The Rick Perry Project

Jonathan Chait of the New York Magazine pans the Perry indictment:

This Indictment Of Rick Perry Is Unbelievably Ridiculous

They say a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and this always seemed like hyperbole, until Friday night a Texas grand jury announced an indictment of governor Rick Perry. The “crime” for which Perry faces a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison is vetoing funding for a state agency. The conventions of reporting —  which treat the fact of an indictment as the primary news, and its merit as a secondary analytic question —  make it difficult for people reading the news to grasp just how farfetched this indictment is.

As if to illustrate his point about conventional news coverage missing the point, the NY Times delivers a long piece which barely touches on the absurd legal foundation of this indictment. Readers are offered this legal background:

The charges set in motion a battle of competing narratives over just what kind of overreach the indictment reflects. Democrats say the charges describe the arrogant overreach of a governor with unchecked power. Republicans took up the argument made by Mr. Perry on Saturday that the excess was in the investigation and indictment themselves, which they described as political in nature and extremely dubious in legality.

So its as simple as Democrats versus Republicans? Maybe they meant to limit themselves to Texas, without wasting the pixels to insert the extra five letters. But Mr. Chait is a reliable lefty, as are luminaries such as David Axelrod and Alan Dershowitz.

The Times also included this gem of an insight:

The indictment’s more fundamental challenge to Mr. Perry is that it could serve as a distraction from his well-choreographed comeback plan. Should he become a threat in the 2016 primaries, his opponents will almost certainly use it against him.

So Republican Presidential candidates will woo engaged (and enraged!) conservatives by backing a drunk Democratic partisan prosecutor?

Uh huh. Just as any Democrat who emerges to challenge Hillary will use Bill Clinton's impeachment against her, because the death wish knows no partisan boundaries. Or something.

For real coverage we turn to Eugene Volokh of the WaPo and Patterico. And from their archives, Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune was covering this local story more than a year ago, and is back on it.

PROGRESS: In a follow-up story covering Perry's effort on the Sunday talkies, the Times adds this:

The governor said he had received support from a range of political figures, not just Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and the former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, but also, less predictably, from the other end of the political spectrum. He quoted a Twitter post from David Axelrod, the former senior adviser to Mr. Obama, as saying the indictment seemed “pretty sketchy.”

Mr. Axelrod’s full post read: “Unless he was demonstrably trying to scrap the ethics unit for other than his stated reason, Perry indictment seems pretty sketchy.”

Mr. Perry also cited Alan M. Dershowitz, a retired professor of constitutional and criminal law at Harvard University. Mr. Dershowitz told Newsmax, the conservative news website, that he was a “longtime Democrat who would never vote for Rick Perry,” but that the indictment represented an unacceptable “criminalization of party differences.”

The Times needs to be careful not to leave their readers alone on a limb and looking foolish when the rest of the world is in agreement that this indictment is a travesty. On the other hand, bad news like that needs to be unwrapped slowly. Tricky!

 

Comments

[Mebbe a little rooster sauce.]

Well, if you indict a ham sandwich, and can't go on, you can at least eat the ham sandwich. Let 'em try eating this.

[Threadkiller]

So Republican Presidential candidates will woo engaged (and enraged!) conservatives by backing a drunk Democratic partisan prosecutor?

As long as the MFM can keep that narrative afloat.

Last night, on CNN, FOX, MSNBC* the guest on whichever show I was watching suggested that Rand Paul is using this against Perry already and backed up his contention by saying that Paul and Perry have a long standing feud.

I found no such commentary from Paul, but in a world where nobody remembers the vindication and everybody remembers the charge he will eat this one.

*background noise while I was working on a car. I have no idea what channel was on.

[clarice]

Patterico's coverage is the best. He's the only one who noticed the press had left out the part of Count 1 that establishes it is based on Perry's veto.

[Rollo]

Speaking of building false cases....

