The Mississippi Attorney General asked for and won an injunction against 21 of the 200 outgoing Gov. Barbour pardons. The AG argued some of the pardons failed to meet the state requirement for a public notice when an inmate requests a pardon. Many, including the infamous four murderers, have already been released. No doubt the huge outcry over some of these pardons prompted the AG, Jim Hood, a Democrat, to take action. He likened Gov. Barbour to Boss Hogg saying he acted as though he was above the law.
Attorney general: Barbour tried to rule the state like Boss Hogg
“He’s tried to rule the state like Boss Hogg and he didn’t think the law applied to him,” Attorney General Jim Hood told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday.
Hood said Barbour violated the state’s constitution because the pardon requests for many inmates were not published 30 days before they were granted, as required.
“This isn’t a partisan issue,” according to Hood, who is a Democrat. “Either you followed the constitution or you didn’t.”
Despite the AG’s assurances that this is not a partisan matter, I don’t think he would have acted if there wasn’t the huge outcry. Good for the familes and good for the media to bring attention to this. For the AG it is political grandstanding but if it results in scum being sent back to prison where they belong then so be it.
Additional Link:
CSM: Did Haley Barbour overlook Mississippi constitution before mass pardon
I guess Haley Barbour suddenly morphed into Ray Blanton. Anyone who lived in Tennessee during the 1970′s will recognize this reference.
Don’t know much about the man, but did catch one interview he did when thinking about a POTUS run. While he didn’t appeal to me as a candidate, I thought I saw a true salseman. Being a saleman is not easy. It involves knowing how to approach your potential client, being able to adjust your message to the preceived needs of your customer, being able to create the sizzle to sell the steak. I admire folks who can do it, it is an art, and watching a master at work gives me the same feeling I think sports fans get watching their favorite player struggle against the odds to win the game. At the time I thought he would play a role in the 2012 election. Here was a man who could sell a message, and if he were willing to sell OUR message, it would be a plus.
When he pardoned all those felons, I was stunned. How could he do that? What was he thinking? What purpose was he trying to serve? Why, why, why? It just didn’t make sense. Was it hubris or simply a “senior moment”?
In the interview Tammy played last night as part of the Daily Tam Briefing, I saw a man looking for excuses he never thought he would have to make. Grasping at straws to deflect his own bad judgement. The great schmoozer schmoozed himself into a corner, and like a trapped rat, fought to come out intact. His own words betrayed him and Tammy was brillant at pointing out the holes in his argument. It was like listening to a trial. Tammy was Perry Mason getting to the heart of the matter and by the time she was ready to rest her case, we all could see a pitiful old man wrapped in his own delusions. Sadly, the damage he has done, to the families who continue to grieve for their loved ones, and to society which must constantly be on the lookout for a felon, who believing he has beaten the system, may be emboldened to commit future acts of violence, will continue.
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones. …”, so will it be with Barbour. The darkness of his act will forever hover over his reputation and character.
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