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Well, Rick Perry has made the news again. Ain't politics fun?


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Alan Dershowitz is outraged over the indictment. This is reported in several locations but seems to have originated in Newmax. "Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz calls himself a "liberal Democra

“I very clearly' date=' I very publicly, said that as long as that individual is going to be running that agency, I had lost confidence in her, the public had lost confidence in her and I did what every governor has done for decades, which is make a decision on whether or not it was the proper use of state money to go to that agency,†Mr. Perry said Sunday.[/font']

 

 

If Governor Perry had simply vetoed the funds and said this at the time, there would be no case. The issue is that before he vetoed the funding, he turned his veto threat into a potentially illegal quid-pro-quo by telling her to resign or he would veto the funds. He made a rash threat that may have crossed a line to abuse of his powers as governor - it's one thing to pressure an elected official to resign - it's quite another to set conditions in an attempt to force an elected official to resign. By telling her to resign or the funds would be vetoed, he essentially said he would release the funds if she resigned.

 

 

The biggest defense Perry might have is that he wasn't after personal gain and thought he was doing what was right for the people of that district.

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This is cute, I say that as a citizen of the great state of Illinois whose last two governors have landed in the big house. Bad enough that every close vote has to be challenged in court, now the legislative process is being criminalized. They don't do enough work as it is, how are they going to operate going to court every day...

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Admittedly, the elected official that Perry targeted does not make a sympathetic figure - I don't think anyone would disagree that she should have been pressured to resign. The issue, though, is in the way the pressure was made - the veto threat. The question becomes does the Governors constitutional right to veto legislation give the Governor free reign to use the veto to pressure or punish political enemies. Do we, as voters, want our Governors to be able to override our electoral wishes by vetoing legislation needed for our counties or municipalities unless the sheriff or mayor or county executive or representative or senator that has done nothing wrong but s/he just doesn't like resigns? At what point does the exercise of veto power become abuse of that power? That's the core of this messy case - and it isn't an easy answer.

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It's all political and a shame...Who would vote for president for a guy that's under indictment? Well' date=' besides folks in Chicago...[/quote'] Well the whole country will elect a President who has been convicted, not just indicted. I assume if convicted he could pardon himself if elected. Oops.
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I think if I was Rick Perry I'd be holding a news conference every day around 10am, play the videos, then spend 10 - 15 minutes talking about status of the court case, how liberal elites expect special treatment and when they don't get it they generate a phony court case in a democratic county in order to smear his name. I'd finish by highlighting how I was protecting the people of TX from corrupt public officials. Every frickin' day.

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Tom Delay had a better smile. Many more teeth.

 

This is the kind of piddly charge that many people can't understand, so they'll tune it out. He didn't stand a chance to be the president, so its not like it takes him out of the running. He'll pay a settlement in the end, or have a suspended sentence, and end up working at a K-street lobbiest, or on some corporate board, or yet another pointless think-tank. Maybe be an ambassador or cabinet appointment is some future administration. But this is boring enough to blow over (and yes, threatening to veto a bill to force an official to step down is an abuse of power).

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