L.A. Times: Rick Perry Indicted for . . . Abusing His Power and Shutting Down Ethics Investigations??
Wait, what?
Yeah, not quite. More like he’s being indicted for withholding money from an belligerent, drunken, power-abusing District Attorney. Not that you would know this from reading the L.A. Times. Just listen to how they portray this story:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted by a grand jury Friday, accused of two felony counts of abusing his power by eliminating funds for the state’s ethics watchdog.
The byzantine case involves the drunk-driving conviction of a Democratic prosecutor, deep-seated partisan tensions and a test of Perry’s powers as the longest-serving chief executive in Texas history. It comes as Perry attempts to resurrect his image and renew his presidential ambitions after a disastrous 2012 run.
With the governor already planning to step down at the end of his term in January, the impact is likely to be greatest outside his home state, where Perry is probably still best known for the pratfalls of his unsuccessful White House bid.
“It’s a red light,” said Matt Mackowiak, a GOP strategist in Austin, Texas, who believes Perry had done much to repair his reputation among Republicans, especially with his recent tough stance on immigration issues. “It stops a lot of the momentum.”
It’s all about Perry trying to shut down a corruption investigation, according to the L.A. Times. It takes until the 14th paragraph to get the explanation of how the indictment relates to drunken, abusive Travis County D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg:
Against that backdrop, Travis County Dist. Atty. Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested last year on drunken-driving charges. She turned belligerent after police stopped her, and a videotape of her aggressive behavior in custody was widely circulated in the Texas media.
Rosemary Lehmberg’s drunken driving is bad enough. Her belligerence is worse. But the L.A. Times never mentions once the most important point of all: Lehmberg’s attempted abuse of power when arrested.
I discussed this when the investigation was first announced in April. Why did Perry threaten to withhold funding from a public integrity unit run by the D.A. of Travis County? Yes, part of it was because she had been arrested for DWI, with a .23 blood alcohol level:
And part of the problem were that she had been belligerent with police, to the point where she needed to be restrained:
But the real problem is much worse: she demanded repeatedly to talk to the sheriff, and refused to resign. Here she is being belligerent and repeatedly asking deputies if they have called “Greg” — Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton.
Watch that video. She is attempting to use her power and influence to get out of jail.
I see a lot of attacks on Rosemary Lehmberg for being a drunk tonight. Those are cute — but miss the more important point: her attempted abuse of power when arrested. Rick Perry was right to object to a government corruption prosecution unit being run by someone who tried to use her power to avoid jail. Now, he is being indicted and charged with a felony — for doing his job. Perry vetoed public funding for an organization whose leader showed she can’t be trusted. Apparently, to avoid prosecution, he needed to keep the money flowing.
A veto — a veto! — was a prosecutable offense.
This is America?
And the damned L.A. Times won’t even tell readers what the real problem is.
People who are not long-time readers could be forgiven for thinking this is a new low for this newspaper.
Patterico (9c670f) — 8/15/2014 @ 10:30 pmIt is what the MFM does.
JD (285732) — 8/15/2014 @ 10:36 pmToday’s meme: a Cold Civil War.
Kevin M (b357ee) — 8/15/2014 @ 10:40 pmThis begs the question.
How would D.A. Jackie Lacey react if Patterico did what Lehmberg did?
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/15/2014 @ 10:43 pmand this comes as a surprise?
JP Kalishek (78ae0c) — 8/15/2014 @ 11:33 pmI don’t want to speak for her. Or the office.
But I think Lehmberg’s actions were corrupt. I’m happy to say that.
Patterico (9c670f) — 8/15/2014 @ 11:41 pmjustice in america lol
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:22 amWhat this is extending the persecution of political enemies from the Federal bureaucracy to Lawfare…persecuting political enemies like this only has one recourse…
“A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of Independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” George Washington
Rich Vail (015de0) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:41 amAs far as I can tell, he wasn’t indicted for the veto. He was indicted for threatening the veto.
Which is even stranger.
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 8/16/2014 @ 3:38 amSo if he just vetoed, out of the blue, he was fine. But warning them ahead of time “I’m going to veto because…” is a crime? How is that different than threatening to veto any law, or budget, that doesn’t conform to his expectations in some other way? Isn’t that the power of the executive?
We only WISH Obama stuck to his veto powers in the performance of his job, instead of wholesale rewriting legislation through regulatory implementation that conflicts with the direct language of the legislation itself.
