Bill, Congressman Ford is a big proponent of victim's rights. He also is a supporter of the death penalty, in cases such as this.

He did not blame his staff either, he took the blame for the mistake.

Check the record. You will be hard pressed to find anyone in Congress with a stronger record on victim's rights than the Congressman.

Finally, I do not find the politicization of this right in any way. A family member of mine was also murdered about 6 years ago and I know the pain it inflicts on family members. This is not a political issue, so please don't try to make it one.

Thanks,

Chris D. Jackson

Mr. Jackson- what say you?

*this oughta be good

The right-wingers who are trying to make a pr story of this should be ashamed of themselves! It is wrong to exploit a victimized family's tragedy and a clrecial error in a government office for political gain. Shame on you! I see that Congressman Harold Ford has already responded... but you don't even have the decency to include that on your blog. Well, since you don't have the courage to face up to the facts, I've taken the libert of posting Congressman Ford's response from his web site (www.fordfortennessee.com) below.

Ford Responds to GOP Attacks
August 25, 2005

(Nashville, Tenn) - The following quote is Harold Ford, Jr.'s response to the right-wing blog community attack:

"I do not support parole for convicted murderers. In this case, a mistake was made and corrected before the parole board made a decision on Britt's parole request. Fortunately, the board denied the request. Additionally, the board chairman assured me before announcing the board's denial that he had no doubts that I too supported a denial of Britt's request. If it were up to me alone, convicted murderers would get the death penalty, including Britt, Eric Rudolph and the BTK murderer.

But the right-wing attack dogs are at it again. Politicizing the ultimate loss experienced by a family to score political points represents a new low for even Team GOP and the right-wing bloggers. I have spoken to the family, expressed my regret for the letter and assured them of my enduring support for them and all other victims of crimes, especially murder victims.

Now, Team GOP and all other right-wing bloggers should stop politicizing the tragedy and apologize to the deceased's family."

Does anyone really by that Harold Ford supports rapists or murderers? I mean, this is over the top. Imagine the poor staffer that screwed this up and what his/her fate will be. Harold Ford learned of the mistake before this stuff ever became public and had already gone to far ends to correct from the sound of the article. It appears to me that you are making a mountain out of a mole-hill Mr. Hobbs. If there is something of merit here against Harold Ford, please explaine.

The following quote is Harold Ford Jr.'s response to the right wing blog community attack:

I do not support parole for convicted murderers. In this case, a mistake was made and corrected before the parole board decision was announced on Britt's request. Fortunately, the board denied the request. I spoke with the board chairman, who asssured me before announcing the board's denial that he had no doubt that I was against Britt's parole.

I have spoken with the victim's family. In our conversation, I expressed my regret for the letter and assured them of my enduring support for them and all other victims of crimes, especially murder victims.

If it were up to me, convicted murderers would get the death penalty, including Britt, Eric Rudolph and the BTK murderer. But the right wing attack dogs are at it again. They are not interested in the facts, only politicizing the ultimate loss of a family to score political points. This represents a new low for even Team GOP and the right wing bloggers.

Now, Team GOP and all other right wing bloggers should stop politicizing the tragedy and apologize to the deceased's family.

Ford DID blame his staff, according to the C-A's story:

On Wednesday Ford said the staff-written letter was never meant to endorse Britt's efforts for parole and did not represent his views.

Translation: "The letter that my staff wrote was a mistake."

My only point in this is that Ford chose initially to blame his staff rather than take full responsibility, and that if it wasn't the staff's fault then he's a liar but if it was the staff's fault and he signs letters that go out of his office in his name without reading them then he and his staff are incompetent.

Glad to see the Stepford fans weighing in, though. Thought maybe y'all were sleeping.

This woman's murder has been politicized for a long time now. And it all began with an activist liberal named John T. Nixon who allowed Groseclose's murderers to avoid a deserved death penalty on a technicality. Judge Nixon had been pulling this garbage for years, denying justice to families while at the same time
abusing his position to enforce his personal opinion above the letter of the law.

Ford should have known the efforts her sister made to try to get Nixon off the bench. He should've been aware of the pain Nixon caused Groseclose's family with his actions. Considering the fact that the family had to confront her killer again, Ford's letter supporting parole was highly-insensitive and utterly ignorant of the facts surrounding Groseclose's murder.

He should be the one to apologize to the family. His lack of knowledge regarding this woman's death could have allowed Britt an undeserved pardon. So far as I know, I haven't seen a "right-wing blogger" come out in favor of paroling murdering rapist slime. I have, however, seen Harold Ford, Jr. attempt to do just that.

He should be the one to apologize.

So some government staffer wrote a letter for his/her boss and it was a mistake. Ford was actually smart enough to catch it and long before it became an issue corrected it with the parole board and even with the victim's family.

Mr. Hobbs, does this mean you, Team GOP and Mr. Bryant would equally condemn President Bush for the mistake about yellow cake uranium in his state of the union address? Because one of his staffers included an allegation in his speech after the the intelligence community had warned it was incorrect, that must really make Bush inept by your standards. George W. neither caught the mistake nor corrected it or even apologized for it.

Wow Mr. Hobbs, I think your standard is being to hard on our President. Why do you hate Bush so much and consider him incompetent under your standard?

Ford was on Memphis talk radio Thursday. He made the usual "I take responsibility for everything that comes out of my office." statement, but it was clear he blamed his staff for what happened. He didn't explain why his "staff" released the letter in the first place.

It was pointed out that it is very unusual for Congressmen to make these kinds of letters. Can anyone verify that? Or is it wrong?

Tennessee, by the way, is not done with Fords. Ophelia Ford is looking to be a shoo-in to replace her brother John in his Senate seat. If you want to read on the scandalous and gossipy side of the Fords, try the eye-opening Thaddeus Matthews blog. Language, rumor and grammar alerts all apply.

The Groseclose murder is one of the most well-known crimes in recent TN history. It was 1 of 2 cases that caused ultralefty TN Supreme Court Justice Penny White to be thrown out of office by voters in 1996 (the only time that's ever happened to a TN SCJ). Mrs. Groseclose's sister personally campaigned against White and it was constantly in media. There is no way Ford didn't know about that case. It sent shock waves through the lib judicial establishment nationally when White lost. If it's a staff error, he's either not hiring Tennesseans or he is hiring incompetents.