Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Rick Perry: For real or a fraud?; Magical Misery Tour; Markets Are Back; Detroit: Still Murder Capital of the U.S.?

"President Obama will begin a 3 state bus tour. I believe the three states are confusion, delusion and desperation"--Leno

I've not made a decision yet about any of the candidates. In fact, few politicians impress me. Most just get me angry. And most, in my opinion, are knuckleheads.  Having said that, conservatives and republicans never cease to amaze me. They always appear to be searching for that perfect ideological candidate---someone they will never find.  Ever since I wrote about Gov. Rick Perry several times in the last five months (not in support, just interested), I've been receiving some information about his background, some good and some not that flattering. I'm still in the process of doing more research on him, but there are some initial criticisms I don't entirely agree with (what politician does anyone agree with entirely anyway?) and some I do.


  • My first reaction to many of the emails that list the criticisms of Perry appear to be right out of the Obama campaign playbook. In other words, if I were the Obama campaign and the Democrats, I'd make sure those talking points were spit out to the entire country. In fact, if Perry does become one of the leading Republican candidates (he might already be), those criticisms are sure to be used in political ads. 
  • Much of the criticism at this time toward Perry is coming from the Right, not the Left. If I were a democrat operative, I would use them. Some of the criticisms, if true, would be damaging to Perry. If you're a Perry supporter, they should make you uncomfortable.
  • For example, it's no secret to my readers how much I dislike that fake, phony and fraud, Al Gore. Rick Perry supported Al Gore in the late 1980's. I found that disturbing until I had to admit to myself, "Hey, I supported McGovern and Jimmy Carter. What the hell was I thinking then?" The fact is I wasn't thinking at all. I was a liberal Democrat at the time myself, and I fell for style over substance. McGovern made me feel "good." I was naive. It wasn't until Ronald Reagan came along that I realized the mistake I had made years earlier. I was also in good company at the time. Reagan was also a Democrat. And my research finds that many Republicans in Texas were Democrats at one time. Many didn't like the turn to the far Left the Democrats had taken, so they switched parties. Many of those who remained Democrats were later defined as "Reagan Democrats," like moi.  
  • But a closer look at some of the other criticism reveals potential problematic issues for Perry. As governor, Perry mandated---by executive order---the use of Gardasil against the HPV virus for all 6 graders in the state in 2007. While I have concerns about government mandates, vaccinations do help the entire community in preventing disease. With the HPV vaccine, I sense he recognized the benefits of the vaccine to a girl's long-term health. The media also failed to let people know those opposed to the vaccine could opt-out. Nevertheless, those opposed to government "over-reach" will not like this one.
  • He did support giving illegal immigrants in Texas in-state tuition. A student must have lived in Texas for at least three years and graduated from a Texas high school to qualify. As I've written about several times, I support the intent of the "Dream Act," but even the federal version requires more criteria that must be met. So, for me, the Texas version is not a good bill because U.S. citizens, who happen to be from out-of-state, must pay those higher out-of-state tuitions. To me--the Texas act appears discriminatory against American citizens.
  • Perhaps one of the most bizarre criticisms targets Perry's alleged New World Order associations like the Bilderbergs---a group conspiracy theorists love to hate. The fact is it's never any secret who attends Bilderberger conferences--it's public knowledge. Their agendas are made public as are their minutes. If the critics are concerned about Perry's attendance, then they also must be concerned about Bill Clinton, Peter Jennings, George Stephanopoulis, "Little Timmy" Geithner, Terry McAuliffe, Colin Powell and countless others--including representatives from some of the largest corporations on the planet---all of these folks attended or participated in the conferences over the years.
  • As gov, Perry has kept taxes low. Texas has no personal income taxes and no taxes on capital gains.
  • Texas created more jobs in the last 3 years than in the entire country combined. The rap on Texas is that many are low-paying jobs. Question: if someone is out of work and needs a job to support his/her family--what's better--- no job or a low paying job? Also, as I've noted before, the cost of living in Texas is lower than in many other parts of the country. The median income in Texas is about $49,000 a year. However,  when the cost of living index is factored into this number, Texans are actually better off in income than those living in CA and NY. As one writer said, this criticism is just another attempt to diminish Perry's jobs creation achievement.
  • There are other criticisms including, but not limited to, his evangelical background, the Trans-Texas Corridor, his general endorsement of most of the Tea Party platform, and just being a Texan, like his predecessor, George W. Bush.
I think Sean Theriault, a prof at the University of Texas, said it best: "You can't be governor of a state as big as Texas and not make a few decisions that are going to rub some people the wrong way." (USA Today).

The bottom line is there is no "perfect" candidate. There never was; there never will be. Perry---to me---looks viable at this time. Just sayin'.

  • Regarding the president's bus tour this week, I think Romney described it best--"The Magical Misery Tour."
  • Talk about suck-ups, Will Morrison of Rochester, MN, said of Pres. Obama this week: "I just want to say thank you so much for a great job you are doing. I support you 100%."---you know how to spell a "plant."  If he's not a plant, then he appears to be delusional.
  • Some Good News Finally: As of yesterday, the Markets are back to pre-downgrade levels.
  • The Port Authority really knows how to pi$$ people off at the wrong time. Next month, if you want to cross the Hudson River, the crossings will cost you $15---up from $8 for most crossings.
  • In one 24 hour period, there were 17 shootings and 7 murdered in Detroit.

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