The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

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Newsday.com
Missouri murder controversy hounds Huckabee
MCCLATCHY NEWS

December 6, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said this week that he is "heartbroken" over the pain suffered by the families of two women murdered in Kansas City more than six years ago.

Authorities say both victims, Carol Shields and Sara Andrasek, were killed by Wayne DuMond, who was released from an Arkansas prison in 1999, a year before Shields' murder. Their mothers say Huckabee is responsible, at least in part, for DuMond's release.

"What a fool," said Lois Davidson, Shields' mother. "Thinking he could rule the country when he couldn't even do a good job as governor of Arkansas."

Janet Williams, Andrasek's mother, said, "Wayne DuMond should have never been on the streets in Missouri. ... When politics are involved, people get hurt, and Sara and Carol Shields paid the ultimate price with their lives."

"I'm deeply sorry for what they've been through," Huckabee said in a telephone interview with The Kansas City Star on Tuesday. "Nothing I can do or say can reduce their level of grief." But the Republican said he wanted the families -- and the public -- to fully understand his role in DuMond's controversial release from custody. "I should be held responsible for the things I did," Huckabee said. "The one thing I didn't do is let him go."

DuMond died in 2005 in a Missouri prison, where he was serving time for killing Shields. He was never charged with killing Andrasek, although prosecutors say they have "no doubt" he did.

Huckabee's connection to Wayne DuMond has been a part of Arkansas politics for more than a decade. Now, as Huckabee climbs in some presidential polls, the case is getting new scrutiny.

A jury sent DuMond to prison in 1985 for the rape of Ashley Stevens, 17, a distant relative of then-Gov. Bill Clinton. While awaiting that trial, DuMond was castrated -- some say by assailants, others say at his own hand. But his conviction and imprisonment became a rallying point for Clinton critics and some Arkansas Republicans, who said they believed DuMond was innocent and in prison because of the Clinton connection.

In 1996, then-Gov. Huckabee said he planned to commute DuMond's sentence to time served, in part because evidence in the case was "questionable." That announcement set off bitter complaints, including from Stevens. On Jan. 16, 1997, Huckabee officially reversed the decision and denied clemency, but he told DuMond in a letter "my desire is that you be released from prison."

That day, the Arkansas Post Prison Transfer Board agreed to release DuMond.

Huckabee says claims that he had tried to influence the parole board were ludicrous. He admitted he considered commuting DuMond's sentence to time served and doubted DuMond's guilt in the 1990s. Now, he says, "given what's happened," he believes DuMond was guilty of rape and regrets the release.

"They say you're supposed to forgive," Davidson said. "There are two men I don't think I'll ever forgive: Mr. Huckabee and Wayne DuMond."

Dan White prosecuted DuMond for Shields' murder. A jury convicted DuMond; he was sentenced to life in prison. Huckabee "was certainly an advocate for the release of Wayne DuMond," White said last week. "I don't think there's any question he shares some responsibility."

Davidson and Williams say Huckabee has never called them to apologize or to explain his part in the case, even though he told interviewers he "felt horrible" about DuMond's release.

Judging Huckabee's Clemencies
Prison Commutations Under Scrutiny;
What Role Did Faith Play?
By MARY JACOBY
December 24, 2007; Page A4

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- In 2004, Mike Huckabee granted clemency to John Henry Claiborne III, a man facing the prospect of life in prison for a violent crime spree committed 11 years earlier.

The grant came following the plea of a prominent African-American evangelical supporter of Mr. Huckabee, then the Republican Arkansas governor -- and over the objections of Mr. Claiborne's victims, and the prosecutor in the case.

As Mr. Huckabee has surged to the top of the Republican presidential race, scrutiny of his record here in Little Rock has grown. One element in particular is the high number of prison-sentence commutations and pardons that Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, granted during his decade in office -- more than a thousand, or twice those of the previous three governors combined.

One of Mr. Huckabee's opponents, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, has zeroed in on the clemencies to paint Mr. Huckabee as soft on crime. Mr. Huckabee has responded that his governing philosophy included a willingness to give people "a second chance."

The clemency decisions go to the heart of Mr. Huckabee's message: part Christian moral conservatism, part liberal-leaning social conscience. Little Rock lobbyist J. J. Vigneault, a former political aide to Mr. Huckabee, says of his former boss's faith: "I do think it has the potential to influence everything he does."

