Governor Perry's sociopathy

I have avoided the topic of Todd Willingham's murder by the state of Texas, mostly because it makes me so teeth-grindingly furious that it was affecting my health. So in the wake of this week's developments I will just link to the outrage of others. First, last month's horrifying New Yorker piece, recounting the events of the tragic deaths of Willingham's children, then the twists and turns of the legal case, and finally the bizarre contradictions of the fire forensics by the experts, concluding with this ...

In 2005, Texas established a government commission to investigate allegations of error and misconduct by forensic scientists. The first cases that are being reviewed by the commission are those of Willingham and Willis. In mid-August (2009), the noted fire scientist Craig Beyler, who was hired by the commission, completed his investigation. In a scathing report, he concluded that investigators in the Willingham case had no scientific basis for claiming that the fire was arson, ignored evidence that contradicted their theory, had no comprehension of flashover and fire dynamics, relied on discredited folklore, and failed to eliminate potential accidental or alternative causes of the fire. He said that Vasquez’s approach seemed to deny “rational reasoning” and was more “characteristic of mystics or psychics.” What’s more, Beyler determined that the investigation violated, as he put it to me, “not only the standards of today but even of the time period.” The commission is reviewing his findings, and plans to release its own report next year. Some legal scholars believe that the commission may narrowly assess the reliability of the scientific evidence. There is a chance, however, that Texas could become the first state to acknowledge officially that, since the advent of the modern judicial system, it had carried out the “execution of a legally and factually innocent person.”

And the initial response from our illustrious chief executive of the state of Texas:

“I’m familiar with the latter-day supposed experts on the arson side of it,” Perry said, making quotation marks with his fingers to underscore his skepticism.

And his most recent response (via Grits for Breakfast):

Perry has ousted the head of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which had displeased him by soliciting what turned out to be damning expert opinion regarding the Cameron Todd Willingham case (in which supposedly expert arson testimony used to convict Willingham and justify his execution was later debunked by modern science). ... As the new chair, Perry chose (of all people) Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, who prides himself on being one of the most outspoken proponents among Texas prosecutors of a sort of neoconservative, tough on crime philosophy. The Statesman called Bradley "a tough-on-crime politically connected conservative." ...

Bradley's first act as chair? To cancel a hearing (scheduled for today) where the Commission was scheduled to hear a report from experts they've paid tens of thousands of dollars to analyze the science behind Todd Willingham's conviction. No word on whether or if the public hearing might be rescheduled.

Response to the Wednesday Night Massacre from all quarters has been swift and as merciful as the governor always is himself. Paul Burka of Texas Monthly:

That image of Perry mocking the investigation of his own commission, making quotation marks in the air, is such inappropriate behavior for the subject matter. Couldn’t he just say that a special commission is taking steps to review the case and he intends to see that the evidence will get a full and complete hearing? It’s the same personality trait that we saw on the videotape about the recession.

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.

The DMN editorial board:

Perry looks like a desperate man with his decision to jettison the chairman of the state's forensic science panel.

The panel's post-mortem look at the Cameron Todd Willingham arson-murder case goes to the heart of Texas justice – including the governor's role in it – and whether an innocent man was railroaded into the death chamber at Huntsville.

Since Perry signed off on the Willingham execution in 2004, his own accountability is at stake. So perhaps it's no surprise that two days before the Texas Forensic Science Commission was to proceed with the case this week, Perry replaced the chairman and set things back.

This has the stink of avoidance for political reasons. It sends the message – intentional or not – that the governor was displeased with the speed and direction of the inquiry.

Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle:

The politico-scientific hypothesis is simple: Gov. Rick Perry scuttled today's scheduled meeting in Dallas of the Texas Forensic Science Commission because it was sure to produce headlines claiming that in 2004 he authorized the execution of an innocent man.

The Anderson Cooper show from CNN was expected, as well as just about every major news outlet in Texas.

The commission would not have found Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully convicted in 1991 of killing his children. The commission is authorized to investigate only whether law enforcement officials and laboratories use science properly.

But it's what the headlines would have said, and Perry is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign.

Still, it's a scary hypothesis. If true, the governor of the state that conducts about half the nation's executions deliberately sabotaged a new agency tasked by the Legislature with investigating allegations of faulty science in the state's criminal justice system.

And lastly, Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic ...

I'm not even surprised. Again, it's very hard for people to admit error. They will lie, cover evidence, kill the messenger before admitting that they're wrong. The higher the stakes, the harder the heart, and the deader the mind.

That's our governor, all right.

Malfeasance of this degree goes far, far beyond Rick Perry's usual hunting grounds: pandering to the teabaggers, advocating for secession, decrying stimulus money only to take it and spend it, whining about hacked webstreams and paying volunteers in his re-election campaign to recruit other volunteers in some weird pyramid scheme.

No, this is not incompetence or hypocrisy. This is sociopathology, and it needs to be excised from our state government like the malignant tumor it has grown into. No later than March 2, 2009.

Charles Kuffner and Eye on Williamson and Burnt Orange have more.

Locke's "black/brown coalition" turns red

Gene Locke, the African-American faux Democrat in the Houston mayoral tilt -- to be distinguished from the Anglo faux Dem Peter Brown -- has the full and unqualified support of the Republican elections administrator in Harris County, Beverly Kaufman.

Muse:

This is the same Beverly Kaufman who is on record as being against the pre-clearance portion of the Voting Rights Act. Pre-clearance is in place for nine Southern states that have a history of discrimination or suppressing minority voting, including Texas. ... What am I missing? How does having Beverly Kaufman on your team not drive away Democrats, especially minorities?

