Local Democrats and cops slam Abbott's 'Third World' comments
WESLACO — Officials gathered Wednesday to roundly criticize Attorney General Greg Abbott’s recent comparison of Rio Grande Valley corruption cases to those in the Third World.
State representative Armando “Mando” Martinez, D-Weslaco, organized the news conference, which featured his commentary as well as that several local mayors, police chiefs and the chair of the Texas Democratic Party.
In a Feb. 4 speech in Dallas, Abbott said that recent “creeping corruption” in Starr and Hidalgo counties “resembles Third-World country practices that erode the social fabric of our communities and destroys Texans’ trust and confidence in government.” He later said in a guest column published Tuesday in The Monitor that his comments weren’t directed toward the Rio Grande Valley, but that they addressed corruption wherever it occurs.
Martinez called Abbott’s comments “toxic rhetoric” and said the officials drafted a letter sent calling for a new direction for his campaign.
More at http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_0468efa2-9455-11e3-adda-0017a43b2370.html .
Other comments:
“This is totally, totally uncalled for, and if this is an example of the direction that he plans on taking the state of Texas, then … we’re in for a big, big disappointment,” -- Mercedes Mayor Henry Hinojosa
“You can’t lump everybody in the same basket because you have one or two bad apples. We all do, almost every organization has one or two bad apples. But to say we’re all corrupt, and compare us to a third-world country … I wonder if Mr. Abbott has been in those countries." -- Weslaco police Chief Michael Kelley
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