Texas

CBS Highlights Liberal Discomfort Over 'Sketchy' Indictment of Perry
By Scott Whitlock | August 19, 2014 | 1:14 PM EDT

After deluging Americans with two days of heavy coverage of Rick Perry's indictment, the network morning shows on Tuesday eased up. Only CBS This Morning offered a story on the Republican's vigorous defense. Reporter Jan Crawford noted that growing outrage against the indictment includes liberals: "Among those Democrats is President Obama's former adviser David Axelrod, who suggested the indictment was 'pretty sketchy' in a tweet over the weekend." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Crawford also made time for two clips of conservative Ben Ginsberg, a lawyer representing Perry. He railed, "This is an outlandish prosecution. I mean, it will never, ever, ever, stand." Ginsberg added, "It is unprecedented, it is outside the bounds. I think that's why you see so many people who are not Rick Perry supporters, who are Democrats, saying how wrong this indictment is." Of course, Crawford still found time to throw cold water on the governor's 2016 plans.

MRC's Bozell: Rick Perry Should Go 'Hard-Charging' at Liberal Media Over Bogus Abuse-of-Power Indictment
By NB Staff | August 19, 2014 | 8:15 AM EDT

Appearing on Fox Business Network's Cavuto program last night to discuss the liberal media's penchant for hyping Republican scandals while downplaying or outright ignoring Democratic ones, Media Research Center president and founder Brent Bozell offered free advice for Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), against whom the Big Three networks devoted 37 minutes of hype regarding an indictment which dropped on Friday. [By contrast, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's ethics scandal has been mostly unreported with a scant 3 minutes, 36 seconds of coverage in 8 months time]

"If I were advising Gov. Perry, I would tell him simply run the video of the woman who you're trying to get fired, the DA who was drunk off her rear end with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit," Bozell noted, telling guest host Cheryl Casone, "I do believe if Rick Perry goes hard-charging, goes against the media that have been doing this and just simply tells the truth and tells the story, he's going to have a big wave of public sympathy." To watch the full segment, click the play button on the embed below the page break.

MSNBC’s Halperin on Perry Indictment: ‘This Is the Stupidest Thing I've Seen...In My Entire Career’
By Curtis Houck | August 18, 2014 | 12:50 PM EDT

On Monday’s Morning Joe on MSNBC, MSNBC contributor and managing editor of Bloomberg Politics Mark Halperin slammed the indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) by an Austin, Texas-area grand jury for threatening to veto funding for a Democratic District Attorney’s public integrity unit after she was convicted of a DUI as “the stupidest thing I’ve seen, I think, in my entire career.”

Expanding further on his opinion, Halperin added that: “I hope some judge throws it out right away. It's not just kind of funny and ridiculous, but it’s an infringement on individual liberty. He’s got a First Amendment right just cause he’s governor of Texas and I think it’s – like you said, it's easy to joke about this, but this is a serious thing. It is ridiculous that he was indicted for this. Ridiculous.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Networks Continue to Hype Perry Indictment, Ignore Prominent Liberals Defending Him
By Kyle Drennen | August 18, 2014 | 12:16 PM EDT

All three network morning shows on Monday continued to hype the Friday indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry but none of the broadcasts mentioned prominent liberals like Obama adviser David Axelrod or Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz coming to Perry's defense and dismissing the charges as politically motivated.

On NBC's Today, correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed Perry to be "the first Texas governor to be indicted in nearly a century." The reporter then attempted to paint the entire field of possible 2016 Republican presidential candidates as plagued by scandal: "It's another possible 2016 contender with a blemish on his resume. You've got Perry's indictment, Chris Christie's bridgegate, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker under new scrutiny for allegations of campaign finance violations." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Freudian Slip: Rick Perry Opponent Says 'Nothing Could Be Closer to the Truth' That Prosecution a 'Political Witch Hunt'
By Tom Blumer | August 17, 2014 | 7:01 PM EDT

Craig McDonald, the director of Texans for Public Justice, was on CNN today. He tried to "respond" to something Lone Star State Governor Rick Perry's didn't say yesterday in his reaction to his indictment, and followed that up with a comical gaffe.

McDonald opened as follows: "The Governor again in his defense yesterday said this is merely a partisan political witch hunt." The trouble is that, as seen at the Texas Tribune, Perry didn't use the term "witch hunt" in his official statement or during the brief follow-up question and answer period (the Q&A is in the video, but not the text of the paper's coverage). So McDonald, who was clearly claiming to quote a term Perry used, was already misleading CNN viewers. He followed that dishonesty with a comical gaffe, as seen in the video clip after the jump (HT Twitchy):

Overexcited NYT Claims Dubious Gov. Perry Indictment 'Major Roadblock,' 'Stunning Rebuke' to Prez Hopes
By Clay Waters | August 16, 2014 | 9:46 PM EDT

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, was indicted by a county grand jury for abuse of power, after threatening to cut off state funding to a public corruption unit unless the district attorney in charge of it resigned. Perry had pushed for the removal of DA Rosemary Lehmberg after her arrest for drunk driving.

