Barbour's final act of compassion

WHEN FORMER Mississippi Good 'Ol Boy governor Haley Barbour was asked to defend his pardon of 208 inmates before leaving office last week, he described his decision as an act of compassion to give the felons a "second chance."

"The pardons," the guv said, "were intended to allow them to find gainful employment or acquire professional licenses as well as hunt and vote." HUNT?

Barbour, once inserted on the A-list of possible Republican presidential candidates and a powerful force in the party, didn't anticipate the backlash from releasing eight inmates on the staff of the governor's mansion who were lifers for murder. The state's attorney general, Jim Hood, is considering a nationwide manhunt to retrieve the second-chance inmates who have vanished. Despite Barbour's best wishes, that may be the only hunting that will take place for awhile.