Thursday, April 17, 2008

The "Holding Your Nose" Conflict

Kevin Whited wrote in a comment today under my "Bradford vs. Lykos -- pt. 1" that the race for District Attorney will end up with voters feeling: "Man, talk about holding your nose and picking between the lesser of two evils. Sheesh."

As a former/current Assistant District Attorney, it is so sad for me to read that quote, yet I have a hard time disagreeing with it. Whether you were a Siegler or Leitner fan during the Republican Primary, the fact of the matter is that the voters are left with two candidates who have never been prosecutors and have no trial experience.

Now, I've stated, and I stand by the position that I will never ever ever ever cast a vote in support of Pat Lykos. To me, she illustrates everything despicable about politics, and reaffirms for me that partisan politics have absolutely no place in elections regarding criminal justice. (SIDE NOTE: If our city's mayoral election doesn't have a Republican/Democrat marking on it, why does the Justice System? Partisan politics would seem to me to have much more relevance in a mayoral race than in the one for D.A.)

I'm very conflicted, personally. I'm fully aware of the knocks against C.O. Bradford and I don't want to minimize them on this blog. That being said, I don't think that Lykos has the leadership skills to guide a prosecutor to the restroom, let alone in issues that deal with criminal justice.

Although Bradford has my vote, I fully understand that this will cause a division amongst the folks that read the blog. My goal for the rest of this election season is to promote the idea that the truth and all of the truth needs to come out on both candidates. Because even if you do have to hold your nose to vote on the race, you still need to vote. It's just too damn important not to.

I don't think it is fair that Bradford be continuously bashed over the head with the crime lab scandal and the K-Mart raid, while the Chronicle turns a blind eye to Lykos. In my opinion, Lykos' sins equal, if not outweigh anything Bradford ever did, and unlike Bradford, she doesn't have the capability to blame the sins on anyone else.

The Chronicle failed its readership during the Republican primary. I hope they don't do the same thing during the general election.

Examine your candidates and vote carefully, folks.

3 comments:

Ron in Houston said...

AHCL

Where's the love? I was the source of that quote.

If you want to read a pretty funny analysis of the whole "holding the nose" race, check out "Hair Balls" in this weeks Houston Press.

Yeah, I know you don't want to be seen picking up the Houston Press. Just let me know and I'll secretly sneak you a copy.

Murray Newman said...

Ron, my friend,
I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to slight you. I'm just not good at fact-checking.
You know I love you, baby.

And dude, I LOVE the Houston Press. Read the article below this one.

Ron in Houston said...

Oops

Well I'm glad you're really getting back into your blog.

Next time I promise I'll read all the new posts before I comment.

I agree the Press is liberal, but I do appreciate their sense of irony.

Episode Seven: The Voters Awaken - A One Act -Sci-Fi Play

SCENE:  The Death Star orbits over Downtown Houston. [INTERIOR] The Imperial Council Chambers. EMPRESS OGG sits at the head of a long table ...