more from Matthew Yglesias - Tea Party: The Documentary Film

Clinton will not attend Little Rock free health clinic; claims Olbermann making event political

2009-11-20T19:56:00.004-06:00

Well this is surprising: former President Bill Clinton thinks that Keith Olbermann is politicizing the free health clinic in Little Rock tomorrow. Eve Gittelson, a reporter for FireDogLake.com, ran into Clinton in the gift shop of his presidential library yesterday and asked whether or not he would attend. Clinton indicated he would not and then made the comments about Olbermann. I guess this might muddy up any support I thought Lt. Gov. Halter might have had from the former President.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: FDL News Desk | President Clinton to Skip Arkansas Free Clinic, Blames Olbermann for Politicizing Event

Will Phillips, Mick Foley has your back

2009-11-20T19:18:00.002-06:00

You remember earlier this week when I showed video of West Fork fifth grader Will Phillip being interviewed on CNN regarding his story of not standing up to do the pledge of allegiance until gays and lesbians have equal rights? Do you remember in that video where he said that other students had called him a gaywad because of his actions? Well, Will has no reason to fear anymore. It appears that Jon Stewart used his connections to get Will some backup. Ever heard of Mick Foley? The name sounds familiar, you say? Well, that would be because this former pro wrestler used to be all over the television and can definitely kick any grade school kid's ass if he messes with Will. Check it out:

Tim Russert's office now on display at the Newseum

2009-11-20T18:50:00.004-06:00

I don't know how many of you were deeply affected by the death of Tim Russert, but I can tell you that for me, it was a huge loss. Russert was the one journalist who really got me interested in politics and in media. Between him and my freshman civics teacher, they both got me to go down this path that I am on today, being a political junkie who writes constantly, analyzing the political issues of the day.

If you are like me and would like to see what Tim Russert was like, both as a father, journalist and just a regular guy, you might be interested in a new exhibit opening at the Newseum in Washington. It opened today and it is called, "Inside Tim Russert's Office: If It's Sunday, It's 'Meet the Press.'". Basically the Newseum has recreated Tim Russert's NBC News Washington Bureau office, with the help of bureau staff and Russert's wife and son. It'll be an interesting exhibit among many amazing exhibits that make up the Newseum.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Newseum | Exhibits and Theaters | Inside Tim Russert's Office: If It's Sunday, It's 'Meet the Press'

Huckabee defends Obama

2009-11-19T20:32:00.002-06:00

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is regularly mentioned as a possible candidate for President in 2012, had some pretty tough words for his fellow Republicans recently. According to The Huffington Post, Huckabee had this to say regarding Republican criticism regarding President Obama's recent trip to honor the war dead as they returned to Dover Air Force Base: "When he [Barack Obama] was at Dover the other day, and went there to pay respect for soldiers, I heard a lot of people on the Right say, 'Aw, that's just a cheap photo-op.' No, I think it was the Commander-in-Chief of our military paying respect to a dead soldier, and I'm grateful that he did that, and I was proud of him for doing that. And I think we all -- as Americans -- should give him credit for doing that." Finally, a Republican with a little bit of a brain.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Huckabee Calls Knee-Jerk GOP Attacks On Obama 'Deplorable' And 'Shameful' | The Huffington Post

The attitudes of the teabaggers

2009-11-19T13:52:00.002-06:00

This video hasn't really been a hit on YouTube, but I think it should be. It gives us some great insights into the minds of teabaggers, albeit a bit exaggerated.

Halter on Lincoln, Health Care Reform, Election 2010

2009-11-18T21:15:00.006-06:00

Also on Countdown tonight was an interesting interview with Lt. Gov. Bill Halter regarding an upcoming free health clinic in Little Rock and how and when conservative Southern Democrats might come on board with health care reform, especially now that it appears that the senate might start debate on a bill soon.

During this interview, Lawrence O'Donnell brought up the idea of Halter challenging Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Democratic primary. Halter tried to beat around the bush and say he wouldn't discuss 2010, especially not when he was trying to organize a free health clinic in Little Rock, but if you ask me, it looked like he's running. We shall see. If he does run, he'll most likely have Bill Clinton willing to come back home to stump for him. And hey, while I'm thinking about it, it appears that Halter did his interview from Boston. I could be wrong, but that definitely didn't remind me of the Little Rock skyline I used to see on a daily basis when I lived in central Arkansas.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Lawrence O'Donnell looking old

2009-11-18T21:02:00.002-06:00

Random post, I know, but did any of you catch Countdown tonight? I just turned it on and noticed that fill-in anchor Lawrence O'Donnell is looking mighty old these days. Watching him in HD just makes it worse.

The following is the opening from tonight's show, the same segment that I am currently watching right now on MSNBC. Just watch the first few minutes and tell me whether or not you agree with me.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Will Lincoln join GOP fight against health care reform?

2009-11-18T07:15:00.000-06:00

So the gentleman asking the questions and filming the senator is quite possibly the worst wanna-be journalist I've ever seen, but Sen. Lincoln's reaction is interesting. I wonder how much internal polling her staff has done among Arkansas voters to really determine what would be best for Arkansans.

We deserve a debate

2009-11-17T20:26:00.003-06:00

Whether or not it passes is not at all what I am advocating here. I am just agreeing with this ad. Debate the bill when it comes to the floor of the senate and give it a fair up or down vote, but don't block debate. The question is, will Senators Lincoln and Pryor stand with Republicans or their fellow Democrats?

Vice President's motorcade involved in accident in NYC; three hurt

2009-11-17T19:07:00.005-06:00

The New York Post is reporting that three people, including a New York police officer, were injured this afternoon as Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade was en route to film an appearance on The Daily Show. Biden's vehicle was not involved and continued on to The Daily Show taping without incident.

UPDATE 7:17PM: WNBC-TV is reporting that four people, including two police officers, were injured after an NYPD vehicle hit a cab in midtown Manhattan.

West Fork student stands for gay rights

2009-11-17T06:30:00.001-06:00

I saw this yesterday morning while I was getting ready for work and I thought this kid and his father were really outstanding. It takes a lot of courage to do what this West Fork student is doing. Good going, Will!