Paxton Impeachment: Accountability vs. Corruption
The Texas Senate has a choice to make. They are the only ones who can hold Ken Paxton accountable for this misdeeds. The voters haven't not (so far) has the legal system. History will remember.
Welcome to our special coverage of the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton here at Life Its Ownself! Please subscribe and encourage others to do so. Your support inspires me to write and publish regularly. All my content is free, but your paid subscription is a big affirmation. Please let me know how I’m doing by 1) liking, 2) subscribing, 3) sharing with others, and 4) commenting below.
(Ken Paxton, flanked by defense attorneys Tony Buzbee and Dan Cogdell, in the dock on the first day of impeachment proceedings.
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Feliz Diez y Seis to those that celebrate. And L’shanah Tovah to those that observe.
(The Texas Trans-Pecos) The senators will shortly announce their verdicts in the 16 Articles of Impeachment Ken Paxton is facing.
Representative Jeff Leach was one of the voices calling for Paxton’s impeachment in May, and is now one of the House impeachment managers. In his closing arguments yesterday, he described defendant Ken Paxton as “a friend, a mentor and a brother in Christ.” His own actions impeaching Paxton, he said, were “very personal,” causing him a lot of introspection and pain. Nevertheless, he said, he had to go forward and do the right thing. So, too, must the Senate: “The people of Texas deserve answers, and the Legislature should be able to get them for them.”
Leach’s insight gets to the heart of the dilemma facing the senators, and the people of Texas generally. Like it or not, Texas is a one-party state; a Democrat has not been elected to statewide office since 1994. Republicans have been selecting their candidates, and those candidates have been winning unfailingly, for a generation. Naturally, with the pressure for producing acceptable candidates for a general election gone, the GOP primary electorate has gotten twisted around the axles of “who’s more Republican/conservative/Christian,” driving the choices it offers voters further and further to the right.
And, sometimes, allowing fidelity to the most reactionary primary voters to win out over competence.
Which is why Ken Paxton, the most visibly corrupt Attorney General of the modern era, now stands to be judged by the Senate. The Senate, and the Senate alone, can hold him accountable.
Let’s see what happens.
Latest update:
The Senate is coming back at 11:10 to render its verdict in the impeachment of Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr. Life Its Ownself will have a summary of the proceedings afterewards.
History will indeed remember. I think what we’ve witnessed could be best described as Profiles in Cowardice.
You were Right!
Main Man.
MollyI, is saying, “Texas, ‘I’m not surprised !”