This article was originally published at ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. It was co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom.
Join us over in the Hive for the impeachment trial…
https://forums.talkingpointsmemo.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-senate-trial-live-blog/242238/52
It’s a GOP two-for, makes it harder for the “government” to function, and then they get to turn-around and bitch about how much money it costs for leopards-are-eating-my-face voters.
costing the taxpayers a lot of extra money
Texas government seems to do that an awful lot.
Conservatives, you say?
In this case, scum, like cream, rose to the top; I hope it is going to be sloughed off.
No not really. They love fraud, waste and abuse when it supports them continuing to do the wrong things. This catfight in Texas is entertaining but in the end, Republicans will miss that they spend wastefully to support their bullshit.
I anticipate abfab autopsy findings for political pathologists in this strange Texas GOP ritual. 
Kudos for ProPublica dropping this on the first day of Paxton’s impeachment trial. It’s a reminder to TX State Senators that Paxton has been misusing the powers of his office for more than just his corrupt deal with Nate Paul.
Get yourself elected, enjoy the power and perqs, collect your fat salary, kick back and do nothing! Now that’s what I call “public service”! It’s a great way of life!
Well, the “con” part at least.
The attorney general’s office also wrote in the letter that it had filed briefs urging the court to do away with affirmative action because it was “abhorrent to the Constitution.” Paxton there refers to Ken Paxton’s own personal copy of the special Constitution, the one that says individual state and local attorneys general have the right and the power to decide entirely on their own which laws are or are not constitutional.
Get your own special Constitution today! All you need is to be a member of the GOP. Hurry now, supplies are limited.
Hi! To find out what I can do, say @discobot display help.
Um you can have all the religious liberties you want, they can be bubbling away in your braincase and dribbling out your ear, however, as far as judgifying, no, is it legal, is it Constitutional, do the legal and logical arguments direct things one way or another?
Your religion has no standing.
In my opinion, Paxton is a stupid, petty, grifting, corrupt douchenozzle*. And those are his good points.**
*Apologies to douchenozzles: They do serve a purpose.
** Not unlike Ron DeSadass.
It is so on-brand that Paxton starting digging the hole of crimes and misdemeanors for which he’s now being impeached in order to cover up his infidelity to his wife. The twist–that he criminally abused his official powers as a way of bribing someone to help him betray his wife after he had already publicly confessed (he got busted) and “recommitted” to his marriage–is even more on brand. That’s Ken Paxton, “staunch Christian conservative.”
I’m sure it’s not an official requirement but it sure starts to feel like having a really exceptionally shitty private character correlates very strongly with being a powerful Republican.
Fun Facts about Mr. Babin. He’s the son of Brian Babin, a Freedom Caucus member AND he played Spider in School of Rock.
He represents Texas wealthy and himself.
The office is his personal taxpayer-funded fiefdom. Any questions?
I’d just as soon have Thomas Jefferson’s specially edited Bible.
“If you decide for yourself what laws ought to be defended, what agencies ought to be defended on other than dictates of the courts, then you come across as nothing but a wholly political entity,” Suthers said. “That’s not the role that you’re supposed to play in the system. Let the legislature and the governor be political. You’re supposed to be adhering to the rule of law.”
In the case of Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr., all I can say is “good luck with that.”
“If we’re given a case that appears to us clearly to be unconstitutional, they want us to take a position against the constitution. That’s a real problem for me given my oath,” Paxton said.
See, he said that without even cracking a smile. All the while, he knew perfectly well that he’d long ago coshed his oath to the constitution over the head, secured it with duct tape, and buried it under a highway overpass.