I hardly recognize my government anymore. I’m sure it always had its undercurrents of corruption. But this is ridiculous. The “D” (or, to be honest, sometimes even “R”) before or after someone’s name in the rolls has become more important than any sense of justice in the application of (or failure to apply) prosecution.
rtrski (203156) — 8/16/2014 @ 5:54 amWell surely the miniscule coverage this is receiving is but just a mere drop in the bucket compared to what the governor on the east coast received when it appeared that he shut down a corruption seeking task force because the they were apparently only harassing friends of his family and was perhaps turning an eye toward his family itself. After all, wasn’t that wall to wall, 24 hour, 7 day a week coverage on all the alphabet news stations? This surely pales in comparison to the light coming from that coverage – a black hole versus a veritable supernova.
Dilligas (389b02) — 8/16/2014 @ 6:01 amSo people in LA who want fact based reporting still need to buy The National Enquirer?
C. S. P. Schofield (e8b801) — 8/16/2014 @ 6:22 amThis is a Travis County Grand Jury. Remember what the Democratic prosecutor did to Represenative Tom Delay with a Travis County Grand Jury, a Pedit Jury & a Democratic Judge.
Michael M. Keohane (6cf629) — 8/16/2014 @ 6:33 amPart of this travesty is local revenge and part of it is national politics: revenge for Perry’s failure to extend noblesse oblige to a member of the Texas ruling elite, albeit a besotted one caught on camera hypocritically pleading for personal exemption from the laws she was sworn to uphold; and part of it is political theater concocted to dirty up a potential GOP presidential candidate.
The fact Perry is calling out the Texas National Guard to help stem the tsunami of illegal aliens flowing across the Mexican border and thereby focusing attention on Obama’s cynical failure to do anything but openly encourage illegal immigrants to invade the nation is all the rallying call leftist media needs to crucify the Texas governor.
ropelight (d138fa) — 8/16/2014 @ 6:59 amI understand the grand jury and the prosecutor who presented the case on Perry to them are in the liberal bubble that is Austin, Texas. So surprise, surprise!
When I see how the left is either purposefully or inadvertently turning this nation into one big banana republic, with all its ensuing forms of corruption (social, economic and political), and not exactly helping the fortunes and future of specific parts of it like the Los Angeles Times (wow, try to find very literate, very well-educated newspaper subscribers when even more of LA’s populace resembles that of a northern branch of a Mexican border town!) — or placating reactionary-third-world-ish Islamo-lunacy while sneering at normative, first-world-Christianized traditionalism — I’m not sure whether to snicker, guffaw or cry.
Mark (a847d2) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:17 amThe MFM is still fixated on Mark Twain’s “ink by the barrel” evaluation of the control of public opinion. Print a lie often enough, and it used to become the truth. They haven’t reconciled that old reality with the other historic truth that emerged 150 years ago: a picture is worth a thousand words. I love this site because it so often provides links to photos and video clips are so often on target … they reveal what ideologs would prefer to remain hidden. It makes the left’s hatred of Fox understandable. They used to control the images people were allowed to see, which was absolutely necessary.
FWIW: Travis County isn’t the only cesspool in the Lone Star State. Alice is the town that gave Lyndon Johnson his landslide with a precinct voter log that featured everyone voting in alphabetical order and all the signatures were remarkably similar. Alice is the county seat of Jim Wells County.
bobathome (4c87a1) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:35 amThe left must really hate Rick Perry if they are using this case to go after the Governor.
Joe (33fd9a) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:40 amIsn’t there a conflict present? Even if the indictment was legit? We have the Travis County DA prosecuting a case alleging that her Office was the victim of a crime.
David (fb3587) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:51 amHow are Travis County Grand Juries chosen ? By the DA ?
Mike K (b5c01a) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:53 amTravis County’s DA’s office has a history of this sort of lawfare. They need to be put in trusteeship. As for the Los Angeles Times, democratic operatives with bylines.
Over to you, mikekoshi.
Art Deco (ee8de5) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:55 amIt’s backfiring which is why Axelrod is out ahead of it. Perry didn’t really have any shot to come back, but this makes democrats there look terrible (they are, in this case, terrible) and ordinary Josettes like myself, like him a bit better than before. There’s no excuse for this prosecutor who flouted the law and demanded special treatment, keeping her job. Not to mention no one that drunk can remain standing unless they have practice; she’s got….problems.
Also: I’m CUUuuuuuuuuuuTE:
http://www.youtubemultiplier.com/53eeb342439e3-texantequilaprosecutordance.php
I thought this would be a good mashup and I think it works on anything but an ipad.
