The Definition of Politics

Texas Govenor Ann Richards frequently spoke of the etymology of politics, saying the word was from the Latin ‘poly, meaning ‘many,’ and ‘ticks,’ meaning ‘blood-sucking insects.’  That joke used to be funny. Now, it’s disgusting in its truth.

Current Texas Governor, Rick Perry, was just indicted for abuse of official power. He is accused because he demanded the district attorney of Travis County, Rosemary Lehmberg, step down (due to her arrest for DWI).  And he said he would veto funding for a public corruption unit under her management unless she did.  And he exercised the veto when she refused to resign.

Rick Perry is among my least favorite human beings.  I consider him to be lower than low. I cannot fathom how he has been elected Governor of Texas so often.  I despise him, and it’s not just because his politics and mine are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Maybe he did, indeed, abuse his power. But I am having a hard time understanding how the grand jury reached that conclusion.

Rosemary Lehmberg was drunk as a skunk when she was arrested.  She was given more latitude to demonstrate her sobriety than was warranted.  She could not; because she was smoked, hammered, uber-drunk, smashed!  I’ve seen the ‘field sobriety test’ video; she was totally hammered.  While I regret it for her, her only honorable action would have been to resign as District Attorney.  For whatever reason, she chose not to do so.  That does not make her a bad person, but it makes her a miserable District Attorney; it makes her an unworthy role-model serving in a position in the justice system.

Maybe Rick Perry wanted her to resign because she was in charge of an investigation into his own improprieties.  Maybe not.  It doesn’t matter.   His demand that she resign was reasonable. His threat to withhold funding of the unit over which she held control if she did not was reasonable.  His motives notwithstanding, the request was reasonable.

Rosemary Lehmberg may have been a first-rate District Attorney.  But when she got hammered and caught, she lost her credibility.  She should have resigned.  When she refused, the governor for whome I have absolutely no respect was well within his authority and his ethical rights to withhold funding for a program over which she held sway.

In my mind, Rick Perry and Rosemary Lehmsberg should have both resigned long ago because they do not belong in public office.  They are two peas in a pod, two people who do not deserve to remain their positions.

Back to the original point of my post.  Politics, of whatever stripe, disgust me.  I used to be a Democrat.  No longer.  Democratic politicians are just as likely to lie as Republicans.  I tend to lean Democrat in elections, because the Democratic platform tends to reflect my values, but I do not dismiss Republicans out of hand; their fiscal ideas sometimes have merit.

Finally, to my point.  The arguments against Rick Perry are so obviously politically motivated as to be absurd.  He is a self-serving egotist; given.   He is utterly ignorant of real-world issues; given.  But he deserves the same opportunities to deliver his message as do the rest of us.  It really, REALLY offends me when ‘liberals’ behave like right-wing Tea Party conservatives, ignoring due-process.  I almost turn on them…become a temporary Republican just for spite.

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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