Rick Perry indicted on abuse of power

[Lief 🗽]

goddamn Rick Perry is a badass

Democrats fcked this up big time, this is gonna give him a huge boost.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

The Dems have so stepped in a massive pile of Texan Cow Poo. I'm not a Perry fan either but I have to Facepalm the HillDawg folks for trying these shenanigans.

Texas- R+15

[IceSpear]

goddamn Rick Perry is a badass

Democrats fcked this up big time, this is gonna give him a huge boost.

I'm pretty sure Perry getting a huge boost is good for Democrats.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Doubt he'll run for President if this get's as big as Bridge-gate did.

Bridegate got big?  At least for Christie, it kind of fizzled away.

EDIT: Also, this is a non-story.

[Lief 🗽]

Bridgegate damaged Christie's brand. This indictment is enhancing Perry's.

[Deus Naturae]

Perry: 'I will fight this injustice with every fiber of my being.'

[BaconBacon96]

I guess I was wrong about this being bad for him.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Here's the mugshot:

Liked.

He definitely seems to have gone out of his way to make it look as much as possible not like a mugshot.

[Simfan34]

Crappy camera. Excellent tie dimple.

[Lief 🗽]

This is pretty badass. I may have changed my support from Paul to Perry.

Not surprising, based on your signature. Perry's response to this has been very Nixon-esque, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. This has been a very big boost for him, and I think Democrats made a huge mistake in essentially resurrecting his viability as a national candidate with this idiotic stunt.

[Mr. Morden]

After the booking, Perry brushed it off by treating himself to an ice cream cone.  He tweeted these pics:

[pbrower2a]

I don't live in Texas, so I have my own filter. Texas has some strange politics.

Elected officials have no right to interfere in the judicial process for partisan ends. A state governor may use pardons and commutations as permitted by the State constitution, but that is as far as it goes. The governor cannot fire a judge or diminish his pay (which is a constructive firing) for political purposes.

An indictment has been made, and that does not itself imply guilt -- just that a case for prosecution exists. That is all.

It's good to see that someone gets it. I keep seeing this really, really nasty meme that it's okay to blatantly break the law if you're doing to to "punish" a wrong-doer (alleged or otherwise). Does anyone think that what Perry did would have been just dandy if he'd done it because the person he was targeting was hispanic? Or gay? Or Muslim? The ends DO NOT justify the means - if a civilization start ignoring its own laws because it think that is true, then its doomed.

There are two aspects here. How bad does it look for Perry? Did he break the law?

The DA's drunk driving arrest/ behavior fits both discussions. Primarily we've talked about the former, but it's still relevant for the latter.

As Governor, Perry has veto powers. And he is also able to say that he will use the veto powers under certain circumstances.

He wouldn't be able to use the veto powers to remove someone for being gay, Muslim or Hispanic. However, a prosecutor serving three weeks in jail for drunk driving, who is videotaped trying to pull rank on the officers around her, is not the moral equivalent of someone who is a victim of discrimination. She did something that's clearly wrong.

She was not removed for DWI. She was allowed to remain in office. Even if such is a mistake, it is not the prerogative of the Governor to deny the due payment for her work; such is not within his power.  That the attempt to deny payment for her office is done for what looks like a protection of the economic interest of the Governor's cronies makes the veto look like an abuse of power severe enough to allow an indictment. The Governor has veto powers, but if he uses them for corrupt purposes he may commit a crime.

Judges are not personally responsible to elected officials. Remember: an independent judiciary is a cornerstone of liberal democracy (in the classical sense). It does not allow judicial misconduct or grossly-incompetent performance... or blatant non-performance of duties.       

[SteveRogers]

This is pretty badass. I may have changed my support from Paul to Perry.

Not surprising, based on your signature. Perry's response to this has been very Nixon-esque, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. This has been a very big boost for him, and I think Democrats made a huge mistake in essentially resurrecting his viability as a national candidate with this idiotic stunt.

Did they though?

[Simfan34]

This is pretty badass. I may have changed my support from Paul to Perry.

Not surprising, based on your signature. Perry's response to this has been very Nixon-esque, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. This has been a very big boost for him, and I think Democrats made a huge mistake in essentially resurrecting his viability as a national candidate with this idiotic stunt.

Oops.

[Lief 🗽]

This is pretty badass. I may have changed my support from Paul to Perry.