SarahW (267b14) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:37 amModerator? … er .. Moderator? We have a new contributor, Frederick(ob9ff4), who is a bit off topic. The website linked to his name is to a video that features young women … and the substance of his text is a list of products that he (?) thinks will make men more attactive to women. Moderator? Do we have a Moderator available? Moderator?
bobathome (4c87a1) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:38 amMore thrills and spills from America’s very own banana republic party. Just imagine how well things will be run down there once Axlerod & Co turn Texas blue.
Dirty Old Man (b25e94) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:40 amBWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
al-gore-sues-al-jazeera-for-fraud
Icy (453821) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:45 amIs the crime the veto or the threatening of a veto?
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:48 amI thought that was the point of the veto. If the rest of the Texas government wants to keep the money flowing, it would need to override the veto.
DejectedHead (9b0c64) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:54 amlue.
Like it was when it was blue in the ’60’s?
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:59 am“Like it was when it was blue in the ’60′s?”
Back when Lyndon Johnson got rich.
Mike K (b5c01a) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:06 amPerry indicted
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:10 amby drunken moron Lehmberg
fat as ham sammich
“How are Travis County Grand Juries chosen ? By the DA ?”
by teh quality of their ham sammich.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:13 amLehmberg’s a disgrace
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:15 amto fine people of Texas
they deserve better
watching that video, they should’ve kep “Large Marge” in the hoosegow where she belongs.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:16 amSo if the entire Texas legislature had cut funding of the office … would she have indicted them all?
SPQR (c4e119) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:02 amHere are some posts on another forum. I will bold relevant quotes.
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:13 amhttps://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/500634429367533568
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:20 am“she did uphold the law”
I’d laugh if that weren’t so deluded and sad.
SarahW (267b14) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:23 amPerry indicted
by drunken moron Lehmberg
fat as ham sammich
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:10 am
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life,” said Dean Wormer. But it doesn’t apply to Democrats.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:23 amIcy (453821) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:45 am
lol. Looks like the check didn’t clear. The camels get their nose under the tent with Al Jazerra and Al Gore gets squat.
Haw hah.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:24 amFat, drunk, stupid, vicious, ugly, and self righteous. Sounds like a candidate for Attorney General under a Hillary Clinton presidency.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:27 amMichael, that is really an insight into the crooked little minds of folks behind the indictment.
They are, at the end of the day, accusing Perry of kicking out an elected official with the powers of his office to replace her with a political ally….sort of glossing over the fact that she abused her office when in office, broke the law, invoked her position for special treatment. Leaving aside any underlying issue with competence or relapse, that’s not a pretext for invoking his authority for political gain. It’s a very, very, very good reason. And the accusation that he intended to use his powers to appoint political allies fails immediately. There is no evidence about who he might appoint as replacement, only supposition based on what they would do themselves. He never named or appointed another, let alone a party stalwart.
She is the one abusing the power of her office. I don’t know what a person call this deal; “accuse the accusers?”
SarahW (267b14) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:33 amyer right AZ Bob
Colonel Haiku (05cdb6) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:37 amAnimal House all teh way
a vicious Flounder
I get some crap about how Californians are ruining this state by moving here.
Texans, you do not need my help to ruin this state. On top of which, I wouldn’t vote this way.
Straighten up and fly right.
Steve57 (5f6c2a) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:37 amImagine a political ad with these words.
Would the above sound like an attack ad against Perry?
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:47 amNo, from reading the indictment it appears to be both: the threat and the veto. One count for one, and the other count for the other.
Patterico (9c670f) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:53 amnothing what Mr. Governor Perry did to the drunk-ass bridge troll lady
abrogated the existing checks and balances what were in place then and are still in place today
if Team Drunk-Ass Bridge Troll wanted to override the threatened veto nothing was stopping them
but still
it’s nice we’ll have one less drooling idiot on the stage at the republican debates
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 11:56 amThe Republicans are idiots if they don’t make that drunken corrupt fool head of an “anti-corruption” agency the poster child of the Democratic Party in Texas at the very least (and the DNC is backing this too, so they can enjoy the weight of that albatross as well).
