They say it ain’t over ’til it’s over or the fat lady sings at least a dozen times, finally making all the high notes in Aida and La Traviata in succession. Nevertheless — after only his second debate — things do look pretty good for Rick Perry.
And consider before this Tampa debate he was already twelve points ahead of nearest rival Mitt Romney, according to its sponsor’s (CNN) own poll.
So it’s no surprise that most of Monday’s affair — which mostly reprised the same questions from last week’s Reagan Library debate (this all could get pretty tedious fast) — was a game of “Everybody on Rick” with the Texas governor, perhaps in deference to his state’s proximity to Mexico, as the designated piñata.
Well, not quite everybody. Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain declined to attack Perry. (I will try to explain that later.) But Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and, of course, Romney did their best to slam Perry at every opportunity, sometimes remembering, seemingly as an afterthought, to throw in an unkind word for Barack Obama, as if the Texas governor and the not the president was the incumbent.
The five, however, did their Perry dissing in different ways. The first three — Huntsman, Bachmann and Santorum — I would classify as the soreheads. They are all doing miserably in the polls. Huntsman and Santorum always were. They are both currently at 2%, tied with a generic “Someone else” and 2 points behind “None/No one.” (No surprise here with Santorum who, when last facing the electorate, lost reelection in his home state of Pennsylvania by 18 points.) Who, besides their wives, really knows why they are running?
Bachmann, too, once flying high, has herself sunk to a mere 4% (tied with “None/No one”) since Perry entered the race. No wonder she’s sore at the Texan. She took after him, as did Santorum, during the Monday debate because some years ago Perry evidently tried by fiat to have high school girls vaccinated against cancer of the cervix. Perry admitted this approach was a mistake and this whole thing had apparently been rehashed ad infinitum by Kay Bailey Hutchison in her recent, ill-fated run against Perry for the Texas gubernatorial nomination, but never mind. To Bachmann and Santorum this attempt to prevent cancer, whether ill-founded or not, was a form of child molestation or something. The more they went on about this, the more rabid, and frankly scary, they sounded.
I like Perry, but after watching this debate, I suspect that he’s not a quick thinker. You can almost see the wheels rotating slowly around in his head, and the answers/rebuttals that eventually churn out seem to be not of the first tier but of the second. For example, in response to Bachman’s holier-than-thou’s pontification about girls being given forced vaccines, why did Perry end on a ‘being offended note’? He should have just dismissed Bachman’s insinuation with a quick phrase or two and then re-emphasize that his program had an ‘opt-out’ provision, and thus the vaccines were not forced. Also, Perry seemed a little late in countering Romney’s hypocritical attack on the social security ‘ponzi scheme’ issue…and though Perry ended up countering it by deflecting to Romney’s own characterization of social security as ‘criminal’, that rejoinder appeared more like a lucky afterthought of Perry’s rather than evidence of a laser wit.
And I don’t think he handled the in-state tuition issue well. People in Texas are (probably) well aware of the history between Texas and Mexico, but most Americans sadly are probably not, and to a large segment of conservatives, that historical relationship between Mexico and the Republic of Texas probably has no relevance. And saying that it’s better to have illegals paying their own way rather than being on the public dole doesn’t answer the attack of why are they allowed to enroll in the college in the first place, and irregardless of what their last name sounds like? It almost sounds as if he’s implying that his attackers are racists…which incidentally might actually help him in the general if he wins the primaries.
Call me crazy, but having Mexicans (even illegal ones) paying their way through college and learning English don’t scare me one bit.
It just seems that Perry’s best answers are not the ones that he emphasizes.
The quip. This is a north east thing. Perfected by my Jewish friends although some Italians are good at is also. In the rest of the Country people would prefer a moment of reflection – not the format.
I don’t see the problem with the notion of “let me think about it.”
We are electing a chief executive not hiring a game show host.
Ronald Reagan was the master of the quip, and I think all the candidates are being held to a standard they’ll never reach.
Godzilla, I appreciate you analysis. I tend to agree that Rick’s responses fail the crisp and direct test for the most part. I am confident that Rick will make a far better president than Obama, however he has to get there first. Even though the “Ponzi Scheme” remark brought a lot of heat, it was brilliant, even if it was accidentally brilliant. It established a straw-man for his opponents to flail against as they unwittingly heightened the notion that Rick Perry was the man to beat. If they were not so afraid that Rick was going to win the nomination, they would have simply noted their displeasure over the words chosen, acknowledge Ricks intention to fix the problem and move on. Instead they jumped all over this issue and tried their best to make Perry sound like he was trying to do something different than what they know and have acknowledged needs doing. By doing this they let Rick frame the debate.
Texans who follow politics know that the Social Security move was VINTAGE Perry.
1. Stake a (very) strong position.
2. Suck all the oxygen from the room (and away from other politicians)
3. Play rope-a-dope with them while they hyperventilate
4. Back off if the margins go negative, or double-down if they continue to go well.
I don’t like Perry, mostly because I taught in community college, which he more or less professed himself an enemy of (which actually makes some political sense, given that it’s a lefty-infested pit even in TX) in order to direct as much money as possible to the A&M system rather than the folks trying to fix the damage caused by crap high-schools.
But I would never, ever underestimate the man. He is slow, methodical, more-or-less relentless, and an astoundingly-skilled politician.
You’ve just described a good match for president.
“it was brilliant, even if it was accidentally brilliant.”
David, excellent points. I would submit that Perry’s thoughts on SS were framed in his book Fed Up which came out a I think a year ago. That is the source of the attacks from the left and his opponents. Personally I don’t see an accident here, but rather a fully thought out intention to bring the subject up and yes I too think it is brilliant. I don’t think that there will be much that Perry and his team bring up that hasn’t been scrubbed well before it is displayed.
Frankly I hope that everyone keeps underestimating Perry and I think most do as that is what has happened to him his entire career and then he wins.
I see no issue in a slow response in his second debate or his sixth, if he can run a government and find the right people to put in the right positions when the time comes. I have been told that LBJ was a great one for spotting talent and that Perry is his close second. His managerial abilities in Texas have kept him in office for 11 years. I understand the Legislators in Texas walk softly when he is around. I like that. A president with an actual spine. Huhn imagine that.
Well, you have it right on fast responses. I would rather have someone take their time in answering me than to quickly say the first things that come to their mind. I don’t want a prez making fast decisions without properly thinking the out.
Why don’t we hire the guy who has been pondering, thinking, and creating solutions for these problems for at least 4 years now. Romney doesn’t have to think about these issues, he already knows them and has solutions for the problems. We are hiring the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. We need the best there is. Perry is not it. In fact, he is far from being it.
It is good he is being vetted and showing the type of person he is now, because the Democrats will run all over him if he gets nominated. Even Perry is still a Democrat at heart. He had no problems with the Gardisil issue until he got called on it. He has no problems with using Imminent Domain. He only backtracked on Social Security because of poll numbers. There is so much more that the left has on him that has yet to come out.
With Romney, what you see is what you get. He has been thoroughly vetted and there are honest answers for 90+% of any issue a Tea Party or other conservative would bring up. MA Health Care mandate? Imagine what a mess it would have been had Romney NOT stepped in and made sure it was right.
I like PajamasMedia’s fair and thoughtful articles and videos. However, they must also make an honest assessment of Rick Perry and realize who he really is. He is not ready for the White House. Let us not make the same mistake as 4 years ago.
” I like Perry, but after watching this debate, I suspect that he’s not a quick thinker. ”
I view a thoughtful response to a question is a sign of maturity. How many times do you here someone speaking and constantly saying, ” Umm ” , between every sentence? We are raising a generation that is accustomed to constant noise and idle chatter. A moment of reflection when answering a serious question is good judgment. A welcome change.
” Call me crazy, but having Mexicans (even illegal ones) paying their way through college and learning English don’t scare me one bit. ”
Ok. You are crazy.
“Call me crazy, but having Mexicans (even illegal ones) paying their way through college and learning English don’t scare me one bit.”
Ok, you’re crazy.
Nice try, troll.
Ok, you’re crazy and a troll yourself.
Mexicans can already go to college and learn English – in Mexico.
You are being xenophobic.
When I heard Perry’s “offended” statement, I was reminded of the old saw about having established that one could be bought, and now we’re dickering over price. I don’t say that he can be or has been bought by special interests, but he sure took the wrong tack. Regarding the vaccination-by-fiat dustup, he should have added to his mea culpa about the wrong approach a one-liner that maybe he thought it better to have those girls protected against a dread disease than the possibility of offending opportunistic political rivals, “don’t you think so, Michele?” Would have shut her sanctimonious mouth right up.
The point is that Perry signed the Gardasil fiat after his former Chief of Staff become the head lobbiest for Merck in favor of it. How is that any different than cronyism we have watched Obama pull for the last three years?
No difference at all and as well he assumed a parental right that was not his. Regardless of the fine print, no one will decide for me what the proper medical treatment will be for my daughters but me.
I am from Tampa and attended the debate and frankly I was not nearly as impressed with Rick as Mr. Simon apparently is. I like Mitt and Newt personally, I just wish Newt didn’t have all that baggage. I do believe it is a huge mistake that they are all pitted against each other in so many debates. I’d much rather see them one on one and not on the attack.
The stunning difference is that Perry has publicly stated it was a mistake.
When have you heard Obama admitting anything he did (other than supposedly be bi-partisan with Republicans) was a mistake? Or how about Mitt. Any willingness to admit that Romneycare was an error?
A politician mature enough to admit errors has the potential to learn from them. Those who don’t, insult the intelligence of the rest of the community while indicating they will continue to behave in the same way.
OK – you’re crazy. I’m sure you’re a fine person, but if you don’t see the problem inherent in allowing illegal aliens from ANY country – regardless of the circumstances that brought them here – getting low-cost or free tuition at an American college while not having any legal status in this country, then a visit to your local mental health professional may be in order. This country operates on the “rule of law,” which means that if I come to your house and break your front window, I’m charged with a crime (if I had intent). If I break your front window and invade your home, taking you and your family hostage with a weapon, well … I’m charged with a different set of crimes. That’s how society protects you and itself from people who commit crimes. To waive immigration laws on a case-by-case basis, or based on some vaporous human rights paradigm, defeats the whole purpose of the rule of law.
If you took people who cross the southern border illegally, change them into Americans instantly … and then had them cross the border back into Mexico – do you know what would happen? Have you read about Mexico’s immigration and border laws? I have; they are some of the strictest in the world; and are usually NOT adjudicated on a case-by-case basis.
Two things have puzzled me about the immigration debate; why Mexico would allow (and even encourage) its’ people to cross the border illegally in some cases, breaking our laws – when if the reverse were true, they would act in a very definite and “rule of law” manner? Also, why do some people in the United States willingly “paint over” our border and immigration laws – even after learning how Mexico deals with illegals themselves? Are we a better, more humane country for ignoring our own federal and state statutes on immigration than Mexico is for enforcing theirs? Explain that to me, please.
The children of illegals aren’t getting ‘low cost or free tuition’. They are paying the SAME amount as if they were legal Texan citizens, i.e., they aren’t paying the fees of out-of-state or foreign citizens.
Perry is saying that since he cannot LEGALLY deport them – since that prerogative belongs solely to the federal government and Obama refuses to deal with this issue…then..what is the next-best solution? Allow them to pay to go to college, learn English, get a job..rather than being supported by the state.
Remember, he can’t legally deport them. So, if he refuses to allow them to go to college, then..what’s their option? Go on welfare? Crime?
Perry is protecting his state and its people – given the realities that the federal govt won’t protect his state from illegals.
Excellent clarification, ETAB. Thanks.
“Protecting his people and his state,” you say?
Ridiculous. He’s creating yet another magnet, a welcome mat if you will, for adult illegals to bring their children into our country, in this case Texas, because, you know, the Americans, they are so stupid. They continue to let the good times roll, never pausing to think about not only the cost to them personally of this illegal invasion, but the cost to our nation’s sovereignty and the MEANING of the rule of law.
I don’t want Perry as our president. And call Bachmann sanctimonious as some here will, but the truth is Perry used the strong arm of the law to try to forcibly vaccinate young public school girls (the opt out was mere window dress-appeasement to the parental-rights lobby). He instinctively saw no problem with intruding the state into an area that limited-government proponents would never dare go. The vaccine has caused 68 deaths and 18,000 complications nationwide, yet he saw fit to mandate it against the greater wisdom of the legislature that at least understood it was bad policy.
I don’t trust his instincts on this issue which telegraphs to us — or it should if we don’t want to ignore the warning signals — that he’s another big government Republican. Well, I’ve had enough of big government Republicans; for all I care, they can join the Democrat Party where they naturally belong.
Complicity of elected officials with corporate pharmaceutical markets for future campaign contributions stretches from Texas to Capitol Hill to Washington State to Florida with pending legislation to take control of all vitamins and supplements to drag in the “prevention holdouts.” Does anybody here suspect a connection between top level job swapping in the FDA with pharma giants and attempted forced government control of all healthcare? The USDA is already neck deep in government over reach into the financially strapped small farm products market by enforcing collection of patent rights payment for Monsanto on untested genetically modified plant and animal products. Will TV media trained pharmaceutical addicted zombies be any less offensive than those on the community organization koolaid? Guess who pays for all the adds in the increased price of the products advertised.
Tell us that Perry is not aware of this like he wasn’t aware of the documented effects of contaminated vaccines or received zero campaign funds for a memory lapse. Its easy to see how lawyers merge in to politics with little difficulty unless they interrupt or reveal others’ money trails.
Wrong on all points, ETAB.
First, children of illegal immigrants will qualify for aid unless their parents are earning a certain amount and accurately reporting their income. So how many of those parents are accurately reporting income?
The myth that illegal immigrants “pay into” the system is a myth. In no large-scale employer of illegal populations — farming, produce, restaurant, construction — is there evidence to support this claim. Reporting is either not done or done with stolen identification.
So when that youth shows up at community college, they will qualify for all sorts of benefits, either as themselves or by also using stolen identification.
And if they still need to “learn English” by the time they’re in college, they aren’t going to learn English. They’re going to do nothing more than collect free services and benefits paid for by people who actually must pay their taxes, ie. people who don’t lie about their identity or status.
When I started teaching in Florida a few years ago, I was asked to come to school on my own time, on a Saturday, to “help students who couldn’t fill out their FAFSA” (financial aid) forms. There are three questions on the damn forms. If someone can’t read them or figure them out themselves, why the hell are they getting federal aid?
These students are simply being asked to pay the amount paid by students from other states. Why is that suddenly such a horrifying request? Lots of my students were hardworking, taxpaying American citizens. They sacrificed and worked while attending school — and those who did were generally the best students. Working as hard as you need to for what you want — and being honest — and paying your taxes — why is asking that of everyone such a sinful act? Aren’t those the “skills” you wish to instill with higher education, anyway?
What do you call the children of illegal aliens born in the US? Citizens.
Not worried at all about Perry’s education plan for these kids. We, as a nation, have much BIGGER issues to deal with. Perry did fine. Not perfect, but more real than Romney.
Freakin’ Bachmann is SO annoying!
No-one is talking about ‘aid’ to students. The issue is that IF the young person is living in the state already, due to the fact that they were brought here by their illegal parents…then..they CAN go to college, paying the SAME tuition that citizens of the state pay.
This is not ‘aid’; it’s tuition. They live IN the state; they do not live Out-of-State. That’s why they are asked to pay the in-state rate.
The fact is – and you are refusing to acknowledge FACTS – that Perry cannot deport them; that’s the right of and only of, the federal govt – and Obama refuses to do this.
Therefore, how does the state deal with these in-state youths who want to attend college and get jobs? Does it make it impossible for them – and thus, move them into crime and the dole? Does it set up racial identities where the hispanic youths who are heavily from illegal parents, are barred from college by being required to pay out-of-state rates? That won’t help the assimilation or the collaboration of people in the state.
