TheAgitator.com
Huckabee on the Death Penalty: Did God’s Candidate Fib?
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007A reader who asked to remain anonymous writes:
When addressing capital punishment, and his decision to green-light executions while governor, Mike Huckabee said: “I read every page of every document of every case that ever came before me, because it was the one decision that came to my desk that, once I made it, was irrevocable.”
Now, I know most people aren’t aware of how voluminous a court record is, but I would guess that you are (given the research you’ve done), and I certainly am. Between my first and second years in law school, I worked at Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions. Most of my summer was spent working on a commutation petition on behalf of Darnell Williams (then on death row; subsequently commuted by Governor Kernan).
Anyway, I know firsthand how long a trial record is, how long an appellate record is, and how long a commutation petition is (not to mention the various letters, briefs, etc. filed by interested third parties such as Amnesty International). Hell, I co-authored the clemency petition (along with several other students and staff attorneys, mind you) and I didn’t even read the whole record. Given what I know, I find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that Huckabee read “every page of every document of every case.”
Now I know some people may find this to be nitpicking, but given the finality of capital punishment (acknowledged by Huckabee himself), I find it incredibly insulting that Huckabee would defend his position by essentially lying to the public. Personally, I would love for somebody to dig up the record from one of the cases Huckabee allegedly reviewed, see how long it really is, and challenge Huckabee on his statement.
I don’t know for certain how long clemency petitions are in Arkansas, but it does seem to be a bit of an exaggeration to say he read every page of the 16 capital cases to cross his desk. Of course, so does stating that God is the reason why you’re climbing in the polls.
Huckabee’s a likable guy. But man. If you thought George W. Bush was a big-government conservative…
There’s a reason why the left seems to be fond of this guy.
There’s also a stunningly positive huckabee piece in the New Yorker. My jaw dropped when I read it.
Then my dad told me he’s into Huckabee… sigh.
Right now its a battle between Huckabee (GWB II) and Paul for the Republican Party. I think either way I’ll be happy. If Huckabee wins the nomination I think that will signal the end of any cooperation between libertarians (or even libertarian-minded folks) and the GOP. I’ll still want to gag, but at least we won’t have to deal with the neocons and theocrats any longer.
Not to argue with you - I agree with your position more or less - but Huckabee didn’t say:
“every page of every document of every case.”
He said, “every page of every document of every case that ever came before me.”
That could mean “…every page…that ever came before me, for all the cases” (re-arranging his words). In other words, he read every page that was GIVEN to him - not every page of the entire court record.
His exact words leave some wiggle-room - or at least it seems that way to me. Whether this was what he intended - who knows?
With all due respect, this is a nitpicking criticism. If someone called him on it, he’d just say that he can’t be certain that he read every page of every case, rather used that phrase to portray the arduous and painstaking diligence that he used to review them. Is this that big of a deal?
Attack him for his desire to implement a federal ban on smoking, regulating foods in schools, discriminatory position on same-sex marriage, hypocritcal pro-life/death penalty position, 65% increase in state spending in his 8 years as governor, etc.
What makes you think they sent cartons of legal documents to the governor to read? It’s probably reasonable to assume a file was prepared that set out the essential information, affadavits, statements, etc. Don’t let your dislike for Huckabee cloud your reason.
If he did fib, then he ought to hope that he made calls that turned out to be just. God does not trust political power lightly to any man, and every person with authority over another person will answer to God for how they exercised that authority. If Huckabee is serious, then he ought to remember that that is the flipside of Romans 13.
There is a ComputerWorld story about Huckabee allegedly ordering the destruction of over 80 hard drives shortly before he left the governor’s office. Some may think it’s not a big deal, but it does raise several questions. DailyKos has linked to it, and Reddit has linked to the DailyKos article.
The CW article is here -
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=282516
My impression of what he’s saying, giving it a reasonable interpretation, is that he read the petitions for clemency and all supporting exhibits personally — rather than relying on a summary prepared by aides.
If he’s God’s candidate he can’t possibly be lying. Otherwise, shame on God.
If you’re looking for evidence that Huckabee lied, there much better evidence of that here. There’s documents and everything.