"On Tuesday, Feb. 15, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan convened hundreds of teachers'-union leaders and school-district leaders in Denver to discuss ways management and labor could work together better. Kumbaya!
Two days later, all hell broke loose in Madison, Wis. The flash point was Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to address the state's budget gap by making public employees contribute more to health care coverage, coupled with a proposal to eliminate collective bargaining for most public employees — including teachers. Democratic state legislators went into hiding to thwart a vote on the measure, and schools closed as thousands of teachers left their classrooms to descend on the state capital. "
--Andrew J. Rotherham Friday, Feb. 18, 2011; TIME Magazine
When folks reflect back in time to their earliest mentors; TEACHERS fill that role for most of us.
Today, more than ever, public school teachers are EXPECTED to fill the void left by broken and often inattentive families. Public schools are not only a place for academic development; they also serve to provide students with the foundation for basic lessons in life values.
Young students are behavioral sponges......soaking up the lessons taught by their home environment, by their peers and by their classroom teachers.
When the protesting teachers parade signs of angry hatred depicting their opponent, Governor Walker, as the personification of evil with Hitleresque images and vitriolic slurs; this behavior will validate a gang banger mentality that is already too pervasive in American school yards..........the negative impact of that lesson on their students will be far greater than a few days of missed classes.
So as these teachers march in selfish protest under the cover of overtly fraudulent doctor's notes to excuse the "truant" behavior; they have effectively shirked not only their responsibility to TEACH their students academic basics but also to appropriately lead by example......an even more basic lesson lost---CHARACTER.
It is noble to fight for what you believe in.............provided your conduct is honorable.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
"THE 'LADY' DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH, METHINKS": LYKOS REVEALED
Brian Rogers took a big risk this morning by putting journalistic integrity on the front page of today's Houston Chronicle........my hat is off to you, sir.
Well as it turns out Lykos was an inspiration for William Shakespeare's "Hamlet"; thus Rogers' epiphany, "when someone insists so passionately about something not being true people suspect the opposite of what one is saying."
Rogers aptly pointed out that, "Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos won office in 2008 saying conviction rates should not be about 'the counting of scalps'."
'Judges aren't referees and justice is not a game,' she said on the campaign trail."
Pat Lykos could not run for District Attorney on personal merit or ability so her campaign focused on tearing down the reputation of her highly qualified opponent, Kelly Siegler. Lykos marginalized Rock Star prosecutors generally by implying it was all a game for them---the spoils went to the winners and justice was lost in the exchange. Political Pat Lykos knew that a campaign based on merit would not have worked in her favor......so she put on her game face--truth be damned and "Dialing for Dollars" was on!
Shall we judge Lykos simply on what she says or on what she has actually done?
Lykos has run the Harris County District Attorney's office into the ground. Trial statistics are way down, morale is at an all time low, confidence is scarce and there has never been a faster attrition rate in memory.
The fact that a mid level prosecutor felt compelled to send out an email pleading with fellow prosecutors to PLEASE try some cases begs the question as to why the Hell such a desperate plea seemed necessary; never mind how inappropriate it was on every level?
Harris County citizens should be asking:
1. Why do Harris County ADAs have to be bribed to go to trial....are they afraid, lazy, incompetent etc.?
2. When a Harris County ADA decides whether or not to go to trial:
a.) how can the complexity or level of difficulty ever over-ride one's duty to seek justice?
b.) how can doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do NOT be a sufficient basis?
c.) how can political favor ever be more important than due process and equal protection?
3. I wonder what Lykos is telling her prosecutors behind closed doors as to the consequences for a trial loss.....specially a high profile case that would reflect on her!
Game show host Pat Lykos has shown her true colors: winning at ALL costs, not justice, really is what Lykos covets most............THAT, ironically, is precisely why she never really understood or appreciated how good Kelly Siegler really is.
Siegler has SHOWN that JUSTICE is her JOB and it was NEVER a game........those are her true colors.
The "Justice Game" is officially for sale at the Harris County District Attorney's Office........I urge all readers to boycott it.
Well as it turns out Lykos was an inspiration for William Shakespeare's "Hamlet"; thus Rogers' epiphany, "when someone insists so passionately about something not being true people suspect the opposite of what one is saying."
Rogers aptly pointed out that, "Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos won office in 2008 saying conviction rates should not be about 'the counting of scalps'."