Or does it do what it realistically can..given the FACT that they cannot deport them; must not allow them to drift into isolation, alienation from the rest of the community, must not leave them only paths of crime or welfare, but must enable them to be educated and assimilated.
Facts and reality are what matter. Not ideology.
“What do you call the children of illegal aliens born in the US? Citizens.
Not worried at all about Perry’s education plan for these kids.”
Those citizen “children” already qualify for in-state tuition. What Rick Perry did was to grant in-state tuition to “children” (who are overhwelmingly adults over 18) who came into this country illegally after they were born. In other words, to adults who are living in this country illegally. We do not need an “education plan” for these “kids” – we need a deportation plan for them. To grant adult illegal aliens a government benefit is to admit that you have no intention of enforcing our immigration laws.
Perry opposes workplace enforcement (E-Verify), opposes local help with enforcement, opposes a border wall, and favors government benefits for illegals. Roughly 40% (4-5 million) of the 11 million illegals living here came here legally on visas then refused to leave. You could’ve had a border patrolman every 10 feet and you would not have stopped their arrival. But open borders/cheap labor/corporate cronyist Perry believes that more border patrol is sole acceptable solution to the problem.
I live near Jacksonville, FL and have good ties with the local Latinos, partly because I speak Spanish and some Portuguese, partly because I have lived in various countries in South America.
You might be amazed that Perry is already very popular with Latinos. I am not amazed.
Just wait until Rubio is his vp candidate.
Nothing will freak out the marxists more. Their heads really will explode.
And I, as a U.S. citizen, will pay almost four times as much to send my child to the University of Texas because we are forced to pay out-of-state tuition. Which will likely rise even higher as more and more illegals who happen to have settled in Texas choose to attend there at tuition rates that are subsidized by all other students. And that is something conservatives should appreciate?
If you’ve read any of the postings on PM regarding the “higher education bubble” you would realize this is a weak argument against the children of illegal immigrants going to school at in-state rates. Sure, they will probably get aid, but many white citizens also get aid, thus driving up the cost of education. EVERYONE who gets federal student aid is subsidized by the taxpayers. I spend WAY more money subsidizing the educations of the children of American citizens than I do subsidizing education for illegal immigrants’ kids, simply because there are more of them. By your logic, I should be irate at you because, if your kids get student loans, I’m forced to subsidize their educations. I should also be irate that your kids’ use of government education subsidies (which is essentially what student loans are) is going to drive tuition up for my kids another couple hundred percent…
I don’t honestly know how I feel about this policy because I haven’t adequately researched it yet, but I do know I get ferociously annoyed by people who use weak or inaccurate arguments like this. It paints republicans as reactionary nitwits with no practical grasp of the issue.
On its face, I think the position might have some merit. It might make sense to educate illegals for various reasons. First, it would eliminate the permanent slave class the illegal immigration creates. Second, it would allow the state a census of sorts of illegals… they have to apply for admission, and on the application, they have to list personal information. Third, college-educated illegal immigrants are not likely to work for dirt-cheap. If I’m the child of an illegal immigrant, and I’ve a college degree, I’m probably going to demand more salary than what my parents were willing to work for, thus putting me on the same playing field as citizens… just a couple of thoughts.
Yet it passed overwhelmingly in a state that actually has to live with the immigration problem.
Maybe that means something.
Why do illegals need Perry’s help to go to college? Nothing keeps the illegals from going to college (unfortunately), but is it neccesary to let them pay LESS than American citizens from out of state? Again, what keeps them from attending? If they can’t afford the out-of-state rate, good. These kinds of goodies handed out to illegals do indeed act like magnets to keep them flooding across our NON-FENCED border. And what is this BS about “while seeking citizenship?” Illegals can’t “seek citizenship” without an amnesty. Have I missed something? Did it pass while I was asleep?
The fence is another place where Perry is dead wrong. He says a fence isn’t “practical” or it’s a waste of money, but never explains why. ANY ONE AGAINST A FENCE IS IN FAVOR OF OPEN BORDERS, because a fence is the only “practical” way to slow the flood to a trickle. A fence (that is a good double fence) is totally practical and MUCH cheaper than paying the tens of billions we pay for welfare and free medical care for the wetbacks. Perry seems to be good in some areas, but he is a DISASTER on illegal immigration, and I will guarantee you if he is elected, the flood will continue. Of course, I’ll vote for him in a nanosecond over the traitor.
Its all volume and the real-world ability to wage war, even a war of defense. If Mexico had undocumented Americans in the magnitudes that there are are illegals from Mexico in the U.S., why would Mexico risk its tourist economy and encourage an American invasion or even a nuking by mistreating to murdering undocumented Americans, who presumably would still have an adequate military to stand up for them? Americans arent being frog-marched from Jalpa and San Miguel del Allende into pits, Stalin-style or delivered in truckloads to El Paso and Yuma. If we were so inclined, we could simply buy that country without a shot, seeing as we would more likely be placating cartels as opposed to facing a standing government and army. As long as the undocumented within Mexico are other third world refugees (central Americans, Chinese, Indians, and scary Muslims far from their base of power), they dont court any blowback. On that last note, I wouldnt be surprised if the Islamic migrant says to a Mexican law enforcement “mess with me at your own risk”.
Why does Mexico permit/encourage? Because many of the new arrivals are sending money back home to their families & the Mexican economy.
Addendum.
Long ago in 1990 I was doing archaeology in El Salvador on a Maya site. A young El Salvadoran man who worked on the project in his late 20′s didn’t walk too well and looked like he’d mostly been through a meat grinder.
Turns out he had been a coyote transporting El Salvadoran’s through Mexico to the U.S. He got caught and was ultimately ransomed from the Mexican Federales some months later by his rather large and exceedingly poor family. In the mean time he was beaten senseless daily. The money didn’t go to the state it went to the local Federal official and his thugs. Having driven through Mexico to get to El Elsalvdor it was common at every border and in between to pay the negotiated bribe to avoid having to unload our fully packed vehicles with all our gear for inspection for contraband.
The young man will never be the same.
Meanwhile we open our arms and our wallets to illegals and if we don’t do something in restraining this northern migration of Mexico we will become Mexico. California is pretty much already there, they just don’t know it yet, but they are heading toward failed state status, shouldn’t be too long now.
Lost in all of this talk about the Texas dream act are the facts…
This bill was passed by VETO PROOF majorities in the Texas House and Senate in …. 2001! The first year that Perry was Governor. He supports it, but it wouldn’t matter one whit if he’d opposed it. The bill had and then, and enjoys now, majority support in Austin.
You guys can kick Perry all you want, but this was not his idea. He was Lt. Governor under George Bush and the democrats had a lot more control of the Texas Legislature back in 2001 too.
So you folks that are “crazy” and writing off Perry for this issue need to stop reading what the media meme is and do some careful study.. you will find a lot to like about Perry… Simon is right on target in my opinion with this article.
Rather than slow, unprepared, or not thinking quickly – I took Perry as trying to NOT jump off the hook with his answers. Since he’s a shoot from the hip kind of guy, it didn’t seem natural. I’m hoping to see the natural Perry in future debates. I also think that he should have stressed the fact that his in-state tuition is only for those that are ****ACTIVELY **** SEEKING **** CITIZENSHIP**** and have lived in Texas for three or more years.
I’ve emphasized the above comments in all caps and stars because most of the articles talking about that particular discussion seem to forget exactly what he said.
In case you missed that, here it is again:
In state tuition in Texas is granted to those who are:
****ACTIVELY **** SEEKING **** CITIZENSHIP****
and
have lived in Texas for three or more years
Perry’s comment about putting illegal aliens on the dole was bizarre.
He is saying either you let illegal aliens stay in the country and work, or you let them stay in the country and put them on welfare.
How about making them leave the country? Apparently Perry finds it unthinkable that illegal aliens should have to go home.
The only problem is that the Governor of Texas isn’t responsible for deporting illegals. The Federal Gov’t is.
Yeah, jet pilots are notoriously the slowest thinkers in the room.
Have you ever flown a plane? I have a pilot’s license. You don’t pull over like on a road and get to think about things. You think as fast as a plane flies or you die.
Rick Perry’s not dead, hence he must think as fast as a jet.
LOL. Thanks for the laugh of the afternoon.
Bother to check your facts much?
1) Rick Perry wasn’t flying a supersonic fighter. He was flying a C-130 cargo plane.
2) A C-130 is not a jet. It’s a turboprop. Maximum speed: 320 knots. Not exactly one that requires quick thinking.
3) These generally aren’t the planes the smartest, quickest thinking, most ambitious Air Force pilots aim to fly. In the early 70s that would’ve been the F-4.
4) I’ve known lots of commercial airline pilots. None of them were dumb as bricks, but most of them weren’t extremely smart, either.
5) The early 70s (late Vietnam Era) was perhaps the easiest time of all to become an Air Force pilot. I knew a pilot who entered the Air Force Academy around that time. I asked him how he got accepted. He replied, “I was the only guy from my congressional district who applied.”
If memory serves, when Perry was in training he would have flown the T-37 & T-38 jets, so -yes- he was a jet pilot. If you want to get really picky, a turboprop is actually a jet engine (turbine) linked to a propeller for thrust. So there.
Listening to pilots discuss various career choices they faced in training, a fair number actually preferred flying “trucks” like the Herky-bird. Not to mention pilot of a C-135 has to master a 4-engine aircraft with far more systems on board than does a fighter, with the former regularly facing very demanding flight profiles. Flying the Herk is not a soft option.
To me, the biggest problem with illegal aliens getting in-state tuition is the impact it has on Texas citizens. There is a limited number of in-state spots at these schools. Every spot taken by a non-citizen is a spot a citizen would have received.
Perry suffers from back problems and has been very busy running around in this past week dealing with the Texas fires. He looked more tired, stressed and uncomfortable than confused.You can bet he will be prepared next time and there will be consequences for the gang up.
How infuriating it was to hear Perry say that the reason he supported cheaper
tuition for illegal aliens than for out-of-state American kids was to keep the
illegals from being a burden on society. So he decided to award the position of
“burden” to the kids from New Mexico, Arizona, California, etc. instead? What a
weak piece of merde this guy is.
We need a good salesman for conservatism. Perry is thick tounged.
Oh, Perry is a fast thinker alright. He’s just not used to not being able to speak his mind freely. I agree with most of what Perry thinks, and when I hear him speak candidly I love it. I can see, though, why it is wise for him to consider his words and measure his responses in a setting like this. And I thought his answers on the whole were incredibly solid.
RICK PERRY DIDN’T DENY HE COULD BE BOUGHT by THE DRUG COMPANY OR ANYONE ELSE…HE JUST BALKED AT THE LOW PRICE of 5 GRAND… I BELIEVE HE’D TAKE FIVE GRAND OR ANY MONEY FOR HIS WAR CHEST.
RICK PERRY IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED…HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO STAY A CAREER POLITICIAN…HE CHANGED FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN. HE IS AL GORE’S BUDDY AND WORKED AS GORES CAMPAIGN FINANCE MANAGER.
Actually,
The Idea of a President who actually THINKS before answering a question rather than one who throw out a (prepared) pro forma answer, some mindless inanity or campaign slogan fills me with confidence. I’m sick of game show like “off the cuffs” and cheesy lines and campaign slogan speech’s.
I know a certain amount of continuity is needed by Candidates to get their theme across to the public – so a few mild slogans. “Change” “Yes, We Can” “Change we can believe in” scared the crap out of me!
This petty bickering is … low. It gives a bad impression — of all of them. It’s highly undignified, and besides it’s a big yawn. They really ought to take Newt’s lead, stop the nonsense, and rather discuss substantively what their own ideas and plans are — as opposed to Obama’s destructive policies.
And, of course, CNN is going to play and replay, over and over, all the silly moments and leave out anything of substance they actually did have to say.
Perry won, most importantly he won with independents.
Other than Ron Paul he was the only one who wasn’t scared of the audience, and he stood up to them on a couple of occasions. When he defended the tuition thing and when he (somewhat) defended the vaccine thing on the basis of “defending life”.
Now he wasn’t actually well informed. A real defense of the vaccine would have meant pointing out that it isn’t JUST a sexual transmitted disease. It’s a hardy enough virus that people get it other ways, and it DOES make sense to give the vaccine to children for that very reason.
For instance, I myself have had cold sores since I was 4. I didn’t get that from sex. And it doesn’t do any good to get vaccinated AFTER you’re infected. So can we end the stupid hysteria that tries to distinguish moral viruses from immoral viruses? It’s hard to imagine being as dumb as Santorum and Bachmann are on that “issue”.
Uh, the cold sores you get on your mouth are a different type of herpes virus than the herpes that is sexually transmitted. HPV is purely sexually transmitted. And typical of viri, there are several strains of sexually transmitted herpes and the vaccine does not protect against all of them. Lots of facts getting lost in this debate.
When it comes to sexuality and our children my wife and I are about as old-fashioned as you can get, but I’ve never really understood the hubub about the HPV vaccination. Even if a girl waits for her wedding night, there’s no guarantee that her husband won’t bring with him a silent partner from a past indescretion. Yes, HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, but we’ve never gone into detail with the girls about how one contracts measles, mumps, or rhubella either. Why is the vector of this one particular virus relevent?
Please don’t forget first principles. The usual justification for forced vaccination does not apply to HPV. You can certainly make the case for vaccinations for diseases easily transmitted through the air. Not so for STDs.
There was no “forcing”. There was an opt out. Mandating it just made sure the insurance companies paid for it, but nobody ever had to have it if their parents didn’t want them to.
Perry needs to come up with a good, informative response to this kind of misinformation because people really don’t know anything but the sound bytes his opponents (candidates and MSM) are throwing.
The problem isn’t the vaccination. The ISSUE isn’t the vaccination. The vaccination is incidental, and if you get hung up in the medical issues you will miss the REAL issue.
The issue is liberty.
What Perry did was STATISM, pure and simple, and his defense was basically, “I know what’s best for your children, and I will DO what’s best for them whether you like it or not.”
The problem with Obama and the rest of the liberals is NOT their economic or foreign policy positions.
The problem is their view of the purpose of government. In their view, government exists to create utopia, and they have no reservations about using the power of government to create their vision of utopia whether YOU like it or not.
See any parallels?
???? Don’t kids have to have measles/mumps/rubella before they start school?? College students have to have tuberculosis tine tests, etc… I fail to see why this is different. The point above about “even if girls wait until their wedding” is well taken. I took my young teen daughter to the doctor to get the HPV shot the minute it was available. Do people expect their girls will be nuns? I used to like Michelle Bachmann but I think she is being ridiculous over this one.
SB makes an excellent point; are you that upset about other mandatory vaccinations?
Second, you seem (and others) determined to ignore the opt-out included. Not so tyrannical now, eh?
(I have three teenage girls and a male young adult but am not in Texas).
If an “opt-out” provision isn’t well known, then it hasn’t been adequately advertised and folks get suspicious wondering why. This vaccine was rushed through and all of a sudden states were jumping to mandate it. I smelled “lots of money going to re-election funds” at that point. The vaccine has side effects which were not adequately addressed, either. The whole thing stank. Let us know how that “long-term effect” stuff works out, ‘k?
The candidates’ hairpieces were really distracting, and the caffeinated-caterpillar eyebrows were, too.
Opt-out provisions are usually suppressed or minimized by businesses that don’t want to lessen their profit potential – or by a state that doesn’t want to lessen a taxation potential. That’s usually been my experience and observation. Again, it’s a case of “follow the money.”
Bachmann’s point – which people don’t seem to quite get – is not so much an issue with the program itself, but the fact that parent’s rights seem to be lessened by the state over its’ enactment. She’s a mother – that’s how her mind works. To label her silly about it, or dumb in treating it that way, shows a lack of understanding or compassion. Her point of view is from a parents’ rights/responsibilities position. The State (and the states in which we live) enact laws and take positions that compromise parents’ rights all the time … it happens so much now that people don’t really consider it much anymore.
