And the King of Texas would prefer we not talk about the fact that he may have killed an innocent man. So much so, in fact, that he's willing to openly quash anyone willing to look in to the matter - anyone with the temerity to suggest that hey, maybe the state didn't get it right this time.
In this case, he booted three people off the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which was gearing up to investigate whether Cameron Todd Willingham got a fair trial. They were due to hear evidence this week from a nationally recognized arson expert, who released a report in August that basically said Willingham did not get a fair trial, and that the evidence introduced was faulty.
And now comes word that one of Perry's new appointees has canceled that meeting, ostensibly to "catch up." Who wants to bet this meeting will be canceled until at least after the Republican primary, where Perry faces an increasingly contentious battle with Kay Bailey Hutchison?
Today, Texas Monthly executive editor Paul Burka used the words everyone is thinking - "cover up."
Let’s call this what it is: a cover-up. The new chairman, Williamson County district attorney John Bradley, is a political ally of Perry’s (see below) who famously tough on crime. It would be a conversion of mythic proportions if he were to agree with the investigators’ criticism. He now controls when the commission will meet, and you can bet that the report will not be heard or discussed in a public forum before the March 2 primary.
Maybe Willingham did start the fire that killed his daughters. But if a review will ultimately prove that, what does Perry have to worry about? That he DID allow the state to kill an innocent man? That uncovering that would likely lead to a moratorium on executions, thereby robbing him of his shiny toy and God complex validation?
At this point, it wouldn't shock me at all if Perry, when faced with the news that Hutchison has beaten him in the primary, decided to pull some sort of cronyistic maneuver that negated that outcome. Replace the entire elections commission? Unending recounts ala Franken-Coleman?
I'll say it here. Perry shouldn't win another term. In fact, I'm nearly certain he's veering toward impeachable offenses. After all, did he not repeat an oath that requires him to uphold the law?
But nobody will have the cajones to ever do that. So come March, and then November, the voters of Texas must.
The Texas gubernatorial election just became a matter of life and death.
Update: It's gone national. Swell.