"A Witness Conversation Unknowingly Captured at the Scene of the Ferguson Shooting is a Game-Changer"

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/08/168698-eyewitness-recalls-important-detail-background-video-mins-ferguson-shooting/

This corroborates an account of the event given by a friend of Officer Darren Wilson:

Well, then Michael takes off and gets to be about 35 feet away. And, Darren’s first protocol is to pursue. So, he stands up and yells, “Freeze!” Michael and his friend turn around. And Michael taunts him… And then all the sudden he just started bumrushing him. He just started coming at him full speed. And, so he just started shooting. And, he just kept coming. And, so he really thinks he was on something.”

[Jeff Dobbs]

#RickPerryGlasses

#TCFATB!

[lyle]

Per Michael Walsh, more evidence that Dems are a criminal enterprise masquerading as a political party.

[Jane]

Bela,

As I said on the last thread, I sent you an email. Let me know if you don't get it.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

lyle,

Democrat Criminal Enterprise comes with a TM, © and ®.

For the JOM lawyers: Lets say the IRS continues to stonewall Judge Emmet Sullivan in re the emails FOIA'd by Judicial Watch, does he have police powers to have the Commissioner arrested and jailed for conspiracy to hide evidence of wrong doing or something like that:)

[Pagar]

Lyle@01:21.
Why was more evidence needed? It has been obvious for years.

[NKinTyphusagony]

Lyle-- the Dems are a gangster organization, like the Gambinos and they have Omerta... but they don't have a moral code like Cosa Nostra. They are more like pirates that way.... steal everything you can, give nothing back.

[NKinTyphusagony]

JiB-- in a civil case, sanctions normally include dismissing the answer and awarding judgment to plaintiffs, plus attorneys fees. As we saw with the Alaskan scam, D Ct Judges don't really go after Fed attys.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

NK,

With the stunt they pulled in Travis County they are burning bridges in front of them as well. They are starting the evolution of replacing the GOPe as the "stupider party".

[NKinTyphusagony]

Unfortunately the Texas shennigans won't hurt the Dems nationally, the media will just bury the story. In Texas though, I bet this hurts Dems in '14, and again in '16. Just a disgrace.

[NKinTyphusagony]

BTW-- rand paul is just as looney as his old man. Can we all agree on that?

[James D.]

I've been thinking a lot about the Perry indictment and especially the videos of Lehmberg being arrested and then in jail.

I have to say, it makes me very depressed. And it made me realize some things.

As much as Lehmberg is, just based on the videos, a reprehensible human being who is clearly unfit for any public office, I still felt sorry for her after watching the videos. I don't care that she's a political opponent, or even that she's surely taken pleasure in humiliating people precisely as she was humiliated, and continues to do so even after having it done to her.

Despite all that, she's still a human being, and nobody deserves to have their worst moment broadcast to the world.

What i realized watching the videos is that, for all that I write on here about fighting dirty as the Dems do, I don't have the heart to actually do it, if I were in a position to. I don't want to be that person.

If that's what it takes to win politically, I guess that makes me a loser.

[NKinTyphusagony]

JamesD-- you're a much better man than I am. That old drunk endangered people on the road, she was rightly arrested. She's the elected DA; the voters have a right to know about her public behavior, and driving incredibly drunk on the road is very public behavior. Her refusal to resign is a disgrace; she deserves being exposed.

[clarice]

JiB, judges have the power to punish for contempt committed in their presence by fines or jail. I think this would qualify.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/16/Rand-Paul-Ventures-To-Guatemala-To-Conduct-Charity-Eye-Surgeries-For-Needy

Looney.

[Sue]

Unless you lived in the Austin media demographic, this story was news to us too. All democrats have done issue this woman a public laughing stock. And I still want to know how she kept her law license? I haven't checked the state board, I will tomorrow, to see her status, but she should at least be on some kind of disciplinary status with her law license.

[Jeff Dobbs]

She lost her license for 180 days is what I read.

[clarice]

I believe Sullivan was the lawyer in the Stevens case and must be pretty fed up with the low state of the DoJ at this point.

[Eric in Boise]

f that's what it takes to win politically, I guess that makes me a loser.

The fact that nice guys (sometimes) finish last is not a valid reason to stop being a nice guy, IMHO.

[Sue]

Hit,

Thanks.

[sbw]

James D. nobody deserves to have their worst moment broadcast to the world

Then the DA's should not have doubled down and, with the drunks' tacit consent, indicted the governor. She could have gone through life as a private attorney without the video having to have been broadcast to the world.

