Tag Archives: bad behavior

Be on guard, Texas lawmakers

What? You mean the Texas Legislature has members who behave badly when no one’s looking?

Well, I’ll be dipped in sesame seeds. Who knew?

It now appears that a group calling itself the American Phoenix Foundation is going to release some secret video it says captures lawmakers doing things they shouldn’t be doing.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/05/lawmakers-filmed-secret-recordings/?mc_cid=d5b6bd6410&mc_eid=c01508274f

This could be interesting. It also could get some of these operatives into some serious trouble.

The group is a conservative outfit that in the past has targeted liberal politicians associated with liberal causes, such as ACORN. It’s been accused of smearing politicians and using “selective editing” techniques to make the subject of the video and/or audio seem even worse, according to the Texas Tribune.

State Rep. Pete Geren, R-Fort Worth, put the American Phoenix Foundation’s status into perspective. He said one of the individuals filming lawmakers “appeared to be a stalker” and added, “There are some sleazebags in politics, and these guys are going to fall right in that bracket.”

So, the American Phoenix Foundation is going to employ sleazy tactics to uncover sleazy behavior.

Is this an ends-justifying-the-means kind of tactic?

Here’s an interesting wrinkle to the story. John Beria, a spokesman for the foundation, said the group plans to target conservatives and liberals equally.

According to the Tribune, “Beria said there was no ideological bias in its months-long undercover operation in Austin, and he said some of the most interesting findings center on conservative Republicans who act one way at home and quite another in the state capital.”

We’ll see.