Rick Perry’s Debt to the Anti-God Squad

TheAmericanConservative ^ | September 9th, 2011 | Paul Gottfried

[South40]

For several weeks now, what one critic has called “the anti-God squad” has been at work attacking Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and other presidential candidates who publically display their Christian values. A torrent of abuse from the New Yorker, New York Times, and Washington Post has caused even the moderate Timescolumnist Ross Douthat (August 28) to lament the double standard being applied to religious Republicans. His fellow journalists, says Douthat, have vastly exaggerated the danger of theocratic government posed by Evangelical Christians. Most American presidents in the past have also been professing Christians and presided over a country that was far less secularized than we’ve since become. An emphatically Christian culture in the past did not result in a national theocracy. Moreover, far from erecting a theocracy, conservative Christians have been losing influence in the US for decades, as evidenced by the political success of the gay movement and by the strenuous separation of church and state that has been enforced since the middle of the last century.

Douthat notices the sudden concern exhibited by the liberal media about explicitly Christian presidential candidates, a concern that these journalists never showed when faced by the religious associations of candidate Obama. Why should Evangelical Christianity or Romney’s Mormonism upset our journalists more than Obama’s intimate association with the Black Nationalist minister Jeremiah Wright? The obvious answer: for the liberal media the major eyesore is not Black Nationalism but Christianity.

Equally ludicrous is the attack on Texas Governor Perry for supporting the teaching of creationism together with evolution in Texas schools. For most journalists and academics of my acquaintance, the theory of evolution is a convenient club for going after those they despise. Just ask journalists to provide a detailed account of Darwin’s theory about man’s descent from less cognitively developed life forms; and what one typically gets are poorly digested phrases about random selection and fossil records. The discussion conducted by Darwin and his followers about socially significant genetic differences between genders (dimorphism) or races, has become a no-no among the politically fashionable. The same liberals who stress the indispensability of Darwinist convictions in a presidential candidate insist no less emphatically that gender and race are mostly social constructs and therefore have no serious implications. The Evangelicals are correct when they suggest that Darwinism has become a tool in a cultural war. Whatever the merits of evolutionary biology for academic research, as a political issue, it is about politics, not science.

Despite their malice, Rick Perry owes the antireligious bigots big time. They have helped turn someone with a mixed record on immigration and job creation into a Republican Right hero. Indeed, by mentioning his fervent faith at a prayer breakfast and by making it appear that he believes in creationism, Perry has enlisted the “anti-God squad” for his campaign. The more they scream, the better he does in hiding his identity as a Bush-look-alike, from the same state and with some of the same key policies as the former president. (Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post takes the opposite view, noting Perry’s recent rhetoric rather than his record. As late as 2008, however, Perry backed the very liberal Republican Giuliani for president.)

Many of the new jobs that Perry boasts of having brought to Texas were in the public sector; nonetheless, if one focuses on added jobs in the private sector, according to Michael Barone, one finds that Texas under its present governor wouldn’t finish in the top ten. Under Perry the state debt has more than doubled; and this may be related to his public sector approach to unemployment. Like Bush, Perry presents himself as a benefactor of publicly subsidized education. As Texas governor he expresses the hope that all high-school graduates will be able to attend a university for a cost of no more than $10,000 per year. Need we even wonder whether the state debt will be increased to pay for this favor? In foreign policy, Perry is also imitating his Republican predecessor in the governor’s mansion. This candidate has brought back Bush’s neoconservative advisor Douglas Feith, and he sounds like the former president in stating his vision for America’s role in building global democracy.

On immigration, Perry again resembles Bush. Like Bush, he frantically courts the Latino vote, which he considers crucial for a Republican presidential victory. Although Perry has blasted Democrats for permitting “sanctuary cities for illegals,” here the pot is calling the kettle black. Perry has been for in-state tuition fees to Texas universities being granted tor those who are here against the law. He has sniped at Arizona’s Republican governor for going too far in trying to ostracize illegal residents. A large immigration-reform organization, Numbers USA, gives Perry the same “D-grade” it assigns to the current Democratic administration. None of this would look so bad if Perry weren’t pretending to be tough on illegal immigration.

[Just mythoughts]

http://www.tnt.tv/series/dallas/

Given how long it takes Hollywood to produce a tv series it looks like to me this Perry campaign has been in the works a whole lot longer than a few months. Even though less than a year ago Perry did say he was not going to run for president.