M. Scott Eiland (15aac4) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:10 pmit’s nice we’ll have one less drooling idiot on the stage at the republican debates
Unless you make a comeo appearance.
ropelight (d138fa) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:12 pmPerry’s strong statement
Colonel Haiku (2a5ea1) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:13 pmcalling Fat Fu*k what she is
a wet-brained fat slob
Perry should crack a big smile for the mug shot
Colonel Haiku (2a5ea1) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:14 pmheir to Ronnie Earle
Colonel Haiku (2a5ea1) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:19 pmfat ham sammich indictment
Big Fat Texas Pose
this isn’t really very dissimilar to what they tried to do to Mr. Governor Walker is it
America is descending into a thoroughly corrupt banana republic type whorestate at a dizzying pace
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:24 pmA guy is having an affair with a married woman. She decides to break it off. He asks her for good-bye sex. She refuses. He tells her if she does not comply, he will tell her husband about their affair. She complies. He’s indicted for rape and blackmail. Jury finds him not guilty of rape but guilty of blackmail.
Perry had a right to ask for the lady’s resignation. Everybody did. She had the right to tell him to go kiss a cow; the law did not require her to resign because of her DUI. I’ll assume, for the sake of argument, that in Texas the governor can veto a bill for any reason or for no reason at all. Can he condition his veto or non-veto on having a personal request fulfilled?
nk (dbc370) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:27 pmrosemary lehmberg
Colonel Haiku (2a5ea1) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:29 pmbob beckel in woman’s wig
Excess in Texas
good-bye sex?
man nobody tells me anything
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:33 pmLehmberg’s late husband once told her he was leaving her to go find some “new p*ssy”. She replied, “if you had two more inches of d*ck, you’d find some new p*ssy ’round here”…
and then she killed him.
Colonel Haiku (abcba6) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:38 pmDavid Axelrod is warning his allies not to attack Perry over this.
He knows as well as the rest of us that if the Dems decide to attack perry over this, #DemocratsForDrunkDrivers will be the new meme.
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:45 pmA guy is having an affair with a married woman. She decides to break it off. He asks her for good-bye sex. She refuses. He tells her if she does not comply, he will tell her husband about their affair. She complies. He’s indicted for rape and blackmail. Jury finds him not guilty of rape but guilty of blackmail.
Let’s see. If you change the words a little, can this mess be cobbled into coherence? Kind of like picking corn out of a turd?
A married woman sees a man with power, money, prestige, becomes jellous, and conjours an affair out of wholecloth in order to muddy his name.
Problem is the jury takes one look at her, and immediately concludes nobody would want her for a mistress.
I tried. Don’t eat it.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:47 pmIt is.
And yet the Texas Dems can afford to have Rosemary Lehmberg as their standard bearer?
Michael Ejercito (becea5) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:50 pmAxelrod is saying this lawfare tactic is flawed specifically cause the fascists in Austin failed to draw a line between the threatened veto and the squelching of a specific investigation being conducted by the bridge troll’s office
this is all that National Soros Radio can contrive in that respect
otherwise I think Axelrod would be on board
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 12:55 pmThey had the opportunity to reinstate funding after governor Perry’s veto. They didn’t.
Tanny O'Haley (f5a155) — 8/16/2014 @ 1:08 pmIs this worse or not as bad as what Delay had to deal with?
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 8/16/2014 @ 1:14 pm(Asked from a non-Texan who has little to go on except what he hears from MSM until it is corrected here.)
Fat, drunk, stupid, vicious, ugly, and self righteous. Sounds like a candidate for Attorney General under a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Janet Reno didn’t get drunk as far as I know.
Kevin M (b357ee) — 8/16/2014 @ 1:45 pmFace it, Rosemary. You didn’t throw up in front of Dean Wormer; you threw up ON Dean Wormer.
Captain Ned (d080c3) — 8/16/2014 @ 2:00 pmCan he condition his veto or non-veto on having a personal request fulfilled?
He would have received nothing. His veto was based on having no confidence in the management of the office. If she resigned he would fund the office, otherwise not.
Let’s say this is a corporation and the president demands one of his VPs stops sleeping with the staff. The VP says “If you fire me, you’d better be able to prove it and just between us, they’ll never talk.” So his division gets a big budget cut instead. Is this extortion? Or simply not wanting to fund a train wreck?
Kevin M (b357ee) — 8/16/2014 @ 2:03 pmAnd yet the Texas Dems can afford to have Rosemary Lehmberg as their standard bearer?
24/7 ads with Ramblin’ Rose kicking at the door and screaming. What’s not to like?
Kevin M (b357ee) — 8/16/2014 @ 2:05 pmDon”t drop the soap in the shower rick!
mr.gop (e9ee3d) — 8/16/2014 @ 2:45 pmI think that drunk driving video and a well designed PR campaign should wrap up Texas for an other decade. Even California would notice that.
Mike K (b5c01a) — 8/16/2014 @ 2:55 pmIs that…? Buela Ballbricker?
