1: According to a tweet from Allah Pundit of HotAir.com, Clemmons told friends and family at Thanksgiving dinner that he planned to target cops, schoolchildren, and as many peoople as he could from a Tacoma intersection.

Keep in mind that Clemmons, a career criminal, who had raped a 12-year-old family member, had been released from jail only a day earlier. Yet none of those who heard his threats felt compelled to call the cops. Incredible.

2: The New York Times has obtained letters exchanged between the prosecuting attorney, Robert Herzfeld, and Mike Huckabee in regards to Huckabee’s commutation grant for convicted murderer Denver Witham.

In Herzfeld’s letter he accuses then-Gov. Huckabee of rubber stamping parole board recommendations rather than carefully reviewing each case. He also asks that Huckabee conduct the process in a more public, transparent manner.

Huckabee’s legal counsel, Cory Cox, responded with this letter in which he says that the Governor “laughed out loud” upon receiving Herzfeld’s letter. He also wishes the prosecutor luck as he reduces his caffeine consumption. Unbelieveable.

Huckabee discussed the pardon process recently with Bill O’Reilly.

There is plenty of blame to go around in this situation. In my estimation Judges John Mcarthy and Thomas Felnagle deserve the heftiest portion of it for setting such a low bail ($15k) for a career criminal and rapist.

But Mike Huckabee, although to a lesser extent, also deserves some of the blame. Regardless of his age, Clemmons had been locked up for serious offenses–aggravated robbery, burglary and possession of a gun at a school and sentenced to 108 years.

Huckabee blamed the excessive sentence on Clemmons’ race saying, “If he were a white kid from an upper middle-class family, he would have gotten a lawyer and some counseling. But he was a young black kid, he got 108 years.”

While in prison Clemmons racked up a dozen violations including two for fighting–hardly the model inmate. He was paroled in 2004, only to return back to jail for robbery.

If the Clemmons case was the only slip-up in Huckabee’s record, perhaps we could all get over it. But the unfortunate reality is that he pardoned over 1,000 criminals and commuted 163 sentences including a three-time drunk driver who was sentenced to only six years and rapist Wayne Dumond who later murdered a Missouri woman.

These letters combined with the sheer number of pardons and commutations point to a Mike Huckabee who is more social justice advocate than law-and-order Republican, which makes him a nice guy; but not a great presidential candidate.

More:
-Here’s the article that explains who all Clemmons planned to target.
-This one will make you mad. Last spring Clemmons threatened to kill jail workers and had been experiencing disgusting hallucinations. Really sounds like someone who should be out on the streets, right?
-Debra J. Saunders of the San Francisco Gate says that Huckabee “handed out pardons like candy.”
-The LA Times recently defended Huckabee. They claim that Governors like Texas’ Rick Perry don’t grant pardons because it’s politically expedient not to do so. Or maybe he wants to keep criminals off the streets.
-John A. Tures of the Southern Political Report discusses whether or not Huckabee can recover from this by 2012 or 2016. He compares him to other politicians who have had highly publicized mishaps (Dukakis, Pawlenty, and Biden).

Tags: $15, 000 bail, 108 years, aggravated battery, Allah Pundit, Arkansas, armed battery, Biden, Bill O'Reilly, clemency, commutations, Cory Cox, Debra J. Saunders, Denver Witham, drunk driver, Dukakis, family, friends, hallucinations, Hot Air, John A. Tures, John Mcarthy, Judges, LA Times, Maurice Clemmons, Mike Huckabee, Missouri, New York Times, O'Reilly Factor, pardon, Pawlenty, raape, race, rapist, Republican, Rick Perry, Robert Herzfeld, San Francisco Gate, Southern Political Report, T exas, Tacoma, Thanksgiving, Thomas Felnagle, Twitter, Washington, Wayne Dumond, Willie Horton