When you ask for it, expect to get it.

No sympathy here.

[Rick B]

The sot could have resigned, as she should have, and she could have interceded with McCrum to refrain from idiocy. That she didn't kill someone was a matter of chance.

She's a fine representative of the party of Ted Kennedy and her own decisions have placed her in public view.

[NKinTyphusagony]

Hyping the druken DA video to me is not 'politics'. It's a public service announcement. Every voter has a right to know how their DA behaves in public. I'd support that even if the politician involved were a favorite of mine. BTW-- do you think this was the only time she was driving in this state, or even stopped by a cop for it?

[Sue]

No sympathy from me either. She was stopped go south in a north bound lane. That no one died is a miracle.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Sorry, Sue - she lost her driver's license for 180 days is what I'm reading now. Some sites say law license - but I think they are wrong.

[NKinTyphusagony]

Sue-- I didn't realize tha was the reason for the stop. ABSOLUTE disgrace she didn't resign.

[O Jay]

"James D. nobody deserves to have their worst moment broadcast to the world"

I doubt that video was that drunk beast's worst moment. I doubt it ranks in her Top 10 worst moments.

[Threadkiller]

I hear you James and I respect your position.

I think the decision to make her famous is in Perry's hands, and if I were him I would be wearing a Shaky DA t-shirt to my mugshot sitting.

If they insist on a close up, I would have a washable tattoo of her drunkenness on my forehead.

[James D.]

This is a hard thing to work out in my own thoughts, because I feel probably as strongly as anyone here that Lehmberg has no business being in public office, and also that she brought everything that happened on herself. And also that "human being" is probably a very generous description of her, because based on her behavior in the video, and subsequently, it's hard to imagine that she has anything resembling a functioning soul inside her.

But that last part isn't for me to judge.

[James D.]

The other thing, which I'm ashamed to admit that I had this thought, is that my first reaction to seeing the Lehmberg video, is this:

The world would have been made a better place if she'd plowed into a tree or telephone pole or guardrail at 70 MPH while she was driving with her .238 BAC (as long as nobody else was involved or injured), and died on impact.

But that, also, is not for me to judge.

[Jeff Dobbs]

When she was incarcerated, Lehmberg wrote the following in her "apology":

"There can be no anger directed at me - or disappointment in me - greater than my own."

F'n Obamaesque. "No one is angrier about [insert scandal here] tham me."

[Sue]

Ok, I went ahead and looked. It says no public disciplinary action.

http://m.texasbar.com/Search/AttorneyProfile.cfm?ContactID=176188

[clarice]

I meant Sullivan was the JUDGE in the Stevens case.

[TexasIsHeaven]

Rosemary Lehmberg has worked in the Travis County DA's office since the late 70's or there abouts. She and Ronnie Earle were big buds - the same Ronnie Earle who destroyed the career of Tom Delay. I guess eyeryone in Texas knew about this but me - but if you type in her name in YouTube it is beyond belief what you will see. I thought I kept up with things pretty regular but I totally missed this. If this had been a Republican DA they would have been disbarred and been in prison. But seeing how Rosemary runs the Ethics Dept of the DA's office it's appropriate she is still employed there - thats politics in Travis County.

[Sue]

Texas,

Nope. Outside of the Austin area this received little to no mention.

[Dave (in MA)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i60PC-0s174

I heard a rumor that this was so loud that people had to stick rubber bullets in their ears.
Can anyone confirm?

[Captain Hate]

With the stunt they pulled in Travis County they are burning bridges in front of them as well. They are starting the evolution of replacing the GOPe as the "stupider party".

Speaking of the GOPe, did any of their best and brightest pitch a bitch about this on the morning gab shows or are they quite happy to let Perry get the Palin/Gingrich/Stevens treatment to pave the way for Prince Jebby, Fat RINO Bastard or Willard v3.0?

[Captain Hate]

rand paul is just as looney as his old man. Can we all agree on that?

No.

[Captain Hate]

"There can be no anger directed at me - or disappointment in me - greater than my own."

F'n Obamaesque. "No one is angrier about [insert scandal here] tham me."