'Judges aren't referees and justice is not a game,' she said on the campaign trail."
Pat Lykos could not run for District Attorney on personal merit or ability so her campaign focused on tearing down the reputation of her highly qualified opponent, Kelly Siegler. Lykos marginalized Rock Star prosecutors generally by implying it was all a game for them---the spoils went to the winners and justice was lost in the exchange. Political Pat Lykos knew that a campaign based on merit would not have worked in her favor......so she put on her game face--truth be damned and "Dialing for Dollars" was on!
Shall we judge Lykos simply on what she says or on what she has actually done?
Lykos has run the Harris County District Attorney's office into the ground. Trial statistics are way down, morale is at an all time low, confidence is scarce and there has never been a faster attrition rate in memory.
The fact that a mid level prosecutor felt compelled to send out an email pleading with fellow prosecutors to PLEASE try some cases begs the question as to why the Hell such a desperate plea seemed necessary; never mind how inappropriate it was on every level?
Harris County citizens should be asking:
1. Why do Harris County ADAs have to be bribed to go to trial....are they afraid, lazy, incompetent etc.?
2. When a Harris County ADA decides whether or not to go to trial:
a.) how can the complexity or level of difficulty ever over-ride one's duty to seek justice?
b.) how can doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do NOT be a sufficient basis?
c.) how can political favor ever be more important than due process and equal protection?
3. I wonder what Lykos is telling her prosecutors behind closed doors as to the consequences for a trial loss.....specially a high profile case that would reflect on her!
Game show host Pat Lykos has shown her true colors: winning at ALL costs, not justice, really is what Lykos covets most............THAT, ironically, is precisely why she never really understood or appreciated how good Kelly Siegler really is.
Siegler has SHOWN that JUSTICE is her JOB and it was NEVER a game........those are her true colors.
The "Justice Game" is officially for sale at the Harris County District Attorney's Office........I urge all readers to boycott it.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
WHEN IT COMES TO KILLING MERCY CUTS BOTH WAYS......
The Texas lethal injection protocol utilizes three (3) drugs:
1. Sodium thiopental (Sodium Pentothal) is used to induce unconsciousness;
2. Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest; and
3. Potassium chloride to stop the heart.
Well now there is a shortage of Sodium Pentothal in Texas.
The anti-death penalty folks are in full celebratory mode............a moratorium on the death penalty by default!
The logic parallels Obama's moratorium on off-shore drilling.
Opponents of lethal injection believe that it is not actually painless as practiced in the United States because the thiopental component is an ultra-short acting barbiturate that "may" wear off (anesthesia awareness) and lead to consciousness and an uncomfortable death wherein the inmate is unable to express his discomfort because he has been rendered paralyzed by the paralytic agent, Pavulon.
I wonder how many inmates were interviewed to reach that conclusion?
The anti-death penalty folks argue that:
1. sodium thiopental is typically used as an induction agent and not used in the maintenance phase of surgery because of its short acting nature;
2. pancuronium bromide dilutes the thiopental and (since the inmate is paralyzed) also prevents the inmate from expressing pain;
3. inmates are administered an insufficient level of thiopental owing to the rapid redistribution of the drug out of the brain to other parts of the body.
4. the method of administration is flawed since the personnel administering the lethal injection lack expertise in anesthesia and increase the risk of failing to induce unconsciousness;
5. the dose of sodium thiopental must be customized to each individual patient instead of being restricted to a set protocol; and
6. the remote administration results in an increased risk that insufficient amounts of the lethal injection drugs enter the bloodstream.
7. and if those reasons are not enough, the Hippocratic Oath precludes Doctors from administering a lethal injection.
The hypothesized conclusion implies that the effect of dilution or improper administration of thiopental causes the inmate to die an agonizing death through suffocation due to the paralytic effects of pancuronium bromide and the intense burning sensation caused by potassium chloride..........that the procedure employed is designed to create the appearance of serenity and a painless death, rather than actually providing it.
The Hippocratic Oath was first recited more than 400 years before the birth of Christ. It states, inter alia, “A Doctor will give no deadly drug to any, though it be asked of him, nor will he counsel such, and especially he will not aid a woman to procure abortion”.
Unfortunately, we live in an age when pledges of duty and fidelity of the kind found in the Oath are fast becoming passé...
