Posted on 08/10/2011 4:49:52 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
It is a pocket of rural America that has changed little in a century and is about as far removed from the bustle and marble monuments of Washington DC as one could imagine.
But Paint Creek, where ranches and wooden homes, some now abandoned, are dotted beside cotton and wheat fields, is the place that defines the man who some Republicans believe could unseat President Barack Obama next November.
Governor Rick Perry was part of the fifth generation to work the land at Paint Creek, some 200 miles west of Dallas on the flat expanse of plains known as “the Big Empty”.
It was here that he was imbued with the country values of church, family, neighbourliness, thrift and hard work that now seem part of a bygone America beyond places like West Texas.
“There were three things to do in Paint Creek: school, church, and Boy Scouts,” Mr Perry said last year, looking back on the late 1950s. “That’s it. And it was plenty.” Paint Creek was “one of the most beautiful places or it could be one of the most desolate” depending on the weather. As a child, he ventured, it was the home of “some of the most principled, disciplined people in the world, and faithful”.
Back in the late 1950s, he was known as Ricky Perry, a mischievous boy, always smiling, who lived with his parents and older sister Milla in a rented wooden house that lacked indoor plumbing. He wore a cowboy shirt hand sewn by his mother, a locally renowned quilter, and his highest ambition seemed to be to become an Eagle Scout.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I’d be most interested in your reaction to this essay.
Perry is the new Perot - same job. Divide the Right.
The RINO response to Palin will be the balkinization of the Republican party, with as much vituperativeness as possible.
Meanwhile, Hillary will be carried around in a sedan chair, by people trying to convince themselves that she will “forgive” them if she wins. Har Har.
In the end, the engineered splits among the Right will be drowned in the Tea Party tidal wave.
And Hillary will do what she always does - screw up.
Trust me, it’s written in the stars : )
What is he going to do on illegal immigration? I’ll tell you. He’s going to give amnesty to fund SS. Generic pol. Generic lawyer. No real morals, no real ethics. Just euphomism’s. We’ve become like the Borg.
Hey Okie if you see Arkie
Tell him I got a job for him
Out in California
Diggen oil wells
All he needs is a shovel.
.........
Tell him Tex has got a job for him.
Not
Tell him I got a job for him.
Dang can’t remember anything anymore.
That was quite an essay!
Source …………..”Despite the superficial similarities between the two (cowboy boots and a certain Texas braggadocio) the two men (who are said to have frosty relations) are very different. But if the contrasts between Perry and Bush are strong, just think of those between Perry and Obama – you could not get two more dissimilar American life stories.”………….
"I would load up my horse ... and my dog and go to the Clear Fork in the Brazos River and stay for two weeks," he said. "I just went down there, pitched a tent. In my long hair."
Were these his lost years?
Maybe, but his wife, Anita - who dated him for 16 years before she consented to move back to Haskell County and marry him in 1982 - said she wouldn't dismiss them so quickly as happy-go-lucky days.
"I wouldn't call them the lost years. I'd really call them the discovery years," she said.
She remembered it as a time when Mr. Perry "centered" himself - a time when he was kind and patient with her but anxious about his own life. And she worried for him, too."...
Taxman that story sounds like MY upbringing as well. EVERY Texan was a Democrat until the early 1970’s. They quit me in 1972 but it took Rick somewhat longer to “get religion” but he has in fact done so.
He hasn’t been perfect as our governor by any means but all in all he has done a good job for us.
As things currently stand, I would vote for Rick, warts and all, over anyone currently in the field except Herman Cain. If Herman is still standing when the Texas primary rolls around I will have to make a VERY difficult decision.
In the general (November 2012) I will crawl over broken glass for a mile in order to vote for the Republican candidate even if it’s Mitt Romney! This country cannot withstand another 4 years of Obozo!
How do you know he didn't?
I'd guess Reagan was the reason Perry along with millions of other southerner, conservative Democrats became Republicans.
Perry was also among the most conservative Democrats in the 1980s.
The whole issue is much ado about nothing. It's just a means of Perry bashing.
I don't know. But, he said he voted for Carter in '76 and worked as campaign manager for Algore after Reagan left office and didn't switch parties until after Reagan left office.
Curious.
For lack of a better description, Reagan is my political hero and a kind of political litmus test. If Perry didn't vote for him and possibly campaigned against him? Epic fail.
Call my questions and comments Perry bashing or whatever you like, I call it vetting.
I'm just a concerned American who wants the best for his country, so I am doing my due diligence and sharing the results of what I find.
If I get something wrong, I know I'll get corrected here at FR.
So what? People change over 35 years.
Again, Reagan voted for FDR and was a Democrat until 1962.
And, you aware that Algore was most conservative Democrat in the race in 1988, one that was pro-life and who helped lead the charge for warning labels on records in the 1980s, aren't you?
If Reagan is your political hero, why don't you trust the judgment of his son, Michael?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/24/reagans-vision-lives-on-in-texas\ /print/
Under the leadership of Gov. Rick Perry, Texas has championed and built upon the concepts my father used to rebuild America in the 1980s. -- Michael Reagan
FYI ..
My mom (and dad) were democratic DELEGATES to the convection in the 80's! My dad is gone now...but my mom is just as conservative as I am.
People change. Reagan did...but we seem to give him a pass. You all probably wouldn't in todays environment.
My people are from the area...Anson/Leuders/Nugent....near Haskell, and damn straight, they take guff from no one. Hardworking, no nonsense and straight arrow Christians that are as honest as they are tough. Nearly all were Texas democrats till that party became so corrupt that they couldn’t stomach what was happening and switched to the new “party of the people” and voted republican in their latter years.
Perry comes from that kind of stock, too.
Thank you for that very informative description, luvvie .. ;)
I hope it was helpful. Perry, for all his supposed faults, truly IS a Texan from his boots to his hat. Maybe he’s not perfect but this fellow Texan understands his roots at any rate.
Still a Sarah-bot till she says otherwise, though! :)
Thanks for the info, LUV. :)
Politically, some people change. Most do not. Attitudes regarding religion, politics and often money come from core values and principles and people carry them to the grave.
Welcome to some sanity! I'm glad you and your mom were able to change your political minds, but don't assume it's the same for everyone.
Your statement I quoted about Reagan changing isn't true for me. Philosophically, like Rush, I've always been as I am now, just as Reagan, from what I've read, was always conservative.
Regarding changing his affiliation from demonrat to Republican, Reagan said that he didn't leave the party, the party left him. It's not your grandfather's demonrat party.
Similarly, there are now former Republicans who have changed their affiliation to Independent. Just like Reagan had said, the party has left them. That's the group I belong to. I'm an Independent, though I registered for the first time as a Republican to vote for Reagan. It's not my father's republican party.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but that sort of change doesn't appear to be the case with Perry. Apparently, Perry lived through it all, voted for Carter, the worst President until obama, campaigned for Algore and didn't switch parties until the rino Bush the elder was in office. Damn slow out of the gate wouldn't you say?
So you can see why, for me, the Perry - Reagan conservative comparison doesn't work. People can change and many do and some are just good actors. Especially during election season.
Every republican nominee since Reagan has been a rino. From what I've learned about him so far, Perry would not break the chain.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.