The minister who would eventually become Mr. Claiborne's champion began his political relationship with Mr. Huckabee around 1993.

The Rev. Charles E. Williams, of the Covenant of Zion Cathedral Church in Little Rock, grew up in Cleveland, Miss., the son of sharecroppers. His family of 10 lived in a shack with no plumbing beside their cotton field, and his tale of childhood hardship echoes the one Mr. Huckabee often tells of his own upbringing. "But we were never on welfare. And my parents taught us to value America and its values, despite deep racism," Mr. Williams says in an interview at his church in a blighted area near downtown Little Rock.

After Mr. Williams moved from Mississippi to Arkansas, he met Mr. Huckabee, then the lieutenant governor, at an event at the state capitol. Mr. Huckabee greeted Mr. Williams with a big hug, Mr. Williams recalls. "We bonded. The guy is as comfortable around blacks as he is any other people," he says.

Messrs. Huckabee and Williams -- now both 52 years old -- shared a belief in a literal interpretation of the Bible and a strong opposition to abortion and homosexuality.

Mr. Huckabee took office as governor in 1996. In 2001 he appointed Mr. Williams to a post on the state Claims Commission reviewing tort litigation, a position that paid around $20,000 a year. Mr. Williams served on the panel until 2006.

Mr. Williams was part of Mr. Huckabee's network in the religious African-American community. Mr. Huckabee regularly won around 20% of the black vote in his gubernatorial races in Arkansas, substantially more than any other Republican candidate for statewide office. Much of that support came from his close connections with black evangelical ministers in the state, allowing him to tap their networks for votes, said former aide Mr. Vigneault.

Over the years, Mr. Williams brought what he thought were worthy clemency applications to Mr. Huckabee's attention. "I would pray over them, weigh how heinous was the crime," he says.

In an interview, Mr. Huckabee said of Mr. Williams, "I've known him for many, many years." He said he couldn't remember whether Mr. Williams had influenced any specific clemency cases. "I'm sure he wrote letters for somebody," he said, but added: "One letter is never going to be the thing."

One application Mr. Williams promoted was from Mr. Claiborne.

Mr. Claiborne, who will turn 40 on Friday, grew up in Little Rock. In 1991, while he was living in Washington state, Mr. Claiborne was convicted of robbery and possessing stolen property and went to prison briefly. When he got out, he returned to Little Rock.

On the morning of April 1, 1993, according to a prosecutor's notes, Mr. Claiborne broke into the home of 72-year-old Cloy Evans, in a working-class neighborhood of Little Rock. Mr. Claiborne tied Mr. Evans to a chair and ripped his phone from the wall. He ransacked his house. He took a shotgun and rifles and headed next door.

Vivian Allbritton had just come inside from hanging the laundry when Mr. Claiborne broke down her back door. He ordered her and her husband, Homer, a World War II veteran, to lie on the kitchen floor, and pointed the shotgun at their heads. He ripped the wedding rings from Mrs. Allbritton's fingers, according to her son, Greg.

Mr. Allbritton, then 69 years old, started to have chest pains. Still, he tried to flee for help. But he slipped and fell, and Mr. Claiborne dragged him back inside the house and ransacked their home, according to Greg Allbritton and the prosecutor.

Mr. Claiborne left in the couple's 1983 Mercury. A few weeks later, Homer Allbritton suffered a heart attack, his son says. After he had committed seven more felony crimes for which he was convicted, Mr. Claiborne was apprehended.

Mr. Claiborne went to prison on a 375-year sentence, which was later reduced to 100 years by Mr. Huckabee's predecessor, Jim Guy Tucker. Mr. Claiborne repeatedly applied for early release, Greg Allbritton says.

Mr. Williams said he pushed for Mr. Claiborne's early release because his family asked for his help. "And I want to help people," he says, declining to elaborate. Mr. Williams says in general he would lobby the governor in person when he saw him at political or official events.

In 2004, the Allbrittons got word that Gov. Huckabee was going to back Mr. Claiborne's commutation request. "It was like anyone who said they'd found Jesus could get Gov. Huckabee to commute their sentence," says Greg Allbritton, whose father, Homer, had died in 2001. Greg called the Pulaski County prosecutor, Larry Jegley, to complain about Mr. Huckabee's decision.

"When I heard his story, I got angry," says Mr. Jegley, a Democrat. Mr. Jegley held a press conference to press Mr. Huckabee for a moratorium on clemencies. Of Mr. Claiborne and his list of felony convictions, he says: "This guy was trouble."

