A Holiday Gift

In a state so dominated so long by one party, where statewide incumbents amass huge war chests entrenching themselves further into power, I wish the dominant party would recognize and publicize the poisonous effects of absolute power wielded for significantly more than a decade.

* ding! Our fairy godmother has granted the wish. The Republican Attorney General, on the heels of an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court manufacturing a non-existing crisis of voter fraud to intimidate voters from exercising their rights to vote via a modern version of a poll tax, now turns his attention to questions raised by Republican legislators, fighting over the cronyism and corruption in the office of the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

Here are two Republican state legislators attacking the Republican Attorney General and his recently issued Opinion supporting his Republican Speaker of the House, Mr. Craddick:

"Sadly, the Attorney General's advisory opinion only reaffirms the adage: 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Tom Craddick's declaration of 'absolute authority' is an abuse of power and undermines the basic premise of democracy in Texas government.

"We firmly believe Craddick's application of 'absolute authority' has violated constitutional rights of members of the legislature and the constituents they serve. We firmly believe our state constitution did not create the Texas House Speaker post as a dictatorial position.

"It is our understanding of the state constitution that the Speaker is a legislative post constructed to serve the members of the Texas House of Representatives as a presiding officer over its operation. Because of the Attorney General's own admission of a lack of clarity by past Court cases, it now appears that the integrity of Texas Government is still at a critical crossroads.

"Enough is enough. The people of Texas need to let their local representatives know that they've had enough of Tom Craddick's one-man dictatorship."

-State Representative Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) & State Representative Byron Cook (R-Corsicana)