The text of the Hippocratic Oath has been modified many times through the ages. Contemporary versions, routinely adopted in medical-school graduation exercises and similar context do not contain the prohibitions against surgery, abortion, or accepting fees for teaching medicine, and also omit the prohibition against physician-assisted suicide. In short, neither the Hippocratic Oath nor classical tradition provides a compelling ethical or professional prohibition of physician-assisted death.
Jay Chapman, the creator of lethal injection, said, "It never occurred to me when we set this up that we’d have complete idiots administering the drugs."
Well Mr. Chapman I submit that we have complete idiots complicating a simple issue.
The Walls Unit in Huntsville Texas houses the death chamber......it is NOT a surgical suite in The Texas Medical Center.......if it were, routine surgical procedures would, no doubt, be held Unconstitutional under the, "cruel and unusual punishment" language of the Eighth Amendment.
Common Sense alternatives Huntsville can substitute for the Sodium Pentothal Trifecta:
1. employ a competent anesthetist to use the same general anesthesia protocol prescribed for major surgical procedures.......and there won't be the complication of post-op pain management;
2. use the same pharmacological agents Obama's death panels promote for the unwanted elderly;
3. re-institute the gallows---since snapping the little necks of unborn children in their mother's womb and suctioning their brains out doesn't constitute, "cruel and unusual punishment"; we shouldn't have a conflict.
4. strap the inmate in a jihadist jacket and call the C-4 wired cell phone............the list is endless.
Our mortality demands that all of us will die one day; but few as painlessly as the inmate whose soul leaves earth by way of the Huntsville Death Chamber.
The murdered victims whose breath was stolen and the pure innocence of those dismembered before their first breath was ever taken are the ones who suffer a "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" in their ironic end..........NOT the needled inmate.
1. Sodium thiopental (Sodium Pentothal) is used to induce unconsciousness;
2. Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest; and
3. Potassium chloride to stop the heart.
Well now there is a shortage of Sodium Pentothal in Texas.
The anti-death penalty folks are in full celebratory mode............a moratorium on the death penalty by default!
The logic parallels Obama's moratorium on off-shore drilling.
Opponents of lethal injection believe that it is not actually painless as practiced in the United States because the thiopental component is an ultra-short acting barbiturate that "may" wear off (anesthesia awareness) and lead to consciousness and an uncomfortable death wherein the inmate is unable to express his discomfort because he has been rendered paralyzed by the paralytic agent, Pavulon.
I wonder how many inmates were interviewed to reach that conclusion?
The anti-death penalty folks argue that:
1. sodium thiopental is typically used as an induction agent and not used in the maintenance phase of surgery because of its short acting nature;
2. pancuronium bromide dilutes the thiopental and (since the inmate is paralyzed) also prevents the inmate from expressing pain;
3. inmates are administered an insufficient level of thiopental owing to the rapid redistribution of the drug out of the brain to other parts of the body.
4. the method of administration is flawed since the personnel administering the lethal injection lack expertise in anesthesia and increase the risk of failing to induce unconsciousness;
5. the dose of sodium thiopental must be customized to each individual patient instead of being restricted to a set protocol; and
6. the remote administration results in an increased risk that insufficient amounts of the lethal injection drugs enter the bloodstream.
7. and if those reasons are not enough, the Hippocratic Oath precludes Doctors from administering a lethal injection.
The hypothesized conclusion implies that the effect of dilution or improper administration of thiopental causes the inmate to die an agonizing death through suffocation due to the paralytic effects of pancuronium bromide and the intense burning sensation caused by potassium chloride..........that the procedure employed is designed to create the appearance of serenity and a painless death, rather than actually providing it.
The Hippocratic Oath was first recited more than 400 years before the birth of Christ. It states, inter alia, “A Doctor will give no deadly drug to any, though it be asked of him, nor will he counsel such, and especially he will not aid a woman to procure abortion”.
Unfortunately, we live in an age when pledges of duty and fidelity of the kind found in the Oath are fast becoming passé...
The text of the Hippocratic Oath has been modified many times through the ages. Contemporary versions, routinely adopted in medical-school graduation exercises and similar context do not contain the prohibitions against surgery, abortion, or accepting fees for teaching medicine, and also omit the prohibition against physician-assisted suicide. In short, neither the Hippocratic Oath nor classical tradition provides a compelling ethical or professional prohibition of physician-assisted death.
