XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: dave-butler@dont-email.me   
      
   Remember Barack Obama telling his followers to always "bring a   
   gun to a knife fight"? Like good subjects do, his supporters in   
   Texas obeyed. Friday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted on two   
   counts of abuse of power.   
      
   This ridiculous politically motivated “indictment” of Governor   
   Rick Perry stems from the ugly thug tactics of the "politics of   
   personal destruction" that the left is known for. They draw   
   blood and leave scars on conservatives who threaten their   
   political power, hoping the threat retreats and hoping his or   
   her base of support remains silent in fear of becoming   
   collateral damage.   
      
   Thankfully, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and those   
   of us with scars to prove it can help others learn from things   
   like this Texas-sized political drama.   
      
   This ridiculous politically motivated “indictment” of Governor   
   Rick Perry stems from the ugly thug tactics of the "politics of   
   personal destruction" that the left is known for.   
      
   First and foremost, today's liberals have no shame. Case in   
   point: Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.   
      
   Lehmberg was busted for drunk driving with an open bottle of   
   vodka in her car after a 911 call reported her endangering   
   others while swerving erratically on the road. The D.A. was   
   smashed -- three times over the legal limit.   
      
   She was a nut job while in custody, disgracefully threatening   
   law enforcement officials and lashing out violently. The D.A.   
   had to be physically restrained. It was all caught on tape. The   
   extent of the D.A.'s serious drinking problem was uncovered,   
   evidence included her purchase of 72 bottles of vodka in just   
   one store alone, in just over a year. It's reasonable to believe   
   she imbibed elsewhere, too.   
      
   The appropriate and honorable thing for this powerful D.A. to do   
   -- note, she's the county's chief law enforcement officer and   
   her job is to decide which law-breaking Texans she wants to put   
   in jail - is resign. Governor Perry asked her to do so, which   
   any good governor would do. But because this D.A. is a hardcore   
   Democrat in a hardcore-Democrat county, and Governor Perry is a   
   Republican, Democrats rallied around her and she refused to   
   resign.   
      
   Lehmberg's D.A.’s office runs the state’s Public Integrity Unit   
   which prosecutes public crimes like government corruption.   
   Texans were baffled that this clearly unfit official was running   
   a unit with huge statewide importance and they lost confidence   
   in this government oversight unit.   
      
   Governor Perry used appropriate tools under the Texas   
   Constitution to urge Lehmberg to do the right thing, using line   
   item veto power to defund the Public Integrity Unit until it   
   could actually serve the public with integrity, under a leader   
   who had integrity.   
      
   According to reports, he reached out to alleviate the Democrats’   
   fears about her replacement by promising to select her right   
   hand man for the post – essentially giving liberals their   
   desired replacement. All he wanted was for this unfit public   
   official to step aside.   
      
   The governor was doing his job in looking out for the people,   
   but Democrats only care about Democrats, and drunk or sober,   
   Lehmberg was one of them.   
      
   Her liberal supporters filed an ethics complaint against Perry,   
   defying commonsense and common practice by claiming he abused   
   power when he publicly announced his intention to veto.   
      
   The Travis County D.A.'s Office, still under Lehmberg, convened   
   a grand jury, and – surprise, surprise! – Perry was “indicted.”   
   Remember, a grand jury indictment is not a criminal conviction.   
   It’s the result of a one-sided preliminary hearing run by the   
   prosecution.   
      
   I don't worry about Perry, personally, in all this because he'll   
   have a microphone plus millions in people and dollars to mount a   
   strong defense at the courthouse and in the court of public   
   opinion. But what we should all worry about is that the left   
   doesn’t care about the end result, they only care about   
   immediate headlines in their strategy to destroy a person.   
      
   Most Americans will only read that glaring headline orchestrated   
   on a Friday night to minimize rebuttals: “Rick Perry Indicted On   
   Felony Corruption Charges!” Once that bell is rung, it’s   
   impossible to un-ring it.   
      
   I'm a believer that everything happens for a reason, so in   
   hindsight I can value my own experience as a conservative   
   governor dealing with leftwing activists who would stop at   
   nothing to take out a successful Republican.   
      
   I was riddled with countless frivolous ethics complaints and   
   lawsuits after being nominated as the GOP vice presidential   
   candidate, all in an attempt to derail my governorship and   
   personally bankrupt my family.   
      
   One by one these complaints were tossed out on the basis of   
   their frivolity, but the activists got what they wanted via the   
   complicit liberal media's consistent headline: “Palin Charged   
   With Ethic Complaints!”   
      
   It didn’t matter that the “complaint” was for something as   
   absurd as wearing an old snow machine jacket with my husband's   
   logo on it, or answering reporters' questions inside my state   
   office, or giving a pro bono speech for a pro-life charity;   
   again in hindsight the ridiculousness of the constant charges --   
   that cost millions to defend and halted all progress in my   
   administration -- would seem hilarious if they'd not been so   
   unfair to the public.   
      
   The media breathlessly reported on every one of the liberal's   
   complaints with bold font, front page coverage. But when each   
   one was overturned, most times we never even saw one mention   
   about our vindication.   
      
   I have no doubt that Rick Perry will weather this storm because   
   he's better prepared for this kind of B.S. than we were up here   
   in Texas's big sister state, when the politics of personal   
   destruction ramped up to unimaginable levels.   
      
   Rick won't have to worry about the Republican establishment   
   piling on, either. He's more ingratiated with the political   
   machine than someone considered still an unknown who'd go rogue   
   on GOP kingmakers when they acted unethically, so he's fortunate   
   to only face a firing squad from one side.   
      
   All over the country people are facing challenges. Some are   
   unfairly charged with wrongdoing and they may feel defenseless   
   and are absolutely slack jawed at the injustice it seems their   
   detractors get away with. But like Rick Perry will do, Americans   
   must all keep the faith that justice will be done, and whether   
   it's a personal or political battle, know that if we lose that   
   faith, there's no hope for America.   
      
   We come out of the battle with more scars, but look at those as   
   reminders of what it takes to overcome. The scars toughen your   
   skin to prepare you for something perhaps tougher up ahead, but   
   surely for something greater.   
      
   In today's political ring, these leftwing Chicago-type tactics   
   of personal destruction are a corruption of our democratic   
   process. It's a slap in the face of the American way of   
   affecting change. We see the same “take no prisoners” tactics at   
   play in the scandalous Democrat-run IRS – as officials with   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)