She’s trying to shed some light on that phenomenon. I think that’s good from a candidate, and I think it’s good from a parent.
The thing about required vaccinations and the state mandating them is that it strengthens the nanny state. If the government can force vaccinations ‘for your own good’ then it’s a small step to ‘you can’t eat salt for your own good’. I am in total agreement with you on this one – and I support Bachmann’s point of view on the issue. Parental rights are an important part of Liberty.
Is there any sentient being who thinks this HPV issue has national legs? Do those folks actually think that the independents(who will decide this election) are going to think this issue is a bigger deal than jobs, the economy, Israel, the “Arab Spring”, federal regulations, Iraq & Afganistan?
Bachmann looks and sounds angrier and smaller with each of these “debates”. Two more like this one and she’ll be 2’3” tall and weigh 37 lbs with a voice like a banshee.
The problem with Perry and the vaccine is that it illuminates his real views on the scope of government. He may be for “small” government but he sure doesn’t seem to be for “limited” government.
I would add, in part echoing Byron York, that immigration could be a real problem for Perry, especially since it is directly linked to jobs. Heck, we’ve already has one recent Republican president with a bad position on this do terrible damage to the party and its base when G. W. Bush pushed it so hard and viciously.
Thinking back though.. ok Perry comes across as Gozilla says, as a slow thinker.
Maybe having a good character isn’t enough to be president of the United States. Maybe he’s a poor candidate DESPITE his character. Maybe we need a smarter, faster man.
Josh,
We already have one of them faster thinkers in the Whitehouse..
He has the answer to every problem before any questions about it are asked.
CNN / Bull Blitzer’s program format was designed to get the candidates at each others throats. It failed miserably and turned out to be a boring, gooey web that most people turned off long before it was finished.
Do you assume that faster is smarter? Some people, especially those with the wisdom that comes from years of experience, simply take their time to think things through rather than shoot from the hip.
Thinking fast and having all the wrong answers [see Obama, Barack H,] is not a virtue.
He doesn’t come across as a slow thinker to me. He does come across as someone who hasn’t been intensely debating the issues, and so is giving thoughtful answers rather than overly prepared answer.
Take out the ear-buds. Constant sound is noise not music. Constant speech is propaganda not reasoned discussion. Silence allows the listener to catch up with the speaker intellectually. Otherwise you are simply part of a cheering or booing section that responds on cue.
Let’s talk about Rick Perry’s character.
Perry thinks it’s a good thing to nominate a man who has never appeared before any appellate court anywhere to be a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court because that man has a Hispanic last name, and Perry had a Hispanic general election opponent.
Character? Or maybe to Rick Perry, what mattered was the color of a man’s skin.
Does that make Perry a racist?
No, just an unprincipled opportunist.
With a racist, at least you really know where they stand.
Don’t make the mistake most people in this country do when they consider Texans; they are NOT the plodding, slow thinkers the media makes them out to be. I lived in Texas for 15 years, and trust me – they are every bit as smart there as they are anywhere else in this country. People see the boots and the chew and hear the drawls … and they assume the brain that goes along with that works at the same speed. It doesn’t.
I would much prefer dealing with someone who was thoughtful in their positions and decisions – “quick” thinkers don’t impress me by nature, because one of the earmarks of an adult is someone who thinks before they speak, or act. Now, there are things that Texans are VERY fast about – they will locate and devour the closest BBQ anywhere at warp speed, they will get home from church over the speed limit to make it to kickoff time for the Cowboys game …. and if you threaten their families or land in any way, they will point a weapon – figuratively (and even literally) faster than the best Western you’ve ever seen.
They have their principles, and they stick with them. BUT, if a Texan is wrong, he or she will be quicker about admitting it than most other people I know … and then do something about it.
I sure would love those qualities in the White House.
Texans are pretty fast to the barbeque, but they limit themselves pretty much to beef barbeque and that is a weakness.
We like pork BBQ too
What none of the candidates has (in either party) is a solid answer to The Onion’s devastating criticism of the last decade.
There are some folks here at PJM/Tatler who don’t take the The Onion seriously. What a mistake! Because what the debate illuminated plainly, is that The Onion’s criticism is right.
—————————————
U.S. Commemorates 9/11 By Toasting Stable Afghan Government From Top Of Freedom Tower
URL: http://www.theonion.com/articles/us-commemorates-911-by-toasting-stable-afghan-gove,21332/
A typical liberal with a false understanding of human nature.
Rick Perry? Fear…
Look at what the Modern Liberal; has de-evolved to. The dashes in the post impart more intelligence than the rest of the willful ignorance.
The linking is intended to fill the extensive lack of any viewpoint, that is, let my self appointed experts do the thinking for me. The thinking been done for A parsons, no need for anything more than dashes and a link, a “cuz”, and an emoticon. As in con. A fake.
Yes, there was a day when Liberals could form thoughts on their own, but Kennedy and Moynihan are long gone. Their replacements, the Modern Liberals, are hollow husks filled with their own self dumb down, to the point of the inability to express themselves, except with the thoughts of their credentialed superiors.
Damn, good thing this one wasn’t around during the Manhattan Project. Imagine, a fake A-Bomb. Poof!
Hey A parsons, did you post with these Ids too?
Dial C For Cocktail Waitress
cuz they can’t speak English, have no identification and use GoogleEarth to find their buttocks.
June 2, 2011 – 7:28 am
James May
Can you provide a link to that CFR thingy supporting the MB cuz I can’t seem to find it.
May 11, 2011 – 3:19 pm
James May
I’m not certain cuz usually I rely on facts rather…
May 11, 2011 – 3:19 pm
Remember not to remember A parsons, Winston did not.
I find you to be too dismissive, taxman. Granted there are great difficulties and human dynamics affecting the status of progress in Afghanistan, but the lack of reconstruction at Ground Zero is a pretty good symptom of a national problem. Original construction of the WTC took about six years (1966-1972). The Sears Tower took three years (1970-1973). The Empire State Building only took two (1929-1931). Do you think something like the Hoover Dam could ever complete construction in today’s America?
Submandave, it’s still perfectly feasible to rapidly accomplish large-scale high-tech projects in America …
… provided those projects serve America’s now-globalized corporate masters.
… and I for one welcome our new globalized corporate overlords …
World Trade Center? Pfui. World Trade Server is all the big banks need (or want) nowadays.
———————————-
The $300m cable that will save traders milliseconds
URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8753784/The-300m-cable-that-will-save-traders-milliseconds.html
I’m going to put the phrase “the Onion’s devastating criticism” right next to “the Three Stooges’ grand philosophy” and “Bob Dylan’s lovely voice.”
Only a liberal would take The Onion seriously.
But thanks for confirming that their supposed satire is really just another indoctrination tool of the left.
Well, I think after reading this article we all know who Roger Simon supports.
A couple of weeks ago I predicted that Michele Bachmann would not attack Perry the first time they debated, but the gloves would come off during trhe second debate. I love it when I get a prediction right!
Bachmann hit Perry where it hurts. Right in the base. His pushing sex drugs on innocent girls and his coddling of illegal immigrants is exactly the sort of thing that she had to do to regain her lead among Tea Partiers. Romney, by comparison, was resorting to the kind of attack that Obama would use. This is not going to win him any GOP support.
Huntsman didn’t lose any support last night. He doesn’t have any support to lose (obligatory Huntsman joke). The rest of the dwarfs are just there for window dressing. None of them stand a chance of winning a single state.
It’s been fun to see a stage full of candidates, but the time has come for some of them to step down. I’d like to see the field chopped down to Bachmann, Perry, Paul and RINO…oops, I mean Romney. That way the real contenders would get enough camera time to allow the voters to get to know them.
For those who have counted Bachmann out, I’m predicting egg on their faces. My girl Michele is a fighter. She won’t quit and she just might win it all yet.
Full Disclosure: I support Michele Bachmann. (Mr. Simon should have mentioned he supports Rick Perry)
Your girl Michelle is a losing candidate. She has the same level of experience the current President has. She, too, has never run anything, never managed anything, never lead anything. She, too, refuses to speak to the very people she needs support from to get her ideas passed in congress. Just like the President. She can’t even get her own party to go along with her ideas. What is she going to do as President…go on tv and give speeches about how mean and evil the Democrats are and how correct she is? We already have that in the Oval Office. Michelle has no accomplishments to her name, just like Obama. I could go on, but I think you get the jist. She is the flip side of the same coin as Obama.
Michelle’s own party doesn’t recognize her as a leader. When she ran for a leadership position, her peers yawned. They wouldn’t even appoint her Chairman of a committee. If her peers don’t recognize her as a leader, why should I?
Lastly, *if* she won the nomination (which she won’t), expect the MSM to run with this (http://thecolu.mn/1968/exclusive-bachmann-footage-at-rally) on a 24/7 loop until November 6, 2012. I don’t see Americans electing a President who spies on people.
I love Bachmann, but her role has been played, she manned the barricades and showed fight when we really needed it. God bless her.
Perry is a chief executive. We can’t afford to get this wrong.
Bachmann provided twisted facts regarding the vaccine which essentially means she LIED. Ask those of us that live in Texas regarding the issue and how an Opt-out was provided and taken by many of us. I’m a mom with a daughter that opted-out. Her fury was embarrassing. She looked and acted like a shrew. Also, she failed to explain the true facts about the issue that was pushed by many Texans. Much more info on this than she gave out.
As for the immigration issue. I really wish those of you that do NOT live in Texas would just stop it. You have no idea how ridiculous all of you sound and how ignorant your “recommendations” are to those of us that deal with the illegal immigration issue on a daily basis. Rick Perry is easy on immigration? No. He is realistic and understands the complexities the rest of you do not.
Let me put it to you this way…For those of you that want to forgo amnesty for those that have lived here for years as hardworking members of society, even though illegal, how do you propose to split their families up? The kids are Americans. Can we afford the cost of searching millions upon millions of homes to determine which members of a family are legal vs. illegal?
Are we going to hire millions of ICE agents to go house to house, pulling out all possible illegals and deporting them by the multi-millions to Mexico? How do you think that will go? Easy? Are you brain dead? This would be a major fiasco of outrageous proportions. The violence would lead to a civil war for those states along the border. What about those that are not illegals? How many would be pulled “accidentally?” How many Americans would be killed in such a fight? How would our economy handle the cost of so many agents, temporary cells, etc. Nightmare!
As for those “kids” of the illegals…most are American citizens. For those that are not, let me explain something that you guys fail to understand in your close-minded world. These kids are here. They are bored. They are angry. They are trouble. Rick Perry found a way to turn them into productive members of society – giving more back than they took. You can knock him all you want, but they finally have something to do, somewhere to go, dreams to make, etc. This has helped get gang members off the street. It has given new hopes to a troubled group. Most importantly, Perry did NOT make this decision alone – it was a TEXAS decision based on our own issues and needs. You don’t have to like it or agree with it – but since you have no real idea of what we deal with here – shut up.
The fence issue? Now, that is a joke. How many of you realize there are already miles of fencing that has been ignored by the illegals? They go over, under and around that stupid fence as if it wasn’t even there. It’s a JOKE!!! Use your brains instead of sounding like clueless liberals. What kind of fence would we have to build to keep some semblance of control? Think HUGE!!! Think expensive!!! We can’t afford the multi-millions it would cost to build and maintain such a monstrosity. And then, it would be quickly breached and made irrelevant. These people are running from chaos in their own country – they are desperate and scared. No fence will keep them out. America is freedom, food, happiness, future.
ID’s, special work cards, etc. All these ideas will never truly work until we deal with why they are coming to America and what we can do to entice them to stay home. Making them the enemy will only create more harm than good. We cannot afford the type of war this would create – we would lose our border states and tank our economy.
There are ways to deal with this issue, but what most conservatives are planning is based on ignorance about the facts of illegal immigrants. We must do this in conjunction with Mexico, fixing what these people are so desperately running from or they will keep coming – no matter how high the fence we build.
Right on, RM. As a Texan, I don’t necessarily think Perry is the second coming, but at least he has knowledge and experience with the border. The issue is so much more complicated than most people away from the border realize. With the effects of the Mexican drug gangs spilling over onto our soil, it’s an international issue that can’t be solved by walling it off, sticking your fingers in your ears, and saying, “La, la, laaaaaah!” and hoping it goes away. We might actually get solutions to the immigration issue, rather than expensive, ineffective walls (Repubs) or clueless, pretty speeches about how the border is under control (Obama). I’d love to see a Paul Ryan or Chris Christie run with a similar pragmatism towards immigration.
“Walling off” does indeed solve the problem. I’ll give you a few examples of walls that solve problems beautifully.
1) The skin on our bodies is a wall against bacteria in the environment.
2) Island countries have a wall of water around them. They don’t have problems with illegal immigration.
3) Fort Knox has a wall around it, so people can’t obtain the gold illegally.
4) A firewall on a computer protects the computer against unwanted intrusion.
5) The White house has a wall around it, so people can’t just walk into it.
6) Here is a link to a company that specializes in walls for a variety of applications: http://www.ail.ca/en/home/products/wall-systems/default.aspx
Making a statement like “walling off doesn’t solve problems” is inherently stupid. A wall is for separating two things. And if your goal is to separate two things, then a wall is what you need.
America’s goal is to separate USA from illegal immigrants from Mexico. And a of cause a wall will work for that purpose. And no – making illogical statements, doesn’t make you sound clever.
The problem with a wall in TX is that a good chunk of the border is in the middle of a river, that river has a sandy bottom and so any wall must be back far enough from the border to be stable in floods. since most of this is private land you are fencing US citizens away from parts of their PRIVATE PROPERTY. If they are Ranchers you are also fencing them away from an important source of water for their cattle, ruining their livelihoods. Perry’s recommendation for drones with night-vision and infrared along with more agents is not only more cost effective it is more practical.
Comments like this make me laugh. You’ve obviously never SEEN the US-Mexico border, have you. You are aware there’s a rather large RIVER that snakes along a good chunk of it. Please feel free to submit your plans for building a giant wall in the middle of the Rio Grande.
See, this is why the liberals now rule in America. Your analogies were ridiculous and senseless. Let’s just wall ourselves in and away from the rest of the world like crazy lunatics. Let’s spend trillions of dollars on a monstrosity that will cost trillions each year to maintain, INSTEAD of fixing the very issue of why they come over here. Yep, that’s really a smart idea…NOT! By the way, they will find a way over and under that wall – so good luck!
You can also see the other comments regarding the river issue. People, if you don’t live here – shut up! Your stupid is showing.
JL — seriously, before you call someone stupid, you should check to see where your head is (that is, firmly up your own @ss). I don’t know if you’ve ever visited our southern border, or if you’re just another armchair analyst convinced of your own brilliance, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that a fence just won’t work. You can’t man thousands of miles of border fence 24/7. Illegals will either cut holes in it or climb over it. That area down there isn’t exactly easy to patrol. It’s vast and desolate. And the poster above is absolutely right about the problem of cutting off the ranchers from their water. That would be madness. There are real solutions to this problem beyond the border fence, and I still think they should come from folks who actually deal with the border instead of a bunch of armchair quarterbacks from other parts of the country who think they know better.
Oops. That reply should be from me TO “JL”, not from JL. Doh. Serves me right replying to high-octane political stuff after a night at the bar!
Interesting and thoughtful comments. Perry was definitely losing conservative points with me on these issues last night. I guess I’ll keep listening in light of your suggestions here.
Anchor babies are not AMericans. They go home with their parents. Problem solved.
I disagree. Mexico will never fix this problem because they see it as source of revenue. They will never give that up.
As for the average Mexican? Seriously, I could care less about their living conditions at home. Most are blatant about wanting a second home in Mexico and readily admit their family members are on a rotating basis here in the states. Their arrogance and sense of entitlement just serves to fuel resentment. I can’t even stand to hear someone speaking spanish anymore.
