Thursday, February 25, 2016

Open Thread with Rick Perry

Good news for the Great State of Texas. Former Texas Governor and two time Presidential Candidate Rick Perry is a free man. Just in case you have forgotten, former Gov. Perry has been under indictment since August 2014 accused of abusing his power while in office. This all was because he first threatened and then carried out a veto that defunded a statewide public integrity unit in an attempt to force Travis County (Austin) District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, head of the unit, to resign after a DWI arrest came to light.

Just in case you have forgotten the circumstances as to why Perry wished for Lehmberg to resign, here is a link to my previous post: Roll the video...

After Perry vetoed the bill and defunded the unit, the DA of the very liberal, very Democrat Travis County took the abuse charges to a Grand Jury and the Grand Jury indicted him on two felony counts - abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, for threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony. The second charge was dismissed by the lower court in July, and as of today, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the second. In his statement after the dismissal was granted he stated that
"The court's decision today proves that this indictment was nothing less than a baseless political attack, and an assault on constitutional powers...I think anyone who has paid attention to presidential races, saw this indictment had a negative effect on our candidacy."
Yeah, very few people who know about Travis County politics would doubt that. I would expect that there will be some kind of civil suit filed against Travis County to follow shortly.

Please feel free to change the subject.

38 comments:

ArgentGale said...

Glad it worked out for him! As many good things as I hear about the economy in the area stuff like that makes me reluctant to give the Austin area a serious look as far as locations with good economic possibilities go.

- Daniel

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Texas has a messed up legal system that lets you indict anyone. Convicting them is another matter though.

Good for Perry.

BevfromNYC said...

Daniel - Texas is a great place to live. Why do you think we preface "Texas" with "Great State of"? Trust me that is not a joke.

Austin is like any state capital. Very liberal. UT-Austin with it's 50K teenage student population is only 10 blocks away. Think of Austin as kind of the East Village of Texas cities.

However from what my brother tells me, the low price of oil is really have a big effect on the economy especially in Houston. Fortunately they will be able to weather the storm since Bush/Perry spent most of their time as Governors encouraging diversification and luring new non-oil related industries to Texas.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - Yeah, especially when the prosecutors are from the very same offices of those who were the target of Perry's veto. Conflict of interest much? I think Perry's team may have tried to get a change of venue, but it was denied.

AndrewPrice said...

I'm going to recommend a product... I don't get paid for this. They don't even know who I am.

Here's the thing. I hate how expensive shaving is. It's a rip off. Every year they make razors "better" (read: worse and shorter lasting) and they jack up the price. At the same time, they play these games where they make you buy a new razor every year or so by killing off the replacement blades for yours, so that you have to blow a ton of money. All told, it's super expensive and annoying.

So I decided to look into this shave club on television, where the guy promises better razors for a lot less than you normally pay.

Well, it turns out, his claim is true. He's got high quality razors and they are a good deal cheaper than anything at the grocery store.... BUT...

Yes... but. BUT, I learned that he's getting them from someone else and marking them up. He's buying them from a company called Dorco. He just repackages them and sells them to his members. AND it turns out that you can buy directly from Dorco yourself for even less than you can buy from him.

Hmm.

So I decided to try it. Dorco has these sample/variety packs where you can buy a lot of different types of razors and they come with replacement blades so you can eventually decide which you like best. I got a pack for $50 with a ton of stuff in it -- probably six months worth of razors (just a guess).

So far, I've tried two different ones and both have been fantastic.

So anyways, for anyone interested, I seriously recommend checking these people out (Dorco). I even have a discount code that I think will work. Try this: TY2016TENA. That should be worth 10% off until March 31.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Diversifying Texas was a really smart move. Oil money can be amazing for an economy, but when oil falls, the economy is devastated.

BevfromNYC said...

I guess my brother was telling the truth...
LINK

Why is this post starting to sound like an advert for Texas?

BevfromNYC said...

Okay, so now we're selling Texas AND razors! ;-D

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Speaking of adverts for states, has anyone seen the ad for California that ends with Joe Montana?

What I find fascinating is this. California is a very liberal state and hence not at all racist (wink wink). Whites are the minority in California, making up something like 44% of the state. Yet, every single person in this ad is white (I think there may be one black person in the background). Interesting.

I've never seen another state ignore its minorities in making an ad. Yet, these good "non-racist" liberals have done exactly that.

Interesting, I say.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, We've sold out! LOL! :)

tryanmax said...

I'm all about the yellow Bic razors.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - See Tryanmax has added Bic razors!! Uh, oh, will that negate your previous endorsement. And just so we are all clear, when do the checks for our unsolicited endorsements start rolling in?

Maybe we should start a CommentaramaRazor division...LOL!

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, They were never my thing. I did try the Costco version at one point and hated them. They seemed determined to draw blood on me. :(

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I wish it were that simple! LOL!

Critch said...

I'm at home today with a bad inner ear infection and doing taxes...the doctor even told me I can't drink with this medication...the misery in triplicate.

AndrewPrice said...

My condolences. I HATE doing taxes.

ArgentGale said...

Bev, that's what it sounds like. I'm still trying to weigh the economic benefits compared to how the people there might drive me crazy. Of course, these days both sides seem to be driving me crazy (read: the Trump cult)... Well, I've got time to figure things out, hopefully!

- Daniel

BevfromNYC said...

Critch - Wow, that's like the Triple Crown of Thorns in the Misery Derby...feel better though. Stop listening to political debates and your ear should clear up in no time.

BevfromNYC said...

