No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

Texas Governor Perry Ran No-Holds Barred Search for the Democratic Legislators

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported today that Texas Governor Republican Rick Perry was heavily involved in directing the search for the Democratic House Legislators who were preventing the House from considering the redistricting Bill being pushed by Republican Tom Delay (Speaker of the US House of Representatives).

An excerpt from the article:

Records from May 12-13 show that Perry personally ordered the DPS to search for two state representatives who helped break the quorum to kill a GOP-backed congressional redistricting plan. One was Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, who fled to Mexico, and the other was Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, who went to Ardmore, Okla., along with most of the other House Democrats involved in the walkout.

The notes -- which detail Perry's involvement and the no-holds-barred dragnet for the Democrats -- escaped the destruction order because the DPS wanted to be able to respond to a complaint by Eiland. Eiland has said the DPS went overboard by sending a Texas Ranger to hunt him down, unsuccessfully, at the Galveston neonatal unit where his premature twins were recuperating.

"Lt. [Will] Crais came in to say Governor has ordered two Rangers sent to find Rep. Oliveira & Craig Eiland," said the handwritten notes, taken May 12 from a Texas Ranger who was at the command center set up near the office of House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland.

Another notation later that night said Perry "wants surveillance on Oliveira's residence and arrested if he exits."

Perry did not deny issuing orders that resulted in troopers searching for Democrats, including going to the Galveston hospital where Eiland's newborn children were being cared for. Eiland says he had told Craddick about the twins' birth in April.

"You betcha, I told the DPS to follow the instructions of this speaker ... follow the law," the governor said Tuesday in Dallas. He said he ordered DPS officials to do "whatever the DPS needed to do ... to retrieve House members."

Perry also said he told troopers to find the lawmakers "no matter where they were." In a previous statement, Perry had downplayed the role of his office, suggesting its only involvement was in trying to determine whether extradition from out-of-state was possible.

The documents contain only hints about the federal role in the search. One notation said the DPS "is attempting to effect arrests via federal authorities, if possible," but it was unclear whether the DPS was initiating the contact with federal authorities or whether the note-taker was simply recording Craddick's publicly stated instructions.

The Republicans have not had control of the Texas Legislature since the 19th Century. Now that they have it, they have been overreaching badly and misusing the power they think they have. This has simply been an example.
posted by Richard at 2:55 PM