Comments on: Perry shoots the messenger

By: Ed Whitney

Ed Whitney — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:06:13 +0000

Texas justice clouded by pseudoscience once again: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/05/texas.sniffer.dogs.controversy/index.html has a story on the use of dogs to sniff out suspects, and of a law enforcement officer who was wrongly accused of murder after the dogs “identified” him as the killer. Of course, the authorities are sticking to their guns and denying that they screwed up.

By: Rick B

Rick B — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:25:43 +0000

“If someone lost a Texas Republican primary for allowing a wrongful execution, that would be revolution.”

Texas is an open primary state. You join the party for a year by voting in the primary of that party. The evangelicals have dominated the Republican party for two decades now and the dominate the statewide offices. They have since 1994 when Bush was elected governor. That death penalty crap is typical of fundamentalist evangelicals.

Now what happens if the Democrats do not have a tough contest in the primaries? A lot of Democrats hate Perry a lot more than they want to vote for the County Judge. I can see the Democrats voting for Hutchinson next Spring, and Perry’s decision to stop the evaluation of junk science and Perry’s clear political decision to let Todd Willingham be murdered by the state could be a big reason for a lot of people to vote against Perry in the Republican primary.

Texas has been an agricultural and Oil company dominated state, but the influx of population have been moving to the cities. The culture in this state is changing towards civilization. The politics is lagging behind as it always does, but it is clear that with Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin this state is going to turn modern quite soon. That’s exactly why the evangelicals have been so politically active, because they have seen it coming. The political activity of the conservative evangelicals is motivated by growing panic as they lose control of the state government. The demand for the death penalty has been a major plank in their political effort.

By: Ed Whitney

Ed Whitney — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:22:07 +0000

I do feel better, K, that there is some reaction from Texans about this situation and that many are concerned about it. The Battle of San Jacinto is a done deal, so Barry and I have to live with that reality. I will follow up on those stories.

By: K

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:43:25 +0000

Ed, not to dwell, but in addition to straight news reports on this, I find criticism: (1) An editorial in last Friday’s Dallas Morning News, “Perry’s Certainty About Execution Ignores Science” (25 Sept), criticizing his “supposed experts” comment. (This preceded the firings.) (2) A Lisa Falkenberg column in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle, “Is Perry Pulling a Nixon?” (30 Sept). (3) Also yesterday, a post by Michael Landauer, “Rick Perry Blocks Search for Truth in Todd Willingham Case” (30 Sept), on his Texas Death Penalty Blog - which has offered reasonably competent coverage of the issue since, I think, June - at the Morning News site . (4) An editorial in today’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Texas Governor Derails Important Review of Forensics in Willingham Murder Case” (1 Oct). (5) Also today, an editorial in the Morning News, “Perry’s Willingham Delay” (1 Oct). (This was posted after your 5 PM cutoff time.) I was able to find a couple of these items presto chango just now from the papers' front pages, but take your word for it about the rest. I find nothing from the American Statesman or Express News but straight news accounts. It may be that Perry can't be made to pay a price for this w/in Texas, or not one that costs him an election. I don't know. But if he foresees a national future, non-Texans can at least do their part to ensure he never forgets the name or face of Todd Willingham. And there are decent people in Texas; I know a few. They're perennial losers in its politics, but that's no reason to leave them to their own devices. There's no prospect that they'll succeed in eliminating the death penalty in Texas, but they may be able to mitigate its evils.

By: Ed Whitney

Ed Whitney — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:04:09 +0000

There are five major metro papers in Texas (Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, and San Antonio Express News), and as of 5 pm Central Time on Oct. 1 none of them has this story on the front page of their websites. Gov. Perry’s cousin was killed by deputies in Montague County elsewhere in the state, but his cancellation of this panel is not getting the attention you might think it deserves, based on this single criterion.

Interpret this as you see fit.

By: Quiddity

Quiddity — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:38:55 +0000

Mark: I was deliberately overstating my case. But there sure seems to be in Texas a desire to kill quickly (most recently with the judge Keller episode). I’m reminded of Dr. Death – who figured in the movie The Thin Blue Line. A minor character in that film, but he was brought in by prosecutors throughout Texas to give a virtually-certain diagnosis that would likely lead to a death sentence.

Also, we’ve got to remember that human killing (often as a “sacrifice”) was fairly common a few thousand years ago. Whether the result of culture or DNA, it’s not clear that that desire has been completely extinguished. As you point out, maybe it’s different this time and Perry will pay a price and Texas will change it’s attitude. I hope so.

By: Jay Livingston

Jay Livingston — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:13:33 +0000

“Vel no” turns out to be a Latin phrase. When I read the passage out loud, I was sure it was Yiddish. Same difference. As for Hutchinson running on this, I agree with Quiddity. I’m not sure how wise it would be to tell Texans that the death penalty isn’t such a great thing and that you want to make it harder to impose it.

By: Barry

Barry — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:19:53 +0000

To lay my feelings down on the table, my base belief about Texas is that I’d love to have a time machine, and to go back to enable Santa Anna to win his war. Frankly, the state is a blot on the USA, and that’s in competition with a number of states who are ignorant, evil and proud of it.

I’d say that it’s a good sign that even Texan newspapers are squeamish, but I don’t expect much. The evil, ignorant and proud (EIP) faction is strong, and very useful to the evil, knowlegeable and rich faction (EKR).

By: James Wimberley

James Wimberley — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:45:57 +0000

A hamster’s lifetime is only a couple of years, presumably less with shingles. In this case, is it better, or less bad, to be reincarnated with a short lifespan or a long one?

By: SRW1

SRW1 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:07:24 +0000

“… his current karmic burden had already earned him so many consecutive lifetimes as a castrated hamster with the shingles that he had nothing left to lose …”

Whow, Mark. You’re into serious Walcott territory here. Is there a place where us mortals can acculturate this divine level of snark or are we condemned to live out or lives with the meager talent the gods dispensed on us when our names came up?

By: K

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:56:48 +0000

Quiddity, I grant your point, sort of, but am not sure it’s really the point. The 3 commissioners Perry fired (technically, declined to reappoint) also are Texans, & presumably not opposed to the death penalty as a general matter. The wrongly executed man (I imagine there are others) was a Texan. There are other Texans who maybe can be led to draw the line, if fitfully, at killing an innocent man. So here’s the thing: the Willingham case finally, at long last, looks to have begun to offend against even the Texan concept of justice, or some Texans’. When we’ve reached the point that even the state’s major newspapers, which generally contemplate the slaughter in Huntsville w/ serenity, are shocked by the Governor’s conduct, it’s too easy for non-Texans just to drop it w/ a casual, “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” It may be it’s no longer just a futile moral obligation to raise the issue. It could be that there’s beginning to be a practical political point to it. Just maybe, Rick Perry can be made to pay a professional price for killing Cameron Todd Willingham.

I said before that Perry named replacements. In fact he named only 2, & hasn’t yet appointed a new commissioner to the seat reserved for a defense attorney.

By: Quiddity

Quiddity — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:08:36 +0000

While I generally agree with Mark on most issues, on this one he’s missing the point.

The point is, Texans enjoy executing people. Sure, it’s atavistic, but that’s where they are.

By: K

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:55:16 +0000

Perry named his own replacements for the commissioners he fired, so I don’t know whether there’s a quorum issue. I’d be interested to hear how he decides whether an alleged expert really is one, assuming he pretends to be able to tell the difference.