If it were left to me I would recall our troops from abroad and station them on the border. We are already at war. Between the drug cartels and the mexican military making forays into our country we have already lost huge swaths of territory. Our government has willfully sided with the invaders – arresting and imprisoning our border patrol agents, while our courts give the property of American to illegals.
It’s all a farce and I’m sick of it. It’s NOT that complicated. We are at war and THEY have invaded!
Please run for President.
One more thing to mention to all you non-Texans: the border between Texas and Mexico is a RIVER, all the way from El Paso Del Norte to Brownsville and the Gulf. You gonna buid your fence down the middle? Some places it may show, but Lake Amistad is a bit deep for that. Try to build it on the Texas side, the farmers and ranchers will shoot you dead for blocking access to the water for cattle and crops. Same thing on the Mexican side.It’s a river, people! Down here, water is life, and Perry knows that!
What about the stretches of the border that are not a River?
It’s all river. I doubt New Mexico would appreciate building a dam to secure the Rio Grande as it enters the state as one of two major rivers.
Texans know Perry is correct. The feds have tied the hands of the border governors in terms of security & enforcement with the usual liberal schitzoid policies that hopelessly tie up the courts and lead to graft.
Most Latinos that come to Texas want to be Tejanos (Spanish for Texan) & they have familial ties that go back generations. Texans have been at this a long time with Mexico and Tejanos own businesses and pay taxes.
I’m glad Perry called it like Texans see it…Nobody is yammering for a canadian fence or complaining about radical Polish or Chinese immigrants. Some of these folks have to wait 8-10 years for citizenship while they watch other refugees get it almost immediately and when these Tejanos get their citizenship they are proud Americans.
The GOP can’t expect to win the general election without a rational and workable border solution & I don’t expect someone from Mass or Mn. to do anything more than sweep it under the rug. Perry can split the Latino vote because the conservative Hispanics (small business owners & social cons) will vote for him and that counts….especially in the southwest.
Perry can make a serious dent from FL to CA.
Excellent comments on every point. Thanks so much.
Perry doesn’t explain himself well – and you’ve done it very well, filling in all the blanks.
The vaccine had an opt-out clause and it wasn’t hidden; parents knew about it.
The children of illegals, even if not born here, must be dealt with. Texas has no legal right to deport them; that is the duty of the federal government and Obama refuses to deal with illegals, with the borders, with their existence here.
So- since Texas can’t round them up and deport them, the best solution is to educate them as citizens. Perry gave them the option to go to college, paying the same in-state fees as other Texan citizens, i.e., not the fees assigned to out-of-state or foreign students. And – as he said, they learn English and get a job..rather than being ‘on the dole’. That’s the best solution, given the reality that the federal govt refuses to act.
And a border fence is indeed a waste of money; Perry’s suggestion was ‘boots on the ground’ and air surveillance. He’s right.
I’m in favor of Perry. Romney is too slick; he’s similar to Obama. So – put him in a debate with Obama and all you’ll get is too slick mouths talking at each other, each making promises about everything, each declaring their own perfection. I don’t trust Romney to develop principles and stick to them, while I feel that Perry will do that.
ETAB — Compliments on an excellent clarification of what’s happening in Texas. Gov. Perry isn’t slick, he’s not glib, he doesn’t have reams of data to be expressed in the way that wonky Washington admires. He just makes good, solid decisions and sticks with them. President Eisenhower would look foolish in the silly TV productions that today pass for “debates.” Appreciate your strong and intelligent comment here.
Outstanding post by RM. Definitely PJM/Tatler could use more posts like it.
A candidate with similarly well-reasoned & clearly-stated positions on health-care, AGW, and the economy, would have put pretty much every other candidate in the debate in the shade.
RM for President!
And A parsons for Chicken.
Have a link for Chickens? Be brave now, that fake A-Bomb might yet go off!
Buck, buck, buck! Link!
Just… “cuz”. Link!
Dial C For Cocktail Waitress
cuz they can’t speak English, have no identification and use GoogleEarth to find their buttocks.
June 2, 2011 – 7:28 am
“Parsons — Winston’s naïve neighbour and an ideal member of the Outer Party: an un-educated, suggestible man. He is utterly loyal to the Party and believes fully in its image of perfection.”
Remember not to remember A parsons.
Link.
No, they are not. No portion of the Constitution says so, neither does any law passed by Congress. Only a very wrong court decision says so, and that can, and should be, overturned.
No, it won’t be making an ex post facto law – it’s simply saying that the court never had any authority to make such a ruling and that all subsequent actions based on that illegal ruling are null and void.
Even if we decide to make them Americans, their parents are NOT, and there is no reason to allow them to remain here illegally.
It is simply morally wrong, and tactically unsound, to allow these criminals to keep the spoils of their criminal actions.
There is no need to do so. This is a straw man argument. Seal the border, stop the incentives, and attrition will take care of the rest.
Bachmann is not going to win the nomination by attacking Perry on the Gardasil issue. I’m very conservative and have used opt outs for my own kids, at times, but I think Perry’s opponents have exaggerated this whole thing. Vaccines have been life savers – not without some bad effects, but overall much much more beneficial than harmful. Bachmann sounds like one of those nuts that attributes autism, etc., to vaccines no matter how many studies have disproved it. Talk about being against science!
Sad – if you’ve gotten that impression from her, then you really haven’t listened to or studied her positions at length. Too bad – she’s one of the two best candidates from the GOP, and is more prepared than Sarah Palin was in 2008; although Sarah has now elevated her game extremely well since then.
We live in a very unique political time – we have in the White House quite simply the worst President ever to be elected; we have eight or nine GOP potential candidates for President that are running, five of which have true potential as Presidential candidates (Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich, Cain, and Santorum) to beat Obama with; and we also have two excellent female contenders – one a candidate, and the other a potential candidate (although I really don’t think Palin will run this time).
When you step back and look at everything, this period will be studied and commented on a lot in the future.
It’s exciting and frightening all at the same time.
I’m against Bachmann. She may be, ideologically, a conservative, but moving from the ideology into the actual is another step and I don’t know if she has that ability to work with people.
I’m tired of her constant self-references to herself being ‘the first to object to this’, the ‘first to speak against that’. Words are not actions – and we have someone who lives only within words already in the White House.
Furthermore, I find her black-and-white political statements disturbing. These include her attack against Perry for the HPV vaccine – where she, using words, ran right over the facts: the opt-out clause, the provision for its being free for those without insurance, and the fact that the state legislature rejected the campaign barely three months after Perry signed the bill and that Perry accepted the legislature’s decision and did not veto it – and he has a history of using that veto power. Bachmann ignored these facts and focused only on political rhetoric. I find this disturbing and..reminds me of Obama.
The way to beat Obama is not via putting up yet another candidate whose reality is built within words. We need someone based on actual govermental experience. Perry may find words difficult but he’s more than capable of strong actions.
Maybe its just me – or her manner of delivery – but every time I hear Michele talk I feel like it’s in a condescending tone.
Bachmann is like an LP (dating myself here) with a skip. Same points, same comments, same answers delivered in a grating voice and an annoying tone. She’s not ready for prime time but gets FAR too much of it (blame Fox for that, my friends).
I’m to the point when I here she’s “up next” I hit the mute or change channels.
you mean she’s a broken record?
We would have liked to hear ohIdon’tknow “answers” to the “questions” that were asked.
Northern Light:
Gardisil is a “sex drug”? Oy.
Beware the Sex Vaccine at the School-based Sex Clinic! Squawk!
Bachmann sounded like a hysterical lunatic last night.
Northern Light, Mitt Romney is a bit of a liberal but he is NOT a RINO.
Ron Paul is the RINO.
When Romney, whom I do not support for the nomination, engages in GOP primaries, caucuses and conventions, he supports the winners thereof even when
he does not like those winners. In that regard is is rather like the late Mark Hatfield who vigorously campaigned for a doomed Barry Goldwater in 1964. He does his duty.
Ron Paul insists on participating in the same GOP functions and then feels free to endorse, support and even campaign for others if he does not like the Republican choices. (All for great and noble reasons, you understand.)A civilized political system cannot endure if this type of reform politician ever holds sway.
Romney is the man who foisted RomneyCare on Massachusetts, acted the liberal while in office there, and denied (on video) that he was in any way ideologically similar to Ronald Reagan.
Smells like RINO to me.
Romney is Obama-lite; all of his positions come with expiration dates. I wouldn’t vote for Ron Paul for president, but at least he sticks to his guns.
For some reason, people don’t seem to trust Romney. He comes off too much like a used car salesman, although Washington is full of those. We all know that Romney is a RINO and seems no better than McCain, but why settle for that when you can have a more conservative candidate in Perry? If Perry doesn’t make any major mistakes in the next few months, he may just pull it off. As for the other Republicans on that stage, they had better STOP attacking Perry and start focusing on the real problem in this country, Obama. I think that’s why people are starting to tune the other candidates out. If all they can do is attack Perry, they’re not spending too much time telling us why we should vote for them.
Romney comes off as a smirking, overaged punk.
Contrast Romney’s governorship during relative BOOM YEARS to Perry’s performance during economic crisis.
Great points. Bottom line: Mitt Romney is the guy the GOP “establishment” backroom guys want in the White House; Rick Perry is the guy the Tea Party and the independents will end up voting for.
If he’s as smart as I think he is, he’ll ask Michele Bachmann to be his VP if and when the time is right. She could be President herself, but I smell a little bit too much anti-female Tea Party-itis in the GOP these days. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the reality.
Perry is the guy grassroots Republicans would have liked John McCain to have been – and also why the GOP establishment supported McCain in 2008. He “mavericked” them, though, when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate (the only truly smart thing he did), and then let some of his staff proceed to sandbag her during the campaign. Perry wouldn’t do that to Bachmann – and SHE wouldn’t LET him, anyway.
Good luck with that; Bachmann is a cloying ditz with a past career as an IRS attorney and whose statements about the Federal Reserve crime cartel illustrate that she can’t even read the black-letter law (U.S. Constitution, Art I Sec 8, 10) much less know how to stop the scam.
On the basis of his book “Fed Up!”, one can readily see that only one other person in the GOP race has the grasp of the issues at hand, that Rick Perry has; that is Ron Paul. But 29 years after having written his Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission (a.k.a. “The Case for Gold”) the best that Ron Paul can do is…call to AUDIT the largest financial crime cartel in history? Oh, way to go, Ron Paul…you are the MAN!
Look, American government for 150+ years has been operating under the principles of fascism as defined later by Giovanni Gentile (the founder of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy). Government and corporations in alliance, as lions and hyenas after gazelles.
Moreover, American government and special interests (welfare queens, blue-haired grandmas, lifetime military sponges, bureaucrats who never saw an honest job) have teamed up to assure that Washington D.C. practices ALL TEN of Karl Marx’s 10-point Communist Manifesto. Doubt this? Go look it up; read it and weep.
Andrew Jackson warned us in 1837 about the ‘evil bankers’, but in 1862 the Congress joined them (passing the ‘Legal Tender’ Act in high violation of the Constitution) and the rest is U.S. history of financial crime. Read the books “Blood Money: The Civil War and the Federal Reserve”, and “Red Republicans and Lincoln’s Marxists”. We’re in a far, far deeper hole than Americans realize. No president can change that, but if a few million Americans take this very seriously, we can bring the criminal courts of our sovereign States back into action, to enforce the financial, banking, and fraud laws of our STATES in criminal indictments against the bent mebers of Congress, severally.
By his writing, Rick Perry has indicated he might be a second Andrew Jackson, and could be the champion and figurehead for such an historic restoration of the Constitution. But he could not, by the very nature of the case, do the thing himself. That isn’t within the power of the office of POTUS.
TeethForTheTeaParty.com to see the video and learn more, or read my book “This Bloodless Liberty” (all proceeds go to AmericaAgain! Trust).
Those who honestly want America back, this will take far more than electoral politics.
Hey Zuniga, please define “lifetime military sponges”.
Are those the men and women who spend their lives being sent all over the world to defend the rights of pansy, effete (not elite), bloviaters like you to wax eloquently pontificating on matters of which you know little about?
Michelle Malkin pretty well nails Romney:
Romney looked every bit the careful, calculating flip-flopper he was the last go-around and remains today.
Your comment is representative of the thinking of a lot of folks in the GOP base: Let’s just crown Perry the nominee, have all the other candidates drop out, and get it over with.
And that’s what worries me.
The GOP base seems on the verge of repeating the mistake the Dem base made in 2008: Instantly falling in love with a candidate who they see as “one of them,” and who makes them feel good about themselves. But without properly vetting the candidate. Without considering the serious objections that the candidate’s rivals had. (In the case of Obama, Hillary turned out to be absolutely right about his lack of capacity for leadership. But the Dem base didn’t care because they had already fallen in love with him.)
We’re making all the same mistakes that we used to blame the Obama Administration for making.
Just yesterday and the day before, I had posted that too many Republicans want to copy Rahm Emanuel’s playbook and “not let this crisis go to waste.” Emanuel used the economic slump as an excuse to foist ObamaCare on us. The GOP base wants to use the economic slump as an excuse to undo everything that FDR’s New Deal did.
There is a strong case to be made that we wouldn’t be in the economic mess we’re in, if it weren’t for the bad things that Fannie and Freddie did. But there’s no such case for Social Security. It’s irrelevant to our *current* economic problems. Why Perry even bothered to attack SS in his book is a mystery to me.
I live in Texas. I moved here 7 years ago. I think Rick Perry is a pretty good governor, and I like him better than any of the other candidates. BUT… I still think it’s valuable to have several of the “long shots” take part in the debates.
First off, some of them (Newt, Cain, Santorum) are more articulate than Perry and do a good job talking about conservative principles. Ron Paul talks about stuff no one else will. Some people think he is a kook, but he is a principled person, and even if you don’t agree with him, he has integrity. Huntsman… yeah, he should be out.
I also don’t have a problem with Perry being a pinata. He’s got broad shoulders, he can take it, and hopefully it will make him a stronger candidate going up against Obama.
The ONE thing I do have issues with re. Perry is the immigration issue – I think he is right that without a federal willingness to deport illegals, the Governor’s hands are often tied, but he could probably be more hard-core on the issue. However, he IS great when it comes to the economy and jobs, and he has done a great job managing crises in Texas, from hurricanes to wildfires. He also is a decent person. He’s got a sense of humor. He’s comfortable in his own skin.
I like him a lot. I actually would have preferred a few other people who are not running – Mitch Daniels or Bobby Jindal. I hope Palin stays out at this point. I think if she got in, she, Bachmann and Perry would split the Tea Party vote and give the nomination to Romney. don’t get me wrong, I would vote for Romney against Obama, but I would much rather vote for Perry.
If you think that Social Security is irrelevant to our *current* economic problems, it’s clear that basic economics is a mystery to you.
If you think that the mindset behind Social Security is irrelevant to our *current* political problems, it’s clear that the basic principles on which our country was founded are a mystery to you.
Would that possibly be due to the fact that he’s a complete phony? One who, in his only elected office, governed with 100% consistency like a committed leftist, and now suddenly paints himself as a conservative?
Yeah, that would be the reason.
I want a Franken-candidate…Newts intellect, Paul’s love of Freedom, Bachman’s conviction, Santorum’s principles, Cain’s business/problem solving acumen, Perry’s swagger, and Romney’s looks….and , well, (Huntsman), it wouldn’t hurt if they could tell the Chinese where to get off in their own language.
You might have a little trouble getting the current owners to surrender those parts — never mind how much work it would be to sew them together! But yes, that would be about as close as we could come to an ideal candidate. Is there such a person, anywhere in the political class? Or is our only recourse to fiction?
Rob Portman.
Although I don’t know about the Chinese part. Huntsman could be a useful Cabinet member.
I agree about Newt, he always strikes me as the smartest, best informed person in the debate. Bachman and Romney leave me unimpressed, and I can’t make up my mind about Perry. He seems to be the one scoring well in the polls though, so he may well end up a the candidate. I’d be more comfortable with Newt.