Mr. Huckabee plays down the idea that arguments for redemption influenced his clemency decisions. "Everybody in jail will always claim to have a conversion," he says. "You look at institutional records, disciplinaries, recommendations from prosecutors, police, friends, family, whether they have a job." The Huckabee campaign declined to comment on Mr. Claiborne's case.

After Mr. Claiborne was granted parole in 2004, he married the sister of Mr. Williams, the minister.

In September of this year, a police officer found Mr. Claiborne slumped over the wheel of his car in the middle of a Little Rock intersection, passed out. The officer found marijuana, small bags and a scale in the car with Mr. Claiborne. He was charged with possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. Mr. Claiborne is now out of jail on $15,000 bond, court records show.

Mr. Claiborne couldn't be reached for comment, and Mr. Williams declined to arrange an interview with him. But, Mr. Williams said in an interview last week: "He's doing real well."

Hey Babe, you hate gays, want to ban abortions, but love the Born-Again, Faith-Based, Pro-Life Lying Serial Killer in Chief Mass Murderer War Criminal's Illegal Invasions. You want to Wall off the South, but like Mission Accomplished, you are just another Religious Fraud and Hypocrite who harbors a lot of Hatred. Babe, there are many more Fundamentalist Extremists Religious Nuts like you in Canada than in Mexico. You better move your useless Wall up North. Babe, your Huckster is not going very far outside of Iowa. Does your Delusional Imaginary Fairy Tale Book include shooting God's creatures just for pure pleasure?

What Would Jesus Shoot?

That should be "abortifacient" = any substance that induces abortion or prevents implantation.

nikb:

I don't think that Jesus would "hate" anyone -- BTW neither do I -- please re-read your own posts if you are really wondering who "hates" whom. As for "not answering any questions" I (at the very least) answered that I wouldn't mind my "race" becoming a minority in the USA faster if that meant banning all abortions. You now throw in other "birth control" on top of the discussion re: abortion -- as long as said birth control is not an abortifacent and is practiced between a married man and women, I have no problem with that -- anything more detailed than that is probably better addressed on a specific thread about birth control. Better luck next time.

Hey, nikb, we don't need more humans on the Earth. Now that we're here let's keep the planet pristine for ourselves. You favor abortions, but really now, does that go far enough. Do we really need all those old folks who occupy space in nursing homes. After all they've lived their lives. Let's propose a program to let them go gracefully so they don't take up any precious space, not to mention the carbon dioxide they produce and the food they consume. And why not rid ourselves of those folks in mental institutions and those with debilitating illnesses. Gee, they're such a burden to society. Who needs them. While we're at it let's propose to get rid of all those useless kids that are born with imperfections. After all, we want the world we live in to be a utopia for those of us fortunate to be here now. Come to think of it, I think the Nazis tried these ideas already.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTcyMTM5YzRiMzVjMjA3MGEwMjUwM2Y3NGJiMzM1YWY=

December 05, 2007, 4:00 a.m.

The Story Mike Huckabee Dreads
With his new success comes new attention to an old Arkansas crime.

By Byron York

In August, I interviewed former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee about the case of Wayne Dumond, the convicted rapist who was freed under Huckabee's administration, only to rape and kill a woman in neighboring Missouri. The crime attracted enormous attention in Arkansas, but at the time of our interview, it had not made its way into much coverage of Huckabee's presidential bid. "If [Huckabee] continues to rise in the polls," I wrote, "it's likely he'll be talking about it a lot more."

Now Huckabee is rising in the polls, and sure enough, the Dumond case is attracting more attention. This morning, ABC News ran a report featuring the mother of the woman Dumond murdered, who blames Huckabee for her daughter's death and vows to do everything she can to stop his campaign. "I can't imagine anybody wanting somebody like that running the country," the woman told ABC.

For many people, the report is the first they've heard of the Dumond case. Once they learn about it, however, they are unlikely to forget its bizarre details and the strange turn of events that led to Dumond's final crime. The case is the wild card in Mike Huckabee's record, the single most controversial event during his time in the Arkansas governor's office. And it is a potential threat to his now-soaring candidacy.

