mississippi

Former RNC chairman and darling of the right, Haley Barbour, has created a political tsunami:

A law-and-order Republican governor, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, has given full pardons or clemency to 208 inmates, including 14 convicted murderers, setting off a political uproar over the limits of executive power in the traditionally patriarchal South.

Mr. Barbour, a popular two-term governor who was term-limited from serving more, signed the pardons before leaving office on Tuesday. The surprise spree caught both Republicans and Democrats off stride, and it suggested that Barbour, who had flirted with running for the White House last year, may be leaving politics for good.

It has become so bad that a judge had to step up and actually block the pardons:

A Mississippi judge Wednesday evening issued a temporary injunction forbidding the release of any more prisoners pardoned or given clemency by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour, whose actions created an uproar.

The pardons include four convicted murderers and a convicted armed robber who were released Sunday. The five now must contact prison officials on a daily basis as their fate is adjudicated.

The pardons are "a slap in the face to everyone in law enforcement and Gov. Barbour should be ashamed," said state Attorney General Jim Hood.

Thank you! Love - Erick at Red State:


(click for large view).

Yup - that is the fearless leader at Red State insinuating that everyone in West Virginia is some kind of cross burning racist. I wonder how the people of West Virginia feel about the leader of a blog, which has a bunch of Republican members of congress post on, saying such things?

Erick also seems to forget a couple other states in there. He says this in his post:

Here now, this week, and next week, Barack Obama, the presumptive Democrat nominee, will have lost every election since February except North Carolina and Guam, and lost nearly two thirds of the vote in West Virginia, and yet the media will sweep it all under the rug, flailing about wildly to find burning crosses and white sheets instead of recognizing Obama's significant general election vulnerabilities.

Really - every one? I guess Wyoming, Vermont and Mississippi don't count as actual states anymore? Perhaps they won't count either in November.

Here are the totals following Mississippi

	CNN	MSNBC	FOX	CBS	ABC	AVERAGE
Clinton	1481	1242	1484	1471	1484	1432.4
Obama	1610	1394	1596	1591	1600	1558.2