{"id":10430,"date":"2015-08-04T02:25:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-04T02:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=10430"},"modified":"2015-08-04T02:25:54","modified_gmt":"2015-08-04T02:25:54","slug":"wipe-that-smirk-off-your-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=10430","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Wipe that smirk off your face &#8230; &#8220;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=jkanelis\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/texas_attorney_general_investigation_45304038.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10431\" src=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/texas_attorney_general_investigation_45304038.jpg?w=240\" alt=\"This handout photo provided by Collin County, Texas shows Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton, who was booked into the county jail Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in McKinney, Texas. A grand jury last week indicted Paxton on felony securities fraud charges. (AP Photo\/Collin County via AP)\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/texas_attorney_general_investigation_45304038.jpg 384w, https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/texas_attorney_general_investigation_45304038-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Look at this picture.<\/p>\n<p>It is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posing for his jail-booking mug shot.<\/p>\n<p>Does that smirk bother you? It bothers me. It makes me wonder why politicians feel compelled to smirk like that when they&#8217;re being booked into a lockup, a place with sturdy iron bars meant to keep prisoners inside.<\/p>\n<p>Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry smirked like that when he was booked after being indicted more than a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton&#8217;s mug shot illustrates, I guess, a certain smugness that politicians have when the criminal justice system tags them with an allegation that they&#8217;ve committed a crime.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, a Collin County grand jury has accused Paxton of securities fraud. It&#8217;s a big deal. The man could lose his political career if a jury convicts him of the felony accusations.<\/p>\n<p>This mug shot reminds me of my dear, late mother.<\/p>\n<p>I had this bad habit of smirking like that when Mom scolded me when I was a kid. I took the habit with me into the U.S. Army in 1968; our drill sergeants would get in our faces for this or that during our basic training and my reaction would be to, um, <em>smirk<\/em>. It drove these combat-tested soldiers crazy &#8230; and it damn near got me into some serious trouble.<\/p>\n<p>Mom would get so angry she&#8217;d order me to &#8220;wipe that smirk off your face or I&#8217;ll wipe it off for you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Paxton&#8217;s smirk will disappear if a jury hangs the &#8220;felon&#8221; label on him.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=jkanelis\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Look at this picture. It is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posing for his jail-booking mug shot. Does that smirk bother you? It bothers me. It makes me wonder why politicians feel compelled to smirk like that when they&#8217;re being booked into a lockup, a place with sturdy iron bars meant to keep prisoners inside. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=10430\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8220;Wipe that smirk off your face &#8230; &#8220;<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1064,2652,4944],"class_list":["post-10430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news","tag-collin-county-grand-jury","tag-ken-paxton","tag-u-s-army"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}