G A
Very clever post! Love your frankencandidate!!
It is down to Perry and Bachmann in my opinion. (I would possibly support Newt if I thought he could win). It is difficult for Perry because he has a record to defend, whereas Bachmann does not. Perry is not a slow thinker. He was the proverbial piñata, and he did well, taking many hits and answering almost all of them with confidence. While I do not agree with Executive Order to pass the proposed vaccine, the MMR vaccines are required for public school attendance and that’s pretty widely accepted. It was beneath her dignity for Bachmann to accuse Perry of crony capitalism for a $5000 political contribution. I suppose all campaign contributors are off limits if small contributors are. And Perry has a lot of contributors because he is a strong believer in capitalism.
Romney’s jabs at Perry regarding job growth in Texas were irritating. All of a sudden the Obama Recession hasn’t affected Texas? I love that Perry said “no thanks” to federal money when he knew that it was yet another insidious attempt for Washington to worm its way into Texas politics. Don’t tread on us.
A lot of big boys are saying that Romney won the debate. So don’t count him out yet. Unless Sarah gets in, it is probably down to Romney, Perry, and Bachmann though.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/romney-wins_593478.html?nopager=1
The Weekly Standard is the house organ of the GOP Ruling Class; of course they would say that Romney won.
PLUS OweBama has TWICE denied Texas disaster relief, including until recently in the current wildfire calamity. OweBama will blow incredible amounts of money many places, but Texas is not one of them. Not only is he trying to destroy the American economy, but he’d like to see Texas’s economy harder hit by the Obama Recession.
Huntsman was the Governor of Colorado, not Utah. Former Utah Governor Gary Johnson was locked out of the debate.
If Johnson and Thaddeus McCotter weren’t locked out of the debate, I might have watched some of it instead of football.
Huntsman was Governor of Utah, Johnson was Governor of New Mexico, and McCotter is from Colorado
McCotter was born in Livonia, Michigan, and represents Michigan in the House of Representatives. He is someone who could fulfill the Newt role while not having the Newt baggage, and thus be potentially electable. He is a brilliant guy who would add to these “debates”; why he is excluded while Huntsman and others are included is beyond me.
Good grief. Huntsman was most definitely Governor of Utah and Johnson was Governor of New Mexico. Pay attention.
Huntsman was indeed governor of Utah. Johnson was governor of New Mexico.
DOES SARAH PALIN HAVE EGG ON HER FACE?
Comment by Marv — September 13, 2011 @ 1:09 am
It would probably be a good idea for Sarah Palin to think twice before joining the pile-on-Perry crowd over the Guardicil vaccine dustup. I don’t think that issue has much more juice to it. I would expect Perry will work to polish his delivery on both the vaccine question and immigration.
“(Juneau, Alaska) ? The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced today that an increase in federal funding will make it possible for all Alaska girls ages 9 through 18 to receive Gardasil ®, the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, at no cost.”
http://www.hss.state.ak.us/press/2007/pr053107fed-funding-hpv-vax.htm
Palin does not have egg on her face. The issue is the government MANDATE, which Palin as Governor did not follow Perry on. Your cited article talks about further availability of the vaccine. That’s a whole different issue. Palin’s criticism of Perry last night was consistent with her record as Governor. Perry was putting “crony capitalism” ahead of conservative small government principles in his EO on Gardasil.
A mandate with a built-in opt-out is not a mandate. People here are either being played by Perry’s opponents (and as I stated higher-up the thread, I do NOT like the man, not one bit) or else are being intentionally disingenuous.
If I were you i would be less concerned with an egg on Palins face than the lobster roll drooling down Obamas chin. At least most Americans can still afford an egg.
” A guide to Obama’s favorite eateries
•Indigo, 1121 Nuuanu Ave., Honolulu
Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s sister, who lives in Honolulu, has said Indigo is one of her brother’s favorite spots. Indigo is a hotspot in Chinatown, popular with everyone from locals like Kelsey Grammer to Honolulu’s political and business power players.
This “island fusion” eatery features a fresh and eclectic menu by chef Glenn Chu that matches the urban, Eurasian decor.
Greg Johnson, Indigo’s vice president of operations, said when the Obamas visited in August, they started with the dim sum plate ($14), which includes goat cheese won tons, lumpia-wrapped shrimp (similar to eggrolls) and duck mu shu rolls.
For dinner, they had one of the most popular items: toasted black mustard and pepper crusted ahi served rare with wasabi soy, sun dried tomato and olive tapenade ($36).
“We treated them just like any another guest,” Johnson said. “What I mean by that is, we made sure not to take pictures, or bother him or his guests and really just let them enjoy themselves.”
Other popular dishes are miso-marinated salmon ($22) and tandoori-style grilled chicken breast with mint pesto ($24).
•Alan Wong’s, 1857 S. King St., Honolulu
Another Obama favorite is Alan Wong’s, according to his sister. The acclaimed restaurant is a leader in Hawaii Regional Cuisine, which is a fusion of flavors and foods from the islands’ many cultures, stressing local ingredients like seafood and produce.
Dinner entrees range from $27 to $52. Popular items include ginger-crusted onaga, a long-tail red snapper, and twice-cooked short rib. ”
I guess class warfare ends when its time to belly up.
Have you seen Palin’s “negative”? They are over 50%. NO ONE (repeat NO ONE) can get elected with numbers like that and there is absolutely no way she can turn those around. The electorate, rightly or wrongly, feels they know all they need to know about her. She simply can’t win and this circus act about “will she/won’t she” is a distraction we can ill afford.
We need a strong serious candidate if we want to regain the WH. Palin just won’t get ‘er done.
Palin is to Obama as gold is to a turd.
The genius in all this is Palin. She knew these folks would shoot each other down. Perry ended up with steer manure on his shiny boots and Jindal showed his amature standing by endorsing him before he had run the gauntlet for his past liberal indisgressions.
Sarah remains the prime choice for stopping RINO Romney and going another cycle of the GOP shooting themselves in the foot with liberal-lite.
Sarah has put her finger on the pulse of what needs to happen -both parties have failed America and need an political enema (sorry but the metaphor fits)
The only thing sillier than a Paulista is a Pallinista. I love Sarah but she ain’t runnin. Get a freakin clue. Go back to that small hole in the ground where you live. freerepublic
Palin has descended into the role of an anklebiter. The fanatics might appreciate her stints on Greta’s show, but I sure don’t.
I’m not a Perry supporter. Let’s make that plain from the start.
I feel that his job as Governor of Texas is “as good as it gets” for him where his Progressive tendencies are held in check (mostly) by the nature of the weak office.
That said he has shown that he’s the most viable announced candidate. I love Hermain Cain and like Thad McCotter. I could get along with Ron Paul. I would not vote for Romney even on a three day bender and I’d sooner vote Obama than vote Huntsman. I’m lukewarm on everyone else.
Palin hasn’t announced and would do better staying out of the race, sucking up time, money and fear-mongering from the Left without having to raise one thin dime. Yes, I think she would be a great President, but the nation would be a real mess after all the Liberal talking heads explode like a Super Splatter Edition of “Scanners” (Eww!).
I’m not a Perry supporter. But I would vote for him against Obama. I would say “any day of the week and twice on Sunday” except I’m not a Democrat so I don’t believe in violating voting laws.
An even-handed critique on the whole even though we do understand that you basically favor Perry. To comment, sequentially, as pure independent (registered in Reform Party of Florida but will register Republican in time to vote for Buddy Roemer in the primary).
Par. 1 – Things DO look good in the world of Republican debates, but he’ll be easiest to beat for Obama in the real election.
Par 2 – The questions are ALREADY tedious, I only listen cause I’m a junkie! I do think CNN did a fairer job of letting all participate than NBC
Par 3 – Gingrich and Cain (as you point out at end of piece) didn’t pile onto either candidate because they both are really running for 1) a job in a Republican White House and 2) Raise their speechifying fees–neither is running for prez
Huntsman, Bachmann and Santorum sore hads?? B and S are DESPERATE, they’re gone soon for good as polls dive. Huntsman? For me, he’s George Bush I all over again. He’s the Republican version of the Kennedy story — oldman makes millions and now he wants a son to be president. Do I want a president who can speak Chinese to the Chinese? Not really–can hire interpreters for that. What bothers me is HOW his father made his billions in China–HAD to play footsie I imagine.
I have always predicted Bachman and Palin would be zeros by Election Day 2012 because I KNOW it is corporate money that rules the party and can’t imagine letting the big boys allow two long-haired ladies, going off uncontrolled by them, to ever become president. Not even VP. For me, it was McCain choosing Palin for VP that was last straw–I ended up voting for Obama, first democrat since 1970.
Huntsman calling Perry a “traitor”? He was JOKING for gosh sakes, Mr. Simon! He’s just hamhanded at jokes. All he’s got to give a rich boy a populist cast is that motorcycle and a few lame jokes.
As to your thought that Perry declaring in favor of Social Security will take care of fears of the nation on that point? Let me quote my favorite article now getting internet buzz, by Mike Lofgren, former Republican congressional staffer:
“If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren’t after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naivete. They will move heaven and earth to force through tax cuts that will so starve the government of revenue that they will be ‘forced’ to make ‘hard choices’–and that doesn’t mean repealing those very same tax cuts, it means cutting the benefits for which you worked.”–Mike Lofgren, http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779
Cut/Paste it, Read it and weep.
What are you talking about? Obama has already taken 500 Billion dollars form Medicare and half of all Social Security payments. Why should we expect coherent thoughts from someone who has to rationalize why they voted for an inexperienced, spread the wealth around socialist, child?
Years ago I heard from someone that “Perry is not the sharpest knife in the drawer”. I have no idea what motivated the comment, but he was in a position to know. I however, like Perry, but that comment stuck with me. I take solace that at least Perry is a knife, has an edge, and is IN the drawer. And I’ll take that any day over our current plastic spoon of a president.
Obama is a spork.
Love it!! Both your comment and hollywood Hick’s.
But I’m sure glad you type well. A single letter might have gotten you labeled as a raaaaacist.
Any of them would be better than Obama.
Bingo!!!!
No, Romney would be far worse. Huntsman would be mildly worse.
A false friend is the worst enemy.
That’s not just a trite saying, it’s reality.
“The guy that is going to win the nomination, and beat Obama, is the guy that will rip Obama’s record the best. With the Main Stream Media covering for Obama ALL the candidates MUST use EVERY opportunity to do that.
I hope the candidates and their strategerists figure that out.
My conclusion is that if they rip each other it is because they are not smart or fell they do not have the tools to whip Obama.”
Roger, or anyone, else that has a cell phone number to a candidate or stategerist phone them up with this prod.
Perry certainly has merit and deserves close attention, but you appear to be supporting him more as a Kool-Aid drinker and less as a rational voter. Some of his actions deserve serious consideration and critique. Dismissing serious liberty concerns about mandatory vaccinations as being anti-cancer is the same level of rhetoric we get when Democrats accuse us of of being anti-children for not jacking taxes up into the stratosphere. And saying that Huntsman sounds nuts for calling Perry treasonous just highlights how entirely nuts Perry sounded when he did the same to Bernanke.
You shouldn’t turn your (very sharp and erudite) brain off just because the Marlboro Man makes googly eyes at you.
This issue clearly demonstrates the difference between Perry and Obama, Perry can admit a mistake which indicates he is capable of learning. Obama never admits a mistake which indicates he is incapable of learning. That is why he continues policies that are obvious failures over and over again.
Cain/Palin ~ to neuter the identity politics of the left FOREVER is my dream ticket:)
God~Bless~America
Yes! Totally mine as well. I think stuff would get done in D.C. at last towards dismantling the hydra-headed monster of government there.
Bachmann and Santorum or to self righteous for me. Everytime Bachmann was talking it was like nails on a chalkboard. She just needs to go away. Santorum , same thing. We have a man in the White House destroying America, and these two are so selfish and self centered to be president. They just need to take a hike or take a clue from Gingrich how to debate.
Thank you for this perspective on the debate last night — seems about exactly right.
Romney still flipflops. Gingrich focuses all eyes on the common goal with humor, generosity and finesse. Caine is refreshing. Bachman is all Tea Party, a good thing, yet somehow abrasive. Santorum makes good effort if not much mileage. Huntsman belongs in another venue.
Perry is himself, not perfect but personable and frank with proven successful experience, regardless of what naysayers spout. Most appealing is his sturdy backbone and willingness to lead, his understanding of and appreciation for this country.
Candidates would better promote our common cause by emphsizing their positions on issues in contrast to Obama’s plans and outcomes to date. Cattiness within the group is not attractive to most people, certainly not to me, and whining accomplishes nothing worthwhile.
Again, thank you for describing what you saw. The headline says it all.
Sincerely, AB Catson
Perry’s going to end up running against Hillary Clinton.
…or Phil Bredesen.
Another likely outcome is Obama squeaks by, but the Republicans get to 300 house seats and 60 senate seats. Obama takes his marbles and runs away – Hello President Biden.
The Gaff-Master as POTUS?
God help us!
about the vaccines: he reversed it. has the O reversed anything? There was a considerable debate in Texas, all over the newspapers, all over the internet. People called their representatives. People called his office. And, his staff answered the phone, and took the messages, and helped people connect to each other. That is- I was told how to find other people opposed to the plan. Helpful, polite, well- spoken, really smart staff.
When I tried calling for ObamaCare? No one picked up the phone. When I wrote letters, the rep sent back a note saying he was going to do the right thing and support ObamaCare even though most of his constituents were against it. And, as you know, we are spending millions of state tax dollars to shut it down.
I’ll take the Perry sequence of events any day.
Obama reverses himself all the time.
2008 Said he’d close Gitmo
2009-now meh, keep it open
2008 Civil trials for the gitmo detainees
2009-now nm, my bad
yeah, part of the problem is that Obama reverses himself all the time. It comes from having no principles. The contrast with Perry is striking, Perry admitted he was wrong, now *that’s* something Obama doesn’t do.
I think Santorum, if he doesn’t run out of steam, will probably be one of the last 3 on the podium. He’s the most articulate of the group and probably the most conservative. I think Mr. Simon let the media’s coronation of a primary challenger get ahead of a reasoned look at how the candidates actually fared yesterday.
Keep your eye on the ball! Every one of these candidates would make a better president than the Kenyan. That is the objective, to send Obama back to obscurity and destroy the democrat Congress for 30 years!
I respectfully disagree. A Romney or Huntsman administration with even a partially supportive Congress would be much, much worse than another Obummer administration grid locked by a conservative Congress. One loves the MA gun control laws, the other wants to strip away the mortgage deduction and happily served Obummer’s foreign policy objectives.
A second term for Obama would be a disaster of such magnitude that America may not recover
Agreed, but an Obummer term that gets absolutely nothing through congress is still likely better than a Romney term that gets absolutely anything through congress.
Sorry Roger,
You can spin all you want, but Guarasil, the TTC, and especially the “Dream Act” were huge blunders by someone purporting to be for limited government and national sovereignty. You need to tell you man Rick that he’s better off to admit that he was wrong and has learned from his mistakes, because his positions on these issues are indefensible.
The more he tries to defend them they more he comes across as a status quo, business as usual establishment republican. And that won’t cut it.
TTC was a scheme to improve rural roads without tax payers paying for it. IT NEVER WENT INTO EFFECT. The voters said NO and it went bye bye. Same with Gardisil. TTC was connected to a NAFTA mandate from the Clinton years & spun by the liberal media as a land grab.
Interesting that folks beat up on Perry over stuff that never actually went into effect due to checks & balances in Texas (Gardisil & TTC) or over a Texas Law that had overwhelming support in the state from both parties (Instate Tuition).
And yet Romney gets a pass on Romneycare the blueprint for Obamacare?
If conservative voters don’t want Perry then hang yourselves searching for the perfect candidate cause Romney can’t beat Obama. He’s a oneterm governor with a record only a democrat could love.