What did she do after Hollywood?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/16/2014 @ 3:33 pmThere’s such a thing as overplaying one’s hand.
This seems likely to turn into a very brutal power struggle between the Travis County D.A. and not just the Texas Governor, but the Texas Legislature.
And this prosecution is so very much over-the-top, so wildly abusive, so obviously craven and corrupt and partisan, that even some yellow-dog Democrats left in the Texas Legislature may desert their party’s radicals on this.
But even if the Dems can maintain party discipline on this, they’re going to take a severe drubbing in public opinion. The people who’ve watched the drunken power-mad disgrace of a Travis County D.A. on video are not going to be persuaded to ignore that by some feverish argument that a state governor is committing a crime by exercising fiscal responsibility.
It’s a pretty far stretch to imagine Rick Perry as Obi-Wan Kenobe. Yet I’m pretty sure I hear Rick drawling to himself, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can imagine.” Standing up to this corruption may actually be the best way for Perry to rescue his reputation within and outside Texas after his aborted 2012 run.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:06 pmThis is an easy story to explain on TV, too. 20-30 seconds of Lehmberg drunkenly demanding special treatment is all you need.
Patterico (9c670f) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:15 pmMy friend nk (8/16/2014 @ 12:27 pm) asks, perhaps rhetorically and perhaps not: “Can he [i.e., the Texas governor] condition his veto or non-veto on having a personal request fulfilled?”
Yes, certainly! The Texas constitution no more imposes a “good cause” requirement for the Texas governor’s vetoes than the U.S. Constitution imposes a “good cause” requirement for the President’s vetoes of acts of Congress. The Texas governor can veto something for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all. That discretion is intrinsic to his veto power, and anyone holding that office wields that power.
That he can, though, doesn’t mean he should. And whether he should’ve — or shouldn’t’ve — is for voters to determine, not the Travis County D.A. nor even a jury of twelve Travis County citizens good and true (assuming such can be found in Travis County, on which subject I’m unpersuaded). Voters normally can do that directly at the ballot box, by refusing to reelect said official (or in Perry’s case, refusing to support him for a new, national office). Or the people can do that indirectly, acting through their elected representatives in the Texas Legislature, who can impeach the governor if they find appropriate grounds as specified in the Texas constitution. But the legislators’ decision can be, and surely would be, political itself. And the impeachment decision is not itself subject to any “good cause” second-guessing (except by voters who are deciding whether to return them (or their fellow partisans) to office).
Right now if there were a public referendum in Texas in which voters were asked to choose whether to impeach Rick Perry or give him a medal for defunding this power-mad clown of a D.A., I’m quite sure they’d choose a medal, and probably by a far bigger margin than that by which Perry last won re-election.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:19 pmTo mr.gop (#66 — 8/16/2014 @ 2:45 pm): If you’re going to be a homophobic troll, try at least to be somewhat grammatical. This blog has higher standards than the seventh grade English class you’ve probably skipped to post this comment.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:22 pmalmost all your better prisons have bodywash dispensers now
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:24 pmMr. Feet, you got a full-blown belly-laugh out of me with that one-liner (#73 — 8/16/2014 @ 4:24 pm). Thank you!
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:29 pmwelcome!
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 4:30 pmThanks, Beldar. Today I told the daughter the story of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, with all appropriate details about Hamilton’s personality and family history and Aaron’s attempt at, and landmark trial for, treason, while out for coffee. (We were out for coffee, not Hamilton and Burr.) She’d find the Perry/Lehmberg saga tame. Is there any chance of a duel between Perry and Crum? For the sake of Texas history and future generations of seventh graders? 😉
nk (dbc370) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:08 pm*McCrum*
nk (dbc370) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:09 pmIt doesn’t matter if Lehman was drunk, driving, disorderly… whatever.
Perry threatened to defund her department if she did not step down.
If I threaten to punch you in the face if you don’t give me $100, I have abused my power to punch you in the face whether you give me the money or not and whether I actually punch you in the face or not.
If I so threaten you, I am guilty of assault (and extortion). If I actually punch you, it’s assault and battery (and extortion.
Because Rick Perry is a smooth-brained idiot with a negative level of social skills, he did not take Lehman aside privately and urge her to step down for the good of the Ethics Commission. He, instead, publicly threatened her with a veto of funding for the Ethics Commission and then carried out that threat.