In neither case is there any tangible evidence to indicate the truth of those statements.

[Sue]

Someone on twitter says the federal autopsy will be the third autopsy.

[Threadkiller]

Forgot to mention my appreciation for the title, TM.

[Sue]

The St. Louis count examiner performed the first autopsy. The family requested an independent autopsy and now the Feds are doing one. Someone doesn't like the results.

[Rick B]

Is AG My People hacking the thug up on a "there's gotta be a pony in here" basis? Can't the FBI fabricate enough "evidence" from "eye witnesses" to inflame a lynch mob?

[Threadkiller]

By the time they are done it will be clear that Cliven Bundy killed the dear lad.

[Sue]

I suspect there are no shots to his back.

[Sue]

And the officer was probably missing some of his shots.

[Jane]

I can't help but thinking the Ferguson thing is getting all ginned up by the Feds to take attention away from Isis and Ukraine.

[Captain Hate]

Once an autopsy is done, isn't the body corrupted in terms of being intruded upon by the coroner or medical examiner? And useless for a subsequent autopsy?

[Threadkiller]

Just clicked over to ESPN to see if there is any mention of Tony Stewart during the NASCAR event in Michigan.

The announcer was explaining that tire pressure can be your friend when racing except when it isn't.

I sense the making of a Common Core equation.

At least my t.v. is off now.

[Captain Hate]

The announcer was explaining that tire pressure can be your friend when racing except when it isn't.

I didn't know Jon Gruden did NASCAR.

[Sue]

The people standing around watching the scene knew Big Mike had just robbed the store, you can hear someone telling people he stole some "rellos". The Feds knew. Hell, the press knew. But it fit the narrative for this to be something else entirely. Jane's theory works for me.

[Rick B]

Sue,

The tox screen might have come back as THC only, as FTL suggested. It may also have come back with a reading as outrageous as Lehmberg's BAC for another substance, requiring the "experts" at the FBI lab to make some adjustments.

The only thing we can be sure of is there is no search for truth occurring.

[Sue]

The truth and Holder have never met.

[Sue]

I watch enough CSI and NCIS to know you can have multiple autopsies. As long as the body is available and the original blood samples, tissue samples, etc. are there.

[narciso]

Yeses, only Ducky from NCIS can pull that off

[Sue]

Plus, a few years ago, we requested a second autopsy when the first ruled it was suicide. Our clients lost a huge life insurance payout because the second autopsy ruled suicide too.

[(A)Nuther Babs]

BTW-- rand paul is just as looney as his old man. Can we all agree on that?

Nope. He's wouldn't be my choice as a candidate for the presidency, but he's far more of an interesting, honorable and intelligent politician than most.

[clarice]

James D, It's better to be a winner than a loser,Fight hard, Fight smart. Fight clean, but fight. Lehmberg asked for what she's getting. I have no regrets at the consequences. There's no moral superiority awards given out to people who let rats win because they are afraid some dust will mar their togas.

[Threadkiller]

LOL, CH!

[jimmyk on iPhone]

"The charges set in motion a battle of competing narratives over just what kind of overreach the indictment reflects."

That's the same kind of phony 'evenhandedness' aka moral equivalence they use in ME reporting. Hamas shoots rockets at Israeli civilians, Israelis attack Gaza, who's to say what's right or wrong? A veritable conundrum.

[clarice]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/08/17/iraqi-forces-retake-part-of-strategic-mosul-dam-as-u-s-bombs-isis-strongholds/

Good news, but remember whether or not ISIS keeps and destroys this dam, it's poorly built, needs $$$$$ to maintain and when it goes it takes out Baghdad.

[clarice]

Right you are, jimmyk. What crappy commentary.

[rich@gmu]

Posted by: Jane | August 17, 2014 at 03:28 PM -

works for me. have a sneaking suspicion it is an OFA heat check as well.

what a revolting state of our federal government.

[rich@gmu]

Liked your Pieces this morning Clarice.

[Threadkiller]

Is it me or has the name changed back to ISIS?

It was ISIS when we didn't know about them, It was ISIL when they were clearly winning, and now it is ISIS when we deliver a modest resistance.

What gives?

