They taught us about the power of Rick Perry in high school.
In high school civics classes we, high school students, here in Texas were taught that the Governor of the state was one of the weakest in the country. This was subsequently reiterated in our college government classes. We were taught about the Texas Constitution of 1876 and the post Civil War conditions that caused the writers of the constitution to rein in the power of the Governor.
The trauma of the American Revolution and the experience of colonial abuses caused most states to effectively limit the powers of their governors. The wide spread abuses of Southern Republican Reconstruction Governors reinforced these suspicions of executive power abuse throughout the South. Consequently most former confederate states have very weak governors with significantly limited elective powers. The Texas Governor being the most significantly hamstrung because typical chief executive powers: legal, budgetary, financial, education, transportation, agriculture, land development, and public utilities are held by elected officials (not appointed) who may not even be in the same political party as the Governor and therefore not agree with his policies. Texas Governor Rick Perry is claiming responsibility for the “Texas Miracle”. Texas has weathered the Recession better than most states. Is the Governor responsible for this? I don’t know, but history and a reading of Texas government seem to contradict his assertions.
Thinking about Mr. Perry and high school civics got me also to thinking about Mr. Perry and Science and the Environment and Religion and Secession and the possibility of him as our next President, “a theory that’s out there” – wait a minute, I believe that the Governor said that in reference to Evolution. He also knows how we came to be, “God is how we got here’, he told an audience in New Hampshire the other day. Therefore, one can surmise from this that Rick Perry is a Creationist and possibly another government official or potential government official that may scoff at the concept of separation of church and state.
Governor Perry hosted a prayer meeting recently in Reliant Stadium in Houston titled “The Response, a call to prayer for a nation in crisis”. When asked about this event trampling the separation of Church and State issue, Governor Perry replied, “As an elected leader, I’m all too aware of government’s limitations when it comes to fixing things that are spiritual in nature…With the economy in trouble, communities in crisis and people adrift in a sea of moral relativism, we need God’s help”. He evidently knows very little about the predecessors or travails of the office to which he aspires. The Great Depression, World War II, and FDR come to mind. Although FDR called upon God’s help, he also decided to help God a little bit and initiate programs like the Works Project Administration and The Social Security Act and lead the miraculous mobilization of the country upon our entry into the war.
FDR has been called a socialist…so has Jesus and so has Perry, although he should be called a “hypocrite”. Governor Perry, awhile back, proposed Secession for Texas in response to the “runaway spending” of the stimulus package. However, Rick Perry and Texas took $12,100,000,000 in stimulus money last year.
Rick Perry thinks Climate Change is a hoax perpetrated by scientists manipulating data - coincidentally, big oil has been his largest campaign donor. Perry thinks there should be “a moratorium on regulations across this country,” he also has said that the EPA was “killing jobs all across America.” Some here in Texas think he may be a greater threat to the environment than George W. Bush and I believe Governor Perry is telling us so.
Possibly the most disheartening thing about a Perry run for President is Kinky Freidman’s endorsement. In a recent article in The Daily Beast, Kinky wrote, “So would I support Rick Perry for President? Hell, yes!” Upon learning of this, all of South Austin let out a horrible, collective groan. If the Kinkster has turned, think of all the less enlightened or evolved Americans that have or will turn - we are definitely in trouble.
Oh, I almost forgot, Governor Perry made Glenn Beck an honorary Texan Last year.
P.s. The wonderful man of God, John Hagee…the wonderful man that hates Catholics and spreads anti-Muslim mumbojumbo also participated in Mr. Perry’s prayer gathering.
Previously published at opednews.com