Huckabee And The Murderer: The Mother Of A Victim Speaks.
by tristero
Please watch the following poignant short video:
There is a crucial question the video does not address: Why did Huckabee work to release Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist? The rape that landed him in the Arkansas slammer wasn't his first. He had been implicated in others, but in at least one case, the victim was too afraid to testify. No wonder, Dumond had already been involved in a brutal murder. In that case, Dumond, turning state's evidence, denied killing the man; he only bashed the guy on the head several times with a hammer. So, again, the question:
Why did Huckabee work to release Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist?
Answer: Because Wayne Dumond was the darling of the extreme right. And Huckabee was trying to curry their favor.
Huckabee listened hard when right wing activists in New York and Arkansas claimed, without a shred of evidence, that Dumond had been framed for rape. But Huckabee never bothered, apparently, to read the transcript of Dumond's rape trial. And shamefully, he ignored the pleas of the rape victim herself not to release Dumond.
But how on Earth could the imprisonment of a serial rapist become a right-wing cause-celebre?
Answer: Dumond's victim - in the rape that landed him in prison - was a distant cousin of then-Governor Bill Clinton. According to the extreme right, Dumond was framed for the rape. In addition, Clinton may have had, according to the right, some involvement in vigilante justice, Arkansas-style. While awaiting trial for the rape of Clinton's distant relation, a drunken Dumond was castrated. He claimed that three men associated with the local Sheriff attacked and mutilated him. The far right intimated that Clinton may have put the Sheriff up to it. (Of course, the insinuation was bogus, based on nothing but imagination. In fact, investigators suspected that Dumond castrated himself when drunk, behavior that is not unheard of with rapists.)
The people Huckabee listened to, and trusted, told him that Clinton framed Dumond for the rape of his cousin and, in retaliation, possibly ordered his castration.
That is the absurd story Huckabee believed and caused him actively to work for Dumond's release from prison. Whether Huckabee acted out of political cynicism and opportunism or was simply gullible (or both) doesn't matter. That Huckabee would fall for such a preposterous conspiracy tale - and ignore actual trial testimony and the pleas of a rape victim - demonstrates that he has neither the judgment nor strength of character to be considered seriously for any position of responsibility, let alone the most powerful political office on Earth.
As if that weren't enough. Huckabee has gone on to lie about his responsibility in Dumond's release. In spite of scads of documentary evidence proving the contrary, Huckabee has tried to twist the record to claim it was not he but Democrats, including Bill Clinton, who worked to free Dumond.
Last night, Mike Huckabee accused me of being exploited and used for political purposes. I assure you, Mr. Huckabee, I am not being exploited. I am fully aware of the actions I have taken in attempting to inform the public of your role in my daughter's rape and murder. I have spent over 7 years thinking about this.
I am not a dupe. But you, Governor Huckabee, were duped time and again by convicted felons who once released from prison by you began hurting people again.
Mr. Huckabee, I am not a victim. However, my daughter was a victim. She was raped and murdered by a serial rapist that you wanted freed from prison. Please be honest about the role you played in releasing my daughter's killer.
In other words, Huckabee was either deliberately lying when he claimed exploitation. Or he was totally ignorant of the facts. Or both. Regardless, it's more evidence, as if any more were needed, that Huckabee is totally incapable of good judgment.
The media have been treating Huckabee in one of two ways. They think he's an entertaining clown - the squirrel-eating good 'ol boy who pardoned Keith Richards. Or they think of him as unfairly criticized for his compassionate, merciful character.
Huckabee is no clown. The real clowns are the people who snark about Huckabee and don't take him seriously, who don't recognize the genuine danger posed by permitting his radical christianism and ignorance to gain him so much as a mention in the mainstream discourse. And Huckabee shows no mercy to the victims of his opportunism. He is also a ruthless, belligerent politician who, when attacked, has absolutely no scruples. He will lie and when caught, lie some more. It goes without saying that his actual proposals - for example in regards to taxes - are unworthy of serious discussion. He should have no place in the national political discourse and it is a measure of how sick our discourse really is that he now has close to a central one.
Note: If you would like to check up on the details of this post (and if you are new to the Dumond story or have any doubts, you really should), please go here where you will find links to get you started. This prize-winning article by Murray Waas in the Arkansas Times should help you get a handle on the extent of Huckabee's lies about his involvement in Dumond's release.
I've written more about Huckabee than is healthy for anyone. Here is one. Here's another. Perhaps they may be of interest as you dig around a little bit and learn more about the corrosively dangerous political and cultural forces that have elevated such an ignorant, vicious, and incapable little man to such prominence.