A reminder that the reason why they have these debates and why they are important is that they provide an opportunity to bring out all the stuff that the other party’s opposition research people will dredge up, and to do so BEFORE the primaries are held and the convention picks the nominee. It may be annoying to watch these candidates – including the no-chance ones – go after each other, but the last thing you want is for any of this stuff coming out as an October surprise.
Perry was cut down a couple of notches and that doesn’t surprise me. He is, after all, only human, and he does have a record as long-term officeholder to defend. Speaking for myself, I haven’t warmed up to him yet, but on paper at least he does seem to be at least minimally adequate, and maybe much better than that. I could live with a President Perry, and that certainly would be better than another four years of Obama, but he hasn’t sealed the deal yet as far as becoming my first choice.
Romney was about as good as I’ve ever seen him tonight. He is at least minimally adequate as well, and I could also live with him in the White House. I still haven’t warmed up to him yet, but on the basis of his performance last night he moved the needle just a little bit in his favor, perhaps.
Bachmann was very strong and articulate. She’s made it clear that she isn’t going to be slinking meekly and quietly into the night. I doubt that she’ll make it to the nomination, but she is setting herself up very nicely for a run at the senate. I suspect that we are going to be seeing and hearing a lot from her for a very long time to come.
Cain may also have a senate race in mind, but actually he’s also setting himself up to be a strong possibility for the VP pick. He’d be a great pairing with either Perry or Romney. If he isn’t picked for VP, I see him as just about certain for something like Secretary of Commerce.
Huntsman might be a good Secretary of State, but frankly I think he is well on the way of destroying his chances even of that consolation prize. It is not just that he has no chance for the nomination, he is quickly self destructing his chances for any public office.
Gingrich is starting to look better as a potential Sec. of State. By staying above the fray and sounding wise and experienced, he is setting himself up very nicely for that pick. I think that is about the highest and best public office that he can aspire to with any realistic hope of attaining it.
As for Ron Paul, this is his swan song, and maybe that’s the case for Santorum as well.
Want a quick thinker? How about Adolph Hitler? What another quick thinker? Barack Obama. Want an American? That would be another name.
Interesting comment, and one I was contemplating as well. I’ll take a slow thinker any day.
But I doubt that little lenin is a quick thinker. He is simply a highly trained liar. Anybody could learn to do it, except people with a conscience.
Whether or not you want to admit it, Al-Qaeda’s own justification for attacking the U.S. was because of U.S. intervention and BOMBING in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan over the past 50 years. It’s in the 9/11 commission report. All you have to do is look it up. Instead of course, you’ll just denigrate the only man who has the brains and integrity to stand against this warfare/welfare state that we’re creating, without bothering to look up the facts. And, like the liberals calling conservatives racist, they’ll attempt to call me or him some other nonsensical Ad Hominem.
So, I’ll summarize what I can of the recent facts, noting that this leaves out numerous details of the horrifying maliciousness and brutality of both sides of this conflict:
Clinton, in years prior to 1998, had been equipping and supporting Islamic radicals in Bosnia and Herzegovania, proviiding them with weapons and passports. Among them, was Osama bin Laden. It was only a few years later in 1997, following the extradition and torture of 4 Egyptian Islamists by the U.S. and using it as justification, that a newly equipped and mobile Osama bin Laden bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
This is not a justification, because what he did was horrible. But it appears that our interventions are not helpful.
Following that (1998), Clinton sent missle strikes into Sudan and Afghanistan. In Sudan, this ended up destroying a pharmaceutical factory that supplied nearly 50% of medical supplies to the country. Nice. I bet that made the region just love more U.S. interventionism.
In 1998, amidst Clinton’s scandal involving perjury over Monica Lewinsky, he was bombing in Afghanistan. At the time, Ron Paul warned of the Monica Lewinsky distraction, and warned of the the severe consequences that may arise as a result of our strikes in the Middle East. I believe his words were, “we are setting ourselves up to be attacked.”
On Sept 11, 2001, we were attacked. At first, Osama bin Laden denied involvement, but justified the actions as due to U.S. interventionist policies in the Middle East, and particularly the bombing in Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998. He also believed that such attacks would successfully draw another larger nation into a war of attrition, crushing the larger state economically. It looks to be succeeding.
Immediately following that, Ron Paul attempted to pass letters of Marque and Reprisal against Osama bin Laden, so that a small force could capture and/or kill him. Instead, we started a massive war with Iraq. Then, a massive war with Afghanistan. We did more bombing, more killing of civilians, and more nation building.
Did it get Osama?
No.
Instead, a small force, you might remember as Seal Team 6, captured and killed him in a precision strike on his compound in Pakistan. Gee, the suggestion provided by Ron Paul only took a decade to sink in. I guess the U.S. is all for the going-around-the-ass-to-get-to-your-elbow-approach. Oh, and if you paid any attention to General Wesley Clark(e) on October 4, 2007, we’re planning on intervening in a lot off other places as well. Not because of defense, mind you, but because we desire regime change. Yeah, that seems like a formula for success. Just look at how well it’s worked out so far!
Note: We’ve currently got boots on the ground in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. We’re sending Predator and Reaper drone into these places and in Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. And, for certain, we have had Intelligence agents fomenting rebellion in Egypt for quite some time. Look it up. That’s at least 6 wars. Does any of this have to do with American defense? How much of it is constitutional?
How much of this interventionism will lead to more deaths, including, most importantly, our own military and civilians? What about the blowback that will necessarily result? That’s right, blowback. The term is used by our own intelligence agencies signifying the negative consequences of our interventions.
I truly despised Osama bin Laden, but attempting to claim that we’re not painting a target on our heads is at best, naive.
Dr. Paul is right. He has been for over 30 years. Dr. Paul has more support from U.S. servicemen and women than any other candidate. He’s also the only candidate that has actually served in the armed forces. They know the true cost and consequences of war. They want it to end. Their families want it to end.
He’s the only candidate that actually understands an economic policy that is not founded upon debt and wealth destruction. The other candidates, despite their malleable prostrations and regurgitations, don’t know what they’re doing on a macroeconomic level. Some doubtfully could even handle the microeconomics of balancing a checkbook.
Not even taking into account the vast economic consequences of waging multiple unending wars, the death we deliver to innocent people is unconscionable. We are delivering our own young men, fathers, brothers, sisters, and mothers into the maw of unending and undeclared wars.
Shame on you and those who booed him. If we get another welfare/warfare state plastic man in 2012, you will have only yourselves to blame. You will deserve it. You will not be forgiven.
Shame on you.
Bin Laden included in his list of grievences the reconquest of Spain from the Moslems in 1492 (the year the last Moslem holding was retaken in Spain). Islam has been at war with the rest of the world for a long, long time.
Islam has 1400 years of violence and bloodshed on its hands. While I agree that “helping” them was a mistake (since they perceived that as weakness) not engaging them would be a disaster. I find fault with the notion of nation building. I believe we should go in break their things and then leave.
Paul was obviously right about UBL. However his mission to return to the ” gold standard ” would be a disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fiscal conservative. However gold is really an ” every man for himself ” currency. It’s return as the standard of currency would spell the demise of both responsible government , a government whose currency reflects the participation of the governed, and the rule of law. Unless you are willing to sit with a shotgun on a pile of gold you must rely on the honesty of your fellow citizens to protect it for you. If you can rely on their honesty you don’t need the gold. If you cant rely on their honesty you wont be able to keep your gold. Getting back on track financially is very achievable. The current President however does not have a clue.
GREAT POST!
The MSM and DEMOPUBLICNS want to ignore RON PAUL because they are SCARED!
He will take away their “gravy train”. Is it a foregone conclusion that the “elites” have picked the candidate?
Please, PLEASE people — read the post by Direhippo, NOW.
You don’t seriously think any but another Paulista read past your first paragraph do you? Even Rand Paul doesn’t believe that tripe.
I attended last night’s debate. I remain undecided.
I have a different perspective of the debate than the article’s author, Roger L. Simon, as did every attendee I spoke with afterward. Gov. Perry certainly did not come off as the Snow White on the stage. The overwhelming consensus of those with whom I spoke was that Perry jumped into a hole and wouldn’t stop digging. Two reasons: 1)Admitting you made a mistake is a positive attribute; but only if you don’t try to justify it with good intentions. That is a signature trait of liberals. 2)Saying you are “offended” if someone believes you can be bought for only $5000 is akin to a man asking a woman if she will have sex with him for a million dollars. She thinks about it and agrees. The man then asks if she will have sex for $50. She gets offended and says, “NO! What do you think I am, a hooker? The man responds, “We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over your price.”
“Unfortunately the politicians are very comfortable with preaching the idea that this is a very small group of people who are opposing us, and that they hate us for our freedoms and our liberties. The politicians really are at great fault for not squaring with the American people. We’re being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe in or how we live. And there’s a huge burden of guilt to be laid at Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton, both parties for simply lying to the American people.” –Michael Scheuer, former Chief of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden Unit
What I found interesting was what Gingrich said on Greta after the debate:
“Governor Palin’s speech in Iowa last weekend on crony capitalism and on the problems of both parties is a very, very important speech. I’m going to be tweeting a link to it. I’m also going to be doing some other things with it. I think it was maybe one of the most important speeches she’s ever given, and I think it raised a series of very profound questions that all of us — Democrat and Republican — have to wrestle with as citizens. And she did it very well. It’s a very, very impressive speech.”
Here it is, in case you missed it:
http://www.sarahpac.com/posts/governor-palins-speech-at-the-restoring-america-tea-party-of-america-rally-in-indianola-iowa-video-and-transcript
Notice how she is shaping the debate by highlighting the divide between Washington and the rest of the country.
“Seven of the ten wealthiest counties are suburbs of Washington, D.C. Polls there actually – and usually I say polls, eh, they’re for strippers and cross country skiers – but polls in those parts show that some people there believe that the economy has actually improved. See, there may not be a recession in Georgetown, but there is in the rest of America.
Yeah, the permanent political class – they’re doing just fine. Ever notice how so many of them arrive in Washington, D.C. of modest means and then miraculously throughout the years they end up becoming very, very wealthy? Well, it’s because they derive power and their wealth from their access to our money – to taxpayer dollars. They use it to bail out their friends on Wall Street and their corporate cronies, and to reward campaign contributors, and to buy votes via earmarks. There is so much waste. And there is a name for this: It’s called corporate crony capitalism. This is not the capitalism of free men and free markets, of innovation and hard work and ethics, of sacrifice and of risk. No, this is the capitalism of connections and government bailouts and handouts, of waste and influence peddling and corporate welfare. This is the crony capitalism that destroyed Europe’s economies. It’s the collusion of big government and big business and big finance to the detriment of all the rest – to the little guys. It’s a slap in the face to our small business owners – the true entrepreneurs, the job creators accounting for 70% of the jobs in America, it’s you who own these small businesses, you’re the economic engine, but you don’t grease the wheels of government power.
So, do you want to know why the permanent political class doesn’t really want to cut any spending? Do you want to know why nothing ever really gets done? It’s because there’s nothing in it for them. They’ve got a lot of mouths to feed – a lot of corporate lobbyists and a lot of special interests that are counting on them to keep the good times and the money rolling along.”
She may or may not run, but she is having an impact on the race. When Gingrich and the NYT take notice of her ideas, you know the ground is shifting. Here’s Giridharadas in his NYT article:
“Ms. Palin may be hinting at a new political alignment that would pit a vigorous localism against a kind of national-global institutionalism.
On one side would be those Americans who believe in the power of vast, well-developed institutions like Goldman Sachs, the Teamsters Union, General Electric, Google and the U.S. Department of Education to make the world better. On the other side would be people who believe that power, whether public or private, becomes corrupt and unresponsive the more remote and more anonymous it becomes; they would press to live in self-contained, self-governing enclaves that bear the burden of their own prosperity.”
The way to beat Obama and his merry gang is to call them what they are: crony capitalists.
The “Saint Palin” meme is getting annoying. Greta Van Sisteren’s husband John “Bophal Coale” the trial lawyer from Houston is a Palin Backer and adviser( He started her superpac and paid for her bus tour). He backed John Edwards too. He has publicly stated his determination to destroy Perry over Tort reform in Texas specifically the “Loser Pays Law”.
Yeah…”St. Palin” is dirty with the same trial lawyers that supported John Edwards…Who’s the crony?
Pot kettle black
Or, even funnier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7aFXRAW7mg
Nation of six-year-olds indeed.
I agree with your take Roger. I tried to remain unbiased last night, though I favor Perry.
The two disappointments for me last night were Romney, who I thought weak and ineffectual, and Bachmann, who came across as the sanctimonious nag. Paul’s naivety of foreign policy makes him unelectable and dangerous, though some of his domestic opinions are appealing. Huntsman is Obama light – I’d as soon cast another vote for the feckless McCain as Huntsman. Newt and Cain were excellent, and I would dearly love to see them in some cabinet position. I like them both.
Having said that, I am not taking my eye off the real prize – getting rid of President Zero is the main objective. Four more years, running unencumbered without worrying about reelection? I shudder at the thought of the irreparable damage Obama could do that he hasn’t already done.
Sorry Tex,
We lived in Tesas from 1965-1976 and correspond regularly with friends there. I am a member of the Reform Party BUT will reregister so that I can vote for RON PAUL !! He is most certainly NOT nieve on foreign policy. The military -industrial complex(ALA Eisenhower) plus MSM has propagandized us to the point of TRILLIONS of dollars PLUS many lost lives! We have the countries around the world “scratching their heads” and wringing their hands! The Libyans will turn an ISLAMIC state with OUR help! Mark my words. Check Laura Trice’s article in the “Huffington Post” titled “The ONLY RATIONAL CHOICE: RON PAUL”.
You want me to read a PuffHO article to justify Ron Paul’s insight?
All the more reason to not vote for him.
But since I think Obama such a disaster and being I’m on board with Kinky Friedman being we would both vote for Charlie Sheen over Obama, you get Ron Paul thru to the candidacy, I’ll vote for him.
People: Let us not lose sight of one of the most important issues: The Supreme Court. Presently it is populated by 4 justices who reject the original meaning of our Constitution. Then there are four justices who are more-or-less originalists. The ninth seat is held by Justice Kennedy, a “moderate”, for whom the plain meaning of the Constitution is usually preferred but often optional. We are all in grave danger if any more leftists or “moderates” are seated at the Supreme Court as there will no longer be any meaningful limitations on the federal government’s use of force against the citizens or the states.
As patriots, we can only consider those candidates who we are certain will not appoint liberals or non-originalists to the Supreme Court. Those candidates are: Bachmann, Santorum, Paul, Palin, Perry and perhaps Cain and Gingrich. In any case Huntsman and Romney are out of the question. Also, can we trust that Romney would bring Wall Street and the banksters back under control?
We can’t afford another wise Latina (self-proclaimed, wiser than those old white men who set up the Republic) and we can’t afford another Kagan who, in her former legal capacity, helped the Obama administration establish its completely wobbly basis for Obamacare.
Kagan will need to recuse herself when the court reviews Obamacare (perhaps that review will start this fall) which will leave us with 4-4.
Under assault on all fronts, including from judges in circuit and district courts, the SCOTUS is literally the last bastion for preservation of Constitutional government as opposed to government by personal opinion.
“4-4″
Or 5-3, I’m sure Anthony Kennedy appreciates his unique position in what’s left of our justice system.
Rick Perry has moxie, and his candor is refreshing.
(heck, I’d vote for him on that basis alone, so sick am I of the double, triple, quadruplespeak)
Bachmann harping on Gardisil looks somewhat weak by comparison. And didn’t we dispense with Gardisil last debate and hasn’t Perry said it was a mistake ?
Romney harping on “ponzi scheme” and trying to blow that remark out of proportion doesn’t look strong either.
Last week a debate on MSNBC, last night on CNN. These stations are apparently trying to get viewers, but there is such a thing as debate overkill.
