Rick Perry: I See Nothing

Imagine that. Rick Perry had no knowledge that not one, not two, but three of his current or former campaign operatives/chief of staff had dabbled in some scurrilous politics when they arranged for money to fund and/or engineered the collection of signatures so that the Green Party could appear on the November ballot.

He knows nothing about it. He sees nothing.

From the Austin American-Statesman:

“GOP Gov. Rick Perry, asked today at what point he learned about the efforts of some Republicans to get the Green Party on the ballot, said: ‘I have no knowledge of that at all.’”

Funny the verb tense he used, “have” instead of “had.” It’s as if the things that the reporters were telling him about his former campaign workers, and a former chief of staff were things that he had not heard of at all.

It is as if Rick Perry’s brain is a tabula rasa, something that contains no knowledge at all of past or present events in this matter.

It reminds me of my favorite television character from the 1960’s comedy series, “Hogan’s Heroes.” Sergeant Schultz, upon being presented with clear evidence of wrongdoing would utter his famous tagline “I see nothing . . .”

Present tense.

Common thread? They both look like buffoons.

TDP to Greens: Run if Corruption is What You’re About

Today the Texas Democratic Party filed a motion to drop their lawsuit against the Green Party, challenging the legality of the signatures that they submitted to get their candidates on the November ballot

The TDP, it seems, didn’t want to look like it was standing in the way of a third party’s ability to field its candidates. Admittedly that was a fatal flaw in their effort. The legality, or rather the illegality of the signatures, gathered by an anonymous out-of-state corporate contribution it seems, was denied by the 9 Republicans who sit on Texas’ highest court. This is despite the fact that new evidence has emerged that now three operatives that can be directly linked to Rick Perry or his campaign. These operatives had direct involvement with funneling the money to enable signature gathering, putting Republican fingerprints all over the Green Party signature gathering effort.

From the TDP’s press release:

“The Texas Democratic Party filed this lawsuit because Texans deserve to know who secretly spent over half a million dollars to influence the 2010 elections. Just a few years ago, Republicans in Texas engaged in the Tom DeLay TRMPAC scheme to illegally use corporate money to affect State House races. Now, it appears that Republicans have again used corporate money from a secret donor to improperly influence Texas elections”

In dropping the suit this virtually assures that Green Party candidates will appear on the November ballot along with Democratic, Republican and Libertarian candidates. Of the three other parties, the Green Party stands to derive many of their votes from those who would otherwise vote for Democrats.

This was obviously the intent of the Republicans who funded the Green signature drive.

In competing with Democrats for liberal votes, TDP Chairman Boyd Richie remonstrated to Green Party candidates that their candidacy was tainted with money callously donated to them by those who hold them in vile contempt. Said Richie:

“Green Party leaders should remember that actions speak louder than words. It is up to the Green Party candidates to decide whether they want to continue candidacies that were bought and paid for by Republicans who hold the Green Party in contempt. If the Texas Green Party ever wants to be taken seriously, their candidates should heed the advice of Texas progressives, step down and dissociate themselves from a Republican corporate money scheme that flies in the face of everything the Green Party claims to believe.”

My message to The Greens then is this: OK Greens, the Democratic Party is dropping its opposition to your presence on the ballot, this despite the damage that it could do to its own candidates in close elections – and all statewide elections will be close this year. Now the ball is in your court either to show Texans that you have no moral convictions and will act as spoilers in your own selfish interest, or to show that you are serious in your liberal progressivism and have no desire to let Republicans buy themselves another election.

Your choice.

Green Old Party Hires Republican Attorney

The Dallas Morning News carried a story yesterday afternoon that the Green Party, henceforth to be known as the Green Old Party for its unholy alliance with the Party of the Dark Side, has hired Andy Taylor (lately of Mayberry, NC?) to represent the Greens in a lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party over a question of the legality of a $200,000 in-kind contribution from an out-of-state Republican operative.

ARMPAC and TRMPAC had puppies, it seems.

Anyway, Wayne Slater reports that Green Party Chair Christine Morshedi has hired Republican attorney Andy Taylor to head up their defense in the TDP suit.

Begging the question: Are there no Green Party lawyers? Or are Green Party lawyers making themselves scarce as the party that paints itself as the true party of goodness and right heads down a dark twisty path, taking a cue from the GOP that any opportunity to win is better than the right thing to do.

Wait it gets better. According to Slater:

“Taylor has a long history working for Republicans. He defended an effort by Tom DeLay to use corporate money to help elect GOP candidates beneficial to Republican redistricting. He has represented several Republican candidates in election cases and was a top aide to then-Attorney General John Cornyn .”

My guess is, is that if they were to poll the Green Party faithful they would find an overwhelming opposition to this unholy alliance. I, personally, would feel utterly slimed by this association.

But then I guess this might just be a measure of just how desperate the Green Party leadership is for some level of legitimacy in Texas. To which I would say why not wait until Texas elects one, just one liberal or left-leaning statewide candidate to office? Because right now, the Green Party’s chances at gaining legitimacy in this state is about as good as a snowball’s chance in Houston (in July).

Getting Green to the Greens

I like the Green Party. I really do. In many respects the Green Party is more aligned with my lefty politics than the Democratic Party is. But the Greens will never take hold in America like it has in other places around the world. America is way too conservative for the Greens.

So when I read in the Dallas Morning News that the Greens were going to have a candidate for Texas governor on the ballot this November, my eyes clicked back into their orbits. Because unlike the Libertarians which siphon off votes for both Democratic and Republican candidates alike, no self-respecting Republican would ever vote for a Green candidate.

When Greens run, Republicans win, especially in a close race.

Just ask John Kerry.

Then we come to find that the Greens got some help from an unlikely part of the universe. A Republican consultant, Arizonan Tim Mooney got a bunch of money fronted by a Missouri-based corporation called Take Initiative America which in turn paid another out-of-state company called Free and Equal, Inc. to collect a reported 92,000 signatures (at $4 a signature) in Texas in order for the Green Party to qualify to get on the ballot this fall.

Well not so unlikely it seems. This is just a scheme to split Democratic votes and allow Rick Perry another term in office.

The Greens and the Republicans couldn’t be more pleased.

TDP Chairman Boyd Richie couldn’t be more displeased. Said he:

“The Green Party has become just another arm of the Republican Party, and Gov. Rick Perry's re-election effort and the Republican/Green Party coordination is a blow to the integrity of our election system.”

But as it turns out, the whole process, which smells to high heaven, may just be illegal. This according to Buck Wood, an Austin lawyer:

“‘That corporation cannot make contributions to political parties in Texas. And to do so is a felony,’ he said. ‘It is also a felony for a political party to accept a corporate contribution.’”

And yes, that may well be, but we should all keep in mind who is in charge here. When you are in charge, you get to make a lot of the rules. And when you are in charge, you get to bend a few. Especially if by doing so you get to stay in charge.