[South40]

Mrs. 40 loved that show and has every episode on DVD. We were in Dallas in '09 and she insisted we go to Southfork Ranch. I initially refused but then bargained with her; we'd take the Southfork tour one day and we would take the tour of the new Cowboys Stadium the next. It was a worthwhile trade.

I agree, I don't think Perry decided to run at the last minute but then I don't believe much of what Rick Perry has to say.

[antceecee]

Agree.

[Just mythoughts]

For over a decade JR Ewing was the evil rich oil man, America loved to hate. I do not think it is a coincidence the show is coming back next summer. And I suspect it is not going to be picturing ‘rich’ oil men any better than it did through the 80’s.

How neat you actually took a Southfork tour.. I think the pictures of that place are like ‘heaven’ on earth... I can't imagine it being as ‘green’ today as shown in video after this harsh hot summer.

[bobby.223]

Don’t forget senor ricardo hussein perrynista’s muslim loving record! How can FReepers fall for this fraud is beyond me! He is just as bad as mitt and paul!!

[veritas2002]

The Left is trying to destroy belief in God in order that Big Government can step in to take God’s place in our lives. And Obama is the replacement for Jesus Christ...

We will have to make our choice, won’t we?

[D-fendr]

yep.

And this is a key point, a critical one in our history.

We have to stand together to defeat Obama.

[Paleo Conservative]

Given how long it takes Hollywood to produce a tv series it looks like to me this Perry campaign has been in the works a whole lot longer than a few months. Even though less than a year ago Perry did say he was not going to run for president.

The 2010 TX governor's race was a warm up for the 2012 presidential run. I've been to several events where Governor Perry talked to small groups of supporters and to others where he addressed hundreds or thousands of people. He's using the same themes he used last year. He's quite an impressive speaker when addressing small groups. It's not a coincidence that he was a yell leader at Texas A&M.

He's also very good at posing for photos and videos; I've made quite a few photos of him with supporters and local candidates. I got to watch him shoot a political ad for one of his appointees who was running to serve the rest of the term of office. Between takes I took pictures of him and the candidate for whom he was making the ad. He has very good acting skills, and it was very interesting to watch him go through several takes of the ad.

Don't just take my word for it. Paul Burka the political editor of Texas Monthly was saying that Perry would run for President back in November 2009. In February 2010, the Texas Monthly cover was a picture of Rick Perry in front of a podium, and the title is "Perry for President?!? It's not about 2010. It's about 2012. Trust me."

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2010-02-01/index.php

http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=5262

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/paul-burka-rick-perry-absolutely-running-14081030

[Just mythoughts]

I do not doubt his political skills. But IF he knew and plans were being made to run 2 years ago, then to publicly state he was NOT running for president does not give me confidence that he is NOT just another politician in the game for self service.

[hocndoc]

The author has a few mistakes. Here’s one,

Perry has suggested a $10,000 degree, $2500 a year. He recommends that our University and Colleges could cut costs by focusing more on students than on tenured professors and research. He had the radical idea that tenured, salaried professors should actually teach a full class load, rather than go on sabbaticals and take one class a semester.

[Paleo Conservative]

I do not doubt his political skills. But IF he knew and plans were being made to run 2 years ago, then to publicly state he was NOT running for president does not give me confidence that he is NOT just another politician in the game for self service.

I really don't expect a politician to rule out running for a higher office than he or she currently occupies or is running for, especially after having served a full term or more in office. I would have had problems if he were running in the middle of his first term. Perry is now serving his fourth term as governor. His first was the last two years of George W. Bush's second term, and he has been elected to three more terms.

Governor Perry did not announce his run for President till after the the 140 day regular legislative session and and additional 30 day special session. Considering the Texas legislature won't convene for a legislative session till January 2013, it's not as if Governor Perry were abandoning his duties. There is no more legislation to either sign or veto. The only way for there to be a special session would be if he called one, and he's not about to do that.

[gleeaikin]

Darwin developed the theory of evolution, Gregor Mendel discovered the actual mechanism of transmission of traits. Incidentally he was a priest or minister or something like that.

