Why the conventional wisdom in the Rick Perry indictment story might be incomplete [View all]
The conventional wisdom following Rick Perry’s indictment on charges of abuse of power has been strikingly uniform in the national media – the governor’s getting a raw deal. Newspapers, on-line outlets and thoughtful Beltway pundits were quick to pronounce the charges a political witch hunt against a governor performing his duly constituted duties.
The narrative goes like this: Perry is the victim of a smear campaign by Democrats who want to hurt his presidential prospects because he vetoed funding, as is his right, for an office run by a district attorney convicted of drunken driving. Even some Democrats in Texas say it won’t be easy getting a conviction. But as is often the case, there’s more to the story. Here are five things to consider in evaluating the conventional wisdom.
1) The case is about politics. Within hours of the indictment by a Travis County grand jury, Perry denounced it a partisan attack by political enemies. When he turned himself in for booking Tuesday, the governor cast himself a victim of retribution for vetoing funding for a Democratic district attorney.
The Travis County district attorney is not prosecuting Perry. The state district judge in the case is a Republican appointed by George W. Bush when he was governor. The judge selected San Antonio lawyer Mike McCrum as the special prosecutor in the case. McCrum served as a federal prosecutor in the administration of President George H.W. Bush and was supported by Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison as a potential U.S. attorney candidate.
Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/why-the-conventional-wisdom-in-the-rick-perry-indictment-story-might-be-incomplete.html/
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