Wise words: Lesson to be learned from Perry indictment

One of my favorite columnists from the left side of the aisle, Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald, wrote this week about the dangerous road we’re heading down with the criminal indictment of Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

By indicting Perry, a Republican who was elected by a wide margin, Pitts sees this as a dangerous move by Democrats to use the courts and the legal process to potentially put Perry behind bars and essentially negate the 2011 gubernatorial election.

By going after Perry for simply issuing a veto and sending a message to his critics in Travis County, it’s widely viewed that this cynical Democratic maneuver backfired. Pitts sees a similar version of crass, reckless politicking on the Republican side in Congress, where many House GOP members talk of impeaching the president.

Here is Pitts’ conclusion:

“It is behavior that should give all fair-minded Americans pause, regardless of party affiliation, for it illustrates with stark clarity the sheer brokenness of our political system. Flooded with corporate money, gerrymandered beyond any semblance of reason, it limps along prodded by those whose devotion to the “game” far outweighs any devotion they might have to that quaint relic we once called the public good.

“Now there is this misuse of the courts for political payback, this attempt to criminalize ordinary political activity.”

“The public should take note. Elections have consequences, folks used to say.

“Overturning them does too.”