08-20-2014, 10:19 AM
RICK PERRY -- WORKING IT
Texas governor Rick Perry voluntarily showed up for his booking yesterday following last week's grand jury indictment for abuse of power.
He took the opportunity to stick to his guns, defend his position, and hold a sort of campaign press conference outside of the courthouse. I think that was smart.
After Rosemary Lehmberg's DUI, Perry was very open and public about vetoing funding for her Public Corruption Unit in his attempt to force her outta office. She initially denied driving drunk, but failed to complete field sobriety tests and tested at 3x the legal driving limit.
I think Perry overreached his veto authority in cutting off funding for her Public Corruption Unit in his attempt to oust the DA. Rosemary Lehmberg was an elected official. If she was removed from office, he, as governor, would have been chartered to select her replacement for the powerful position of Travis County DA and head of the Public Corruption Unit. There is no law mandating a DA to leave office following a misdemeanor conviction and she did serve her 45 days and lost her license.
Still, Rick Perry was far from alone in wanting her out and all of this is just calling even more attention to Lehmberg's asinine behavior which got her arrested, restrained, and put on the political firing line in the first place. The dashcam videos of her DUI stop and antics at the holding cell were shown all over Texas news (they're all over youtube too). I agree with Perry that she lost a lot of credibility.
IDK. It would have made more sense for his critics to push for impeachment or his resignation, or for Lehmberg to file a civil discrimination suit against him, IMO -- if he wasn't leaving office at the end of the year anyway. I think she should have just done nothing, personally. This looks like a pissing contest to me. But, a grand jury did see fit to hand down a criminal indictment, so who knows?
If I had to bet who'd come out on top based on their mugshots alone, I'd put my money on Rick Perry hands down. MUGSHOTS:
![[Image: rs_300x300-140819163241-600.Rick-Perry.M...081914.jpg]](http://www.eonline.com/resize/200/200//eol_images/Entire_Site/2014719/rs_300x300-140819163241-600.Rick-Perry.Mug-Shot.ms.081914.jpg)
![[Image: Rosemary_Lehmberg_Mugshot.jpg]](http://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Rosemary_Lehmberg_Mugshot.jpg)
Anyway, interested to see if Perry actually turns this lemon into lemonade or if it winds up souring his potential to launch a 2016 presidential bid.
Texas governor Rick Perry voluntarily showed up for his booking yesterday following last week's grand jury indictment for abuse of power.
He took the opportunity to stick to his guns, defend his position, and hold a sort of campaign press conference outside of the courthouse. I think that was smart.
After Rosemary Lehmberg's DUI, Perry was very open and public about vetoing funding for her Public Corruption Unit in his attempt to force her outta office. She initially denied driving drunk, but failed to complete field sobriety tests and tested at 3x the legal driving limit.
I think Perry overreached his veto authority in cutting off funding for her Public Corruption Unit in his attempt to oust the DA. Rosemary Lehmberg was an elected official. If she was removed from office, he, as governor, would have been chartered to select her replacement for the powerful position of Travis County DA and head of the Public Corruption Unit. There is no law mandating a DA to leave office following a misdemeanor conviction and she did serve her 45 days and lost her license.
Still, Rick Perry was far from alone in wanting her out and all of this is just calling even more attention to Lehmberg's asinine behavior which got her arrested, restrained, and put on the political firing line in the first place. The dashcam videos of her DUI stop and antics at the holding cell were shown all over Texas news (they're all over youtube too). I agree with Perry that she lost a lot of credibility.
IDK. It would have made more sense for his critics to push for impeachment or his resignation, or for Lehmberg to file a civil discrimination suit against him, IMO -- if he wasn't leaving office at the end of the year anyway. I think she should have just done nothing, personally. This looks like a pissing contest to me. But, a grand jury did see fit to hand down a criminal indictment, so who knows?
If I had to bet who'd come out on top based on their mugshots alone, I'd put my money on Rick Perry hands down. MUGSHOTS:
Anyway, interested to see if Perry actually turns this lemon into lemonade or if it winds up souring his potential to launch a 2016 presidential bid.