I am not one of the folks calling for Rick Perry to step down as Governor and I believe it is a major mistake to do so.

I am a Democrat and therefore I believe in the rule of law.  You are innocent until proven guilty.  Period.  No exceptions.  None.

Additionally, we Democrats were all outraged when Rick Perry asked District Attorney Lehmberg to step down.  We were right to be angry.  We even supported her when she was found guilty and served her jail sentence.   Her behavior was unacceptable but we stood behind her.  It seems more than a tad duplicitous for us to now call for Perry’s resignation.

Instead, let’s stay true to our core beliefs – something that separates us from the other party – and allow Perry to stay in office until a new Governor is elected.  Until then, Perry can be the leader of his party, set the ethical standard for Texas Republicans, be a big help to his current Attorney General by forcing him to make shady decisions, and be the shining example of what Republicans offer the State of Texas.  That’s fine with me.  After all, he’s awesome.

With any luck at all their nominee for Attorney General will also be indicted next month.

If anyone should be calling for Perry’s resignation it should be Rick Perry himself and his fellow Republicans.

I just needed to say that.

P.S. – Ya think he was disappointed to discover that his magical glasses don’t work?

Okay, let’s get some background for folks from foreign states and those who do not eat politics and poop schadenfreude.

Rosemary Lehmberg is the Democratic Travis County District Attorney.  The Travis County (think: Austin) DA prosecutes public corruption all over Texas.  Rosemary got arrested for DWI.  It was not her finest hour.  She plead guilty and got 45 days in jail for a misdemeanor DWI.

Rick Perry knows the GOP has some ethics problems.  For example, their current candidate for Attorney General is being investigated for a violation of a state securities law.  So, Rick would love to put a safe Republican in that office.

Soooooo, Perry threatens to veto funds for the public corruption office if Rosemary doesn’t resign.  She calls his bluff.  Rumor has it that he even offered her another state job if she would just step down and let him appoint her replacement.

That’s called abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.  Both are felonies.

We get a special prosecutor a year ago who goes to the grand jury.

And that brings us to April of this year, the last time I wrote about it.

My biggest hope is that Tom DeLay and Rick Perry get to share a prison cell.

I came to Austin for Tom’s trial and we had a little party the night before sentencing.  I will do the same thing with Rick Perry so start saving up barbeque and hotel room money.

The indictment is here.

More to come.  My phone is ringing a lot.

UPDATE:  Hey, watch the Executive Director of the Texas Democratic Party get interviewed.

UPDATE:  Tomorrow I will talk to you about the cancer fund and why Rick Perry didn’t want the Travis County DA investigating that.  By the way, he did not get indicted for asking her to step down.  He got indicted for extorting her to step down.  He did not ask.  He extorted.

I’m on my way home.  Will post soon.  Posting from my phone while gleeful is difficult.

UPDATED:  Yesterday I was in Costco shopping for a political reception happening this afternoon – wine, cheese, burritos, – when I got a call from a trusted and highly reliable source who told me that the news was fixing to break.  Had I been at home, you would have been the first to know.  However, I was in the middle of damn Costco and still didn’t have any burritos in my basket.  Screw burritos, I’m buying some extra wine and hitting the check out.

I can post from my phone but it’s a pain in the patootie and I generally screw everything up.  The check out line was a mile and half long, of freekin’ course.  Meanwhile, after about 10 minutes, my phone starts sounding like a bad handbell choir.  My favorite text came from a friend in Austin who said, “Actually, he was indicted on three counts but they can’t remember the third.”

Bubba drives home.  I post this.  And I giggle.

I’m completely serious.  The night before the punishment phase of the trial, meet me in the downstairs ballroom of Stubb’s barbeque for food and fun.  After the verdict, we go to Matt’s El Rancho for Margaritas and Bob Armstrong dip.  It’s a Texas Republican crook tradition.

Deep breath.

Rick Perry hearts Rick Perry.  He’s at the Iowa State Fair.

The Texas governor addressed the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday, and when the moderator thanked him after his speech, Perry reportedly said: “You’re welcome. I’m awesome!”

No, no you’re not.

And we’re pretty sure he’s drinking again.

At one point, the Republican governor met a 10-year-old girl and continued to shake her hand as he spoke with her parents.

“I can’t feel my fingers,” Mackenzie Goodyk said, according to the report.

“Oh, my gosh, I had a hold of you, didn’t I?” Perry responded.

Oh Lord, Rick.  That’s not what you’re supposed to be grabbing.

In slightly related story, Texans investing their tax money in Rick Perry’s presidential run might want a refund but we don’t know how much they should get because we’re not allowed to know how much we’re paying.

It should be noted that Texas taxpayers also pay for Perry’s trips to Iowa (and Israel, and the Bahamas), but even at the height of his last run for president, in 2011 and early 2012, the bill for his security detail was only $400,000 a month. (A ruling this week by state Attorney General Greg Abbott — the GOP nominee to replace Perry as governor — means Texans will no longer get a detailed accounting of Perry’s security expenses, despite a 2011 state law mandating their release.)

Whatever we’re paying is too much.  Especially when he’s going to hurt little girls and do stuff like this:

 Thanks to everybody for the heads up.

The sheriff in my county is not a brilliant man.  He’s a graduate of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, where I think class attendance is probably not mandatory.

He has openly called our President “that clown in Washington,” and was fired by a local police department for “repeated violations of policies and procedures.”  Real winner, this one.

Here’s some bad timing.  On Wednesday the news broke that he wants a couple of army helicopters and an armored personal vehicle.  Wednesday.  You know what was happening on Wednesday?  In Ferguson, Missouri?

Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls joins the national trend in militarizing the local law enforcement agency with weapons of war.

YeeeHaw!

If you live local, call your county commissioner.  They have to approve it.  Don’t let them.

Will Hayden is the star of “Sons of Guns,” a reality show on the Discovery Channel.  He also owns a custom weapons company. Wiki says …

Sons of Guns is a reality television series that airs on the Discovery Channel. The series centers on Red Jacket Firearms LLC, a Louisiana-based business that manufactures and sells custom weapons. Will Hayden is the founder and owner of the shop, while his daughter and business partner Stephanie manages the office.

As on the Discovery Channel series MythBusters, this show practices a degree of self-censorship and safety-consciousness. Each episode begins with a staff member (usually Will) warning viewers not to try anything demonstrated on the show at home.

Well, here’s something else you shouldn’t try at home.

Will Hayden has been arrested for child molestation and “crimes against nature.”   He made his $150,000 bond.

.

Thanks to Lorraine  for the heads up.