The discussion started in response to a post about this idea of "criminalizing politics;" I've included the link above if you wish to check it out. But what I really wanted to pass on to you here is this (related) story I found that ran in the Christian Science Monitor last year.
The CSM is not, I hope you'll agree, thought to be “left-wing lunatics”, as some feel the Post and the Times are. Nor are they Republicans, like say PowerLine.
The story is about Ronnie Earle, the Texas D.A. prosecuting Tom Delay. The one Delay and his supporters claim is "vindictive and partisan." Here's (part of) what they said:
Justice of the Peace Guy Herman was sitting in his office one day when a prosecutor walked in to file charges for improper campaign-finance reporting. Against himself.
The man was Ronnie Earle, the Travis County district attorney, bringing a self-incriminating complaint for tardy reporting in 1981 and 1982.
Mr. DeLay calls the Democratic Earle "vindictive and partisan." So far, three of DeLay's associates have been indicted on charges of illegally funneling hundreds of thousands of corporate dollars to state GOP candidates in 2002. The Republican sweep that year fueled redistricting efforts in Texas that deepened Congressional control in 2004.
Unlike most states, Texas does not give its attorney general the power to prosecute criminal acts at the state level. That task goes to the Travis County district attorney - a responsibility Earle took on, forming a public-integrity unit to look into such abuses.
Democrats, for their part, are still upset over the prosecution of Attorney General Jim Mattox for bribery in 1985. While pushing a state lawsuit against Mobil Oil Co., the Democratic AG argued with Mobil's lawyers, which led to his indictment.
He was acquitted and years later, Jim Marston, a civil lawyer in Austin and friend of Mr. Mattox, asked Earle why he went ahead with the questionable case.
"I said, 'Ronnie, how can it be an abuse of power to threaten a lawyer? We threaten each other all the time.' He told me that elected officials are held to a higher standard. They are supposed to be [above suspicion] like Caesar's wife." It was then that Mr. Marston realized how deep Earle's principles run. "Ronnie Earle is a Boy Scout who is offended by wrongdoings, chief among them, public officials' abuse of power."
It's kind of a companion piece to the Pat Fitzgerald profile I posted last week--right down to the Boy Scout comparison.
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