Jay Chapman, the creator of lethal injection, said, "It never occurred to me when we set this up that we’d have complete idiots administering the drugs."
Well Mr. Chapman I submit that we have complete idiots complicating a simple issue.
The Walls Unit in Huntsville Texas houses the death chamber......it is NOT a surgical suite in The Texas Medical Center.......if it were, routine surgical procedures would, no doubt, be held Unconstitutional under the, "cruel and unusual punishment" language of the Eighth Amendment.
Common Sense alternatives Huntsville can substitute for the Sodium Pentothal Trifecta:
1. employ a competent anesthetist to use the same general anesthesia protocol prescribed for major surgical procedures.......and there won't be the complication of post-op pain management;
2. use the same pharmacological agents Obama's death panels promote for the unwanted elderly;
3. re-institute the gallows---since snapping the little necks of unborn children in their mother's womb and suctioning their brains out doesn't constitute, "cruel and unusual punishment"; we shouldn't have a conflict.
4. strap the inmate in a jihadist jacket and call the C-4 wired cell phone............the list is endless.
Our mortality demands that all of us will die one day; but few as painlessly as the inmate whose soul leaves earth by way of the Huntsville Death Chamber.
The murdered victims whose breath was stolen and the pure innocence of those dismembered before their first breath was ever taken are the ones who suffer a "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" in their ironic end..........NOT the needled inmate.
Friday, January 28, 2011
THE PROPHETIC WISDOM OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence for America; there were no teleprompters and he knew how to walk the walk.
Jefferson was a student of government who understood the basic human frailties that led to failure over time.
His vision was predicated on common sense values and Divine guidance which left no room for today's secular politically correct agenda.
He understood actual history, the nature of God and the nature of man.
John F. Kennedy once held a dinner at the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: " This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Consider the prophetic wisdom offered in the following ten (10) selected quotes by Thomas Jefferson:
1. "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe , we shall become as corrupt as Europe" .
2. "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not".
3. "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world".
4. "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them".
5. "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government".
6. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms".
7. "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government".
8. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants".
9. "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical".
10. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered".
Thomas Jefferson is proof that God truly blessed America...........I pray that God may bless America once again.
Jefferson was a student of government who understood the basic human frailties that led to failure over time.
His vision was predicated on common sense values and Divine guidance which left no room for today's secular politically correct agenda.
He understood actual history, the nature of God and the nature of man.
John F. Kennedy once held a dinner at the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: " This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Consider the prophetic wisdom offered in the following ten (10) selected quotes by Thomas Jefferson:
1. "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe , we shall become as corrupt as Europe" .
2. "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not".
3. "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world".
4. "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them".
5. "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government".
6. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms".
7. "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government".
8. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants".
9. "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical".
10. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered".
Thomas Jefferson is proof that God truly blessed America...........I pray that God may bless America once again.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
DO LIBERALS REALLY BELIEVE THAT A CANCEROUS LESION DESERVES MORE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION THAN AN UNBORN BABY?
Medical informed consent is a legal procedure to ensure that a patient knows all of the risks and costs involved in a particular course of treatment. The elements of an informed consent include informing the patient of the nature of the treatment, possible alternative treatments, and the potential risks and benefits of the treatment.
When a woman presents to a physician's office complaining of a lump in her breast; does any liberal really believe it's okay to simply remove the patient's breast without first providing a thorough work up and informed consent?
The patient understandably wants as much information as possible before agreeing to a mastectomy.
A woman's breast, voluptuous as it might be, cannot be granted more Constitutional protection than an unborn baby.
I strongly believe that human life begins at the moment of conception.
However, regardless as to what an individual's position is on when life begins, I submit that most folks have no idea how fast a recognizable human form develops in the womb.
Requiring a pregnant woman to view a sonogram and listen to the real-time heart beat of her baby BEFORE she undergoes elective termination simply debunks the myth that a second trimester baby is just a formless inanimate bowl of grape jelly-like material.
By concealing such information, how can a pregnant woman be given a valid informed consent?
So why are liberals against a female patient having as much relevant knowledge as possible before undergoing a major procedure?
Do liberals think that ignorance is bliss for pregnant women because they are too stupid to evaluate pertinent medical information and make rational choices on that basis?
