well this is going to make his presidential run interesting.

I never understood why he ever *wanted* to be president, other than it's "the next thing" after you're governor. Rick Perry is the epitome of vacant-minded ambition. Even Bill Clinton was more substantial than this clown.

Rick Perry is literally the stereotypical American idiot.

He saw them elect that idiot former Texas governor Bush so he figured it couldn't be that hard to become president.

Rick Perry is much dumber than George W. Bush. Rick Perry is only barely smarter than Al Gore. Rick Perry makes Bill Clinton look like a genius.

Now the question that we are facedwith as a nation is who is stupider? Rick or sarah palin.

Problem is Rick Perry is stupid and crooked. Not as stupid as Al Gore, not as crooked as Nancy Pelosi, but worse than either of them because he's damn close on both counts. Sarah Palin is just plain stupid.

So he is basically in trouble for not funding a drunk who ran a public integrity unit for the state?

I don't care what he's on trial for, he belongs in jail, so if that happens, good, if not, we'll get him next time.

"Rick Perry is literally the stereotypical American idiot."

I want to say he's even more an idiot than that...

But I don't know if that's more about my wanting to see the better in Americans or the worst in Rick Perry.

Anyone want to bet President Obama had a nice glass of something to celebrate over that, just a little? ;)

@Thucydides

"I don't care what he's on trial for, he belongs in jail, so if that happens, good, if not, we'll get him next time."

You sound like a white cop griefing an 18-year-old black kid.

Yeah. If someone is accused of a crime, they must be tried for that crime. You can't prosecute someone for a crime they did not commit instead of one they did commit. If, during the investigation, another crime is revealed, it can be added as a separate case.

Allowing someone to get convicted of a crime because someone else thinks they committed some other crime would mean evidence of wrongdoing would not be a requirement in convicting someone.

Rick Perry intentionally went through with execution of an innocent man. The responsibility is squarely with him for the man's murder by the state. He belongs in jail.

I'm not saying he will be tried for it, I'm just saying all that matter is the end result. If Perry goes to jail, it will be just, even if he isn't guilty of what he's in jail for. He is guilty of something far worse. Let the courts uphold their procedures, but as a simple Texan, I hope the oppressor is locked up and never heard from again.

@Thucydides Nice to see vigilantism alive and well in Texas then, on all sides.

Consequentialism, you mean.

Thucy isn't the law, he's allowed to have opinions like this.

I suppose you're in the union of vigilantism and consequentialism in some Venn diagram of those things.

Rick perry is smarter than al gore? I'm not so sure that's true, but at least i've found someone rick perry is actually smarter than, eh tendmote?

They'll let anyone graduate as an Aggie.

@ Thucy: Which execution are you referring to, out of interest? Cameron Willingham?

Ah! Drinking the kook-aid that Al Gore is some kind of intellectual powerhouse then, "Socrates Complacent"?

I don't think he is an intellectual powerhouse, and I don't think I even implied that, but being smarter than rick perry (or you evidently), doesn't require much :)!

Indded!

I've eaten potatoes that were smarter than Rick Perry.

I think I've identified the thing that bugs me about this. First of all I can't stand Rick Perry, I'm against the death penalty, and I think Rick Perry probably belongs in jail for steering business to Merck in exchange for political donations.

BUT... if Rick Perry ends up in jail for some bullshit reason, and some abuse of the legal system takes place to make it happen, that does damage to the legal system itself in it's relation to government officials.

I guess I do see where Thucydides is coming from with his "consequentialist" attitude, but you've got to look at all the consequences, not just one.

The consequences of Rick Perry going to jail is that a rich white criminal goes to jail, and there needs to be far more of that.

The only criteria we need when talking about who needs to go to jail is "criminal."

Is it really? I think he should be convicted, because I see the case made against the man as valid. I think he should also bear responsibility for the death penalty in Texas. These are separate issues, and putting them together into a "I'm not sure if he committed this, but we know he committed something" is dangerous. Suddenly, you move from burden of proof on the prosecution to burden of proof on defendant for every crime ever, which is impossible to defend.

Yep. Rick Perry is impossible to defend. Got that right.

In the legal equation right now, X="Rick Perry". If we change the equation so that X goes to jail for something other than his actual crimes, what happens when some other person becomes X in the same equation? "Veto my shit... GO TO JAIL!"