The Chronicle‘s Michael Hedges reports on some ill-advised comments by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle at a Democratic Party fundraiser:
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who denies partisan motives for his investigation of a political group founded by Republican leader Tom DeLay, was the featured speaker last week at a Democratic fund-raiser where he spoke directly about the congressman.
A newly formed Democratic political action committee, Texas Values in Action Coalition, hosted the May 12 event in Dallas to raise campaign money to take control of the state Legislature from the GOP, organizers said.
Earle, an elected Democrat, helped generate $102,000 for the organization.
In his remarks, Earle likened DeLay to a bully and spoke about political corruption and the investigation involving DeLay, the House majority leader from Sugar Land, according to a transcript supplied by Earle.
“This case is not just about Tom DeLay. If it isn’t this Tom DeLay, it’ll be another one, just like one bully replaces the one before,” Earle said.
“This is a structural problem involving the combination of money and power,” he added. “Money brings power and power corrupts.“
The irony of Mr. Earle’s statement, of course, is that he presents himself as an objective district attorney pursuing an investigation against the Republican whose name he is invoking to raise money for a Democratic interest group. A more responsible district attorney would have been concerned enough about the appearance of impropriety to refrain from commenting about someone tied to an ongoing investigation, let alone at a political fundraiser.
Money and politics are and will forever be intertwined. blogHOUSTON advises readers to be wary of politicians, bloggers, pundits, or anyone else who sanctimoniously suggests one political party is somehow more pure than the other on the topic of money and politics.