It began in September 1984, when Dumond, a 35-year-old handyman, kidnapped and raped a 17-year-old high-school cheerleader in the small eastern-Arkansas town of Forrest City. Dumond was allowed to remain free on bond while awaiting trial, and in March 1985 two masked men entered his house, tied him up with fishing line, and castrated him. People were stunned; the case, already notorious, became much more so. And that was before the local sheriff, a rather colorful man named Coolidge Conlee, displayed Dumond's severed testicles in a jar of formaldehyde on his desk in the St. Francis County building. Amid tons of publicity, Dumond was found guilty and sentenced to life plus 20 years.

The case took on a political coloring when it became known that the victim was a distant cousin of Bill Clinton. After conviction, Dumond, who claimed he was innocent, asked Clinton for clemency. Clinton declined.

Dumond also argued that even if he were guilty his sentence was excessive, and his position won him some sympathy, not least on the grounds that he had suffered terribly at the hands of those unknown assailants. In April 1992, when Dumond had served just seven years, Lt. Gov. Tucker, acting as governor while Clinton was out of state campaigning for president, commuted Dumond's sentence to a level where he would be eligible for parole. That didn't mean Dumond would go free, only that the state parole board would consider the question. The board declined to free Dumond.

That's where things stood when Huckabee took office on July 15, 1996. Last August, Huckabee told me he had his doubts about Dumond's guilt, and also felt sorry for him over the castration attack. On September 20, just weeks after taking office, Huckabee announced that he intended to set Dumond free, saying that there were "serious questions as to the legitimacy of his guilt." On October 31, Huckabee met with the parole board. Not long after, the board voted to free Dumond, but on the condition he move to another state. Huckabee was pleased, in part because -- given that the board had voted to free Dumond -- there was no need for Huckabee to commute the sentence or pardon him. So Huckabee denied Dumond's now-irrelevant pardon application while at the same time congratulating him on his soon-to-come freedom. "Dear Wayne," Huckabee wrote in a letter to Dumond. "My desire is that you be released from prison. I feel that parole is the best way for your reintroduction to society to take place."

But no state would take Dumond. He remained behind bars for two and a half more years, until the board voted to free him in Arkansas. He was released in October 1999 and returned home. The next year, Dumond left the state, moving to a small town near Kansas City, Mo. Within weeks of arriving, he sexually assaulted and murdered a 39-year-old woman at an apartment complex near his home. The day that happened, everyone knew that freeing Wayne Dumond had been a very, very bad idea.

A political storm erupted. Huckabee sought cover by saying that all he had done was to deny Dumond's pardon application. But some Democrats claimed that Huckabee had pressured the parole board to free Dumond. What actually happened between Huckabee and the board remains unclear to this day, but there is no doubt that Huckabee wanted Wayne Dumond set free. And today, he knows he was terribly wrong, but he still defends his actions. "My only official action was to deny his clemency," Huckabee told me in Iowa. As we talked, Huckabee spread the blame around, not only to Tucker, who originally commuted Dumond's sentence, but to Bill Clinton as well. "Tucker could not have done that without Clinton's full knowledge and approval," Huckabee said.

I asked about the "Dear Wayne" letter. Didn't Huckabee want Dumond to go free? "I thought he would, you know, be clean," Huckabee told me. "And he had a job, he had sponsors lined up, so at the time, I did not have this apprehension that something horrible like that would happen. I did want him to report in [to parole authorities], because I just didn't know -- you never know about a guy like that."

As he talked, Huckabee looked down. "I hate it like crazy," he said. "It's one of the most horrible things ever that he went off and did what he did. It's just terrible. There's nothing you can say, but my gosh, it's the thing you pray never happens. And it did."

The Dumond case followed Huckabee around for the rest of his time in the governor's office. In his 2002 reelection bid, his Democratic opponent based virtually her entire campaign on the issue. And beyond the narrow issue of Dumond, Huckabee's actions raise larger questions about his views on crime and punishment. Critics, and some friends, too, have said Huckabee's position was deeply influenced by his Christian faith. "When I first met him, I was going through his positions on issues and I said, 'You're a conservative, so I'm sure you oppose granting parole for violent felons,'" Dick Morris, the campaign consultant who ran Huckabee's first run for lieutenant governor, told me. "And he said, 'Oh no, I would never take that position, because the concept of Christian duty requires that there is a possibility of forgiveness. The concept of Christian forgiveness requires that we keep open the process of parole -- use it sparingly, but keep it open.'"