From last night’s debate:
“I agree with Gov. Huntsman when we talk about it’s time to bring our young men and women home as soon — and obviously as safely — as we can,” Perry said. “But it’s really important for us to continue to have a presence there.”
No doublespeak at all.
Sadly, none of them get the math. We are borrowing 1.7 trillion and 0bama wants to borrow 450 billion more. (France’s GDP is 2 trillion.)
Rick, Romney, Paul…
Anybody but Obama
Perry tried to mandate a government injection, HPV vaccine, to young girls. It is extremely dangerous, destroys health, and KILLS.
From truthaboutgardasil website:
The Truth About Gardasil
January 11, 2011
Gardasil is the HPV vaccine, touted to fight cervical cancer. What they are not telling you is that thousands of girls are having adverse reactions to the HPV Vaccines, some have even died -at last count, at least 89 lives have been lost. We have got to do something about this. These girls need our help!
These girls are having reactions such as; seizures, strokes, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, headaches, stomach pains, vomitting, muscle pain and weakness, joint pain, auto-immune problems, chest pains, hair loss, appetite loss, personality changes, insomnia, hand/leg tremors, arm/leg weakness, shortness of breath, heart problems, paralysis, itching, rashes, swelling, aching muscles,pelvic pain, nerve pain, menstrual cycle changes, fainting, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, nausea, temporary vision/hearing loss just to name some of them!
There is no known treatment to help these girls… http://truthaboutgardasil.org/
Yes, Gardasil is a vaccine of poor safety and it is not clearly worth the risk. Rick Perry admits that it should not have been made a requirement based on an executive order. Still, it was an easy opt-out and Perry probably doesn’t/didn’t understand how dangerous it is.
Well, those were real questions and it was a real debate. Wonder if the libwits will ever have one?
Perry’s team obviously calculates that he securely has the lead and is preparing for the general election. How big are the vaccine and tuition issues going to be when it comes down to him and Romney? About as big as a pinprick. But those issues can mean multiple percentage points in the general. Hey, the tuition issue will probably win the general election for him
Romney and Perry have both erred badly on SS. On this topic, it’s dumb and dumber. At least Perry woke up and has decided to make it clear he isn’t yanking grandma’s paycheck; but the MBM will play “ponzi scheme” 24×7 and only the most interested grannies will ever hear the whole story. Romney embarrassed himself by overreacting. Perry will spend the next 14 months trying to take his foot out of his mouth. Romney may decide to shut up before he chokes on his foot. Aside from where either stands on SS, the fact that it’s in play makes any rational observor question their judgement. It’s probably the 20th most important problem the country has.
Bachman’s swan song was last night. Too obsessive.
Why is Santoreum mean spirited? Doesn’t he want to remain in politics?
Huntsman needs to control himself better. He has good experience and some good ideas, but every 15 minutes he goes wierd. Never had a chance anyway.
Hermann Cain is really the big winner, although he has no chance to be President this time. He exceeds expectations, and appears to be learning from the process. And he can be funny. There aren’t many funny politicians.
Newt didn’t hit a homer last night. He was punished by Blitzer for calling pravda out the last couple of times.
seems to me like newt was intentionally walked most of the time
America is bankrupt. America has severe financial problems yet Perry granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.
That doesn’t sound like a constitutional conservative now does it.
Speaking solely for myself, I’m seeking the anti-Obama and want substance over style.
Please stop creating and using photoshopped versions of potential GOP candidates using the iconic Shepard Fairey adaptations. (See image associated with headline on PJM homepage.)
Every time you do this, you tacitly imply Obama and crew have defined the essence of political style and the best the right can do is crank out trite, dated, stale, overused Obama-like imagery.
It’s counterproductive. Either come up with a unique graphical approach, or hey, use a plain photo. Now, that would be refreshing.
Unfortunately, Perry will have to debate Obama in order to win. I just can’t see him as able to outshine the “orator”, especially with the loaded questions from the media. Perry stumbles too much, is just not polished. Romney makes a much stronger impression. To some that makes him seem inauthentic. But the overall electorate will see him as articulate and with facts and knowledge and experience. He can outshine Obama with the independents. Perry just cannot. Wishing it to be so will not make it happen. Defeating Obama is the primary goal.
The only thing Perry has going for him is superficial personal charm. He’s neither as intelligent as Romney, nor a solid conservative like Bachmann. On the question of illegal immigration, he’s no better (possibly even worse) than Obama. I don’t want to see a Republican version of a crazed Obama-type personality cult.
On a different note, does anyone else find Huntsman’s remark (something Romney has also said), that America needs to attract foreign “brainpower,” offensive to Americans? Have we gotten so uneducable that we are forced to rely on a continual supply of smart foreigners to do jobs, like investment banking, that Americans are too stupid to do?
My take on the debate is that Perry remains the front runner. I think this GOP race and then, presidential race, will move into one focused on the power of WORDS vs ACTIONS.
At the moment, we have in the WH, someone whose reality is focused entirely in words. He leaves all the actions – ie, writing the actual stimulus and health care policies, figuring out how to pay for his second stimulus – to others. All Obama does – is talk. Words. The actions that have followed his words have been disastrous..but…his words continue on…
I think America was entranced by Obama’s rhetoric in 2008 but people have realized the huge gap between his Words and his Reality. Americans have become more realistic now and are ready and willing to face facts. They want facts not fiction. They don’t want another candidate who lives within words.
If I evaluate the GOP candidates on this criteria of words/actions..what’s the result?
As I noted above, Bachmann’s constant self-references to her ‘I was against this’ and ‘I was for that’..are tiresome. Words, words, words. As well, I found her politicized and error-filled attack against Perry rather shameful. The FACTS are that the vaccine included a parental opt-out clause, that it was free to those whose insurance didn’t cover it, that it IS FDA approved, and that the Texas legislature overturned Perry’s executive approval of it within THREE MONTHS..and Perry did not veto that Legislative act, even though he could have. Bachmann left all these FACTS out of her wordy tirade.
Romney was also operating within words and more words, slickly twisting his history of state medical care as he tried to separate it from Obamacare, and going after Perry’s description of SS as a ‘ponzi scheme’ ..which it is, and trying to suggest that Perry would destroy SS – which he has openly said he wouldn’t do.
I think that Americans don’t want a president who deals only in Words, but one focused on Actions. I think that Americans are now ready to face FACTS rather than fiction; they don’t want to be told that the oceans will cease to rise; they want to hear that SS is unfeasible and must be reformed.
They don’t want to hear that dealing with it is ‘throwing granny off a cliff’ or be told that the US MUST borrow more money (the debt ceiling) or, as Obama lied that, (sighing and with a tear), without that debt increase ‘I might not be able to send you your SS checks this month’.
Americans are ready to face facts; they don’t want more words.
If you put Bachmann or Romney up on stage, as the GOP nomineee, against Obama, all you’ll get from both sides, will be an ocean of empty words, words, words.
I’m for Perry and action. I think Gingrich and Cain might have important roles in his administration..as would Rubio, West and others.
I think this is largely correct ETAB.
The country will vote for the person who can change the direction, not just talk about it. Obama has disqualified himself by picking a direction that has done immeasurable damage.
Perry and Romney are way ahead of the others. Perry’s barrier is that he is too far right for the general, Romney’s is that he is too far left for the primaries. So Perry’s task at the moment is to move to the center early, which he is doing. His immigration stance is major, and very effective. The vaccine issue is also an interesting play. He gets to cater to the base by saying it was a mistake, while also catering to the center by not repudiating that he did it to help young girls. By not repeating the ponzi scheme mistake last night, he begins to mitigate his SS damage. But of course, Obama now has the main theme of his reelection bid. He will attempt to make it about SS and not his own incompetance.
The other candidates are not contenders.
If Perry moves too strongly to the center, Palin might jump in. If Romney moves too quickly to the right, Christie might jump in.
If they both jump, and it doesn’t become a zoo because of Palin, those four would make for an extremely interesting field.
“I think this GOP race and then, presidential race, will move into one focused on the power of WORDS vs ACTIONS.”
You got that right – and it’s already started and Obama’s supporters have Perry in their cross-hairs.
http://www.attackwatch.com/
Its gonna be a very interesting election cycle.
The LSM is still controlling who can be at these debates, and everybody should make their voices be heard loud and clear. Why are we allowing them in the LSM run rough shod over US?
Gary Johnson is the anti-establishment Republican Presidential candidate. He is committed to cutting spending, balancing the budget, rooting out special interests, and protecting Liberty for all Americans.
A CNN poll two weeks ago showed him tied with Herman Cain and ahead of Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman.
It’s disappointing, then, that Governor Johnson’s established credibility as a presidential candidate has not earned him the opportunity to present his message in the nationally televised debates.
While the national media may have devised polling “criteria” to determine who is invited and who is not, those criteria become a lot less objective if the polls they’re based on don’t include all the candidates.
How can you qualify for the debates when you’re not included in the polls?
The irony, of course, is that many of the same media outlets who decide the debate participants are also the same people who devise the national polls. While they may say that their debates are open to anyone, their carefully restricted polls effectively play the role of gatekeeper.
When Governor Johnson was included by CNN in their last nationwide survey, he placed ahead of Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum, and tied with Herman Cain — all three of whom have been invited to every debate, including tonight’s.
But this morning, despite his previous inclusion — and despite polling ahead or even with three other candidates — CNN released their latest poll without Governor Johnson as an option.
I find this truly baffling, and have been left scratching my head. And so I ask, ‘why?’
What is it that CNN is afraid of? Is a candidate with fresh ideas – and a track record as a successful two-term governor – too much for the establishment to deal with?
Or is it that CNN can’t understand how Gary Johnson can poll competitively with other candidates who’ve spent millions — possibly 10 or 20 times the amount Governor Johnson has spent?
Why does it seem so infeasible that an authentic message from a former Governor with a true record of fiscal conservatism would resonate with real voters?
I don’t know what’s going on, but something is.
If you are as bewildered and concerned as I am, ask CNN what is their problem with more participants!
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” George Washington
Roger,
I will vote for any GOP candidate over Obumbles (even Ron Paul, and I loathe him). But Perry was at best OK last night. In the end he may be more electable, but Romney was better prepared than him going into last night.
Perry has more charisma, but Romney outhustled him.
I don’t watch the debates. I read and listen to what they say in unscripted moments. They need to just voice what they would do, and what their views are, instead of attacking Rick Perry. I’m turned off by this. Attack Obama. He’s the one who’s done all of the destruction. He’s looting the Treasury and calling it “Stimulus.”
I think the attacks on Perry will backfire. It is going to garner him sympathy. If you’re attacking Perry on the SS comment being a Ponzi Scheme it’s the wrong thing to do. As an American, I appreciate the truth. If you aren’t willing to say what the problem is, and will continue to shove it onto future generations, I have no use for you.
None of them are perfect, including the ones slinging the mud. Grow up and tell me what you plan to do.
I thought the debate, including the questioning, was terrific. IMHO Newt, Romney, Perry and Cain (in that order) all performed well. Perry withstood the attacks with humility, good humour and intelligence. I am a big fan of Palin buy I don’t see her entering the race if Perry continues to perform at this level. Newt, Perry and Romney would all wipe the floor with the current POTUS.
The sponsor of the GOP debate was the Tea Party. Their stated core values are: Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited GOV and Free Markets. Based upon their prior actions, which candidates have most closely been aligned with these values and which candidates have not?
I will vote for ANYONE to take out obama. However, how can anyone think Perry shone or even won last night? Bachman, Santorum, Gingrich all had some great points. Perry did o.k.- if he weren’t the front runner, based on his performance, I truly think people would put him in the statistical category of Huntsman and Cain. At times, Perry seriously looked stupid- making weird facial expressions when he didn’t realize the camera was on him, and his pauses were strange. He didn’t seem prepared for the debate and he sure as heck didn’t last strong throughout the 2 hour debate. I have to wonder how much fire is in him in the long run if he thinks he can wing a nationally televised debate with so little obvious preparation. I have no idea why some loathe Romney so much- he’s no more a fake or flip-flopper than any of the other candidates. (I know several people who think Perry’s arrogance is off-putting. just something to think about. And these people really mean it when they say Perry is arrogant.) I think all politicians are opportunist. I agree with Fred Barnes- Romney won. But, it doesn’t really matter to me personally since I will vote for ANY Republican candidate.
Yeah Perry’s kind of a doofus but he’s OUR doofus. We don’t need a genius in the White House. We just need an honest man smart enough to appoint a decent cabinet and start dismantling the regulatory agencies. I will Trust Perry to make some headway in this waaaayyyyy before Romney. Romney would fit right in with the present day DC Cabal. Perry not so much.
he may be “our doofus” and I WILL vote for him if he gets the nomination, but he needs to seriously improve and not be so strange for people not to get turned off by him. It does not bode well to be smart and from Texas but come across as stupid.
The snappy come-back is not always the smartest response. It seems to me that Perry had not expected to be ganged up on to this degree for his Ponzi response by those who had expressed the same opinion in the same terms in the past. Nor did he want to react by poking his finger in their eyes and reduce the whole event to a nyah-nyah event that would delight the hearts of the Social Democrats, which is happening anyway. So he did deliberately pause in considering how to phrase his replies. Some of the others should have done the same.
His rapid rise to the top in the polls has, naturally, upset the contenders, but they should be very careful about creating the impression of turmoil within the conservative field and and playing into Obama’s hands. I have felt that we are looking at a group which could coalesce into a great Cabinet, with a minimum of the cronyism that has brought the Congress to such a low level or respect by the electorate. They should heed Gingrich and avoid personal attacks that might leave long-term alienation. This should never have been formatted as a debate anyway: it should have been featured as an open discussion.
You call these “explanations” by Perry?! You gotta be kidding me. He looked like he was at a loss for words several times. Like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I’ve never seen such sheepish looks in my entire life! America deserves REAL explanations. Not an “I did not! Did to! Did not! type of childish spat”
It’s over. The “others” should either support Perry or get out of the way.
I’m not for Perry right now. But Huntsman has got a lot of nerve calling perry treasonous for not building a border fence. It was Huntsman who when asked about border fences in New Hampshire in the spring he thought the idea was “repulsive”.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51859956-90/border-huntsman-fence-repulses.html.csp
Bachmann is destroying herself. She is going around declaring that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation. On the basis, apparently, of a parent talking with her and declaring that this is ‘the case’.
This is an untenable and implausible claim – apart from its being anecdotal, statistically non-reliable, and..correlation does not equal causation. Bachmann’s jumping on this demagoguery, smearing another candidate with hearsay and lies, reveals a serious flaw in her character. Stick to the facts; don’t do an ‘Obama’. Leave the lies to the Supreme Master of Lies, Obama.
Equally, the misinformation that is being spread about Perry’s college for illegals, and about his SS plans, by Romney and Bachmann, are weakening their positions. Americans are ready for facts. Not fiction.
When she acted out like that, she kissed what was left of her candidacy goodbye.
Watch for the MSM to keep floating Jon Huntsman’s aenimic campaign since he is their darling; Huntsman might run as an Independent. Huntsman is weak enough for Obama to defeat in 2012. But his campaign is on life support because most of the mainstream Americans–outside of the elites–see right through Huntsman McRINO.
Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s screeching got real annoying. Attacking Perry was a big mistake; she looked petty.
I like Governor Perry, & I can’t stand Governor Romney.
Debate winner was CNN. By generating further contention and distractions between candidates. Newt was the only one sharp enough to confront the process and attempted to stay on track of beating Obama as the highest and most important dynamic. No doubt the dumbest Republican will be selected – recall John McCain. Any further debates will simply diminish the candidates through repetition and boredom. Ultimately the best debate would be between Obama and Newt. Never happen.
Rick Perry record on immigration is horrible.
He doesn’t want to build the border fence.
He does not want to remove “jobs magnet” that lures illegals in the first place.
