Since our show last week, a horrible and grisly crime was committed in Lakewood, Washington, when four police officers were savagely and senselessly killed by an obviously psychotic killer named Maurice Clemmons. Nine years ago, when I was governor of Arkansas, I commuted his sentence from 108 years to 47 years after he had served 11 years in the Arkansas prison system. The decision I made nine years ago was based on facts in front of me, not a premonition of events of the past week in another state.
The commutation made him eligible for parole which he still had to qualify for from the parole board. After he was paroled, he committed another crime, put back into prison and could have been held there until 2015, but the local prosecutor dropped the charges and allowed him to go free. I take full responsibility for my decision to commute his sentence in 2000 and if I had the same file in front of me today that I had then, I would make the same decision.
There's much more to this story that you will never hear from the media or the political pundits and I don't want to use my time on this show to explain or defend any of my record when I was governor. If the facts are important to you, I am posting information on my Web site at mikehuckabee.com.
This week another case has received even more attention than the killing of the 4 police officers: the salacious stories involving Tiger Woods and his personal life. He's been the lead story of newscasts and on the front pages of every paper. I know my view is probably not that of most people, but I'm not sure that Tiger Woods' personal issues with his wife behind the doors of their home is any of my business.
While it would be disappointing to find out that some of the people we look up to have done things that are wrong, the appropriate response is to not be influenced by that person's recommendation for what shoes to wear, car to drive, or beverage to drink.
I'm just not sure that just because he is a celebrity sports figure that we have a right to demand that he tell us everything he does in private. He doesn't live off taxpayer money and is accountable to the sponsors who pay him, but not to a gawking public. Any public person understands a certain loss of privacy, but the public doesn't have the right to install cameras in the bedrooms or living rooms of celebrities to satisfy a morbid curiosity about their personal lives. Get a life. Watch a good movie like the "Blind Side"; read a good Christmas book — I have one in mind for you called "A Simple Christmas." But don't worry about what's happening behind the doors of Tiger's house, focus on what's happening behind the doors at your house.
That's my view, I welcome yours. E-mail your comments to: huckmail@foxnews.com
Go to mikehuckabee.com and click on to FOX News feedback — let me know your thoughts about this week's show. You can also find all the information for my 'A Simple Christmas' book tour at mikehuckabee.com.
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