Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Perry's campaign takes a low road in questioning Obama's love of country

This 2012 campaign is off to a start and its new entry, Gov.   Rick Perry of Texas, is taking the low road already.  We should be having a debate on the advantages of one economic theory and plan to create jobs and reduce debt over another. We got some of that but we also got Perry questioning Pres. Obama’s love of America.   Watch out, Perry. If you want to campaign on that level, you live in a glass house and should not be throwing bricks.
Perry is the same guy who spoke to a Tea Party rally in April 2009 claiming it was permissible for Texas to withdraw from the union if Washington did not start paying attention to them.
Perry:“Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that,” Perry said. “My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.”
What sort of a loyal American is that?
Not only did the US  fight a civil war over that  attitude put into practice, the Supreme Court  in 1869 ruled Texas could not do that; it could, however, divide into states.
It appears that Perry, who hopes to carry the banner of the Teaparty, a group that pontificates over being the party of constitutional adherence, is selective in his support of its provisions.
Perry represents a popular attitude in Texas. There is a widespread belief there (and rampant in other southern states) that Obama is not a loyal American.  I know. My inbox has been flooded over the past three years sent to me from those quarters with anti-Muslim, birther viral emails. The “getting Bin Laden” and closer scrutiny and certification of Obama’s birth certificate had seemed to dampen that line of personal attack;   However, Perry’s remark may crank it up again.
In spite of that, polls show 16% of Americans still fall for the birther line.  Why? We can speculate in the same way Perry speculates about what is really going on inside a person’s head and the speculation could get very ugly.   In any case, there is something irrational going on there and Perry sent a message to that crowd.
Let’s get off both of these lines and get back to business…a rational national debate on the issues and policies.




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