Mike Huckabee

Huckabee: I Made The Right Call Granting Clemency To Maurice Clemmons

Brian Beutler | February 24, 2011, 8:56AM

Fmr. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R)

If Mike Huckabee enters the GOP presidential primary, his opponents will batter him over the case of Maurice Clemmons. Clemmons was a prisoner in Arkansas to whom Huckabee granted clemency, who went on to murder four people in Washington state.

Huckabee isn't the first national political figure to face this line of attack. It often plagues former governors who run for president. And when it's true,their response options are often limited. That said, at a round-table discussion with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor on Wednesday, Huckabee rose to the moment and said he made the right decision.

"There was a kid who was 16 years old, he committed a burglary, he was aggravated, but not armed. And for that he got 108 years," Huckabee said. "One-hundred-and-eight years."

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Violence

Indiana Dep. AG: Use 'Live Ammunition' Against Wisconsin Protesters

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2011, 11:13AM

Indiana Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox

This week, a Mother Jones editor named Adam Weinstein got into a Twitter tête à tête with an Indiana lawyer who called on riot police in Madison to use "live ammunition" to clear protesters out of the state Capitol.

It turned out that lawyer, Jeff Cox, is a deputy attorney general in the state. And -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- he's left a long online trail of controversial statements and diktats.

"[A]gainst thugs physically threatening legally-elected state legislators & governor?" he tweeted back at Weinstein. "You're damn right I advocate deadly force."

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Violence

Bloomberg Bashes White House Over Lax Gun Rules

Brian Beutler | February 7, 2011, 9:00AM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Conservatives, clutch your guns again!

Actually, not really. The White House has denied a request from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to expedite a new rule requiring gun dealers along the southwest border to report bulk sales of rifles, many of which get trafficked into Mexico.

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, labels the Obama administration unconcerned.

"The White House decided that the illegal trafficking of thousands of semiautomatic assault rifles from the U.S. to Mexico is not an emergency, our coalition of over 550 mayors strongly disagrees," Bloomberg says in a statement. "These guns are fueling violence that has claimed more than 30,000 lives and putting our law enforcement officers at risk. ATF recognizes the emergency but we need the White House to give the agency the support it needs do its job effectively."

That means semi-automatic rifle dealers will have months, at least, during which to sell semi-automatic rifles in bulk without telling anybody.

Health Care

GOP Won't Rename 'Repealing The Job Killing Health Care Law Act'

Brian Beutler | January 13, 2011, 2:59PM

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

In the wake of the shooting spree in Arizona, Democrats pressed Republicans to change the name of their health care repeal bill -- the bluntly titled "Repealing the Job Killing Health Health Care Law Act."

No luck. A spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says they're sticking with that name.

As first reported by Greg Sargent, that vote is scheduled for next week. In a statement sent my way, Cantor spox Brad Dayspring confirms, "As the White House noted, it is important for Congress to get back to work, and to that end we will resume thoughtful consideration of the health care bill next week. Americans have legitimate concerns about the cost of the new health care law and its effect on the ability to grow jobs in our country. It is our expectation that the debate will continue to focus on those substantive policy differences surrounding the new law."

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John Dingell

John Dingell Runs Through Litany Of Violent Rhetoric On House Floor (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | January 12, 2011, 4:37PM

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)

Members of Congress have, by and large, stayed out of the partisan fray over violent rhetoric in the wake of the Arizona shooting spree. But there have been some exceptions. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) took the opportunity to muse that the government may be withholding information about the crime because Jared Loughner is a flag-hating Marxist liberal who might embarrass President Obama.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), by contrast, ran through a litany of now-infamous statements by high-profile politicians, leaving blank the names of people and issues under threat.

"Let me read some statements that I have seen to be pretty awful," he said on Wednesday.

