The Texas Blues: A Stunning Royal Backfire

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday January 28, 2016 · 8:41 AM PST

2016/01/28 · 08:41

Sometimes, even in Texas, justice can prevail over politics.

Justice triumphed when the Republican county District Attorney for the soon to be third largest city in the U.S., actually did her job. She put her pro-law professional responsibilities over her pro-life personal beliefs. And right wing heads have been exploding ever since.

You see, living in a right wing state that is run by the Three Stooges of bigotry, snake oil and malfeasance, an elected GOP official is supposed to be nothing more than a power grabbing partisan hack who clicks her/his heels to right wing tea party dogma. One’s professional and ethical responsibilities for an elected office takes a back seat.

Justice prevailed when the Republican Harris County (Houston area) prosecutor actually upheld the law. Following the evidence and facts surrounding the charges filed against Planned Parenthood turned out to be a case of stunning irony and poetic justice.

On Monday, a Harris Co. Grand Jury and a self-professed pro-life Republican District Attorney vindicated Planned Parenthood from any wrong doing. The stunning irony in this is the accusers, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, ended up being indicted on the same charges leveled against Planned Parenthood. This clearly is a case of a royal backfire for the right and a stunning victory for Planned Parenthood.

Fortunately, in the Harris County case, the jurors considered the facts. David Daleiden, the director of the Center for Medical Progress, which released the videos, and Sandra Merritt, an employee, were indicted on felony charges of tampering with governmental records, probably connected to their alleged use of fake driver’s licenses to get into a Planned Parenthood office.

Mr. Daleiden was also indicted on a misdemeanor charge of violating a Texas ban on the buying and selling of human organs. A lawyer for Planned Parenthood said Mr. Daleiden sent an email to Planned Parenthood employees last June offering to buy fetal tissue for $1,600 per sample, to which Planned Parenthood never responded. A lawyer for Mr. Daleiden said on Tuesday that his client planned to plead not guilty and would vigorously defend against the charges.

Needless to say, this vindication has created consternation and outrage from the right. Off with her (the Attorney General’s) head! It was a political hit job!

As most of us know the religious right and its water carriers in the Republican Party have been on a ruthless and relentless crusade to cripple and ultimately shut down Planned Parenthood. The anti-choice army has enlisted the same kind of smear artists as the group that took down ACORN. They call themselves guerrilla journalists (though they are not professional credentialed journalists at all) whose goal is to entrap members of organizations they don’t like. They take secret videos and then edit them to the point that the recordings have little truth to them. ACORN, an organization that registered voters, helped low-income people find housing, monitored predatory lenders in minority areas, was effectively dismantled, thanks to the Breitbart hate army.

The right has the same goal for Planned Parenthood. The Texas case evolved when Tea Party Lt. Governor Dan Patrick self-righteously shouted down from every rooftop after viewing the fraudulent videos. He loudly demanded for the Harris Co. District Attorney, Devon Anderson, to investigate and prosecute the Houston area Planned Parenthood. Of course the last thing Taliban Dan predicted is what happened on Monday. For him this should have been a slam dunk partisan hit job and the death of Planned Parenthood in Texas.

A Harris County grand jury has declined to indict Planned Parenthood officials in Houston. Instead, the grand jury has handed down indictments against two people involved in making the videos. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were indicted on charges of tampering with a government document. According to Houston television station KTRK, Daleiden was also indicted on a charge involving the prohibition on the purchase and sale of human organs.

The District Attorney said she would follow the facts and evidence and she did.

“We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.”

Of course facts and evidence don’t matter to the state’s top leadership. Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton will continue their shameful witch hunt against Planned Parenthood. They’ve known all along the videos are highly edited. But they will turn any issue into a political football whenever possible. The leadership’s goal is to throw red meat to the tea party base in order to keep it angry. I wouldn’t be surprised if the triumvirate of Stooges were to run a primary tea party opponent against Devon Anderson next time she is up for re-election. These boys will want a go to henchmen in the state’s largest county’s District Attorney’s office.

But the three Stooges of Texas are on the wrong side of the battle. One in five women have used or will use Planned Parenthood’s services. Over 60% Americans have a favorable view of Planned Parenthood, too.

As usual, the only way to get rid of the stupid, the mean and the self-serving is to vote, baby, vote. In Texas February 1 is the last day to register to vote in the March 1 primary. Early voting starts on February 16. If you are not registered go to your nearest county clerk’s office today.

There is very good news in the near future about newly naturalized American citizens. They are rallying to vote.

In what campaigners are calling a “naturalization blitz”, workshops are being hosted across the country to facilitate Hispanic immigrants who are legal, permanent residents and will only qualify to vote in the 2016 presidential election if they upgrade their immigration status.

Citizenship clinics will take place in Nevada, Colorado, Texas and California later this month, with other states expected to host classes in February and early March in order to make the citizenship deadline required to vote in November.

Let’s join our newly naturalized brothers and sisters and head to the polls. The Greg Abbotts, Dan Patricks and Ken Paxtons have got to go. Not to mention the Donald Trumps and Ted Cruzes. It’s up to us to stop the tea party fascists from getting into positions of power. If they do, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

The Texas Blues: A Stunning Royal Backfire

Comments are closed on this story.