A few days ago I decided to follow Rick Perry on twitter because of a few inspirational words he shared with the citizens of Iowa, "I'm Awesome". Nothing is more reassuring than a public figure's absolute certainty and belief in themselves. While this phrase may be out of context, Perry continues to show his strong belief in himself and his actions as he battles an indictment by the Grand Jury. Perry is charged/accused of "coercion and abuse of official capacity" because he decided he needed to veto funding for a program associated with Travis County's District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Lehmberg was arrested for a DUI in 2013. He took to twitter in order to explain himself and his video is reminiscent of Law & Order in which it starts out with clips of a severely intoxicated Lehmberg doing the infamous "walk a straight line" test and continues to show her resisting her arrest and a very disturbing clip of her being restrained. But then Rick Perry emerges out of a dark screen, reassuring Texas that he stands behind his decision.
All of my obnoxious sarcasm aside, Rick Perry is being indicted for something that his position as governor gives him the full right to. But I think the problem is that his issue is with the Lehmberg, not the Public Integrity Unit, and his intentions are not to affect the PIU but threaten Lehmberg to resign. There is also "evidence" (which has not been released yet) that Perry tried other ways in which to convince Lehmberg to resign. This "evidence" has not been revealed to the public yet and the case against Perry seems to weaken as he becomes more confident in his decision. While his intentions seem shady, Lehmberg did show a disturbing lack of good judgment and ethics and Perry just wants to protect his beloved state from such behavior. DON'T mess with Texas.
Do YOU believe Perry's only intentions are to punish Lehmberg for her reckless behavior?
Please discuss the validity of the indictment, and also discuss Perry's cinematic gem found on his twitter (@GovernorPerry), or anything else that needs to be explored.
2 comments:
This story is recent, regarding media coverage, though it is probable that it is a longer and more complex story than one expects. As the events develop, there will be more solid evidence, rather than "evidence" and guesses. My guess is that it will take a little bit of time to sort everything out. And on that note, at least now we know that politicians have high self esteem! And we can hope for more uplifting and inspiring quotes from Mr. Perry.
I think that it's highly likely that Perry has ulterior motives. As the article mentions, Travis County's district attorney (the position that Lehmberg currently holds) is one of the most powerful democratic officials in Texas, and that if Ms. Lehmberg resigned, Perry would theoretically have a chance to appoint a Republican to this position. It seems reasonable to believe that this may play a part in his active pursuit of her resignation, but I think it's also important to remember that other democrats quietly share his belief that Lehmberg ought to resign. While political agenda may be a reason--even the main reason--for Perry's actions, I don't think it's the sole cause. After all, it's impossible to have a complete understanding of a person's motives, especially before the whole story has played out and information is still being released.
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