The answer is painfully obvious..........if most of the women who presented to an abortion clinic actually knew what they were about to do they wouldn't do it and the liberals damn well know it.
Texas Governor Rick Perry supports the premise that knowledge is power and should be embraced instead of feared.
The mind is no doubt a terrible thing to waste; but it is incomparable to wasting the life of an unborn baby.................and that is precisely why the governor is putting this legislation on the fast track.
"It's pretty unbelievable, given the state of the state," said Rochelle Tafolla, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood in Houston. "We're facing an unprecedented budget crisis and this bill is completely unnecessary."
Well what is more uneccessary: the politically correct rampant fraud and abuse in government or the birth of
innocent babies?
Notwithstanding, Govenor Perry IS addressing the budget crisis in similar expediency by announcing four (4) other emergency items for legislators to consider: eminent domain reform, ending "sanctuary city" policies that don't require police to check the immigration status of people they stop or arrest, a voter identification bill, and calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would mandate a balanced federal budget.
;
When a woman presents to a physician's office complaining of a lump in her breast; does any liberal really believe it's okay to simply remove the patient's breast without first providing a thorough work up and informed consent?
The patient understandably wants as much information as possible before agreeing to a mastectomy.
A woman's breast, voluptuous as it might be, cannot be granted more Constitutional protection than an unborn baby.
I strongly believe that human life begins at the moment of conception.
However, regardless as to what an individual's position is on when life begins, I submit that most folks have no idea how fast a recognizable human form develops in the womb.
Requiring a pregnant woman to view a sonogram and listen to the real-time heart beat of her baby BEFORE she undergoes elective termination simply debunks the myth that a second trimester baby is just a formless inanimate bowl of grape jelly-like material.
By concealing such information, how can a pregnant woman be given a valid informed consent?
So why are liberals against a female patient having as much relevant knowledge as possible before undergoing a major procedure?
Do liberals think that ignorance is bliss for pregnant women because they are too stupid to evaluate pertinent medical information and make rational choices on that basis?
The answer is painfully obvious..........if most of the women who presented to an abortion clinic actually knew what they were about to do they wouldn't do it and the liberals damn well know it.
Texas Governor Rick Perry supports the premise that knowledge is power and should be embraced instead of feared.
The mind is no doubt a terrible thing to waste; but it is incomparable to wasting the life of an unborn baby.................and that is precisely why the governor is putting this legislation on the fast track.
"It's pretty unbelievable, given the state of the state," said Rochelle Tafolla, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood in Houston. "We're facing an unprecedented budget crisis and this bill is completely unnecessary."
Well what is more uneccessary: the politically correct rampant fraud and abuse in government or the birth of
innocent babies?
Notwithstanding, Govenor Perry IS addressing the budget crisis in similar expediency by announcing four (4) other emergency items for legislators to consider: eminent domain reform, ending "sanctuary city" policies that don't require police to check the immigration status of people they stop or arrest, a voter identification bill, and calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would mandate a balanced federal budget.
;
Sunday, January 9, 2011
IS KELLY SIEGLER A "WIN AT ALL COSTS" PROSECUTOR?.............TEXAS JUSTICE KNOWS IT!
Chuck Rosenthal begins to implode. Allegations of infidelity, racism, substance abuse, use of government equipment and employees for personal use (pornography and political campaigning), obstruction of justice, aggravated perjury........all reach a crescendo. The media frenzie is in over-drive.
Rosenthal taunts those demanding he NOT seek re-election with shifty Nixonian tactics.
PART I:
At the 11th hour Kelly Siegler reluctantly files in the Republican Primary race for Harris County District Attorney.
Reluctantly because:
1. Anybody in the CJC world who KNEW Kelly, also knew that being Bureau Chief of Special Crimes was her dream job.
Before Rosenthal's meltdown, I once asked her if she ever wanted to be the DA. She flashed that trademark Siegler smile, "Are you kidding me? I already have the best job in the whole world!"
2. Rosenthal's selfish failure to man up and accept personal responsibility for the good of Harris County, would undoubtedly taint any candidate coming from within the Harris County District Attorney's office.
3. With four (4) candidates in the race a run-off was assured and convincing the old Republican guard (the bulk of the run-off voters) that the Rosenthal apple didn't ruin the whole bushel would be difficult.
