Feeling sorry for the Texas governor? [icopyright one button toolbar]
No. But Amy Davidson makes a solid case for some pity.
Governor Rick Perry of Texas was indicted Friday on charges of abuse of his office and coercing a public official—that does not sound good, for a man positioning himself to run for President in 2016. Both of those charges are felonies; in Texas, that means that, if convicted, Perry would lose his right to vote during any time in prison, which, for the more serious count, could be five to ninety-nine years, according to the Dallas Morning News. There’s a version of the crime that sounds outrageous, too: that Perry withheld funds in order to gain control of the Public Integrity Unit in Travis County, which includes Austin, and force out a prosecutor, Rosemary Lehmberg, who was investigating his fellow Republicans. He will be fingerprinted; there will be a mug shot. …AmyDavidson,NYer
All this could happen. These are strange times, certainly not times one could call “normal,” as Davidson points out.
One of the strange things about this prosecution is that the acts were so open and so much a part of normal politics, if there is any normality in American politics anymore. It is a strange complaint at a time when hidden exchanges of money are protected by the Supreme Court. In that, it bears a certain resemblance to the congressional Republicans’ lawsuit against President Barack Obama. …AmyDavidson,NYer
No, they’re decidedly not good times, not when a corrupt governor from a corrupt Texas faction has some kind a chance, they say, of achieving the presidency. But what’s really stunning is that we have a Supreme Court measurably more damaging to our democracy than Perry could ever be. Still, I doubt Perry will ever be able to rise above his own cheesiness and buffoonery, and certainly not in Washington. It takes more than serious-looking black-plastic frames on his glasses.