Posted on 08/15/2011 7:07:00 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
For years, Gov. Rick Perry has taken flak for his 2007 attempt to require girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, the most commonly sexually transmitted disease and the principal cause of cervical cancer. At the risk of angering fellow conservatives, Perry has always insisted he did the right thing.
That unapologetic approach changed this weekend.
A few hours after unveiling his campaign for president, Perry began walking back from one of the most controversial decisions of his more-than-10-year reign as Texas governor. Speaking to voters at a backyard party in New Hampshire, Perry said he was ill-informed when he issued his executive order, in February 2007, mandating the HPV vaccine for all girls entering sixth grade, unless their parents completed a conscientious-objection affidavit form. The vaccine, Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, would have protected against the forms of HPV that cause about 70 percent of all cervical cancer, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.
"I signed an executive order that allowed for an opt-out, but the fact of the matter is that I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry," Perry said at the Manchester, N.H., event in response to an audience question about the HPV controversy, according to ABC News’ The Note. "But here’s what I learned: When you get too far out in front of the parade, they will let you know, and that’s exactly what our Legislature did, and I saluted it and I said, 'Roger that, I hear you loud and clear.' And they didn’t want to do it and we don’t, so enough said.”
He’s just put flip-flopper on the menu.
He was wrong then. Overwhelmingly wrong. Just as he was wrong to endorse algore way back many years ago.
I’m glad to see that he has the stones to address it.
There may be a time and a place for them -- and perhaps Perry is making a smart move here. But I doubt it.
My current feeling is that a politician can make one apology. Just one. Pick the worst thing you've said or done. Your worst mistake ever, and then apologize for that.
Second apology? That would tell me that you are a weasel and I cannot trust you because you have bad judgment.
As far as I know, this is Perry's first apology. Fine. His HPV decision is his worst mistake ever. Now -- no more apologies.
I always considered it a tempest in a teapot anyway. Parents were allowed to opt out very easily. It really wasn’t the big deal his political opponents want to make of it.
Oh. And BTW.
Link, please.
I don’t see it that way. He made a mistake and admitted it. That’s pretty rare. After all, it’s not like the rest of us mere mortals have ever done that or, God forbid, changed our minds on a subject.
So if an elected official makes a bad decision then decides later that the decision was bad they’re a “flip flopper”?
LOL!
It’s quite subtle but it is a walk back.
Gov. Rick Perry (unlike someone else I could mention) isn’t campaigning “from behind.”
The dems thank you all for your slamming of any potential GOP candidates.
0bama 2012!
Wonder how he’ll “walk back” the TransTexas Corridor issue.
No, and we can thank our fellow FReepers for doing all this opposition research for the dems. They are rooting for a second 0bama term without question!
Well, if you have a minute, read the entire article -- he's done it very well.
Lucky for us, he shows no signs of doing so.
What Perry did was what the democrats do—bypass parental authority and the legislative process. That the government would force a minor to receive a recently-approved, and relatively untested, STD vaccine is beyond tyrannical.
I am having a very hard time getting past this bad decision. His chief of staff (?) was a lobbyist for Merck at the time. This is crony capitalism at its most despicable.
Just another politician acknowledging that politics, not principles, are the driving force in their life. Expecting otherwise is where we rubes end up with egg on our face.
“Nothing new here, nothing to see, move along...” said CW.
Seems like the chew bone is still there, IMO. If you wish to accept this and use the lawyer approach (asked and answered), OK by me. If Perry should end up the nominee, I’ll place my mark by his name but I’ll not be doing an imitation of him as an Aggie Yell Leader during the campaign.
And before anybody goes there, I fully acknowledge there is no such thing as a perfect candidate but that doesn’t keep me from having some criteria for measurement and discussion.
What ARE you talking about?
The fact that he supported something at one time that is so blatantly and obviously an infringement on personal liberty, calls me to question his instincts. If he were president and push came to shove - would he err on the side of the government - or the individual?
It is commendable that he provides an explanation and accepts the responsibility.
“I signed an executive order that allowed for an opt-out, but the fact of the matter is that I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry,” Perry said at the Manchester, N.H., event in response to an audience question about the HPV controversy, according to ABC News’ The Note. “But here’s what I learned: When you get too far out in front of the parade, they will let you know, and that’s exactly what our Legislature did, and I saluted it and I said, ‘Roger that, I hear you loud and clear.’ And they didn’t want to do it and we don’t, so enough said.”
A politician that owns up to his own mistakes? What a novel idea.
What part of "Parents Could Opt-OUT" do you not understand?
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