Rick Perry indicted on two felony counts

[carlfense]

Whoa.

[lo country]

This is going to get interesting. Quickly. Not comments on the thread, but the media, political talking heads and the Gov's response and case. Will be interesting to follow and see the ramifications, if any at local, state and fed levels.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

[tschu]

lololol

 

popcorn.gif

[Creighton Duke]

A politician threatening to cut off a department/agency/etc.'s finances? Didn't know they could do that!!!

[walksalone]

A politician that's a criminal?

 

[zoogs]

A politician threatening to cut off a department/agency/etc.'s finances? Didn't know they could do that!!!

^ Coercing a public servant might be a better characterization.

 

This seems like kinda big news. Did it come out of nowhere, or...?

[lo country]

A politician that's a criminal?

 

haha. That's a good one

[carlfense]

This case is a pretty stunning example of the difference between the left leaning news sites and the conservative media.

 

For example:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/rick-perry-indictment-is-unbelievably-ridiculous.html

 

Or this summary:

 

Several pundits, including former Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod, Clinton and Obama administration alum Jonathan Prince, Vox's Matt Yglesias, and New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait, wrote on Twitter they couldn't see what the big deal was.

 

"Unless he was demonstrably trying to scrap the ethics unit for other than his stated reason," Axelrod argued, "Perry indictment seems pretty sketchy."

"Have to say Perry indictment seems nuts. Gov has constitutional power to veto. Gov uses power. Grand jury indicts bc they don't like reason?" Prince asked.

"Hard for me to imagine these Rick Perry charges sticking," Yglesias wrote, adding, "Does anyone think this Perry indictment makes sense?"

"My *very* preliminary reaction to the Rick Perry news: I don't understand what law he broke," Chait opined.

ThinkProgress, the liberal-oriented news site, reported that Perry's own attorneys "may have a point" when they argued his veto of the prosecutor funding "was made in accordance with the veto authority afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/liberals-criticize-rick-perry-indictment-2014-8#ixzz3AaN9EvVz

[tschu]

There's like zero chance he gets convicted of anything though right

[carlfense]

There's like zero chance he gets convicted of anything though right

From what I have read that looks about right.

[Micheal]

From the way I understand this, woman gets DUI and acts embarrassingly as an official that is suppose to look into people in the state government acting inappropriately, she is asked to resign her position, she wont, he says he will cut funding so then she throws a fit and has him indicted.

 

I feel like she should have stepped down in the first place. This whole indictment seems politically charged, the Democrats trying to smear another possible Republican presidential candidate. Whether it has basis or not it will probably do the trick.

[carlfense]

This whole indictment seems politically charged, the Democrats trying to smear another possible Republican presidential candidate.

I agree. It's misuse of tax dollars solely to smear a political opponent.

 

Of course I'll rethink my opinion if more evidence comes out and is sufficient to convince a jury.

[tschu]

This is basically a case of two wrongs don't make a right.

 

Still, it's probably going nowhere.

[VectorVictor]

There's like zero chance he gets convicted of anything though right

 

No, there's a decent chance (35%?) this will stick to some degree. Trial is in Austin, which is a wretched hive of scum and villainy (per Fox News, at any rate). Of course, with appeals...

 

...also, the attorney that filed the charges and is handling the case is a former police officer turned prosecutor and Republican (per the local Fox affiliate). Found that to be an interesting contract to the Axelrod comments.

 

And I think it's funny that the Axelrod comments were picked up by Fox News and their like, as they're rather loaded. It's pretty obvious why Perry wanted to strip funding for the Ethics unit, not because of the DUI from the woman leading the unit, but because Perry was being investigated on multiple issues by this unit. Plus, Perry openly wanted to replace the leader with one of his own that would presumably drop all of the investigations going on about him.

 

And let's not forget that Perry isn't exactly embraced by the state--IIRC, he's only carried 57% of the vote at most, and the moderate Republicans hate Perry down here almost as much as the Democrats and view him as nothing more than a 'necessary evil'.