The indictment predictably made the front of Saturday's New York Times, in the prominent off-lead story slot, under a slanted deck of headlines: "Texas Governor Indicted in Case Alleging Abuses --Vetoing a Foe's Funding -- Charges Against Perry Interrupt Presidential Ambitions." According to the Times, the politically motivated indictment is a "major roadblock" and a "stunning rebuke" that "threaten[s] to tarnish his legacy."

In Covering Perry Indictment, AP Mischaracterizes Tom Delay Case's Result, Focuses on Cost of Defending Him
By Tom Blumer | August 15, 2014 | 11:35 PM EDT

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who, in the oddest of coincidences (that's sarcasm), just so happens to be considered one of the Republican Party's stronger potential contenders for the 2016 presidential nomination, was indicted in Austin today by a Travis County grand jury. The charges are "abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant" in connection with a veto "threat" he carried out — thus making "promise" a better word to describe his original stated intentions.

"Threatening" a veto and then carrying through on that "threat" is obviously a pretty routine occurrence in governmental jurisdictions through the country, from the President on down. As to initial press coverage, Paul J. Weber and Will Weissert at the Associated Press predictably misstated the results of another politically motivated prosecution of a major GOP elected official, namely former Congressman Tom "The Hammer" Delay, and focused on how expensive it might be to defend Perry by quoting an hourly legal representation rate which may or may not be accurate. Excerpts follow the jump (bolds are mine):

Skeptical CBS Interrogates: Is Rick Perry 'Using' Border Crisis for 2016?
By Scott Whitlock | August 14, 2014 | 12:15 PM EDT

The journalists at the CBS Evening News on Wednesday investigated whether Rick Perry is "using" the immigration crisis to increase his profile for a 2016 White House bid. Talking to the mayor of Rio Grande City, Manuel Bojorquez said of the move to send Texas National Guard to the border: "A lot of people have criticized his decision by saying that it's pure politics, that he's looking to make a point on the national stage because he wants to run for president."

In a tease for the segment, anchor Scott Pelley insisted that Perry is "upping the political ante." The journalist wondered, "Is he using the crisis to raise campaign money?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

ABC Derides Perry's Border Move: 'Not Needed' and Comes With a 'Hefty Price Tag'
By Scott Whitlock | July 22, 2014 | 12:15 PM EDT

All three morning shows on Tuesday worried about Governor Rick Perry's "controversial," expensive move to send the National Guard to the Texas border. But it was ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday that offered the most annoyed commentary. GMA correspondent Jim Avila began his report by lecturing, "But the border patrol says [National Guard troops are] not needed because federal law prohibits the military from enforcing civilian laws." 

Avila also highlighted that Operation Strong Safety comes "with a hefty price tag of $12 million per month." The journalist continued his critique, deriding, "The head of the border patrol telling ABC News he has other needs. It's not about detaining the child immigrants. They're giving themselves up." An irritated Avila added, "It's about where to put them and neither Governor Perry or the Guard has offered any help with that." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Networks Not Interested in Struggles of Texas Ranchers in Fight Against Illegals
By Scott Whitlock | July 18, 2014 | 5:20 PM EDT

Texas ranchers must deal with gang members, drug dealers and violent criminals in their daily battle with illegal immigrants. Yet, journalists for the networks are largely uninterested in their plight. The Daily Signal on Friday talked to these men and women and found out just what goes on in south Texas. 

Talking to reporter Josh Siegel, Linda Vickers, the owner of a ranch in Encino, Texas, explained, "We have [illegal] traffic almost every day...From women in distress to gang members." Pointing, she added, "In fact, one MS-13 was right up in that tree." Benny Martinez, the chief deputy sheriff in Brooks County, Texas, described the impact of illegal immigration: "You get your extortion cases that occur here in town. You get your human smuggling cases. You get your assault cases." 

Wendy's Woes Mount: Texas Dem Padding Dismal Fundraising Report, Daily Beast Reports
By Ken Shepherd | July 17, 2014 | 6:02 PM EDT

Texas State Senator and MSNBC heroine Wendy Davis is not doing that hot in the fundraising race as she pursues her shot for governor of the Lone Star state, the Daily Beast reported today.

"As if things weren’t going badly enough for Wendy Davis, the Texas gubernatorial candidate got caught inflating her campaign’s finances this week by counting a Willie Nelson concert as a contribution," reporter Ben Jacobs noted in the lead paragraph of his July 17 story, "Wendy Davis's Fundraising Fiasco." You can read the full story here, but here's an excerpt to give you a taste (emphasis mine):

MSNBC.com Perplexed That You Can't Vote in Texas Using... Out-of-State Driver's License for ID?!
By Ken Shepherd | July 11, 2014 | 4:55 PM EDT

The folks at msnbc.com are absolutely confounded that a new Texas voter ID law does NOT permit the usage of out-of-state driver's licenses to establish one's identity for voting. 

"Even an out-of-state driver's license is not an acceptable form of ID under the law," whines a caption for an item on the network's Facebook page, promoting an article by Zachary Roth about a federal lawsuit challenging the Lone Star State's law. I found this on my Facebook page earlier this afternoon. As you can see in the screen capture below the page break, the network actually paid money to promote this particular post as sponsored content.