Huckabee in His Own (Weaselly) Words

Bill Clinton would be proud! Here's Mike Huckabee with his full "meaning of 'is' is" momen:

A tragedy in Lakewood Washington yesterday when four police officers were murdered in an execution style ambush by a gunman who was being sought as we prepared today’s report. Authorities are looking for a man with a long history of criminal and psychotic behavior in both Washington State and in Arkansas .

I was governor during some of the time of his incarceration here.

Notice the passive voice here? By some strange coincidence I just happened to be governor during...some of the time. So, if you were governor and commuted his sentence, you should step up to the plate and admit it, right?

The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation. The murder of any individual is a profound tragedy. But the murder of a police officer is the worst of all, in that it’s an assault on every citizen as well as 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.

Have I talked enough that you forgot all about that "governor" thing? Well, here goes:

He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and then was paroled by the parole board, once they determined that he met conditions at that time.

"He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence..." Received from whom, Mr. Huckabee? Funny how politicians are always claiming credit for stuff whether they actually did it or not, here, again the passive voice...he received his commutation...as if it floated gently down from heaven! How about a simple declarative sentence, Mr. Huckabee: "I commuted his sentence." Or weasel a little bit and say, "Following someone else's recommendation yada yada yada, I commuted his sentence."

“He was arrested later for parole violation, 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 states.”

Our thoughts and prayers should be with the families of those honorable, brave and heroic police officers.

Hindsight is always 20/20. If it was the right thing to do at the time, he should man up, say "I did it, and here's the reason why". The way that Huckabee tries to disassociate himself for any responsibility in the commutation of this alleged murderer's sentence is positively Clintonian. What little respect I had for him lessened after hearing his tepid, passive and weaselly acknowledgment of what he had done.

Cross posted at Say Anything

See also "Huckabee in His Own Weaselly Words Redux"