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Lest ye forget and get bogged down in the hype de jour......

(I am for Cain but Perry needs defending from the hyperbolic crap)

Palin is not a candidate except in the delusional minds of many

Thoughts on Texas and Perry.....
To win over Freepers for Perry, I think a tactic might be to not concentrate on selling the steak, but sell the sizzle. The steak is Rick Perry, the sizzle is Texas. To separate the sizzle is to demean the steak.
In many respects, all things considered, Texas can be boiled down to a state of mind.
Texas is America, but Texas is different. Texas has different beginnings that set it apart. Texas has founding fathers of it’s own. America today needs the concepts that caused and allowed those refugees from across America to gather in Texas and start a nation from scratch. Texas is immense and diverse. By appealing to what makes a basic Texan and sets them apart from mere Americans, A reminder or two about who they are and who Rick Perry is could be telling. Texas is not ordinary. The Governor of Texas is not ordinary. The cries of RINO are trumped by Texas soul.
Rick Perry is an Aggie, a genuine dyed in the wool Texan. He is the product of the Texican revolution led by a diverse group of opportunity seeking patriots from the United States who would not stand for the tyrant Santa Anna. They did not abide a ruler that took a perfectly good Mexican Constitution and trashed it. They were an ad hoc conglomeration. They more or less congealed around the leadership of Sam Houston and others to disallow the tyrant to rule them across the river in Texas. Rick Perry is the progeny of those brave men and women as he casts off the tyranny of those in Washington who everyday trash the American constitution. He stands in opposition to a President who would take federal control of his state.
Everyone knows of the Alamo and the stand of a few brave souls, but there were equally dedicated group that died at Goliad a few days later and then there was a great victory at San Jacinto in modern day Houston where the Mexican army was slaughtered. There were some military men leading the troops, but the troops were ordinary men who took up arms to defeat tyranny. The survivors of the first war against Santa Anna are the very soul of Texas. Their spirit and grit and determination and dedication are the very bedrock of Texas.
It is said by some that the battle at San Jacinto was won as the result of Santa Anna’s mid afternoon dalliance with the indentured mulatto girl Emily Morgan, known to history as the Yellow Rose of Texas. The Men of Texas memorialized her a few years later as they fought for the Confederacy in the “Yellow Rose of Texas”. The song is part of the essence of Texas. Here are several versions that convey the feeling and power of that essence
The song is interpreted by many….
A classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoPQqPJ7fbQ&feature=player_embedded
A modern view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izz0_qEl_-E&NR=1
A different classic view
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=yellow+rose+of+texas+lyrics&mid=ECA497DF0960C7836E18ECA497DF0960C7836E18&view=detail&FORM=VIRE5
It is this essence, the force of historical precedent, that Perry conveys.
There is another song that conveys the Texas soul. It does not have the deep historical roots but it nevertheless is Texas. There are many different versions by lots of artists. The ballad is from the Texas soul
Waltz across Texas
A classic by ordinary…….with fiddle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHrxc3D03DQ&feature=related
A classic by the best of the best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWu8Fz49hUM&NR=1

To merely watch and listen will be a glance into a window on the state. To listen to the different interpretations, and there are many on You Tube, is to develop a feel for the Texas essence.
It is this essence, the force of historical Texas precedent that Perry conveys. It transcends the petty conservative squabbles over this or that issue on which people label themselves as advocates. It trumps the infamous RINO label so treasured by many.
Rick Perry is pitted against Mitt Romney, the governor of Massachusetts, capital, Boston, Greater Boston is 4.5 million people. It is the only metro area in Massachusetts of such size
Rick Perry was Governor of Texas…… Greater Houston is 5.4 million folks, Dallas Fort Worth is 6.4 million and San Antonio is 2.2 million. Even the western metro area of El Paso exceeds at 650,000 exceeds any smaller than Boston Massachuttes area.
In spite of the fact there are several large populated cities, Texas is an agricultural, make that great agricultural, state. Texas has cotton fields that exceed the size of some states. The city population has a rural flavor even though they are decidedly citified. Rick Perry Went to Texas A&M, An Aggie, A farmer? no a rancher. There are tremendous areas where cattle are raised. There is a ranch in Texas bigger than Rhode Island or Delaware. These are people of the land who produce incomprehensible quantities of stuff to eat and fibers to wear. They do what they do by using the leading edge technology applied by Texas A&M. They are the best in the world at what they do and are far, very far from being bumpkins. Rick Perry is evolved from these roots. (Texas also has major league seafood producers, but I digress)
The roads in the Bay state are falling apart and a third are said to be in poor condition. The cost of repairs to vehicles is in effect a tax, a bad road tax. The governor Romney and others are unable to do the simple task of keeping the roads up. Meanwhile, the roads in Texas are good to excellent and there are far more miles than in the state up north. We must not be guilty of giving Gov Perry the total credit for the excellence of the Texas roads, from interstates and city freeways down to the thousands of miles of well designed and paved farm roads, but he administered the state that developed and maintained the excellence.
There are many other points that can be made about many different aspects of governance and aspects of ordinary life, but the status of the roads is an indicator that carries the principle. The roads are an indicator of excellence and stewardship. The bad roads are also an indicator of the inability to cope or purposeful disregard and perhaps priorities that are misplaced.
Being Governor of Texas requires a much vaster vision than being governor of Massachusetts. The vision required for governing Texas and that actually provided by Governor Rick Perry compared to that of Governor Romney is overwhelming.
Massachuttes was. Texas is