When I asked Huckabee about that, he reminded me that he was tough on a lot of criminals, too. "Heck, I executed more people than any governor in the history of the state," Huckabee told me. "It's not something I'm bragging about, I'm just saying that if it had been simply a matter of my Christian conscience saying I don't believe in capital punishment, then I was pretty lousy in my conscience."

Huckabee doesn't duck talking about Dumond or the larger clemency issue. But he doesn't enjoy it, either, given that it was unquestionably the worst thing that happened while he was governor. Now, with the press spotlight shining on him, he has no choice but to explain himself.

--

Byron York, NR's White House correspondent, is the author of the book The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President -- and Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time.

http://www.patriots247.com/forums/index.php?s=f8556f6dd7d5c4749e7471397ba29f7d&showtopic=1628&st=0&p=12750&#entry12750

Huckabee faces scrutiny for involvement in rapist parole

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Following the release of several new polls suggesting Mike Huckabee has risen into the first tier of the Republican presidential candidates, the former Arkansas governor is facing a fresh round of scrutiny over supporting the parole of a convicted rapist in 1999.

Huckabee, then in his first term as governor, expressed support for the parole of Wayne DuMond, who was serving a life sentence for raping a 17-year-old girl. Less than a year after his release, DuMond was accused of murdering and raping a woman in Kansas City, Missouri, a crime he was eventually convicted of in 2003. He died in prison in 2005.

Huckabee has repeatedly said he wished he had more information about DuMond before advocating the release, and recently told CNN there was no indication DuMond remained a threat.

"There's nothing any of us could ever do," Huckabee said. "None of us could've predicted what he could've done when he got out." Huckabee also said that the process leading to DuMond's release began under former President Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.

But new documents posted on the liberal Web site The Huffington Post indicate Huckabee had received letters from several victims of Wayne Dumond's before his release. The letters detailed his past actions and pleaded that he remain incarcerated.

"I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time," one victim wrote. She described how DuMond had raped her at knifepoint.

In another letter, a woman documented how her mother was raped by DuMond, and said he had told her mother that he would rape her daughter if she did not cooperate.

The Huffington Post says it received the never-before-published letters from a "deeply troubled" former aide to Huckabee who believes the now-presidential candidate has "deliberately attempted to cover up his knowledge of DuMond's other sexual assaults."

Huckabee spokesman Alice Stewart denied to the Huffington Post that Huckabee ever received any of the letters, but now tells CNN he got at least one from a victim named "Onita" who lived in DeWitt, Arkansas.

It's not clear if this is one of the letters posted on the Huffington Post, because the site has redacted the names.

The Huffington Post has published three victims' letters, and says it will post additional files later Wednesday.

- CNN's Dana Bash and Alexander Mooney

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_po/huckabee_the_parodox

ON DEADLINE: Did Huckabee go too far? By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Dec 31, 4:56 PM ET

Mike Huckabee may have finally gone too far.

After running an unconventional, surprisingly strong and sometimes strange race to the top tier of the Republican presidential campaign, the former Arkansas governor topped himself Monday with a campaign stunt that smacked of hypocrisy.

He called a news conference to unveil a negative ad that he had just withdrawn from Iowa television stations because, he told a room full of journalists recording the ad, he had a sudden aversion to negative politics. Quite a convenient epiphany.

"If people want to be cynical about it," Huckabee said, "they can be cynical about it."

If he loses Iowa's caucuses, New Year's Eve will forever mark the day Huckabee blew it -- the day a crowd stopped laughing with the witty Republican and laughed at him.

If he wins -- a possibility that even Huckabee now thinks he put at risk -- he sealed victory in a weird way Monday.

Here's what happened:

Huckabee came out of nowhere a few weeks ago to overtake former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Iowa polls, despite being massively outspent and out-organized. Romney answered back with television ads criticizing Huckabee's record in Arkansas.

While guilty of cherry-picking the worst aspects of Huckabee's resume, the negative ads stuck with the facts. For example, Huckabee did grant 1,033 pardons and commutations, including for 12 convicted murderers, as Romney's ad stated.

Huckabee's lead evaporated, which suggests that the ads worked or that a series of gaffes had caught up to him.

Or both.

So he did what desperate candidates do. Huckabee took himself off the campaign trail Sunday to shoot a negative ad. He bought $30,000 in television time to air the spot and called a news conference to unveil it.

While awaiting the late-arriving Huckabee, more than 50 reporters and a dozen photographers got to read five huge cards placed on easels by Huckabee's staff -- all highly critical of Romney's record as governor.

