August 19, 2014      4:15 PM
Bearse: The Petty and the Partisan
Against backdrop of Perry indictments, some Republicans turn guns inward and others savor gamemanship
Let’s
start with the most serious: the runaway grand jury and the prosecution of
politics. The indictment of Governor
Rick Perry late Friday has been the talk of the town, in fact the nation
(note: the governor remains a client of mine). In the first 72 hours
people of all political stripes have rallied to the governor’s side, decrying
the criminalization of politics and an indictment based on what experts deem to
be a weak case.
The
prosecution has created a sort of alternative reality: that the veto itself was
not the crime, but instead the alleged warning given ahead of time. So, no case
could be made if the governor struck $7.5 million from the Public Integrity Unit out
of the blue, but if he tried to give District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg the chance to step down
in order to salvage the integrity of the unit, and therefore it’s funding, it is
alleged to be a crime.
We
don’t resolve our political differences by indictment, but by elections. One
can disagree with the governor’s policy decision, but to deem his veto an abuse
of power, and pursue charges against him for it, is ironically its own form of
abuse of power. The rest of Eric Bearse's column can be found in today's R&D Department.
By Eric Bearse
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