The Rick Perry Indictment.

While everybody has been focused on events in Ferguson, Missouri perhaps an even bigger political story has been developing in the US. On Friday (15/8/14) Republican Governor of Texas Rick Perry was indicted by a Grand Jury on charges that he abused his power and attempted to coerce an elected official by vetoing funding for the state anti-corruption office.

Back in April 2013 Rosemary Lehmberg the Democrat District Attorney for Travis County and head of the anti-corruption unit was arrested for drink driving. By all accounts Lehmberg was not only extremely drunk at the time but was also extremely belligerent. To make matters worse Lehmberg then attempted to abuse her position to avoid punishment for the crime. This is obviously unacceptable behaviour for any public official particularly one who has responsibility for law enforcement and ensuring that other public officials uphold the law. However Lehmberg repeatedly refused calls to resign so Perry is alleged to have threatened to withhold funding to Lehmberg's department until she resigned.

I must admit that I'm not an expert in the specifics of Texas state law but if it isn't within legislators powers to force the resignation of a disgraced and properly convicted peer it strikes me that it certainly should be. As a result this indictment of Perry strikes me as being extremely politically motivated and a sign of the growing panic amongst the Democrat Party national.

Missing from all the discussions about race that events in Ferguson have started has been the fact that over the past year to 18 months Democrat President Obama has been engaged in the worst form of racial politics through his attempts to reform the immigration system to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens. This has been a naked attempt to attract Hispanic voters to the Democrat Party not because of their views on economic policy, crime or even foreign policy but simply because of their race. As such I think this type of vile politics has no more place in the American mainstream then the Ku Klux Klan. By Obama's own admission it has created a humanitarian disaster across the US' border with Mexico by allowing people smugglers to falsely claim that Obama has declared that unaccompanied children will be allowed to stay in the US creating a massive influx of such immigrants.

One of the states that has been hardest hit by Obama's racial politicking has been Texas and Governor Perry has been one of Obama's harshest critics frequently calling him out publicly while at the same time deploying the National Guard to secure the border while calling on the federal Congress to fund the operation. As Obama has so far failed to force through his immigration reforms and therefore can't count on the extra votes of all the newly minted citizens Perry's criticism of Obama's policy is likely to damage all Democrat candidates at the November 2014 mid-term elections. This seems to have been the main factor behind local Texas Democrats attempts to smear Governor Perry's reputation in the run-up to the mid-terms.

Rick Perry could also prove to be a substantial threat in the 2016 Presidential election because he is widely considered as one of the front runners for the Republican nomination. Despite the fact that John Kerry has really impressed me a State the Democrat Party seem to have set in stone that Hillary Clinton will be their 2016 candidate. The problem is that as Obama's Secretary of State from 2008 to 2012 Hillary Clinton was one of the main architects of the invasion of Libya, the invasion of Syria and the disastrous withdrawal from Iraq. With the consequences of those decisions coming home to roost in the form of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) genocide and ethnic cleansing Hillary Clinton's credibility as an international stateswoman has been totally shot to pieces. As a result the Republican Party could probably nominate an actual donkey to run against Hillary in 2016 and still win. The Democrats are therefore absolutely terrified of an even half-way credible opponent such as Rick Perry so seem to be trying to take him out of the game early.

As another little comparison to the situation in Ferguson I should point out that at absolutely no point has Governor Perry been arrested. Instead Lehmberg's District Attorney's office prepared as file of evidence that was presented to a Grand Jury. That Grand Jury then decided to issue an indictment and Governor Perry will answer that indictment on, I think, Thursday (21/8/14).

This is the standard practise for how serious crimes are investigated and prosecuted in the US. Arrests only happen if there is a need to stop evidence being destroyed or to prevent a suspect from fleeing. So all the people in Ferguson who are calling for the police officer to be arrested are starting to give me the impression that black Americans do more badly in the criminal justice system then any other race not because of racism but because they simply do not understand the system. I don't think Huey Newton would be best pleased.

16:20 on 19/8/14 (UK date).