Ok, so I know already posted my GBCW diary a few months back and I still think that both parties are pretty much the same... but nevertheless, I'm back! Politics is like an addiction, no matter how pointless it seems I just can't stop following it!
Anyway, I just donated $100 of my hard earned money to Russ Feingold and I encourage everyone else to do the same. He's the only senator to vote against the original Patriot Act, and he's one of about 4 or 5 politicians that I still respect.
I've also decided that I will, once again, go to the polling place and vote for the lesser evil--who IMHO happens to be Rick Perry. I'll also go back to posting on this blog. That may not be for very long if I keep posting diaries like this!
So I'm sure you're wondering why I'm voting for Perry not Bill White, considering that Rick Perry is an Incumbent Republican and Bill White is running a democrat.
Well, here's the thing: Bill White is running as a conservative. You now the usual crap: he's a "Low Taxes", "Balanced Budgets", "More Jobs" non-sequitur spewer, of the type peddled by every republican running this year from Meg Whitman to Jim DeMint.
Why should I vote for one conservative over another simply because one has a (D) by his name? Is it really that obvious who the lesser evil is here?
So I decided to research the upcoming Texas Gubernatorial election and here's some facts I dug up about Bill White:
- From 2003 onwards he's on the board of an Natural Gas Services company called BJ Services. Yes, you're reading that right -- 2003 onward, the same time was he was mayor of Houston. He made 2.6 million dollars from this job, far more than his salary as mayor. Forget campaign contributions--this is actual money IN HIS POCKET. Not sure if he still works for them, but if he doesn't he left very recently. BTW, The company he works for is under investigation by congress for groundwater contamination and if Bill White is ever Governor he'd have a lot to say over where and whether they can drill for Natural Gas in Texas. http://www.chron.com/... (SOURCE)
Now, some people may have no problem with a guy being on the payroll for an oil company while also working as mayor and running for governor. I do have a problem with it-- sorry Bill that's a conflict of interest. Furthermore, I'm not going to vote for another Texas oil man simply because this one has a (D) by his name.
- Bill White gets funding and backing from the same people as Kay Bailey Hutchison.
First off, I really hate Kay Bailey. She's possibly the most useless Senator in the history of the world and she's squarely in the plutocrat wing of the republican party. Perry on the other hand, gets his base of support from the Evangelical/Fundy wing of the Republican party. Now, this is the part where you may STRONGLY disagree-- despite being an Atheist, I greatly prefer the fundy wing of the republican party to the plutocrat wing.
http://www.billwhitefortexas.com/... (SOURCE-- THE HORSE'S MOUTH)
If you click the above link, you'll see Bill White on his own website bragging about his support form the Ex-CEO of Chase bank-- a Kay Bailey Hutchison supporter. Hate to break it to you, Bill, But bankers aren't popular right now. Neither is Kay Bailey. I don't see how this shit plays with indies and it sure as hell doesn't play for me. Really, what's your strategy? "The Ex-CEO of Chase Bank supports me, AND YOU SHOULD TO?" No thanks, Bill.
- I could ignore his financial connections to republicans and oil industry hacks and go to his website and look at his position on issues, but the problem is I DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING THAT ANY OF THESE CANDIDATES SAY. (Thank you, Obama; you've taught me well in this regard)
...
Honestly, the association between White and KB Hutchison is just plain weird. Look: Remember last year when she volunteered to basically hand her senate seat to Bill White, so she could try to take down Rick Perry in the Republican Primary? Do you remember how few (any?) members of the plutocratic wing of the republican party even pretended to object to this? This was back in early '09 when it looked like the democrats might take a bunch of seats in 2010 (LOL fond memories).
But as its clear that KBH is going to lose the Primary to Perry, lo and behold, Bill White switches races to go after Perry too. Then KBH does a 180, and doesn't resign her senate seat. And go figure, KBH and White have the same financial backers. This whole bizarre scenario makes a lot more sense if you assume Bill White is a republican of the establishment/plutocrat faction-- and I do.
I really view the general election as round 2 of the primary between the evangelical/fundy wing of the republican party and the pro-corporate plutocratic wing of the republican party. That's why I've decided to vote for the lesser evil -- Rick Perry.
Now, Rick Perry is hardly an ideal candidate for a liberal such as myself ( understatement of the year here...) but he's not as bad as you think:
- He came out against that god-awful Arizona immigration bill saying Its "not right" for Texas. I mean, he didn't exactly criticize it, but back a few months ago when they were talking about passing the same thing here in Texas, he came out squarely against it. http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo... (SOURCE)
- as pointed out by KBH many many times-- he used to be a democrat and he helped supported Al Gore's presidential Campaign in 1988.
- Yes he's a fudny loon who wants to rewrite history/creationism in school textbooks and is really quite trigger happy with the death penalty, but since I'm voting for the Lesser Evil again I suppose I'll have to take the good with the bad.
- Maybe if he beats Bill White, he'll owe the Plutocrats absolutely nothing and cater to them less than he usually does. Maybe.
Basically it comes down to this: Considering Bill White's connections i don't trust him farther than I can throw him, and I'd rather go with the devil I know. Perry's been governor for 10 years so you're not going to be able to paint him as right-wing fringe any more than I already know he is. Who cares what he had to say to win the republican primary, and no matter what you guys think he's really the safe choice this election. You could really do a hell of a lot worse than Perry.
And worse, if Bill White ends up doing a hell of a lot worse than Perry as I suspect he will, all the crap he does will get blamed on Democrats and Liberals. If Bill White's a republican pretending to be a Democrat-- well, he can basically do whatever shit he wants to reward his corporate republican donors, he can serve his 4 years as governor then go back to his fatcat Oil Company Job and then the Texas Democratic Party will take the fall for it. Sorry, Bill, I'm not having any of that, I'm voting for Perry this year!