Texas Democrats get grand jury to indict Republican governor for a veto
District Attorneys decide whether to bring criminal charges against people. As a result, most people believe they have a frightening amount of power. A crooked DA, or one who is known to have committed acts that could expose them to blackmail by criminals, is a huge danger to the community.
Here is one such story.
The District Attorney in Travis County, Texas, is Rosemary Lehmberg. In April of 2013, after a phone tip to police, Ms. Lehmberg was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Police noted she was weaving across traffic lanes.
She denied that she was drunk, but in dashcam video she was staggering and on several occasions officers had to support her to keep her from falling.
There was an open bottle of vodka in Lehmberg’s car--a violation of the state’s open container law.
In the video Lehmberg taunts the arresting officers and tells them to call "Greg" (the county sheriff). "Does Greg know you've got the DA locked up?" One of the officers said Lehmberg kicked doors and acted violently.
Her blood alcohol level would later be found to be 0.239. (In most states a BAC of 0.08 is considered the legal limit, above which is considered "drunk" for purposes of driving violations.)
Lehmberg pleaded guilty to drunk driving and served 20 days of a 40-day sentence. But stunningly, she refused to resign her position as Travis County DA-- a position she still holds to this day.
Now: The video of the DA staggering and threatening police officers should be a huge embarrassment for her political party. Had Ms. Lehmberg been a Republican, a day or two after the arrest but before the trial, someone higher up the food chain would quietly inform her that she had gravely damaged the integrity of the party and must resign. She would be told that if she refused to resign she'd be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law instead of a trivial 40-day sentence.
But Travis County is run by Democrats, whose power is ironclad and invulnerable. Being Democrats, in possession of an incredibly powerful office, they had no intention of losing an iota of that power by forcing their officeholder to resign. Hence she stays in the post, providing precisely the worst kind of example to Americans in general, and young Americans in particular.
Which is, people with power who break the law never pay any price for doing so. Thus by definition, the entire American system is thoroughly and irredeemably corrupt.
Ya like the sound of that? Cuz that's precisely the conclusion kids draw from the facts of this case.
But wait! It gets worse.
By some black magic the Travis County DA's office runs a unit that investigates "public integrity"--and presumably the lack thereof--for the entire state. And the legislature--which is to say, state taxpayers--pay that DA's office several million bucks every year for this.
Texas governor Rick Perry was outraged at Ms. Lehmberg's refusal to resign after not only drunk driving but also trying to intimidate the cops. Though Perry didn't have the authority to force her to resign, he threatened to veto the state's appropriation of $7.5 million to fund the public-integrity unit run by the Travis County DA.
When Lehmberg still refused, Perry did what he'd threatened, and vetoed the bill.
If you think that's the end of it you don't know Democrats.
Last Friday a Travis County grand jury indicted Perry on two charges related to this matter. The grand jury charged Perry with "abuse of official capacity," a first-degree felony, and "coercion of a public servant," a third-degree felony. The first charge carries a punishment of 5-99 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The second charge is punishable by 2-10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Take a minute to wrap your mind around that. The DA was driving drunk, tried to intimidate the arresting offices into releasing her, refused to resign--and the grand jury indicts Perry for "abuse of official capacity" and "coercion of a public servant"?
This is insane--an inversion of justice. But it's how Democrats rule. It's a warning shot to anyone else trying to root out bad public officials who happen to be Democrats. "Just look the other way or you'll have problems."
It's exactly what the Obama administration did in siccing the SEC on congress after the Speaker of the House announced his plan to sue Team Obama to get the courts to rule on whether Obama's order to federal agents not to enforce U.S. immigration law was legal.
It's been said that people get the government they deserve. That's a depressing thought, but probably accurate.
Here is one such story.
The District Attorney in Travis County, Texas, is Rosemary Lehmberg. In April of 2013, after a phone tip to police, Ms. Lehmberg was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Police noted she was weaving across traffic lanes.
She denied that she was drunk, but in dashcam video she was staggering and on several occasions officers had to support her to keep her from falling.
There was an open bottle of vodka in Lehmberg’s car--a violation of the state’s open container law.
In the video Lehmberg taunts the arresting officers and tells them to call "Greg" (the county sheriff). "Does Greg know you've got the DA locked up?" One of the officers said Lehmberg kicked doors and acted violently.
Her blood alcohol level would later be found to be 0.239. (In most states a BAC of 0.08 is considered the legal limit, above which is considered "drunk" for purposes of driving violations.)
Lehmberg pleaded guilty to drunk driving and served 20 days of a 40-day sentence. But stunningly, she refused to resign her position as Travis County DA-- a position she still holds to this day.
Now: The video of the DA staggering and threatening police officers should be a huge embarrassment for her political party. Had Ms. Lehmberg been a Republican, a day or two after the arrest but before the trial, someone higher up the food chain would quietly inform her that she had gravely damaged the integrity of the party and must resign. She would be told that if she refused to resign she'd be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law instead of a trivial 40-day sentence.
But Travis County is run by Democrats, whose power is ironclad and invulnerable. Being Democrats, in possession of an incredibly powerful office, they had no intention of losing an iota of that power by forcing their officeholder to resign. Hence she stays in the post, providing precisely the worst kind of example to Americans in general, and young Americans in particular.
Which is, people with power who break the law never pay any price for doing so. Thus by definition, the entire American system is thoroughly and irredeemably corrupt.
Ya like the sound of that? Cuz that's precisely the conclusion kids draw from the facts of this case.
But wait! It gets worse.
By some black magic the Travis County DA's office runs a unit that investigates "public integrity"--and presumably the lack thereof--for the entire state. And the legislature--which is to say, state taxpayers--pay that DA's office several million bucks every year for this.
Texas governor Rick Perry was outraged at Ms. Lehmberg's refusal to resign after not only drunk driving but also trying to intimidate the cops. Though Perry didn't have the authority to force her to resign, he threatened to veto the state's appropriation of $7.5 million to fund the public-integrity unit run by the Travis County DA.
When Lehmberg still refused, Perry did what he'd threatened, and vetoed the bill.
If you think that's the end of it you don't know Democrats.
Last Friday a Travis County grand jury indicted Perry on two charges related to this matter. The grand jury charged Perry with "abuse of official capacity," a first-degree felony, and "coercion of a public servant," a third-degree felony. The first charge carries a punishment of 5-99 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The second charge is punishable by 2-10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Take a minute to wrap your mind around that. The DA was driving drunk, tried to intimidate the arresting offices into releasing her, refused to resign--and the grand jury indicts Perry for "abuse of official capacity" and "coercion of a public servant"?
This is insane--an inversion of justice. But it's how Democrats rule. It's a warning shot to anyone else trying to root out bad public officials who happen to be Democrats. "Just look the other way or you'll have problems."
It's exactly what the Obama administration did in siccing the SEC on congress after the Speaker of the House announced his plan to sue Team Obama to get the courts to rule on whether Obama's order to federal agents not to enforce U.S. immigration law was legal.
It's been said that people get the government they deserve. That's a depressing thought, but probably accurate.
posted by SF at
9:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home