Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Wayne DuMond
Just found out from RBH over in the Kos diaries that Wayne DuMond has died. Wayne DuMond would normally not be someone especially famous -- or in his case, infamous. But he was used as a pawn in a disgusting political game whose intent was to attack Bill Clinton, and the people playing the game didn't give a rat's behind who got hurt as a result. One of the favorite pastimes of the US media during the 1990s was to see how many times they could get the words "Clinton" and "rape" together in the same sentence. An entire cottage industry -- which exists to this day -- was built around the constant repeating of lies intended to show that Bill and/or Hillary (and maybe even Chelsea) Clinton were vicious rapists and murderers (that is, when they weren't allegedly impotent sexless zygotes; but hey, logical consistency flew out the window along with the truth as far as these folks were concerned). The bitter irony is that there is one time that Bill Clinton can be linked to a rape case -- and even a murder case -- and that politics played a role in the rapist's being set free to commit more crimes. But the people who freed the rapist? None other than Clinton's enemies:
DuMond, 55, was castrated while awaiting trial for the 1984 rape of Ashley Stephens of Forrest City. He was initially sentenced to life in prison. But in 1992 then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker commuted the sentence to 39 1/2 years, making DuMond eligible for parole. [...] Shortly after taking office in 1996, Gov. Mike Huckabee said he intended to reduce DuMond's sentence to time served - about 11 years at the time. The governor ended up rejecting DuMond's parole request, which would have freed DuMond without conditions. He signed the decision moments after the Arkansas parole board granted DuMond a parole on condition that another state take him.The full story RBH cites, taken from the Kansas City Star, describes briefly how the anti-Clinton forces used Wayne DuMond as a way to attack Clinton. According to the Clinton-haters, DuMond was framed for raping 17-year-old Ashley Stephens, a distant Clinton cousin. So eventually they got Huckabee -- a Republican, and one of Clinton's biggest enemies locally -- to let DuMond out early. What happened after that? Wayne DuMond killed a woman:
After his release in 1999, DuMond moved to the Kansas City, Mo., suburb of Smithville and was later convicted of killing a woman in her apartment. Tuesday, DuMond lost an appeal in that case.Every so often, I get people who say "But the Republicans can't be that bad!" Actually, as the case of Wayne DuMond shows, often they're even worse.
: 3/29/2006 09:29:00 AM I'm so sorry for you. Every family has its members who make us all less than happy. The whole political stink that grew up around him must have made things even worse for you all.
Here's wishing you all find peace, or at least closure.
: 5/25/2006 11:53:00 AM : 8/21/2006 09:45:00 AM : 1/04/2007 10:37:00 PM WD's son served with a relative of mine in Iraq, honorably so.
WD's wife was given a job by the man who shared the small business lumber company with Dubya. John Kerry mentioned it in passing during the debates and the press intentionally ignored any follow-up.
The Riddles employed his wife while he was undergoing appeal and parole petitions...
Michael Riddle's family name also shares history with the flight school that trained the 9-11 cells. Embry-Riddle school... one of those names was an Air Guard commander in Texas during the 'nam years.
They go way back with Buscho.
-Mr.M
: 1/26/2007 04:41:00 PM << Home
More blogs about politics.
