Phantly Roy Bean, Jr.

I watched The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean last night.

There are many lessons to be learned from that film.

Oh they got some things wrong as far as history goes. 

I mean Grizzly Adams shows up in Langtry, Texas and drops off a bear. Problem is that old Grizzly died in 1860 and Roy Bean does not even get to Pecos County until the 1880’s. But who’s counting?

Sometimes a body might be privy to some real insight following a little historical investigation.

I feel that I have learned something concerning the origins of Texas and the soul of Texans. History can be mighty enlightening.

Well as my old pappy used to say:

The tree don’t fall much too far from its roots or

An apple a day don’t fall,,,,

Oh who cares what the hell that drunken idiot ever said.

The point is that we might receive some insights into the present day Texas and how it came to be so fucked up just by taking a look at some of its founders and foundlings from the ancient days.

There really was a Phantly Roy Bean you know:

With his earnings, Bean purchased a tent, some supplies to sell, and ten 55-gallon barrels of whiskey. By the spring of 1882, he had established a small saloon near the Pecos River in a tent city he named Vinegaroon. Within 20 miles (32 km) of the tent city were 8,000 railroad workers. The nearest court was 200 miles (320 km) away at Fort Stockton, and there was little means to stop illegal activity. A Texas Ranger requested that a local law jurisdiction be set up in Vinegaroon, and on August 2, 1882 Bean was appointed Justice of the Peace for the new Precinct 6 in Pecos County.^[7] His first case had, however, been heard on 25 July 1882 when Texas Rangers brought him Joe Bell to be tried.^[8]

One of his first acts as a justice of the peace was to "shoot[...] up the saloon shack of a Jewish competitor".^[7] Bean then turned his tent saloon into a part-time courtroom and began calling himself the "Law West of the Pecos."^[7] As judge, Bean relied on a single lawbook, the 1879 edition of the Revised Statutes of Texas. If newer lawbooks appeared, Bean used them as kindling.^[9]

Bean did not allow hung juries or appeals,^[9] and jurors, who were chosen from his best bar customers, were expected to buy a drink during every court recess.^[10] Bean was known for his unusual rulings. In one case, an Irishman named Paddy O'Rourke shot a Chinese laborer. A mob of 200 angry Irishmen surrounded the courtroom and threatened to lynch Bean if O'Rourke was not freed. After looking through his law book, Bean ruled that "homicide was the killing of a human being; however, he could find no law against killing a Chinaman".^[9] Bean dismissed the case.^[9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Roy_Bean

There is a key phrase in this narrative that foretells things to come in the Great State of Texas:  When newer legal volumes were delivered, he used them for kindling.

Sometimes a body might be privy to some real insight following a little historical investigation.

I feel that I have learned something concerning the origins of Texas and the soul of Texans. History can be mighty enlightening.

As my old pappy used to say:

The tree don’t fall much too far from its roots or

An apple a day don’t fall,,,,

Oh who cares what the hell that drunken idiot ever said.

The point to be made is that we receive some real insights into the present day Texas and how it came to be so fucked up just by taking a look at some of its founders and foundlings from the ancient days.

Under Texas law, it is illegal for candidates to use corporate money -- raised directly or indirectly -- for their campaigns.

Prosecutors said the swap constituted money laundering. DeLay and his lawyers argued that it was a perfectly legal transaction.

The crux of the prosecution's case was proving DeLay knew about the swap beforehand. DeLay's defense said he didn't know about it until afterwards.

The prosecution gained the upper hand with the tape of a 2005 interview in which DeLay told investigators he knew about the swap beforehand. He later said he misspoke. The prosecution also gained a surprise boost when the defense, apparently accidentally, revealed a calendar that showed DeLay had met with his PAC's director just hours after he cut a check for the RNC.

DeLay maintained that the swap was still legal. He did not testify

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/tom_delay_found_guilty_of_money_laundering.php#more

Now ole Tommy Delay was convicted, finally, the other day for .01% of all the evil rotten things he has committed on this planet. I mean the good news is that he was convicted on a felony count by a jury of his peers. So from this day forward we may all feel free to refer to this mongrel as Tommy Delay the convicted felon.

Now for the bad news. The felon Delay will most probably be wandering around free as a bird while his appeal is pending for years and years.

The felon Delay may only be sentenced to probation in the end even though he is facing a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.

And the dirty bastard might even be pardoned by one of his buddies down there, a certain Rick Perry.

And Governor Perry is about as corrupt as a body can be in the fine world of Texas politics:

AUSTIN - A North Texas utility's political action committee gave $5,000 to Gov. Rick Perry's campaign last fall, only a few weeks after the governor had signed an executive order to speed up the state permitting process for coal-fired power plants.

Additionally, the retired chairman of the company, Dallas-based TXU, gave Perry $2,000 the day the order was signed, Oct. 27, and another $25,000 in April.