Here they are in order:

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Jan Schakowsky

Schakowsky: Peculiar How Defensive People Get About Critiques Of Violent Rhetoric

Brian Beutler | January 12, 2011, 2:22PM

Jan Schakowsky

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) sees positive signs that the shooting spree in Arizona has eased tensions between the political parties. But she says it's mighty peculiar that some folks get so annoyed at the general suggestion that political rhetoric can beget violence.

"It's interesting to me how incredibly defensive that this discussion has become," she said outside of a caucus meeting Wednesday. "Does anybody really want to defend the use of a bullseye, or the image of a member of Congress, shooting at it?"

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Gabrielle Giffords

Brady Defends Proposed Law Banning Bullseyes On Politicians

Brian Beutler | January 10, 2011, 3:59PM

Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA) doesn't just think things like putting bullseyes on your political opponents is in poor taste. He thinks it should be illegal. In the wake of the Arizona shooting spree, he's introducing legislation to extend protections given to the President of the United States to members of Congress and others.

Predictably, he's taking a lot of heat for it. Though practically everybody has come down hard on Sarah Palin for her now infamous target list -- Palin herself took it off her PAC's website after the shooting -- it appears the Giffords attack had nothing to do with Palin or any particular piece of rhetoric.

But Brady's not backing down. Monday afternoon, he entered the lion's den -- Fox News -- to defend himself.

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Nancy Pelosi

Sounding The Alarm: Dems Warned Political Climate Could Incite Lone Wolves

Brian Beutler | January 10, 2011, 12:07PM

Nancy Pelosi

In March 2010, as he was preparing to vote for the health care law, conservative advocates published photos of then-Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) with his family -- and posted his address, and directions to his house -- on the internet.

Then-House Minority Leader John Boehner, who represents a district adjacent to the one Driehaus served, told a conservative magazine that Driehaus would be a "dead man" in Cincinnati if he voted for the legislation. After the vote, Driehaus vented.

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Raul Grijalva

Grijalva: "Horrific" Attack Means We Must Take Threats Seriously

Brian Beutler | January 8, 2011, 6:53PM

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) represents a district in southern Arizona adjacent to the one served by Gabby Giffords. Because the city of Tucson straddles the line separating those districts, they work together on common issues, including solar energy, green jobs, and making sure the federal government sends resources to the University of Arizona.

He was in Washington, D.C. this morning when his staff informed him that his colleague had been gunned down.

"The first reaction honestly was It's overblown, lets wait," Grijalva said in an interview Saturday evening. He, too, has been the target of political threats and has learned that most of the time those threats are more nerve-wracking than dangerous.

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Rand Paul

Lexington Police Serving Former Rand Paul Volunteer With Criminal Summons

Brian Beutler | October 26, 2010, 4:36PM

Tim Profitt of Paris, Ky., is joined by other demonstrators as he attends a rally in support of Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, March 2, 2010. The rally also drew demonstrators opposed to Bunning's action in holding up a $10 billion spending bill because it would add to the deficit. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

The Lexington police have just announced that they've served Tim Profitt -- Rand Paul's former Bourbon County coordinator -- with a criminal summons for assaulting a MoveOn activist outside of the Kentucky Senate debate last night.

"Today, October 26, 2010, detectives identified the suspect, involved in the assault, as Tim Profitt," reads a statement from public information officer Sherelle Roberts. "Mr. Profitt is currently being served with a criminal summons ordering him to appear before a Fayette County District Court Judge."

The victim, Lauren Valle, claims that the attack -- during which she was pulled to the ground and stomped, resulting in a concussion -- was premeditated.

Rand Paul

New Footage Emerges Of MoveOn Activist Stomped By Rand Paul Supporter (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 26, 2010, 9:40AM

Just a quick update on the developing story out of Lexington, Kentucky, where a protester affiliated with MoveOn was dragged to the ground and stomped by Rand Paul supporters ahead of last night's Senate debate.

We understand that the victim has left the hospital, but we don't have official word on her condition. We'll try and get you an update this morning.

Both campaigns have now reacted to the attack, which was caught on camera at multiple angles.

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