Cowardly Gov. Michael Dukakis and Lt. Gov. John F. Kerry

I was on vacation last week; I bet you could hardly tell by the quality of last week's posts. I was at a public library kiosk with a 30 minute time limit for all three posts. If you weren't impressed, that's my explanation not my excuse.

But, I did do quite a bit of reading while away. I'm now going to share 20 year-old news because as closely as I follow the sleaze of Democrats and their friends in the liberal media, I never knew the facts of the story I'm about to share until last week.

As a set-up, it's important to know I’m impressed that President Bush met with Ms. Cindy Sheehan once (I know, many of you are surprised to learn that President Bush did once meet privately with Ms. Sheehan). And, naturally, I’m not surprised that Ms. Cindy Sheehan, with the help of the liberal media, has been transformed into a celebrity because of the President's refusal to meet with her a second time. I think a Commander-in-Chief that sends soldiers into combat should meet with parents of soldiers killed . . . those parents supportive of the military action and those unsupportive. I don’t think a parent gets two meetings before all parents who want one get at least one, though.

So, while on vacation I learned that Gov. Michael Dukakis nor his former Lt. Gov., now-Sen. John F. Kerry (1983 – 1985), ever agreed to meet with Mr. Clifford Barnes or Ms. Angela Miller.

Who are they, you ask?

Mr. Cliff Barnes and his then fiancé, Ms. Angela Miller, were the couple that was terrorized and brutalized by furloughed murder Mr. William Horton.

It’s amazing that I never knew these facts. Actually, since liberals control the media, it’s no wonder I didn’t know these facts. This is not ancient history and I need to tell this story for others who thought they were tuned in but didn’t know these facts.

In 1986, Mr. Horton was rotting in a Massachusetts prison for the 1974 murder of a teenage convenience store clerk. The clerk had already emptied the cash register and gave Mr. Horton the contents. This did not prevent Mr. Horton from stabbing the clerk 19 times and then dumping the clerk’s not-quite-lifeless body in a dumpster . . . where he died in filth.

It seems Mr. Dukakis and Mr. Kerry thought this was exactly the kind of prisoner that should be granted unsupervised weekend furloughs. Mr. Horton was furloughed on June 6, 1986.

Well, while on furlough, Mr. Horton skipped off to Maryland. There, he chilled in Mr. Barnes’ house for a few hours waiting for the owner to return. When Mr. Barnes entered his house, he was attacked by Mr. Horton. Mr. Horton tied up Mr. Barnes in the basement of the home and repeatedly beat him. He stabbed Mr. Barnes 22 times.

Not content, he chilled further still until Mr. Barnes’ fiancé arrived. Mr. Barnes was helpless to prevent Mr. Horton from beating and raping (twice) Ms. Miller over the course of several hours.

Mr. Horton was subsequently captured, tried, convicted and sentence to two consecutive life sentences in the Maryland criminal justice system. Even the liberal state of Maryland refused to extradite Mr. Horton back to Massachusetts for fear he could be re-released.

Repeated attempts by Mr. Barnes and Ms. Miller to have an audience with Gov. Dukakis and his former Lt. Gov., Sen. John F. Kerry, a staunch supporter of the furlough program even after the Horton episode, were denied.

Because we will revisit this again, and again, and again, because liberal extremists love playing the race card (See my related posts - the NAACP's disgusting attack ad against President Bush - of October 19 and 29, 2006 ), it’s important to note that the 1988 Presidential ad campaign that depicted Mr. Horton was funded entirely by Mr. Barnes and Ms. Miller. The ad was not the product of the President George H. W. Bush’s campaign.

I didn't know most of this until last week; I thought readers of this space might appreciate knowing as well.