Haley Barbour
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For more than a month, we have repeatedly asked former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to sit down and talk about the roughly 200 pardons he issued in his last days in office.
Haley Barbour
For more than a month, we have repeatedly asked former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to sit down and talk about the roughly 200 pardons he issued in his last days in office. And for more than a month, the answer we've received from his spokesperson is a resounding "No!"
"When we have people who get rehabilitated and after 20 years of service and they deserve a second chance, it's the governor's job and the governor's job alone to let them have a second chance. That's why I'm comfortable with this," Barbour said.
But the brief answers glossed over major questions about how Barbour came to pardon so many people, and victims' families are angry that they've never met face-to-face with the governor.
The most controversial pardons were issued to four convicted murderers who worked as trusties at the Governor's Mansion in Jackson. The families of those victims say the governor has never met with them personally, never returned phone calls.
Barbour has said these men committed crimes of passion and are less likely to commit murder again. That's no consolation to victims.
It also doesn't explain how Joseph Ozment was pardoned. Ozment admitted shooting convenience store clerk Ricky Montgomery in the head twice so the man couldn't identify him as a robbery suspect.
There are also questions about how a retired IRS investigator, Harry Bostick, could have been pardoned. Bostick is a repeat DUI offender whose third felony charge was pardoned.
Pardon application documents show that friends told Barbour that Bostick had stopped drinking and turned his life around. About a week after the pardon application was approved and sent to the governor, Bostick was arrested in a fourth DUI case: a car crash that ended with the death of an 18-year-old girl. He's awaiting formal charges.
He gave a speech at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, as part of the school's historic mock political convention.
We showed up with cameras rolling, and it sparked a game of cat and mouse, with Haley Barbour trying to dodge our questions at every turn.
One exchange with Barbour captured the experience perfectly: As he walked into the building, he seemed to suggest he'd come back outside to answer questions.
A true Man will make amends when done wrong. Owning one's mistake is true honorable person. Mr Barbour is far from that. As you can see Mr Barbour has also blocked his own FB page so no one can leave criticism on his wall. I wonder why? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that he pretty much pardoned anyone during his last term in the office. I believed in Karma. Shame on you. Haley Barbour you are a disgrace.
people seem to think that what the he (the gov) did somehow needed people's approval. He' doesn't and didn't. He is well within his authority to grant a pardon to whomever he wants or finds to be deserving.
""Chasing Haley Barbour: Ex-governor dodges questions about pardons""?Quite frankly CNN, Barbour doesn't owe you a damn thing. If I was him I would flip you off. Most of you are Rude anyway.
Once again -not a republican or democratic thing. Just a stupid "loophole" that we have that should have never been allowed to happen ever. Stop bickering among parties and fix the problem. There are just as many "Barbours" running around as Democrats as Republicans.
Tom, granted, there are fools in both parties. But members of the GOP seem to have a monopoly on wrongheaded ideas. All human beings are flawed, but Republicans are simply inhumane and anybody who allies themselves with the party in terms of running for public office will be painted with the same brush. If you don't advocate Republican beliefs, then don't run as a Republican or vote for a Republican. On the other hand, it's where the money is - that too attracts people!
I have to disagree. Both parties have wrongheaded ideas...but both have some good ones too. You kind of hit the nail on the head. Why do we have to think like a bunch of lemmings and go along with a party at all? Isn't America a land of free ideas and speech? I bet that if we dropped all this party bs, and called ourselves Americans that we could pull the good things from both and make this a much better place to live. But in the mean time we have more of an interest in who wins the Donkey or the Elephant ? not our country.
Should I just start listing all the idiot Dems out there too. Let's see, Jimmy Carter should definitely be on the list. Pelosi certainly merits a spot. I could go on, and on, and on.
The fact is, the real problem with politics these days is people like you who think their chosen party does no wrong. Both politcial parties are equally as bad and equally share the blame for the state of this nation. Until knuckledraggers like yourself can be bothered to educate themselves and actually make decisions based on facts and what is best for the whole, things will continue as they have.
I've thought the same thought for a long time. I think the reason it will never be a time when we drop party affiliations and just speak as Americans is because it would not serve the interest of those politicians and businesses and special interests groups who control power and money by appealing to the emotions and ignorance of those incapable of thinking for themselves.
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