His actions damaged a lot of things. Among them are the OTHER employees of the Ethics Commission,the People of Texas (who were thus deprived of their watch dog), and the Dignity of the Office of the Governor of Texas, which should never have been forced to suffer the indignity of this corrupt and abusive piece of human garbage to begin with.
Wendy Davis!!!!!!!!!!!
Oznabrag (53412e) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:11 pmwho’s Wendy Davis?????????? Mr. Oznabrag
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/16/2014 @ 7:15 pmIs “my power to punch you in the face” a natural right mentioned in the Declaration, one bestowed by the state or one of those Rousseau found out in the jungle?
That whole paragraph has to be in the top ten of worst analogies ever. Did Perry punch someone or threaten to? Did he demand money from someone? What the hell does assault and battery or extortion have to do with anything? It doesn’t matter what actual crimes she committed, but it does matter that Perry didn’t commit ones you make up out of whole cloth? He exercised a power granted him by Texas law.
But hey assassinating someone’s character in the service of Democratic political corruption is a well worn trait of that DA’s office isn’t it?
Brian B (06f227) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:23 pmAbortion Barbie!!!!!!!!!!! is going exactly as far as her abilities will carry her, the unemployment line, and Perry will look rather stronger when this gets booted, as it surely will.
And Lehmberg’s name will now be a nationwide hissing and byword after her videos get national exposure rather than just a Texas laughingstock.
Jeenyus move.
I don’t think he did that. As I recall the order, it was that the TNG go to the border to help stem the ordinary crimes, by people already in the USA (legally or not), that the local law enforcement people can’t handle becuase they’re overwhelmed dealing with the flood of arrivals.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:40 pmIn Walker’s case they made up a law that doesn’t exist, and then went investigating whether Walker broke it. The main purpose was to so harass everyone around Walker that nobody would be willing to help him in the future. Walker says he didn’t do what they claim, but as the federal judge who shut it down said, it doesn’t matter, he’s not even going to get in to that, becuause even if the prosecutors came up with video tape showing Walker doing what they claim he did, it wouldn’t be illegal.
In Perry’s case there’s no question about what he did; he openly admits it, which it would be difficult not to, since he did it in public. And the lack of any law against what he did is blindingly obvious, it doesn’t need a federal judge to point it out.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:54 pmIt wasn’t a personal request. It was made in the course of his duty as governor. His opinion that she was unfit to hold public office was not just a private opinion, it was his official opinion, and he had every right to use whatever powers were in his hand to make her do what he decided was the right thing.
In any case, blackmail is a very strange law, and you can’t reason from it to any other law. It stands alone.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/16/2014 @ 9:58 pmThis.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/16/2014 @ 10:00 pm@Happy feet: Wendy Davis is the next Governor of Texas.
@ Milhouse: The Governor overstepped his authority, and I hope he’ll draw some time in the can.
Of course, he won’t, but I still hope he will.
It was good enough for DeLay!
Seriously, people, just because this abusive, power-mad sack of garbage has good hair and greases all the right wheels doesn’t make him right or honest or beneficial to the majority of Texans.
In fact, Perry has done just what every Republican Governor has done, and that is to make things better for the upper economic crust of Texas, and let the little guy take it in the neck.
Ann Richards was a damned fine Governor, but the Republicans have been a string of losers.
Man up and vote Wendy.
Oznabrag (69cd5d) — 8/17/2014 @ 12:00 amoh.
good on her then
that’s quite an accomplishment
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/17/2014 @ 12:27 amIn what universe?
He didn’t, and he won’t. Without knowing you at all, though, I’ll lay odds that you belong in the can.
Er, no, it wasn’t, which is why he never went there and never will. You know very well that DeLay never did anything wrong, just as you know that Perry did nothing wrong.
Excuse me? What exactly has he abused, except maybe you? If he really were a sack of garbage you’d be chewing holes in his side.
Richards was, to quote happyfeet, a hoochie.
What has that worthless person ever done, for anyone, that would induce anyone to vote for her? All anyone knows about her is that she lied through her teeth about her background, that she dumped her husband as soon as he finished paying for her education, that she was an unfit mother, and, um, I think that’s about it.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/17/2014 @ 12:56 am11. Dilligas (389b02) — 8/16/2014 @ 6:01 am
Well surely the miniscule coverage this is receiving is but just a mere drop in the bucket compared to what the governor on the east coast received when it appeared that he shut down a corruption seeking task force because the they were apparently only harassing friends of his family and was perhaps turning an eye toward his family itself. After all, wasn’t that wall to wall, 24 hour, 7 day a week coverage on all the alphabet news stations? This surely pales in comparison to the light coming from that coverage – a black hole versus a veritable supernova.
