2.14.2006

Things That Drive Me Nuts - That No One Else Will Care About

I was channel surfing a second ago and came across C-SPAN. It was the typical late night coverage where four or five Reps wait for camera time in an empty house chamber just so they can get their remarks in the Congressional Record. But as I paused for a moment, I saw some guy name Rep. James Carter (R - Texas) blathering on about the Patriot Act. And then he said something that made me insane (again): "I believe in penalties. You know, I have sentenced a person to 20 years in prison for for one rock of crack cocaine". And you are proud of that? (Come to find out he was a judge in Williamson County, north of Austin, which is routinely occupied by conservative nutcases. Current DA John Bradley and Nancy Grace would be all over each other in a right wing, yet boring, love fest.). Edit: I found this about him as well: You were successfully re-elected four times as a county district judge, garnering 60 percent of the vote each time. Why the career change? The attack on the Towers. As a general jurisdiction judge trying felony cases, my reaction when I saw it live on television was that I just witnessed the greatest single capital murder in the history of man. To me, we are hunting down international criminals, and I have some expertise in that. A state district judge has experience in "hunting down international criminals"? I have to look around the courtroom a little closer at the next docket call.