You know about Maurice Clemmons gunning down four police officers, without warning, in a coffee shop, and you know about Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and Baptist preacher, making it possible for him to be free. Clemmons had been deservedly sentenced to 95 years behind bars. You know how to use search engines, so I won't tell you all the reasons that any behavioral scientist, in fact, any reasonable person, should have known it would take many years, if ever, for the violent, vicious, raging animal that was Clemmons to become someone fit to walk among free human beings. Judges, prosecutors, corrections officials, were horrified at the idea of commuting his sentence, but to radical cleric Huckabee, Clemmons had the Get Out Of Jail Free card: Jesus.
If you've read my previous statements here, you know that I believe some cops shouldn't have guns and badges, and too many others turn a blind eye to their misdeeds. But in case I haven't said it clearly enough before, I also know that we need police officers, need to pay them better, and make their careers more rewarding, and that the majority of officers just want to do a good job and go home in one piece to their families. It's a tragedy times four that a bloodthirsty psychopath who should never have been on the streets could gun down four officers, in cold blood, with no warning. Tragic beyond words when you consider how predictable it was that Clemmons would, sooner or later, commit a horrendous atrocity.
Clemmons knew all the right words. He talked about being raised in a Christian home, about turning his life over to God, praying for strength and forgiveness, probably said something about walking with Jesus. In fact, I'd lay heavy odds that he got the J-word into that appeal several times. One can almost picture him falling on his knees, a tear trickling down his cheek. If he was clever at staging, a ray of sunlight may even have fallen on his face. So Huckabee said, in effect, "Go thy way and sin no more, until the next time you feel like it. Hallelujah!"
I'm not ridiculing everyone who has faith in Jesus. I know well-motivated people of strong Christian faith who do immeasurable good in the world. I particularly admire those Christians who've read and taken to heart his admonitions to feed the poor and encourage peace among humanity, and manage to do so without spouting pompous piety. I am very deliberately ridiculing, in fact condemning, the sacrileges committed by politicians, claiming to speak for God and condemning as morally evil any policy that conflicts with their own selfish interests. I happily ridicule and condemn the idea that God wants us to kill homosexuals, as some of our homegrown radical clerics attest. (It's a short leap from kill queers to kill kikes and kill Catholics and kill niggers.)
Back to radical cleric Mike Huckabee: This wasn't his first. He granted twice as many commutations and pardons as his three predecessors combined. Of course I favor clemency where it's warranted; proclamations of piety should not automatically trigger a clemency urge in those with the power to grant it. From his record, Huckabee seems to have had an especially warm place in his heart for guys who raped children, suggesting he, Arkansas, and the nation would have been better off if he had undergone intensive psychotherapy early in life.
Today, we can't bring back the four martyred officers.
Today, whether as a divine being or just a great teacher, if Jesus returned to life and met Mike Huckabee, he would puke.
Today, if there's a hell, a lot of our self-righteous politicians and radical clerics have reserved suites.