Neil:

Mr. Locke assumes black voters in Houston will support him for Mayor because he is black—But black support may not be enough to reach a runoff. To get the extra votes he feels he needs, Mr. Locke will engage in low-down tactics

He’ll sell out his core supporters in a heartbeat.

Mr. Locke thinks black folks in Houston are stupid. He thinks he can trumpet the support of people who don’t at all share the beliefs of his most important voters, and that people won’t catch on that he is a fraud.

Locke and Brown remind me of a couple of aluminum siding salesmen working both sides of the street; one goes into the rube's living room thirty minutes after the other promising them a set of eight steak knives instead of six.

How many people are going to fall for their act? Probably enough to get one of these scam artists into the runoff.

Rick Perry paying volunteers to hack his Web stream

Oops. A little conflation of this week's top Governor MoFo headlines. First:

The Republican governor's re-election campaign is paying volunteers to sign up other volunteers, and it promises more cash for those turning out voters in the March primary. The campaign hopes for big dividends from the Amway-style program, known as Perry Home Headquarters.

It depends on what the definition of "volunteer" is. Second:

The Austin-American Statesman reports that the Perry campaign was hosting a live video Webcast, which crashed. "This planned and coordinated attack was political sabotage, and we are working to identify those responsible for this illegal activity," said campaign spokesman Mark Miner.

Phillip Martin dissects the logical fallacy, however, which leaves the Perry camp holding nothing except a yellowed page out of the Rove playbook.

And while the comments associated with the two links above are mandatory reading, let me please paraphrase the snarkiest remark I've read all week:

(Rick Perry) doesn't know whether to shit or go blind, so he's opted for both. It smells real bad, but at least he can't see it.

The Weekly Wrangle

As early voting for the November elections looms on the horizon, the Texas Progressive Alliance says good-bye to September and hello to another weekly blog roundup.

BREAKING NEWS: Natural Gas Development Brings "amazing and very high" Levels of Carcinogens and Neurotoxins to Barnett Shale area! Take a deep breath before you read this study because the findings will take your breath away! TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS broke this story and the study evaluation by MacAuthur (Genius) Award winner, Wilma Subra.

This week at Left of College Station, Teddy reports on why the anti-choice movement is not about abortion but about the oppression of women. Also, guest blogger Litia writes about asking non-tradition questions about Texas A&M traditions; Litia writes a weekly guest blog for College Station about a liberal teaching in Aggieland. Left of College Station also coves the week in headlines.

Neil at Texas Liberal writes that Socialist candidate for mayor of Houston Amanda Ulman should run a serious campaign or not run at all. There once was a solid base of socialist voters in Texas and the U.S. Who says that cannot some day happen again?

McBlogger takes aim at people who think that adjusting to climate change is just something that will unfairly hurt the poor.

Off the Kuff contemplates the possible entry of Farouk Shami into the Governor's race.

The old Easter Lemming has a useful post on voting for the constitutional amendments in his area.

The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the 22-year-high Texas unemployment rate. What recession? We're in one?

Agriculture commissioner Todd Staples opened his mouth and out fell a big wad of stupid. Stupid so ignorant that it topped anything Rick Perry or John Cornyn or even Glenn Beck could manage this week. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has it -- if you can stand it.

WhosPlayin followed up on an open records request for internal emails related to Lewisville ISD's decision to ban President Obama's speech to children. The emails, including a racially charged email from a board member to the superintendant, do not paint a pretty picture..

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on money, energy, and the economy in the Texas governor's race in Perry's Cap and Trade Photo Op.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes Rick Perry does his best George Bush cowboy imitation with Ranger Recon.

Over at TexasKaos, boadicea (Warrior Queen) is seeking a pulse, any pulse over at the Tom Schieffer campaign as she opines that Tom Schieffer Needs Something Original to Offer. It seems that lifting policy ideas from Hank Gilbert is the best he can do right now. Read the rest at TexasKaos.

"We have the greatest healthcare system in the world" myth is euthanized

Pesky things, them facts ...

Canada outperforms the United States in health outcomes but is well behind global leaders like Japan in overall health of its population, a Canadian report released on Monday showed.

The annual report card by the Conference Board of Canada ranked Canada 10th out of 16 developed countries, with a "B" grade. The United States was the worst performer, placing 16th and earning a "D" grade.

"Canada has been at the center of much of the debate on U.S. health care reform. Since Canada ranks ahead of the United States on all but one indicator of health status ... it is clear that we are getting better results," Gabriela Prada, director of health policy at the Conference Board, said in a statement.

Better than what, though?

"But when we look beyond the narrow Canada-U.S. comparison to the rest of the world, Canadians rank in the middle of the pack in terms of their health status," Prada said.

Uh oh. "Middle of the pack"? For both of us? Perhaps we should aim farther north than Canada.

The Conference Board, which has been issuing the report card since 1996, ranked the 16 countries according to 11 criteria, including life expectancy, mortality due to cancer, circulatory diseases, respiratory diseases, metal disorders, as well as infant mortality and self-reported health status.

Japan was once again the top-ranking country. Switzerland, Italy, and Norway also earned "A" grades.

"B" grades were given to Sweden, France, Finland, Germany, Australia and Canada, while Netherlands, Austria and Ireland earned a "C" grade, the report showed.

Along with the United States, Denmark and the United Kingdom got "D" grades.

You don't think it could be because they're socialists, do you?

With 45,000 Americans dying every year because they do not have health insurance and cannot afford medical care, how much longer will we sit by while the US Senate bickers, stalls, and delays in order to preserve the profit models of the health insurance companies?