Oh, btw, Andrew, I haven't seen the advert California. But the one they do here touting NY State is hysterical. Somehow Cuomo has convinced himself that the state is tax friendly and business friendly. I don't know if they are playing this in other states, but I think Cuomo is trying to convince the people who live here that it's true.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Here's a version of the add: California White and Rich

This version actually has a black girl in it standing in front of the Redwoods. She's not in the version they show on TV here. Instead, she is gone and the ad ends with Joe Montana throwing a football in a famous park in San Francisco claiming that "California is full of average Joes." (Montana is missing from this youtube version.)

Critch said...

"It's good we don't get as much government as we pay for."-Will Rogers

Kit said...

My post will be up tomorrow when I have a chance to watch debate. I will also explain why I missed it.

In the meantime, this 3-minute clip from the debate: LINK

Anthony said...

If it comes down to a brokered convention, Rick Perry may make another awkward lunge for the nomination. It's cute that he thinks he has a shot.

Due to his track record as governor Perry was an early favorite of mine but he is a horrible campaigner on a national level and one needs to win power before one can use it.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rick-perry-leaves-door-open-for-a-2016-brokered-convention-run-whole-new-ball-game/

tryanmax said...

I caught a little bit of the debate on radio last night, and it was actually worth tuning in to. From what is being reported this morning, Rubio gave Trump the business--which is exactly the part I caught and, yes, he did!

BevfromNYC said...

It appears that The Donald is doing everything in his power to take focus away from his bruising last night. Christie took this moment to heartily endorse DT which probably means that he will be in the running for VP.

Anthony said...

Trump is issuing threats left and right. Doesn't take much to be the most popular Republican leader nowadays.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/02/24/tom-ricketts-responds-to-donald-trump-threats-we-stand-up-for-what-we-believe-in/

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts on Wednesday responded to a threat from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who earlier in the week in a tweet said the Ricketts family “better be careful, they have a lot to hide.” Trump insinuated the Ricketts family was “secretly” spending money against him.

“It’s a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom,” Ricketts said. “The fact is whether it’s my mom or my dad on his Ending Spending stuff or my sister on marriage equality issues or my brothers and what they do or what we do with the team, we are pretty much are an open book. We stand up for what we believe in. We support the causes we think are important. That is what America should be. That is who we are.”

ArgentGale said...

Heh heh, nice work on Rubio's part in the clip. Hopefully that'll weaken Trump at least a bit.

- Daniel

AndrewPrice said...

Christie endorsing Trump is problematic. It starts to lend the air of respectability to Trump. If the establishment, and that is what Christie is, starts to endorse Trump, then Trump may be on the verge of triggering the herd effect.

I guess we'll see.

ArgentGale said...

That's an unnerving observation, Andrew. From what I've seen Rubio still leads in endorsements (for all it's helped him) but Christie and Rudy both worry me here. Maybe they're outliers and Rubio will still get what he needs on March 15th? The prospect of a Trump nomination is causing me a lot of political anxiety if you couldn't tell.

- Daniel

AndrewPrice said...

Daniel, I could tell. Hang in there! :)

The problem is this. Unless Trump gets the stamp of approval from the establishment, he will remain a fringe candidate. As such, my analysis of him not being able to win stands.

BUT...

If he starts getting approval from the establishment, then the herd instinct will kick in and you will see a flood of support going his way. In that regard, this week we've had a de facto endorsement by Rudy Giuliani, William Bennett and Arthur Laugher -- all highly respected conservatives whose judgment is rarely questioned by anyone on the right. Even worse, what they've said is "don't worry, he's not as stupid as he sounds" and they've implied that he will let them make up his agenda. That's a heck of an endorsement for any conservative.

Now you add Chris Christie, who was the moderate, rational establishment's candidate at various points in this season give an endorsement to Trump.

Kasich too has said that Trump will win, which also can be read as a sort of endorsement/surrender.

I can't say yet that this is enough to push Trump over the top, but it sure keeps him tottering on the edge of breaking the damn holding him back.

I think the next few days could be vital. Does he get more or is this isolated.

ArgentGale said...

Hm, I didn't know about Kasich, which doesn't sound good. I'm also concerned about the effect the March 1st primaries will have as far as making Trump look like he has momentum, too ( and if Georgia goes for him no one blame me, I won't be voting for him).

- Daniel

AndrewPrice said...

Daniel, That is another problem. March 1 will be a series of Trump (and maybe some Cruz) victories. It's expected. But our media, which seems to suffer amnesia, will declare this a stunning surprise victory, just as they are now panicking about Trump being unbeatable. That can cause herders to jump on the bandwagon, though I don't think that alone is enough to help him.

I think the endorsements are much more significant.

ArgentGale said...

Well, here's hoping it's not too late to stop the madness in any case. I don't want to think about how bad it'll be for the Republicans and the country if Trump wins.

- Daniel

AndrewPrice said...

Hopefully. This definitely has the feel of "getting what you asked for" to it.

Kit said...

Rubio's hope might be to make him out to be the "anti-Trump" candidate and he probably hit him the hardest and most effectively of any candidate so far. His "con-man" Trump attacks are brutal and he's getting airtime for them, too.

Anthony said...

Huckabee's daughter has joined the Trump campaign.

BevfromNYC said...

Al Sharpton said that if Trump is President, he would deport Sharpton...so NOW what am I supposed to do? If that could happen, I could change my mind. NO! Not even if meant sending Sharpton to Siberia!

ArgentGale said...

I just ran a check on the overall endorsements. Rubio has the most, even here in Georgia - about or over twice as many as Cruz among the state legislature, among other groups. Trump doesn't have any Georgia endorsements that I know of,though he's still leading the polls, unfortunately. I'll look into it more tomorrow.

- Daniel

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