This was the Moreland Commission – something that can be established under New York State law but rarely is – which investigates and makes recommendations on things, and concerns itself both with what is llegal and what is illegal.
I don’t think a Moreland Commission has ever been established before that was abruptly shut down.
It was actually reported at the time that this was a pressure tactic on the state legislature to pass some kind of ethics legislation. He seems to have settled for pretty little.
When Cuomo had set it up he had said they could look into anything. But it was also reported it was a pressure tactic. It was a surprise that once he set it up he didn’t let it run its course. They were in conflict with the legislature over a subpoena, but I think that was resolved. (but not yet complied with)
There has not been great coverage – prominent headlines and so on. Nothing usually gets big headlines except indictments, of which there have been quite a few over the last couple of years. Very often the cases are resolved by a plea bargain that involves resigning. I think that kind of arrangement goes back to Agnew in 1973.
When the U.S. Attorney said he was investigating the possibility that shutting the Moreland Commission down was a crime (the crime would probably be obstruction of justice) Governor Cuomo didn’t say anything for about five days Wednesday to Monday. Then he said it was his commission. He could create it and he could disband it. He even got some members of the commission to support him -also to say he (or rather his people) did not interfere with their work, but only made suggestions.
Another defense is that they turned over files concerning anything that might be criminal to the district attorney who might have jurisdiction over it. I suppose you could allege he wanted to stop them before they discovered something.
Clearly Cuomo actually was using the threat of indictment or extreme political embarassment on the legislature to get his way and they compromised. The sort of accusation against Cuomo is that maybe some of what they were looking into could apply to him. I don’t think he was protecting himself, but he may have been protecting other people in exchange for not opposing him too much.
Sammy Finkelman (dbec95) — 8/17/2014 @ 3:35 amhttps://patterico.com/2014/08/15/l-a-times-rick-perry-indicted-for-abusing-his-power-and-shutting-down-ethics-investigations/#comment-1671840
Pore lil’ feller.
Oznabrag (ca1af9) — 8/17/2014 @ 9:58 amWhy, in yours, of course! Don’t be afraid, though, she won’t castrate you unless you beg her to.
Oh yes. Perry overstepped his authority by coercing, browbeating, threatening and bullying Lehman. If you were paying attention, you would see that I believe she should have stepped down WITHOUT HAVING BEEN ASKED BY ANYBODY. The problem is that Perry has no authority to remove an elected official.
Er, yes, it was. The fact that he did not serve time is simply more evidence of the corrupt, good-ol’-boy cesspool that is Texas politics.
If he were a black man convicted of jaywalking, he’d be breaking rocks for twenty years.
Sooooo….. If he abuses someone other than you, it’s not abuse?
Not a very nice sort of person, are you?
Why is it that all the rabid supporters of Perry’s despotism are not very nice?
Hmmmm…
Soooo… No rebuttal to the fact that the past several Republican governors of Texas have been colossal, reeking, amoral idiots and losers of the first order; that they have had absolutely zero interest in the general well-being of the great majority of Texans, and that they have, in fact, done a great deal to make the rich richer at the expense of the less fortunate?
And you follow this up with a derogatory remark towards Ann Richards?
You really are a fine piece of work.
Pore lil’ feller.
I guess you are aware that there are a substantial number of people in this once-great State who believe that women are people, and that corporations are not.
As I said before, Wendy won’t emasculate you unless your only claim to self worth is the fact that you have testicles.
Man up, Millhouse. Vote for someone who wants to serve the whole of Texas, not just the good-ol’-boy, back-room, greed-driven jerks who keep touting Perry and his overt abuse of power.
You can do it. I know you can do it!
You Go Millhouse!
Oznabrag (ca1af9) — 8/17/2014 @ 12:00 pmWendy let me in
nk (dbc370) — 8/17/2014 @ 1:53 pmI brought the Vaseline
The money’s on the table
Here’s your chance to earn a buck
The only way you’re able.
The LA Times today has an update, in which they try, in their left-handed way, to report on the backlash to the indictments.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-rick-perry-20140817-story.html
The report seems bent on couching everything in the worst light possible for Perry, such as suggesting that the real motivation for shutting down the agency was that they were investigating Perry and his friends.
Finally, in the 27th and 28th paragraph (out of 28) — well past all kinds of digs — does the article relate a Democrat objection (Axelrod’s), and even then it emphasizes the suspcioon of ulterior motives.
Who would buy this bankrupt paper?