Siegler took on the race with the same obsessive preparation and tenacity she is known for and almost won outright without a runoff, getting 46% of the vote.
However, the rules of procedure and evidence are much looser in political campaigns. Truth and veracity don't apply to political campaigns as they do in a courtroom. It is all about innuendoes, sound bites, party lines, paid endorsements and the media constantly stirring the pot to further their agenda.
The final blow was Rush Limbaugh urging Republicans nation wide to vote in the Democratic primary................ many Harris County Republican voters followed that advice and thereby became ineligible to vote in the Republican run-off giving the old Republican Guard the deciding votes.
What Kelly Siegler lost that day was not an election.....it was her job as a Harris County prosecutor.
What Harris County lost that day was an opportunity.
PART II:
Mark Bennett et al writes one of many anti-Siegler blogs implying that Siegler will resign herself to be a traveling executioner of sorts. Siegler's "Hired Gun" moniker is taken out of context to imply that she will now carry her, "win at all costs" advocacy skills all over Texas. Afterall, that's all she is and who she is, right Mark?
Here comes Anthony Graves; a death row inmate Siegler was hired to re-try for Capital Murder.
Siegler, in her characteristic obsessive preparatory manner begins to evaluate the case against Graves. She discovers that Graves might be factually innocent. After an exhaustive investigation--the scope well beyond that of the other Special Prosecutors on the case before Siegler; she concludes that her original suspicion was true and that Graves was factually innocent.
So after eighteen (18) years, sixteen (16) of which were on death row; Graves, thanks to the tenacity of Siegler, is a free man.
That wasn't enough for Siegler, however, as she went to great lengths to expose this injustice so that Anthony Graves could walk as a free man with respect instead of having an O.J. Simpson cloud over his head; a move that ironically also sealed Siegler's fate for future Special Prosecutor assignments.........because convictions and winning are NOT the same thing for Kelly Siegler.
What Siegler lost that day was her job as a Special Prosecutor.
What Texas lost that day was an opportunity.
Harris County, Texas WILL have an OPPORTUNITY in 2012........Let's not blow it again.
Rosenthal taunts those demanding he NOT seek re-election with shifty Nixonian tactics.
PART I:
At the 11th hour Kelly Siegler reluctantly files in the Republican Primary race for Harris County District Attorney.
Reluctantly because:
1. Anybody in the CJC world who KNEW Kelly, also knew that being Bureau Chief of Special Crimes was her dream job.
Before Rosenthal's meltdown, I once asked her if she ever wanted to be the DA. She flashed that trademark Siegler smile, "Are you kidding me? I already have the best job in the whole world!"
2. Rosenthal's selfish failure to man up and accept personal responsibility for the good of Harris County, would undoubtedly taint any candidate coming from within the Harris County District Attorney's office.
3. With four (4) candidates in the race a run-off was assured and convincing the old Republican guard (the bulk of the run-off voters) that the Rosenthal apple didn't ruin the whole bushel would be difficult.
Siegler took on the race with the same obsessive preparation and tenacity she is known for and almost won outright without a runoff, getting 46% of the vote.
However, the rules of procedure and evidence are much looser in political campaigns. Truth and veracity don't apply to political campaigns as they do in a courtroom. It is all about innuendoes, sound bites, party lines, paid endorsements and the media constantly stirring the pot to further their agenda.
The final blow was Rush Limbaugh urging Republicans nation wide to vote in the Democratic primary................ many Harris County Republican voters followed that advice and thereby became ineligible to vote in the Republican run-off giving the old Republican Guard the deciding votes.
What Kelly Siegler lost that day was not an election.....it was her job as a Harris County prosecutor.
What Harris County lost that day was an opportunity.
PART II:
Mark Bennett et al writes one of many anti-Siegler blogs implying that Siegler will resign herself to be a traveling executioner of sorts. Siegler's "Hired Gun" moniker is taken out of context to imply that she will now carry her, "win at all costs" advocacy skills all over Texas. Afterall, that's all she is and who she is, right Mark?
Here comes Anthony Graves; a death row inmate Siegler was hired to re-try for Capital Murder.
Siegler, in her characteristic obsessive preparatory manner begins to evaluate the case against Graves. She discovers that Graves might be factually innocent. After an exhaustive investigation--the scope well beyond that of the other Special Prosecutors on the case before Siegler; she concludes that her original suspicion was true and that Graves was factually innocent.
