As soon as I finish typing this post, I am heading out to vote in Houston’s run-off primary for District Attorney of Harris County. Our recently resigned D.A., Chuck Rosenthal, was ousted, or outed, when his past years of emails were subpoenaed by defense attorneys in preparation for a trial.

Somehow the judge who granted the subpoena allowed press access to not just the messages relating to that case, but to all of the messages. Included were little “love notes” to his administrative assistant from the married D.A., along with humor forwarded to him that was racially focused.

When the situation first began unraveling, my only thought was, “What was he thinking?” Whether looking at it from the high ground or low, there were so many other avenues open to him.

High ground: You are charged with protecting our county’s citizens and enforcing the legal system. How could you let your friends and staff send this type of mail through the government systems?

Low ground: How hard is it to hit Delete and clean up your Sent and Received messages once in awhile?

Just contemplating the hubris of someone who has attained this position of authority and then somehow must think himself unassailable still boggles my mind after all these past months of turmoil. What toppled him did not relate to the initial case in question but to the indiscriminate little notes that are so quickly sent and then forgotten.

Is there anything in your email that you would not want exposed?