Perry hasn’t supported the quickest, best way to take away the jobs magnet, which is to require all private employers to use the “E-Verify” electronic check of Social Security numbers.
Perry wouldn’t even require his own state government to use E-Verify, let alone private employers, declaring “E-Verify would not make a hill of beans’ difference when it comes to what’s happening in America today.”
Perry incapable of hiding the fact that he holds more affection for Mexico than he does for the rest of the United States, which seems more distant and detached from his Texas than does his Mexico.
How can anyone vote for a man who seems to love his southern neighbor more that he loves his own country?
We just had 11 years of Open Border Bushobama administration.
We had 8 years of the best President Mexicans have ever had, Jorge Bush.
And now we gonna elect another Mexico-loving, Border Denying Globalist?
God Help the USA, it is almost over.
TROLL Alert!!!
Globalist??
*snicker*
Mr.Simon,as your reder and sometimes,commentator I was insulted by PJM author in his comment.The insulting comment had to be stopped by your rules.I think these rules doesn`t apply to your authors,so I can`t remain your reader and commentator.The professor who have insulted me does not surprises me (one Jewish professor once sent the denunsiation of me to KGB).
Newt: Chief of Staff to Preside Perry
Herman Cain: Treasury Secretary
Mitt: Veep
Mr. Perry said of the legislation that offered in-state tuition:
“We were clearly sending a message to young people regardless of what the sound of their last name is that we believe in you.”
I don’t care about a person’s last name. I care about spending taxpayer money on someone here illegally, whether they are from Mexico or from Norway. Ricardo Perry is parroting an offensive liberal squawking point when he suggests that opposition to illegal immigration is based on ethnic prejudice.
On the border fence, he said, “The idea that you’re going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso and go left for another 800 miles to Tijuana is just not reality.”
Ricardo Perry, Our Second Mexican El Presidente, it is not reality.
It is death of our country.
If you like Mexifornia, you will love Ricardo Perry and Jorge Bush Meximerica.
BS, troll. Texas has NOTHING in common with California, other than a border with Mexico.
Roger, I usually agree with you, but I have to say that I think Rick Perry is something of a phony. First of all he calls social security unconstitutional and then acts all put out when he asked to explain that position. He has a policy on immigration that is to the left of George Bush and yet many of Bush’s critics seem prepared to give Perry a pass.
But you know what? Romney has been getting pounded for years. Literally. Why should Perry get a free pass? Are all of the charges going to be fair? Probably not, but then again this is politics. If Perry can not stand up to Bachmann and Romney, just imagine what Obama will do to him.
Most of the people on the stage last night would make mincemeat of Obama if the coward actually agrees to a real debate, which I doubt he will. At best, he’ll set up a “debate” in which he gets softball and/or pre-arranged questions slanted against his opponent and to which he’ll respond with memorized speeches. The man can’t think on his feet, as his bone headed “the police acted stupidly remark” established.
The Dems fear Perry most. They would love to see Repubs destroy him. I am beginning to believe that Perry has the best chance of pulling in independents, moderates, and yes, a good portion of the Hispanic vote. Let’s remember– whoever has the best chance of defeating O is the candidate we need to support.
Yeah – just think what Obama will do to Perry in a debate…
Oh wait — no tele-prompters allowed in debate format. Damn!
You come across with the premise that Obama would wipe the floor with Perry — REALLY?
Obama will have a record to defend this go-round. An indefensible one. Perry has a record too but it looks better than Obama’s. By a wide margin.
You think Obama is some polished orator? Anybody on that floor last night is a better debater than Obama. John McCain is without doubt the dumbest of the Republican Senators, and even in the worst of economic circumstances, pretty much drew even with this supposed gift to mankind.
And this time, Obama has an abysmal record to defend. Perry or Romney, the only viable candidates left, will eat his lunch.
Perry’s deftly maneuvering the field into unmistakably progressive territory (DEFENDING entitlements and ad-homenim attacks inferring he’s just another “dumb republican”). To me he’s likely to blow this open very soon. But being a good politician isn’t what the GOP should be looking for; one mistake can send you into the wilderness for a long time (see: obama). Perry doesn’t appear to have a clue on most national/international issues or, frankly, care about them whatsoever. I would caution against mistaking politics for policy
It is a known fact the Perry does not do well in debates, this debate and the week before were no exception. Nothing that I heard from the attacks on Perry were new… he should have been more prepared.
I think Romney’s point with SS was to find out if Perry had changed his view from the previous week, the USA Today article was clearly a different vibe then the debate… I feel like Romney is justified in asking whether he had changed his views on SS. Perry couldn’t answer that, he wasn’t to have a conversation, that was a mistake on his part because it reflected the fact that he is running on a good record in Texas but honestly I have’t heard a specific plan from him on how he will turn the economy around for the rest of the country?
The HPV Vaccines is really an interesting issue because Perry did admit that it was a mistake and wishes he would have done it different, which I really believe. The other accusations that Bachmann made was interesting but not because I think Perry was bought for $5000… I don’t think he was. BUT I do think there is a question of whether Perry allowed himself to be persuaded on this issue, which is a bigger problem in my mind.
All Perry did was stand and smile. He is an empty suit. Everyone hates to hear Ron Paul tell us the truth. When he says we were attacked because of our meddling in the M. E. is actually quoting the 911 commission report. Read it for yourself. Granted he should not rub our nose in it but they are not his words. The rest of the candidates are just completely empty. We have finally come to the point where none of the good men will stand up. Why would they? Would you submit yourself and your family to this circus?
There’s only ONE on-the-spot decision that a president has to make, and that is how to respond when the country is attacked. Criticisms of Perry that he says “um” miss the point because there is no indication that he will hesitate should our Islamist or post-marxist enemies attack. (On that score, only Romney and Ronpaul scare me as much as Monsieur Obama.)
That being said, personally I would prefer Bachmann, Giuliani or Christie over Perry, who is too much the politician for my taste.
But Perry is at least a reputable man, a politician one hopes will stay bought, and nowhere near the statist in RINO’s clothing that Romney is. Given the current choices and numbers, Perry is light-years better than Romney. Spare me the after the fact criticisms by wonks and arm-chair oddsmakers.
An interesting insight into the effect Governor Perry’s assertion about Social Security being a Ponzi scheme is the CNN poll taken after the first debate in which he participated. In it, Governor Perry’s best demographic is Republicans over 65, though he is far ahead of any other candidate in all of the measured demographics, and ahead in all the separated out measures of popularity including electability.
Michelle Bachmann was one of my favorite candidates prior to last night’s debate. After listening to her less than honest attack against Rick Perry regarding the HPV vaccine (making it sound like there was no opt-out provision) and listing to her additional comments after the debate implying that the vaccine causes mental retardation, frankly I think she is now finished as a serious candidate.
However I’m still glad Rick Perry is getting vetted in this manner. Running for president is meant to be difficult because the process needs to steel the candidate for the rigors of the office.
I understood Gov. Perry to state that in-state tuition rate along with actively seeking citizenship was a requirement of this immigration law. Texas is probably flooded with young adults who were brought in as infants, this is one option to allow assimilation. Is it a perfect solution? no. But unless you live in a border state it is probably one of the least urgent of the problems presenting themselves. Dream Act is conferring citizenship on these young people, something entirely different. I doubt many crossing the Texas border are coming to take the SAT and apply for student loans. I am Hispanic and don’t usually agree with with amnesty but Texas has to deal with reality their own way, since the Feds look the other way. He also apologized for the HPV vaccine, which as governor for ten years, how many decisions must he want to take back? Romney still defends his health care plan. We need to hear more about how they would govern and on the future instead on non-issues. Too much is at stake.
Complicity of elected officials with corporate pharmaceutical markets for future campaign contributions stretches from Texas to Capitol Hill to Washington State to Florida with pending legislation to take control of all vitamins and supplements to drag in the “prevention holdouts.” Does anybody here suspect a connection between top level job swapping in the FDA with pharma giants and attempted forced government control of all healthcare? The USDA is already neck deep in government over reach into the financially strapped small farm products market by enforcing collection of patent rights payment for Monsanto on untested genetically modified plant and animal products. Will TV media trained pharmaceutical addicted zombies be any less offensive than those on the community organization koolaid? Guess who pays for all the adds in the increased price of the products advertised.
Tell us that Perry is not aware of this like he wasn’t aware of the documented effects of contaminated vaccines or received zero campaign funds for a memory lapse. Its easy to see how lawyers merge in to politics with little difficulty unless they interrupt others’ money trails.
Thanks For the good article Mr. Simon!!
Perry Please.
I’ve lived in Texas all my life. If all you people think Perry is a good candidate well maybe you better do a little bit of research first. Good grief. Do some independent research instead of replying on some bloggers opinion.
About 4 years ago Perry and our state politicians added many new taxes that affected business with the promise that they would also cut our property taxes from 1/3 to 1/2. Nobody I know has had a property tax decrease, seen plenty of increases since then though.
And the polls? What a laugh. I live in Central Texas. Everybody loves Paul with a few Perry supporters thrown in. I’m talking boots on the ground, no polls, just talking to everybody live in person.
Oh, and for the person that said that all Ron Paul could do is an Audit of the Fed, all I can is that he’s been voted down in everything he has ever tried to do. He is also called Dr. No because he always votes against pork spending, even if it benefits his own district.
Ron Paul 2012
What a ridiculous way to assess the qualifications of presidential candidates. I couldn’t care less who “wins” these “debates”.
I’m looking forward to the first candidate with the guts and sense to challenge some lib-journo on a “gotcha moment” question, and make a mockery of the whole sorry process. That candidate will win loads of respect and votes.
If some organization wants to sponsor a proper, traditional debate between the two leading candidates, great. In the meantime, count me out. These irksome, boring charades are utterly pointless.
Time for Bachman and Romney to quit trying to “scare” folks into supporting them instead of Perry…Bachman acts so immature…spouting her fearmongering statement that a mother stopped her after the debate and told her that her daughter was not mentally retarded after receiving the HPV virus shot…so, without any fact checking or research, she starts repeating that experience, as if it is to be believed,…no proof…just immature fearmongering…and the ridiculous accusation that Merck pharmaceuticals was in charge and pressuring for an “opt out” option for parents, when instead it was Perry and the legislature placing that option into the directives…and he’s already stated that he would have done it a diff. way…so move on, Ms. Conservative…and if she’s SO CONCERNED about the social security problems, and claims to have worried about it’s solvency since she held her son in her arms, what has she proposed to remedy the problems…what has she done in the past 20 years, assuming she is to be believed that it was of concern to her…what in the heck has she proposed, legislated, written or done about the social security system, except to now say we need to think about it, and take pot shots at Perry…and Romney seems too wimpy and weak to be predident…we need a real leader who can beat Obama…time for the candidates to focus on Obamacare, jobs and the economy…and leave the agenda of the media behind…they just want you to cut each other up, leaving shreds on the floor, thus, easier for Obama to attack later on…don’t fall into their trap…idiots.
Comment on The Wall at The River, for angry Texans who don’t understand the need to secure the border NOW. I live in Oklahoma, grew up along the Red River and yes, I lived in Texas and love it. Very pro-Texas. It’s an extraordinary land, it’s a whole ‘nother country. When you secede, take Oklahoma and half of New Mexico too.
The entire border needs A Wall wherever it is trespassed, subverted or smuggled. In The River you talk about, where steel and concrete aren’t appropriate fencing, then the Army needs soldiers, and if done well the post will be as boring and end-of-the-earth as NORAD and the early-warning sentries in Thule. Don’t be so silly as to say a desolate stretch of outback can not be patrolled properly, or that controlling immigration is too burdensome on local ranchers.
Can you please imagine the relative health of Mexico and the USA if the southern River had been properly protected and effective as a national border from 1960 until now??? Mexico would not be failing into murder, chaos, corruption and civil war. The vigor of its population would generate drastic increases in productivity and GNP. Sure there would have been pressure and turmoil in Mexico if Mexicans’ entry into the US was required to be public, orderly and legal. But the turmoil is only different, not necessarily more difficult than what they’ve endured, and preferable to what’s coming.
America’s drug problems would probably be smaller and less harmful, and certainly be more home-grown. Agriculture would be better automated and the pay would be better. Mexifornia would not be present, tho liberals and political regulators would still be diminishing California. Huge amounts of US money would not exported in the drug trade or by remittances. People who live in the USA would be loyal to the USA. Certainly a big proportion of the hispanic/latino population in the USA do not love her with undivided loyalty, and many are violent, lawless and a blight. When people are dangerous to those around them, that’s bad behavior, and it makes a bad neighborhood.
Having a secure border does not prevent international trade, does not prevent beneficial immigration, and does not turn two nations into enemies. Other things done right, a secure border is helpful for the cultures on both sides of the fence.
If Rick Perry thinks it is good for the Texas government to charge in-state college tuition to persons who are illegally in the USA, then Rick Perry is wrong. If the person can’t support himself with his/her Texas highschool education then attending college is not going to cause much positive productivity. Think about it, Rick.
I am not impressed with Perry. I have no problem with his in state tuition for children who are illegal as TX is unique as the other border states. His mandate for Gardisil is troubling on two fronts 1)his motivation with Merc connections 2) executive order misuse. He stated in his book “Fed UP”, he did state that his fix for SS was to return it to the states which is impractical and unworkable in a moblile society, now he claims he wants to fix it like the others on the panel and he was not brave to speak “truth”, Republicans have been talking about it forever. He seems very limited in the foreign policy area.
Thats why I do not care for Perry other than I do not care for arrogant men. It does not matter what I think or Simon thinks, Perry cannot win a General. We will have a President Obama or a President Romney – like it or not. Look at the electoral map. The Independents always decide the election and Perry with his charm and swagger cannot get their vote. Perry, Palin, Bachman is an emotional vote as they express much of the anger on the right and makes some “feel good” but the left did that and look what we got! A vote for Perry is a vote for Obama and I refuse to do that. Think about how you will feel about the guy that makes you feel good the morning after the election that he/she has lost to another 4 years of a nightmare of a President.
So true. Romney can win the election by 11:00pm EST on election night by sweeping the I-75 corridor (MI, OH, West FL) and the taking big chunks of the I-95 corridor (ME, NH, maybe MA, RI, PA, maybe VA – too many scared fed workers and contractors, NC, and the rest of FL). I like Perry, but Perry depends too much on the Bush map and the goodwill of assimilated Hispanics. Will Texas become the dread state to Republicans like Massachusetts (and now Illinois) is to Democrats for natonal elections?
There is more to the vaccine issue than what is being shared… most important, if not mandated by State, health insurance wouldn’t cover it. Opt out was available. Once the anti-vaccine wackos in Austin went nuts and whipped up a lot of people, Perry killed the E.O. BEFORE anyone got shots…. and admitted his mistake in not taking this to the legislature first. How many pols do that?
Lost in all of this talk about the Texas dream act are the facts…
This bill was passed by VETO PROOF majorities in the Texas House and Senate in …. 2001! The first year that Perry was Governor. He supports it, but it wouldn’t matter one whit if he’d opposed it. The bill had and then, and enjoys now, majority support in Austin.
You guys can kick Perry all you want, but this was not his idea. He was Lt. Governor under George Bush and the democrats had a lot more control of the Texas Legislature back in 2001 too.
So you folks that are “crazy” and writing off Perry for this issue need to stop reading what the media meme is and do some careful study.. you will find a lot to like about Perry… Simon is right on target in my opinion with this article.
Both Bachmann and Palin owe Gov. Perry a public apology for their unfounded accusation against the Governor regarding the vaccine issue. They did absolutely did no research obviously prior to making their reckless “public” accusation that Perry is a “child killer”. The published findings on the vaccine stated that their was no danger or harm in taking the vaccine. What a stupid and reckless “from the hip” accusation both these Professional “Public Servants” commited. Is this what the voters should expect from both of these pretend, wannabe “Public Servants”. What a travesty!!!!!!
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