So after eighteen (18) years, sixteen (16) of which were on death row; Graves, thanks to the tenacity of Siegler, is a free man.
That wasn't enough for Siegler, however, as she went to great lengths to expose this injustice so that Anthony Graves could walk as a free man with respect instead of having an O.J. Simpson cloud over his head; a move that ironically also sealed Siegler's fate for future Special Prosecutor assignments.........because convictions and winning are NOT the same thing for Kelly Siegler.
What Siegler lost that day was her job as a Special Prosecutor.
What Texas lost that day was an opportunity.
Harris County, Texas WILL have an OPPORTUNITY in 2012........Let's not blow it again.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
AGAMEMNON: THE FATHER OF CHUCK ROSENTHAL AND PAT LYKOS
The Greek tragedy of Iliad has remarkable similarities to the modern day tragedy at 1201 Franklin.
Agamemnon commanded the Greek armies against Troy. He was a selfish leader whose arrogance often clouded his judgment.
Agamemnon once owned a slave girl named Cryseis whose father was a priest of Apollo.
One day the slave girl's father came to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon. The Greek commander insulted the slave girl's father and threatened to kill him if he returned.
As the priest left the Greek camp without his daughter, he prayed to Apollo for revenge on the Greeks.
The priest's prayer was granted; and the Greeks began to die from disease.
Agamemnon realized he would have to give the slave girl back to her father.
But he decided that it would be a dishonor, as commander, to be left without a slave girl.
Agamemnon, with total contempt for the troops that he professed he would gladly lead a charge into Hell with; instead, betrayed them all through his selfish greed as he threw the greatest warrior in Greek army history under the bus----he stole Achilles' daughter, Briseis, to replace Chryseis.
Achilles was enraged by this cavalier disloyalty of Agamemnon and refused to fight.
The Trojan forces began to dominate.
Hector, although no match for Achilles' warrior skills, was the best the Trojans had. But with Achilles refusing to fight, there was no Greek warrior who could stand up to Hector. The Trojans fought their way closer and closer to the Greek camp. If they could manage to burn the Greek ships, the Greeks would lose hope and not be able to get back to Greece.............their morale would be broken and their cause would be lost.
The Iliad is a story about many things.
For one, it is about the power of fate, and how one cannot avoid one's fate.
Achilles had a choice:
1. If he fought at Troy, he was fated to die, but his honor would live forever.
2. If he left the war and returned home, he would live a long life, but would lose his honor.
Achilles' fought honorably and died; but his modern day personification WILL step back onto the battlefield................AND next time she'll be wearing Kevlar boots.
Agamemnon commanded the Greek armies against Troy. He was a selfish leader whose arrogance often clouded his judgment.
Agamemnon once owned a slave girl named Cryseis whose father was a priest of Apollo.
One day the slave girl's father came to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon. The Greek commander insulted the slave girl's father and threatened to kill him if he returned.
As the priest left the Greek camp without his daughter, he prayed to Apollo for revenge on the Greeks.
The priest's prayer was granted; and the Greeks began to die from disease.
Agamemnon realized he would have to give the slave girl back to her father.
But he decided that it would be a dishonor, as commander, to be left without a slave girl.
Agamemnon, with total contempt for the troops that he professed he would gladly lead a charge into Hell with; instead, betrayed them all through his selfish greed as he threw the greatest warrior in Greek army history under the bus----he stole Achilles' daughter, Briseis, to replace Chryseis.
Achilles was enraged by this cavalier disloyalty of Agamemnon and refused to fight.
The Trojan forces began to dominate.
Hector, although no match for Achilles' warrior skills, was the best the Trojans had. But with Achilles refusing to fight, there was no Greek warrior who could stand up to Hector. The Trojans fought their way closer and closer to the Greek camp. If they could manage to burn the Greek ships, the Greeks would lose hope and not be able to get back to Greece.............their morale would be broken and their cause would be lost.
The Iliad is a story about many things.
For one, it is about the power of fate, and how one cannot avoid one's fate.
Achilles had a choice:
1. If he fought at Troy, he was fated to die, but his honor would live forever.
2. If he left the war and returned home, he would live a long life, but would lose his honor.
Achilles' fought honorably and died; but his modern day personification WILL step back onto the battlefield................AND next time she'll be wearing Kevlar boots.
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