"Enough is enough," the signs said.

When Huckabee arrived, he announced that he had just changed his mind. The ad wouldn't run. It was too negative.

"I believe the people of Iowa deserve better, and we are going to try and give them better ...," he said.

But he didn't. Instead, Huckabee showed off the spot to the journalists, knowing full well his negative message would seep out of the room. He told the media to pay close attention.

"You're not going to get a copy of it," he warned, "so this is your chance to see it, then after that you'll never see it again."

The media laughed.

One of the funniest, most charming presidential candidate in recent memory, Huckabee normally makes reporters and voters laugh at his one-liners. On Monday, he made himself the butt of his own joke, urging journalists to take careful note of the negative ad that he had withdrawn because he wanted to run a positive campaign.

"It's never too late to do the right thing," he said.

The ad criticizes Romney's record as governor, fairly so, but goes on to question his character. "If a man is dishonest to obtain a job," Huckabee says in the ad, "he'll be dishonest on the job."

Funny that Huckabee decided at noon that line was too negative, because he used it six hours earlier during a national TV interview.

He used it on a Sunday news show, too.

And he didn't disavow the line Monday. "I said what I said. I spoke the truth," Huckabee said.

If he loses Thursday, Huckabee said, "I'll be the last guy to do this. But I want to be the first who will at least try."

Iowans have a reputation for punishing politicians who go negative. The question is whether voters, particularly evangelicals who make up his political base, will believe Huckabee had the political equivalent of a deathbed conversion.

Or will they think he's treating them likes rubes -- appealing to their sense of fair play while being foul?

Either way, the bizarre news conference was the latest twist in a campaign that has given new meaning to the word paradox. Huckabee is an immensely talented communicator and successful former governor who is nonetheless a flawed candidate.

• He is mistake prone, particularly when it comes to commenting about foreign policy.

• He can be thin-skinned and rash. Two of his advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said privately Monday that the production of the ad was fueled by Huckabee's white-hot anger with Romney, and that his change of mind was jarring to the campaign staff.

• He has a paltry political organization in a state that values the ground game, according to an informal survey of GOP county chairs and co-chairs. "I haven't seen much of a sign of him or his people," said Jim Conklin, chairman of the Linn County GOP.

He can also be disarmingly honest. Asked whether Romney should stop running negative ads, Huckabee said, "I'm not going to try to run his campaign."

"I'm having enough trouble running mine."

___

EDITORS: Ron Fournier has covered politics for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years. On Deadline is an occasional column.

Sure, let's ban all birth control and abortions throughout the world. The Earth needs more humans on it. We need to clear cut all the forests everywhere and build more houses and whatever. We need more stuff for everyone. Let's all have one big feast and bring more people on the planet and manufacture more stuff for everyone to use and throwaway. Let's build more coal power plants.

So, why have a Mexican Wall? There are very few Fundamentalist Muslims in Mexico. There are tons in Canada. It just shows what a bunch of racists the Wall Wackos are.

You have no answers. You are just full of Hate like most Religious Extremists. You want to impose your Delusional, Imaginary Religious Fairy Tales on others who are capable of independent thought and analysis.

Who Would Jesus Hate?

Well, nikb, I wouldn't mind my "race" becoming a minority in the USA faster if that meant banning all abortions -- not sure how that makes me a "racist" though -- as for all your other ad hominem attacks (even if they were true), it doesn't actually address the issues at hand.

Why not have a wall on the Canadian border and the coastline? How many Islunatics have emigrated to Canada from Mission Accomplished's warzones, PakiPsychostan, Iran and other wonderful Islunatic countries? You should pay a visit to Toronto, Montreal, etc. So, basically, you Wall Freaks are just racists? You will go and pick the veggies and fruits? You don't need to pick the nuts, because you are one. You Wall Wackos ever heard of tunnels, ladders, boats, planes, etc.? Your useless money wasting Wall is full of holes like your arguments. So, you claim to be Pro-Life but you support the Mass Murderer and the Serial Killings of others. People in Iraq did not attack the USA before the Axis of Evil invaded, but I am sure many would like to now, and the only WMDs are the Weapon of Mass Delusions of the Extremists Psycho NeoConArtists. So, it is better to waste a couple of Trillion Dollars fighting Illegal Invasions that will only make the USA less secure? You support the Death Penalty or are you like the Huckster and trust all the Rapists and Murderers in the Big House have all found the Good Lord and push for their early release on parole so they can go out and Rape and Kill your daughters, sisters, wives, etc. again?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/huckabee-on-rapist-murderer/

Search Huckabee and Murderer

Your Pro-Lifer is just another Dukakis.