TXU, a significant source of political funding for Perry over the years, wants to build 11 new coal-burning units, primarily in East and Central Texas, a proposal that has drawn fire from environmentalists who fear increased air pollution.

The fast-tracking of the permits and the financial contributions also were criticized Friday by Perry's Democratic opponent, Chris Bell, who said the governor was unduly influenced by "polluters who write the big campaign checks."

Two-thirds of Texans, he said, already live in places that are so polluted that "breathing the air can make you sick." Bell was referring to cities, including Houston, in which the air quality frequently fails to meet Environmental Protection Agency standards.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4142400.html

A quid for the quo as them lawyers  murmur in courthouses situated all over the Great State of Texas.

The TXU political action committee gave Perry $5,000 on Nov. 17. The committee had contributed $16,000 to the governor in 2002 and 2003.

Erle Nye, who retired as TXU chairman in June 2005, has given Perry $148,000 during the governor's administration. He is a Perry appointee to the Texas A&M University Board of Regents.

"Our company's political contributions exhibit our complete support of the political process in the country," said TXU spokeswoman Kimberly Morgan. "TXU sees this as an opportunity to take a proactive role in maintaining relationships with our leaders to develop public policy."

Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office, said utilities are trying to get new power plants permitted before the courts decide whether they should consider less-polluting facilities.

"The fast-tracking of these plants is due to a secret deal between Gov. Rick Perry and TXU last October," Smith said.

Ibid

And some of this corruption goes back years and years and years.

In the 2002 race for governor, Perry said much the same thing in the case of $200,000 in Enron contributions. After the collapse of the energy giant, a Perry spokesman said there was nothing wrong with taking the money and thus no reason to give it back. Five months later, in May 2002, Perry did an about face and returned $85,000 in Enron money. An aide said the rest had been spent. Later that year, Perry returned $10,000 from WorldCom after it reported cooking the books in a massive accounting fraud.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/05/rick-perry-and-tainted-campaig.html

Campaign records show that Perry has received more than $400,000 from restaurant interests since he became governor in 2000. In addition, he has raised nearly $800,000 from beer and liquor interests regulated by the TABC.

http://www.txstatedemocrats.org/?p=805

For the past six years, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has lorded over a controversial stash of taxpayer money known as the Texas Enterprise Fund, dispensing huge sums—$345 million and counting—to large corporations, ostensibly to spur job growth. Critics call it the governor’s slush fund. “He takes from us so that he can play with his corporate slush fund and award his friends’ businesses,” said Debra Medina, one of Perry’s two challengers for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, at a recent candidate’s debate.

Perry defends the fund as a much-needed economic-incentive program. He credits the disbursements with creating 55,000 jobs in Texas and helping keep the state’s economy out of recession. Whether the program has boosted the state’s economy depends on your point of view. But at least one Texan has greatly benefited from Enterprise Fund outlays—Rick Perry.

Many companies that have received money from the fund have, in turn, aided the governor. An Observer investigation has found that 20 of the 55 Enterprise Fund companies have either given money directly to Perry’s campaign (through their political action committees or executives) or donated to the Republican Governors Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that Perry presided over in 2008.

The 20 companies have received a combined $174.2 million from the Enterprise Fund. During the same time period, those 20 corporations have donated $2.2 million to Perry and the governors association. Several companies made donations around the time they received grants from the Enterprise Fund. It’s even possible that taxpayer money from the fund came full circle into Perry’s own campaign.

Perhaps no company better illustrates the flow of money than Hewlett-Packard Co. In October 2006, the California-based technology giant received $3 million from the Enterprise Fund to open four data centers in Texas that were supposed to create 420 jobs. The project didn’t exactly go well—the centers never opened, and Hewlett-Packard later had to repay its grant. Nary a Texan got a new job. But before the deal fell apart, Perry and his political allies took in their share of money.

https://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/slush-fun

To sum it all up:

Rick Perry has set up a special tax payer funded slush fund. This fund was set up so that the Governor can award those monies to whomever he deems fit. And if one examines the list of those companies awarded monies from that fund, he would find that the companies receiving monies gave of a percentage of their take to Perry’s reelection fund.

Rick Perry appoints certain people to certain boards and commissions and such. And those appointees spend half their time shagging people down for monies that end up in Perry’s reelection fund.

Families who give money to Perry’s reelection fund end up with jobs in government.

Rick Perry is in a position as governor to give certain businesses ‘variances’ from certain regulations and such.  Restaurant owners might find themselves less subject to regulators as long as they contribute to Perry’s reelection campaign. Polluters might find themselves less subject to fines and penalties for their polluting as long as they contribute to Perry’s reelection campaign.

Now some people might wonder why Tommy Delay is now known as Tommy the Felon Delay and Rick Perry is not known as Rick the Felon Perry.

And I think this all goes back to the Right & Honorable Phantly Roy Bean.

I think that present day Texas lawmakers use updated volumes of Texas Law as kindling.

Yessirree Bob, the tree don’t fall too far from its roots.