[Just mythoughts]

I really don't expect a politician to rule out running for a higher office than he or she currently occupies or is running for, especially after having served a full term or more in office. I would have had problems if he were running in the middle of his first term. Perry is now serving his fourth term as governor. His first was the last two years of George W. Bush's second term, and he has been elected to three more terms. Governor Perry did not announce his run for President till after the the 140 day regular legislative session and and additional 30 day special session. Considering the Texas legislature won't convene for a legislative session till January 2013, it's not as if Governor Perry were abandoning his duties. There is no more legislation to either sign or veto. The only way for there to be a special session would be if he called one, and he's not about to do that.

Your keyword here is politician. IF it is his tendency to say one thing, full well knowing he was hip deep in the midst of doing the exact opposite then liberals will chew him up and spit him out. Most especially if he really is sincere about taking the 'system' out of social security. He may well have politically gamed well in Texas but it is not going to work nationally. There is not enough of him to promise out and off to maintain credibility.

[trebb]

Your keyword here is politician. IF it is his tendency to say one thing, full well knowing he was hip deep in the midst of doing the exact opposite then liberals will chew him up and spit him out. Most especially if he really is sincere about taking the 'system' out of social security. He may well have politically gamed well in Texas but it is not going to work nationally. There is not enough of him to promise out and off to maintain credibility

By that definition, only Herman Cain will do - ALL the others are politicians...

[samtheman]

Many of the new jobs that Perry boasts of having brought to Texas were in the public sector; nonetheless, if one focuses on added jobs in the private sector, according to Michael Barone, one finds that Texas under its present governor wouldn’t finish in the top ten.

This is a leftist meme perpetuated by "conservatives" who don't like Perry.

In raw numbers, nearly three times as many private sector jobs were created compared to public sector jobs.

But the percentage increase of public sector jobs (public sector jobs in 2000 vs public sector jobs in 2011) is higher than the percentage increase of private sector jobs (private sector jobs in 2000 vs private sector jobs in 2011).

But still, the total number of new private sector jobs is vastly higher than the total number of new public sector jobs.

The leftists, and their useful idiots on the right, are using the general math illiteracy among Americans to hide that fact. I call: Shame on you!

[samtheman]

Perry has suggested a $10,000 degree, $2500 a year. He recommends that our University and Colleges could cut costs by focusing more on students than on tenured professors and research. He had the radical idea that tenured, salaried professors should actually teach a full class load, rather than go on sabbaticals and take one class a semester.

He's taken on the trial lawyers and he's taken on the educational establishment.

[newzjunkey]

There's plenty of crap in this article but here's one shining example:

A large immigration-reform organization, Numbers USA, gives Perry the same “D-grade” it assigns to the current Democratic administration.

Obama's rated an "F minus" by Numbers USA.

Speaking of Numbers USA, they've now moved Romney up to a C minus, trying with Hermain Cain.

Palin supporter's heads will explode since she's rated a D, below Romney.

This improved rating for Romney just tells me how fatuous Numbers USA's grades are.

[South40]

There's plenty of crap in this article but here's one shining example: A large immigration-reform organization, Numbers USA, gives Perry the same “D-grade” it assigns to the current Democratic administration. Obama's rated an "F minus" by Numbers USA.

Here’s another -- Perry gets a D minus and not a D.

Speaking of Numbers USA, they've now moved Romney up to a C minus, trying with Hermain Cain.

I don’t make a habit of defending RINOs, be they named Mitt Perry or Rick Romney. But Rick Romney has provided a consistent opposition to mass legalization, starting with his 2008 campaign. Romney's 2012 campaign website features this quote from his 2008 campaign:“I disagree fundamentally with the idea that the 12 million people who’ve come here illegally should all be allowed to remain in the US permanently, potentially some of them applying for citizenship and becoming citizens, others just staying permanently. That is a form of amnesty, and that it’s not appropriate. We’re a nation of laws. Our liberty is based upon being a nation of laws. I would welcome those people to get in line with everybody else who wants to come here permanently. But there should be no special pathway to permanent residency or citizenship for those that have come here illegally.

Palin supporter's heads will explode since she's rated a D, below Romney.

I didn’t realize Palin was a candidate. But if you think her rating compared to Rick Romney’s would make her supporters’ heads explode, why don’t you post it in the Palin thread of your choosing and see? I do think, however, that they will point out that while she may grade lower than Rick Romney, her D is still higher than Mitt Perry’s D minus.

This improved rating for Romney just tells me how fatuous Numbers USA's grades are.

I don’t deem them the ultimate source for grading a candidate’s position on immigration. If they were, Mitt Perry, with his clear record of pandering to ILLEGALs, would rate far, far lower.