6/18/2005
Political prosecution (cont.)
The governor's decision to use the criminal justice system in a nakedly political manner has surprised people who thought they couldn't be surprised by Jeb Bush anymore. A St. Pete Times sees it as psychological terms: Bush really hasn't learned much at all about accepting when he is wrong and moving on.
As the Dyer case showed, though, a prosecutor can get an indictment on fairly slender grounds. Who cares if the courts throw out the whole thing later? Your victim is still made to look like criminal, has to do a perp walk for the cameras, and bear the cost of a criminal defense.
Our system may not allow political show-trials, but political show-indictments are threatening to become just another tool of the trade.
In the meantime, the move helps appease the people who were disappointed in Bush for not defying the courts. And the timing synchronizes well with the latest moves by the right-wing noise machine. The Palm Beach Post story notes:
Also:
+ William Saletan at Slate deconstructs the Schiavo videos and is creeped out by what he finds.
+ Herald columnist Jim DeFede talks with the Florida House's rightest winger, Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who says he has no doubts, regrets or qualms about the case after the autopsy reports.
+ The normally moderate Kevin Drum of Poltical Animal at the Washington Monthly finds himself incredulous at the prosecutor's investigation -- The Bush children have always been distinguished by a fiery unwillingness to back down combined with an almost bestial pursuit of revenge against anyone who has ever crossed them. They don't want to beat their opponents, they want to destroy them. This, though, simply beggars the imagination. What kind of human being would keep a vendetta like this alive at this point?
As the Dyer case showed, though, a prosecutor can get an indictment on fairly slender grounds. Who cares if the courts throw out the whole thing later? Your victim is still made to look like criminal, has to do a perp walk for the cameras, and bear the cost of a criminal defense.
Our system may not allow political show-trials, but political show-indictments are threatening to become just another tool of the trade.
In the meantime, the move helps appease the people who were disappointed in Bush for not defying the courts. And the timing synchronizes well with the latest moves by the right-wing noise machine. The Palm Beach Post story notes:
the allegations apparently already are part of a book written by Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles police detective, and scheduled for release this month.The Herald story closes by noting with the uncomfortable position this puts Attorney General Charley Crist. Crist has so far used law 'n' order issues to keep the right wing happy. Will they stay happy if he still keeps his distance from the Schiavo case?
An Amazon.com promotion for the book, Silent Witness, claims that Fuhrman's investigation answers questions such as "What happened on the day Terri Schiavo died? What did Michael Schiavo do when he discovered Terri unconscious? How long did he wait before calling 911?"
The promo says Fuhrman, who was discredited during the O.J. Simpson trial and pleaded no contest to perjury charges before resigning from the police department, had "complete cooperation" from the Schindlers and Terri Schiavo's siblings.
Also:
+ William Saletan at Slate deconstructs the Schiavo videos and is creeped out by what he finds.
+ Herald columnist Jim DeFede talks with the Florida House's rightest winger, Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who says he has no doubts, regrets or qualms about the case after the autopsy reports.
+ The normally moderate Kevin Drum of Poltical Animal at the Washington Monthly finds himself incredulous at the prosecutor's investigation -- The Bush children have always been distinguished by a fiery unwillingness to back down combined with an almost bestial pursuit of revenge against anyone who has ever crossed them. They don't want to beat their opponents, they want to destroy them. This, though, simply beggars the imagination. What kind of human being would keep a vendetta like this alive at this point?
