Is the pit just a trash dump now? This thread shouldn’t be here either. Maybe Tomndebb just doesn’t want to mod it.
Anyway it’s been confirmed that the person of interest indeed was shown clemency by Huckabee. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/huckabee.php#more?ref=fpblg This is the 2nd exfelon who had a sentence commuted by Huckabee and then proceeded to add to the mayhem.
Matt Yglesias notes: “60 years for burglary and theft for an eighteen year-old seems incredibly excessive. In this case, of course, you can’t help but wish he were in fact still in prison. But it’s hard to see what about a record of involvement in burglaries would make you think this was a guy at risk of doing something like this.” He thinks this was a reasonable use of clemency authority. The person of interest was sentenced to 60 years in 1990 when he was 18; he served 10 before being released by Huckabee in 2000. I’m sympathetic to Yglesias’ POV.
Hm. I wonder what we could do to get this forwarded to GQ. 3 forums isn’t enough! 
My sister knew two of the four officers killed.
And at least some places, because those “tough on crime” mandatory sentencing laws passed due to terror that some “liberal judge” will let criminals go, actually force them to let go criminals sooner. Since they were carefully written to keep those largely imaginary “liberal judges” from deciding how long sentences are, they result in dangerous criminals being let loose after a specific sentence whatever a judge might prefer.
I agree completely. For a long time I’ve been against the death penalty on the grounds that it’s not worth the risk of executing innocent people, but maybe we should be a lot more free with executing obviously completely unrecoverable criminals. People who just rack up sentence after sentence are clearly never going to be rehabilitated, so why allow them to continue victimizing other citizens?
So I’d say I’m still against the death penalty for any first offense, but if you’ve been convicted more than twice of violent felonies, maybe in most cases society should either stick you in a hole and forget about you or just put you down for good, whichever is cheapest.
I’m so sorry to hear that. 
It’s just beyond comprehension to me how anybody could be so selfish as to think that somehow they’re entitled to hurt so many people like this.
Why not? I agree it doesn’t belong in GD. It’s either here or back in MPSIMS, IMO.
I hate Klingons, so the fucking Klingon sympathizers are equally to blame for killing four cops in Washington. Fucking Klingon sympathizers!
I never saw any of those cop-hating liberals when I was a liberal college student either. I must have been going to the wrong parties.
I kind of agree, though maybe the details of the burglary were particularly egregious or something? How do you get 60 years for theft?
FWIW, the authorities that allowed him to post bail while he was a fugitive in another state and apparently pretty severly mentally ill probably have a lot more to answer for then Huckabee.
They, as individuals, were not targeted. They were four cops getting ready for their shift in a coffee shop where cops go. They were targeted BECAUSE they were cops. The (presumed:rolleyes:) shooter was out on $100k bail prior to his third strike. He has a history of assault on an officer and child rape. Of course, that third strike was the fault of the system, specificly the police that won’t allow him to act like an animal.
He walked to the register turned and started shooting. I believe he targeted the female officer first. Two of the officers managed to approach. One struggled with him and got off a shot before being killed. He is a predator.
Stop defending such behavior! These four people had nine young children between them. They were husbands, a wife, sons, a daughter, brothers and a sister. They were good cops and good people and they were murdered by an evil man with nothing to lose.
How dare you sully their memory!
mpsims.
The police are currently surrounding a home in Seattle’s Leschi neighborhood.
An article in the Seattle Times detailing the person of interest’s criminal record sounds like he’d been taking a wee turn for the crazy.
I didn’t defend anything, and how do you know why they were targeted?
It seems from the news coverage that this was sort of a known officer hangout, so it seems more likely right now that they were targeted for being cops than for being specific cops.
I used to live near there but it’s been many years so I’m not familiar with the atmosphere now.
From the article I posted above.
Agreed.
Generally speaking, I try to delay bar-room judgment until at least 72 hours after the story breaks. (Opinions on policy should take somewhat longer.) My previous remarks should be regarded as tentative.
Mainstream TV news anchors have a differing perspective, one I do not share.
I heard a report earlier where investigators were saying it “wasn’t random.” If it wasn’t random, I assumed they must have been specifically targeted. I see nothing inappropriate about wondering (with such little information, and we still don’t know that this Clemmons guy was the perp, by the way) if they were targeted for reasons having to do with involvement in criminal activity. Asking the question is not an accusation, nor is it a suggestion that the shooter should not be held accountable (if sane).
It does sound like this could just be yet another psychotic with a gun, though.
Oh, I don’t think it was random, but I think it could have been any group of four cops. And indeed, we don’t know that Clemmons is anything more than a “person of interest” since that’s what he’s been labeled. For all we really know, he’s some sad sack that was standing outside or seemed to have association with a putative gunman. However, apparently said gunman walked up to the counter and the barista saw enough of a weapon to run and hide. I’m not the person to ask about police corruption in Tacoma/Lakewood, since I left ten years ago and my family doesn’t follow those things.
Bush didn’t let him out – just changed death to a life sentence.
Yeah, I read my cites too.
The point was, if Bush could get do that (153 DP cases, and the one that gets his special attention is who? :eek:) and still get nominated, and elected, then Huckabee has nothing to worry about (at least with regards to this, IMHO of course).
CMC fnord!