BTW, my spellchecker has both ISIS and ISIL preprogrammed in.

[narciso]

It's a microccosm of the corrupt Baathist state:

In order to bolster Saddam Hussein's regime during the Iran-Iraq War and promote Saddam's Arabization efforts in Northern Iraq, the construction of the Mosul Dam was important. Construction on the Mosul Dam began in 1980 by a German-Italian consortium that was led by Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft. Because the dam was constructed on a foundation of soluble gypsum, the engineers installed a grouting gallery that would allow continuous grouting of the dam's foundation in order to promote stability. Construction was complete in 1984 and in the Spring of 1985, the Mosul Dam began to inundate the Tigris River, filling the reservoir which submerged many archaeological sites in the region. Due to significant structural stability issues associated with the Mosul Dam, grouting and additional construction and repairs are constant.[6][7]

[rich@gmu]

JamesD-

don't have a twinge of guilt that "her worst moment was on display". I might feel differently if someone had secretly recorded her while she was knocking back the booze with friends at a bar and she wasn't driving. But she was caught on a DWI and all those tapes are evidence of her guilt. She was convicted of the DWI and spent 45 days in jail.

She has made it a story all over again because she a. didn't resign her office like any decent person would do and b. didn't talk some sense into the other DAs into not bring the indictment.

[rich@gmu]

or what Rick said at 232.

[Danube on iPad]

"By the time they are done it will be clear that Cliven Bundy killed the dear lad."

Let us just pray no one asks him about it on camera.

[Ignatz]

--It was ISIS when we didn't know about them, It was ISIL when they were clearly winning, and now it is ISIS when we deliver a modest resistance.--

Don't forget simply IS (Islamic State) which they declared themselves at some point, TK.
Guess it depends on what the definition of IS is.

[Captain Hate]

If not for Zuckerberg Data Mining Inc, I would not have known that JiB knew that rse's musical namesake was a trombonist in some Dave Holland bands.

[Centralcal on iPad]

Just stopping in and have missed a lot with 3 threads.

Great Pieces this morning, Clarice.

I don't agree at all that Rand Paul is s loon like his father.

What grieving family would want a third autopsy on their son, unless the results don't align with wishful thinking? Does Holder have the authority to withhold the results of two prior autopsies, if they don't mesh with his?

[Sue]

C,

No. The results of all 3 will be made available.

[Ignatz]

Does he have a pen?

[Harry M]

"Data Mining Inc"

Blackphone.

https://www.blackphone.ch/

[Captain Hate]

Stedman, by his witless (from our point of view but I'm sure they're very calculated) actions is sewing mistrust in systems which have worked very well in the past. Both in the Saint Traytable and Ferguson cases, the standard way of doing things has been sublimated to outside intervention for no good reason. No wonder he's such a favorite of the Ferret.

I cringed when Holder was mentioned as 404's choice for AG because he was hip deep in every one of Slick's latter scandals while working for Reno. I don't know what the DiGenovas saw in him that indicated otherwise but it surely gave a false reading.

[Threadkiller]

Guess it depends on what the definition of IS is.

Ha!

[Threadkiller]

I think they are done asking Bundy questions, Danube. Every time they do he seems to stump the interviewer with two outlandish questions:

"What crime was I charged with?"

And

"Does a copy of the purported bill of monies owed to the Feds exist?"

[TexasIsHeaven]

"Texas,
Nope. Outside of the Austin area this received little to no mention. Posted by: Sue"

Sue,
The Dems in Travis County are so stupid. There is a reason the old saying, 'let sleeping dogs lie', is still revelant today. I had no idea what the indictment of Perry was really about. I was confused when I read it was for a veto for funding he made for some state government agency.

I see Wendy Davis and some of her creepy friends and pals as having a hand in these shenanigans also. The hits on those YouTube videos have shot up since this story broke. The fools should have left well alone - Texas will secede from the Union before it becomes a "blue" state. They are living in a fools paradise and have just made Rosemary a household name across the entire state of Texas. Idiots - they are so embarrassing to the rest of us.

[Bubba]

Was the thread title a reference to the Joe Perry Project? If so I noticed.

Let the Music Do the Talking!