It's depressing how because he had some form of Texas turrets- (he couldn't stop saying Texas in any sentence), basically the rest of the country associates the state of Texas with embarrassing people like Perry.
Rick Perry as governor? Check. State votes against gay marriage by 3-1 margin? Check. Perry says Texas teaches creationism in state schools? Check. Texas State Board of Education has some die-hard creationists? Check. Other than Austin, it's real easy to associate Texas with dolts like Perry.
What was that speech he made a few months ago where he was just a thoroughly cringeworthy goof? Nobody’s on their A-game all the time, right, but I couldn’t fathom how a man running for POTUS could publicly devolve into such an undignified boob like that. It bottles the mind, to borrow an aggy phrase.
I am bemused by this late acceptance of the fact that we have a very poor governor. I guess you can skate in that office because of its lack of firm constitutional power, but Perry showed early on that he was a very bad governor. Exhibit One: right after he took office, the legislature went into session and at the end of it he vetoed a whole raft of bills that the legislature had no idea he was even against. This deprived the legislature of the opportunity to correct whatever he found wrong with them or at least try to. There was considerable befuddlement at the time he did it as to why. Shortly thereafter, a long look was made at the bills he vetoed and some comparisons drawn with some timely campaign contributions. They dove tailed nicely. This came within six months after he took office. The newspapers in Texas, some of the them, pointed out this little, ahem, problem but nobody paid much attention. He has continued in this pattern ever since. Not all the people in the state are knuckledragging morons. Lots are, but nowhere near a majority. A majority doesn't even bother to vote. In 2006 he got reelected with just 39% of the vote in a race that featured four people. The dem, Chris Bell, was a wallflower with no money. The usual dem vote was decidedly smaller because one usual contributor of money, workers and voters was awol. That would be the public schooolteachers. They had endorsed the Austin mean grandma Carole Strayhorn Keaton Everybody Else. Nobody outside of Austin thought she had a chance but a big part of the dem coalition was missing in action and Perry waltzed in with a plurality of the vote. He has been lucky, opportunistic and very smart in his political moves while operating in a small tavern full of drunks; once he got to the big auditorium he bombed. Good riddance. And thanks to the press in Texas for their usual supine display which allowed him to get away with this bs. The only paper that I have seen outside of the Texas Observer, which nobody reads, that took him on was the San Antonio Express News, which has belatedly trashed him at every opportunity. Good for them.
If it makes you feel better that Houston Chronicle has been trashing Perry pretty consistently ever since he declared for President. I suppose it is just because he dared to challenge their dear President.
We have the most gutless media in the country. Perry repeatedly whores for campaign contributors and corporate insiders - always has. I've heard from a conservative journalist that the business establishment influences the Governor's mansion to a degree that was unthinkable even under George W. Bush. They don't just have a seat at the table. They own the table. Most newspapers will print the stories, but they are not relentless and do not connect the dots. The national press would have pounced on that stuff if he had won the nomination.
His genius is that he was able to make most of the people who voted for him believe that Texas has a real balanced budget.
If the office of governor of Texas had any real power, the emperor would have been seen to have no clothes a long time ago. But since this is largely a figurehead position, an empty suit can manage it and make a few public relations appearances and look pretty good. At least he has finally been exposed for all to see, although it has been at the embarrassing expense of the people of Texas.
I wish Kay had been able to dislodge him. Sadly, nobody has. In Perry's defense, I don't know of anyone other than Kay that has run against Perry who I'd consider particularly worthy of the job.
Bill White is an environmental wacko moron unfortunately. Houston is paying the price right now with our budget. But hey, at least we have a horribly-designed light rail system that does more harm than good, and we have a fleet of over-priced hybrids for city personnel to drive around. So there's that!
He was eating a lot of shrooms; a lot more than even Sarah Palin and that did him in. I love the guy and hope he puts together some filibusterers and takes over a small latin american country and shows the world how governance can be conducted by real men with real attitudes and aggie rings. Hullabaloo cachoke cachoke and ADIOS MOFO
It says in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for everything, including but not limited to "a time to weep and a time to laugh, and time to mourn and a time to dance ..." I'm in laugh/dance mode this morning
What's incredible is that back in September, CNN reported that Perry was leading in the polls in terms of preference and likelihood to beat Obama. See link. It's amazing how far the guy fell. Talk about having every advantage and just pissing it away.
