A Ray of Hope
The impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton is a ray of hope for all Texas citizens.
Whether or not he is convicted, the trial itself is a victory.
Paxton, one of the most powerful Republicans in public office, was called out for his improper behavior, not by Democrats, but by his fellow Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives. He is now being tried in the Senate by lawyers representing the House of Representatives and defended by lawyers from the Attorney Generals’ office. There are two reasons why this is a ray of hope in Texas.
First, it has become painfully clear that any action in Austin has to be implemented by Republicans. They control the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. That means almost total control of the state, and this state is a very dangerous place to live if you aren’t of that persuasion.
Things many Texans find repugnant, such as the new laws on abortion, the insane policy of military weapon availability, and the cruel immigration controls that shame Christian ethics may not be cast in stone. There is an element in the Republican Party who have had enough.
So when seven of Paxton’s closest aids could no longer stomach the corruption, they first protested, then tried to change policies, and finally went to the FBI. Those complaints were the back bone of the articles of impeachment written by the House members that created this trial.
Why is this important? We come to the second reason of a ray of hope. Many Texas Republicans now realize that tyrants who abuse power cannot run rough shod over basic values encoded in the law.
They have challenged their own party at great risk. These seven whistle blowers are not Democrats looking for political advantage; they are very conservative conservatives who believe the very structure of our government is threatened. A majority of their fellow Republicans in the House agree. The whistle blowers lost their jobs, but they kept their self respect and dignity.
Fast forward to the upcoming trials of another elected leader, who once he lost an election, did the very same thing that our Attorney General did … he used his power to try and coop the established laws of our government and use the law to enhance his power. Illegal power. We’ll have to watch to see if national Republicans show the same kind of courage our Texas Republicans have.
Like Paxton’s case, at least two of the trials will be televised live for citizens to watch and decide for themselves who is telling the truth. It’s a very different matter to see witnesses under oath give testimony, compared with talking media heads who muddy the truth and make watchers believe lies.
That’s what trials are: adversarial confrontations where the judge controls the dialogue going on in his court room which is designed to find truth. It’s American law at its most basic, guaranteed by the Constitution … bought with the blood and bravery of many who have gone before us. It was in evidence in Austin these last few weeks and it should be a ray of hope for all of us.
Gary Moore, Bandera County resident, is a Texas State University graduate, former English teacher and football coach, journalist, script writer and photographer.