THE REHABILITATION OF RICK PERRY

[Draggingtree]

American Spectator: THE REHABILITATION OF RICK PERRY

He's got a shot at 2016—if he can get past 2012.

 

By Jon Cassidy – From the Sept/Oct 2014 issue

 

Three years ago, a Texas reporter named Jay Root set out to chronicle the behind-the-scenes maneuvers that would land Governor Rick Perry in the White House. He couldn’t have guessed that, in the end, the story wouldn’t have much to do with ad buys or endorsements or personality conflicts. The real event, of course, played out in public, in the on-stage meltdown that gave Root the title of his 2012 e-book: Oops!

 

Yet that unforgettable moment when, during a nationally televised debate, Perry could recall only two of the three cabinet departments he proposed to eliminate, was just the final indignity in a short campaign full of them. Remember that ad in which Perry complained that “gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school,” or the parodies it provoked? How about that rambling, free-and-easy speech Perry gave in New Hampshire that caused everyone to assume he was either drinking or still taking painkillers from his back surgery three months earlier? It was, according to James Carville, the worst campaign in American history.

[Cyber_Liberty]

A few years of dealing with the absolute worst President in history has a way of focusing the mind.

[Draggingtree]

A few years of dealing with the absolute worst President in history has a way of focusing the mind.

Cyber_Liberty I do hope you and others will take the time to read this article, think it will bring to light the real Perry rather than the "opps" Perry.

[Cyber_Liberty]

 

A few years of dealing with the absolute worst President in history has a way of focusing the mind.

Cyber_Liberty I do hope you and others will take the time to read this article, think it will bring to light the real Perry rather than the "opps" Perry.

 

 

I read it, and I agree with it. The only reason I didn't vote for him in '12 was because he was gone by the time my state had its Primary. Romney's actions during the Primaries is why the only election I would have considered voting for him in was the General, while holding my nose. He got nothing from me in the Primary. I have high hopes for Perry (he's on my short list), and I hope he can get into the race. I think he has a very good shot at it, and it's not going to take a lot of "rehabilitation." I don't think he hurt himself all that much, there was just a stigma about being a Governor from TX (thanks Dubya).

 

If he can resist tearing down other candidates, I'll be a Perry fan. Romney spent tons of money tearing down any opponent who would get a rise in the polls, even ones who didn't have much of a chance like Gingrich. He scorched the earth to get the nomination, and I hope every single potential GOP candidate learnt something from that. Why would any GOP want to vote for Romney, other than the ones who were with him all along?

[Valin]

 

A few years of dealing with the absolute worst President in history has a way of focusing the mind.

Cyber_Liberty I do hope you and others will take the time to read this article, think it will bring to light the real Perry rather than the "opps" Perry.

 

 

 

 

“Y’all are gonna be in jail, not me,” she said at one point during her infamous booking video. You might think that’s just the sort of thing lawmakers had in mind when they created a felony for anyone who “by means of coercion…influences or attempts to influence a public servant in a specific exercise of his official power…” A Travis County grand jury decided, however, that Lehmberg’s actions didn’t qualify.

 

Then came another Travis County grand jury to say that Perry’s actions—when he vetoed the funding for this dissolute public integrity unit after suggesting that Lehmberg really ought to resign—did count as criminal coercion. The man responsible for this novel legal theory is one Michael McCrum, a former Obama nominee for U.S. Attorney and a very special prosecutor.

 

Perry had been working under the assumption that governors have the authority to veto legislation. It’s an easy assumption to make, since the state constitution explicitly allows it, and it has been standard practice nationwide since the founding of the republic. Against this mountain of historical fact we are offered by McCrum a higher, mystical understanding of the law. Like some beardless Jerry Garcia, McCrum got shown the light in the strangest of places by looking at it right. Start with Texas Penal Code section 39.02, which prohibits officials from misusing government property in their possession. The right way to look at it is to let your eyes glaze over, wave your fingers in front of your face, watch the tracers, and then wait for the universe to whisper a secret directly into your soul. Or something. Because it’s not there in the text. I’ve tried squinting five different ways, and still can’t see how a law meant to keep bureaucrats from stealing office supplies has anything to do with veto power.

 

 

Off topic I know but I really like this...beardless Jerry Garcia, let your eyes glaze over, wave your fingers in front of your face, watch the tracers, and then wait for the universe to whisper a secret directly into your soul

 

On topic. The impression I got from 2012 was his run for the nomination was a spur of the moment thing, based on the job rate in Texas.

 

Also let me say I like our candidates as opposed to the democrats. Partisan politics aside The GOP candidates are of a higher quality...Elizabeth Warren? Give me a break!