Banning all abortions only means your race will become a minority in the USA faster. So, get used to it.

You can always drink the Kool-Aid.

I understand what you are saying, zapo, but "Anybody" is a pretty broad category ; )

JakeD, where I come from one of the local radio stations distributes bumper stickers that read, "Anybody but Hillary". I'm dedicated to that position, and I think Rudy is the one guy who can make that happen.

"In a meeting with several dozen Segway employees..."

How the mighty have fallen.

I don't think that anyone is calling for a wall all along the Canadian border and the coastline.

He is a joke. He will try to ride to coat tails of 9/11 forever. He really didnt do much of anything besides walk around for a photo op

He is Pro-Death like the Born-Again, Faith-Based, Pro-Life Lying Serial Killer-in-Chief Mass Murderer War Criminal. At least he will not grovel to the National Right to Annihilate like everyone else in the Guns Owned Party. We should continue to flush away $15 billion/month ($500 million per day) in Mission Accomplished's Illegal Invasion of Sovereign States. We should build a wall not only on the Mexican border but the Canadian border and all along the coastline. We should invade more Islunatic countries to generate more hatred and enemies. Happy now, Extremists Psychos?

zapo:

If my only choice was Rudy vs. Hillary, Obama or Edwards, yeah, I guess I would have to vote for Rudy -- talk about choosing between two evils -- luckily, there's always been a pro-life candidate running ; )

JakeD, would you rather have the socialist leaning, pro-abortion, tax increasing, terror-war defeatist, little management experienced Hillary, Obama or Edwards running the White House? Rudy may not be a far right conservative (note he doesn't personally believe in abortion), but the Time 2001 Person of the Year is a superb, tested, tough and experienced leader whose moderate social stances make him nationally electable.

No big surprise about kase, though, as back a couple months, he / she was making fun of McCain as "the Old Babyburner" living thru September!

Posted by: kase | September 6, 2007 02:43 PM http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/09/06/post_61.html

Ouch, kase. You don't see me hoping for another James Earl Ray against Obama, do you?

P.S. to bsimon -- I never claimed that Rudy was part of the State Department or federal government, nor that his staff negotiated or signed treaties, nor that he directed foreign policy -- all he said was "As mayor of New York, I got involved in every foreign policy dispute that exists." I don't find that so hard to believe. Go ahead a disprove it if you can.

Hopefully his cancer will kill him before election day.

I believe we'd be better off if Herr Rudy (and most of the others of both parties) skipped ALL the states.

JakeD, perhaps you've forgotten that the mayor of New York is not a position within the state department or federal government. Neither he nor his staff negotiates or signs treaties. Nor does he direct foreign policy. At best, the job could be described as a 'figurehead' position, i.e. 'Welcome to New York, enjoy your visit to the United Nations'.

On the positive side, the CFR article linked to above has some very good ideas, as well as the following: "Since leaving the New York City mayor's office, I have traveled to 35 different countries. It is clear that we need to do a better job of explaining America's message and mission to the rest of the world, not by imposing our ideas on others but by appealing to their enlightened self-interest."

That sounds good to me.

zapo:

I'm fairly concerned that he is pro-choice and pro-homosexual rights -- so, I probably could not vote for him -- I would like to see New York and California in play come November though

The other presidential hopefuls talk a good talk, but Rudy is the only one who showed us how a leader should perform in a crises. His management after the 9/11 catastrophe was tech book perfect. This, after he made New York a decent place to want to live in and visit again, and after he put New York on a sound fiscal footing. Oh yes, and he also personally took on the mob. This guy is for real, not some media made over.

Dennis Kucinich is also campaigning in New Hampshire today.

bsimon:

Perhaps you've forgotten that is a major center for foreign affairs, hosting the headquarters of the United Nations, and the Mayor's Office does indeed have a foreign affairs liason as well as several departments helping in that area:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/unccp/html/diplomatic/main.shtml

Did you read this from Rudy?

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070901faessay86501/rudolph-giuliani/toward-a-realistic-peace.html

"As mayor of New York, I got involved in every foreign policy dispute that exists."

What a joke.

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