Not surprising, based on your signature. Perry's response to this has been very Nixon-esque, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. This has been a very big boost for him, and I think Democrats made a huge mistake in essentially resurrecting his viability as a national candidate with this idiotic stunt.

Did they though?

If Rick Perry can make people forgot about his oops moment (which is obviously not going to be easy), I think he's a strong candidate. Before the debates in 2012, I thought he was the GOP's best hope of defeating Obama. He's a charismatic guy, he can spin his record as TX governor as a very positive one, and he can unite most of the Republican party behind him.

[King]

I applaud the Democrats for resurrecting Perry's viability, that way he'll be in the spotlight to make even more hilarious gaffes before sinking back into the mud.

[Mr. Morden]

Believe it or not, Perry's PAC is now fundraising off of this.  For $25, you can buy a Rick Perry mugshot t-shirt:

https://www.rickpac.org/donations/limited-edition-mugshot-shirt/



Found it in this story on the worst campaign "swag" ever:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/22/in-which-rick-perrys-mugshot-fundraising-t-shirt-inspires-a-contest/

Note some of the other fun items from various PACs out there, like the O'Malley 2016 apron:



and the "2 legit 2 Mitt" t-shirt from the 2012 campaign:

[Simfan34]

[Simfan34]

[Simfan34]

http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/Wires/Online/2014-08-24/AP/Images/ForgottenGovernorNoMore-06b2a.jpg?uuid=-8HEFiucEeS-nmDMRMAefw

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44716000/jpg/_44716128_mugabeposter.jpg

[Mr. Morden]

An interesting (now deleted) tweet from earlier today:



http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2014/08/indictment-mischaracterized-in-deleted-tweet-from-perry-account/

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Mister Mets]

I don't live in Texas, so I have my own filter. Texas has some strange politics.

Elected officials have no right to interfere in the judicial process for partisan ends. A state governor may use pardons and commutations as permitted by the State constitution, but that is as far as it goes. The governor cannot fire a judge or diminish his pay (which is a constructive firing) for political purposes.

An indictment has been made, and that does not itself imply guilt -- just that a case for prosecution exists. That is all.

It's good to see that someone gets it. I keep seeing this really, really nasty meme that it's okay to blatantly break the law if you're doing to to "punish" a wrong-doer (alleged or otherwise). Does anyone think that what Perry did would have been just dandy if he'd done it because the person he was targeting was hispanic? Or gay? Or Muslim? The ends DO NOT justify the means - if a civilization start ignoring its own laws because it think that is true, then its doomed.

There are two aspects here. How bad does it look for Perry? Did he break the law?

The DA's drunk driving arrest/ behavior fits both discussions. Primarily we've talked about the former, but it's still relevant for the latter.

As Governor, Perry has veto powers. And he is also able to say that he will use the veto powers under certain circumstances.

He wouldn't be able to use the veto powers to remove someone for being gay, Muslim or Hispanic. However, a prosecutor serving three weeks in jail for drunk driving, who is videotaped trying to pull rank on the officers around her, is not the moral equivalent of someone who is a victim of discrimination. She did something that's clearly wrong.

She was not removed for DWI. She was allowed to remain in office. Even if such is a mistake, it is not the prerogative of the Governor to deny the due payment for her work; such is not within his power.  That the attempt to deny payment for her office is done for what looks like a protection of the economic interest of the Governor's cronies makes the veto look like an abuse of power severe enough to allow an indictment. The Governor has veto powers, but if he uses them for corrupt purposes he may commit a crime.

Judges are not personally responsible to elected officials. Remember: an independent judiciary is a cornerstone of liberal democracy (in the classical sense). It does not allow judicial misconduct or grossly-incompetent performance... or blatant non-performance of duties.       

Legally, it was entirely within Perry's purview as Governor to veto funding for her office. The argument is that threatening the veto constituted blackmail.

[Mr. Morden]

Politico notes that even if Perry is never convicted, the prospect of a trial complicates any presidential ambitions he might have:

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/rick-perry-indictment-110651.html?hp=f3

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Why do people keep on pretending Rick Perry is relevant?

[Simfan34]

An interesting (now deleted) tweet from earlier today:



http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2014/08/indictment-mischaracterized-in-deleted-tweet-from-perry-account/

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It could have been funny.