Kevin M (b357ee) — 8/17/2014 @ 2:11 pmHe removed an elected official?
This is a fact free opinion. Intelligent people don’t attempt rebuttals to such.
That’s not what he said. I think your IQ is not far above room temperature.
Gerald A (5d484e) — 8/17/2014 @ 2:25 pmSoooo… None of you clowns has any way to justify Perry’s abuse of power.
That is NOT par for the course.
You guys are gonna be a dozen strokes over, and weeping into your beer.
Have fun!
Oznabrag (af31fd) — 8/17/2014 @ 3:49 pmwhat Perry did on that that sad butt-ugly drunk-ass hoochie?
that wasn’t abuse of power that was an intervention Mr. Oznabrag
probably for one of them shows on the cable tv
happyfeet (8ce051) — 8/17/2014 @ 3:51 pmPerry got pissed
Made a stink
Got it back in his face
AZ Bob Haiku
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 8/17/2014 @ 10:06 pmNo, I live in the real world, not in whichever alternative dimension it is where Davis has a chance. (By the way, in that alternative universe, she’s a pro-life Republican.)
Really? How is any of that outside his authority?
And you will notice that he didn’t. He did only what was within his authority, and not what was outside it. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
Really? Please explain how you reach that conclusion, because I can’t figure it out. What makes you think he should have served time? He has come out of the case with a spotless record; what makes you think that had anything to do with politics, while his persecution at the hand of Earles somehow had nothing to do with politics? That’s a real puzzler.
Surely that would depend on whether he actually jaywalked, not on his race. If you’re alleging racism, kindly specify exactly whom you’re accusing of it, and the precise evidence on which you base this serious accusation. Because only a very evil wicked person would make such an accusation without solid evidence, or even a specific target.
That was a non-sequitur. Now you’re just gibbering. I asked what he’s abused. Because as far as I know the answer is nothing.
Since he’s not a despot, these alleged supporters of his imagined despotism don’t exist outside your diseased mind. I’m not surprised that the denizens of your imagination are not nice people.
It’s not a fact, it’s a stupid fat-headed assertion. But “colossal, reeking, amoral idiot and loser of the first order” does describe Ann Richards pretty well. OK, maybe not of the first order; she was a second-rater at everything, after all.
Yup. Because she deserves it, so why wouldn’t I? You opened the door.
Everyone on the planet knows that women are people. There isn’t anyone who claims otherwise. But coporations are made up of people; they are a method that people use to organise themselves. And legally, they are people. If Davis is so ignorant that she doesn’t know this, then that’s reason #234 why she has no business holding public office.
That would be Greg Abbott. And Ted Cruz.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/18/2014 @ 1:14 amOur troll seems to be unaware that DeLay’s bogus conviction was overturned, which means it never happened.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/18/2014 @ 1:16 amActually this indictment against Perry is rather like the one against DeLay, that was rejected by the first two grand juries Earles put it to. In both cases there’s no dispute over what they did; the only question is whether it’s illegal. The main difference is that any person of ordinary intelligence can see that the charge against Perry is bogus, whereas to know that the charge against DeLay was bogus one needed some knowledge of the law and of politics.
Milhouse (9d71c3) — 8/18/2014 @ 1:19 amThis oznabrag does not strike me as rising to the level of ordinary intelligence.
Steve57 (5f6c2a) — 8/18/2014 @ 1:40 amRecall though
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/18/2014 @ 5:35 amI only know from a distance, but before Delay was indicted, he and his wife were setting up a “neighborhood” for families with foster kids/willing to take in foster kids, with the intent of making a setting where foster kids could develop life-long family relationships and friends-
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 8/18/2014 @ 5:40 amAFAIK, the project died with a number of partially built houses sitting in the Texas sun.
Liberal blogs chastised Delay for “pretending to be a good guy”.
it fit Pelosi’s ‘culture of corruption’ meme, and it helped take one of our strngest players off the field
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/18/2014 @ 5:45 amhttp://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/08/a-comment-on-the-perry-indictment.php
Tanny O'Haley (f5a155) — 8/18/2014 @ 7:09 amIt’s way past time to put a stop to these people. The Texas legislature should put a stop to these people. The problem with conservatives is that once they’ve won, they stop. Liberals never stop, they are like a monster from a “B” horror movie.
For these people the rule of law is an impediment. For them the “ends justify the means.” I’ve seen this first hand and it left me fearful and demoralized. Out of control government, not “for the people” but for the government, against the people.
Tanny O'Haley (f5a155) — 8/18/2014 @ 7:28 am