Guess whom Rick Perry endorsed for president in ‘08. Guess.
During the last presidential election cycle, Gov. Rick Perry, now being touted as the Great Conservative Hope, supported … (drumbeat) …
Rudolph Giuliani for the Republican nomination.
Here in early 2008 Perry tells Sean Hannity that Giuliani is “the closest thing to a Ronald Reagan conservative that we have in this race.”
Here let me reiterate something I said repeatedly between 2006 and 2008: any Republican who saw the thrice-married, publicly adulterous, family-destroying, cross-dressing, homosexual pride-marching, pro-illegal alien Giuliani as a plausible Republican nominee (let alone as a Ronald Reagan conservative!) was not just liberal leaning, but seriously delusional. And remember who were the main supporters of Giuliani, the people who for years puffed him as the inevitable GOP nominee in 2008: the neocons. And remember that Giuliani ultimately won one delegate in 2008. And remember that the neocons believe that giving Muslims freedom will turn them into Western-style democrats instead of into jihadists. So in endorsing Giuliani and calling him a “Reagan conservative,” the “Marlboro Man” Rick Perry was not just showing himself as seriously delusional; he was allied with the most delusional people in America.
(The two video clips I’ve tried to link above go to a page where several clips are bunched together; you have to play one before the others become accessible.)
* * *
In the
collection of VFR entries on Giuliani, see my
exchange with reader J.H. Cohen in October 2007, in which Mr. Cohen argues that Giuliani will be a strong leader against our jihadist enemies, and I reply that just the opposite will be the case.
- end of initial entry -
June 22
Steve W. writes:
You think Rick Perry endorsing Rudi Giuliani in 2008 is bad? In 1988, he was a Democrat and served as Al Gore’s presidential campaign manager in Texas. Perry was 38 years old at the time, and had been active in politics during the Reagan years. He became a Republican in 1989. Is Perry someone in whom conservatives can put their trust, or a political opportunist who will bend in the liberal wind?
Charles T. writes:
I would be cautious about Governor Perry.
Here is a piece about Perry and the Texas Legislature process at Breitbart’s Big Peace website.
The article states:
“As Arizona’s immigration law—SB 1070—received overwhelming public support last year, Texas Governor Rick Perry attempted to thread a political needle by talking tough on immigration while asserting that a law similar to Arizona’s “would not be the right direction for Texas.” In a case of dramatic political theater, the Texas legislature has unwittingly and quite unexpectedly, put Perry in a box he made every attempt to avoid being placed in.”
I was disappointed when Perry made this statement. However, the article explains the very interesting proceedings in the Texas Legislature which may require Perry to take a firm stand on illegal immigration enforcement issues.
I read today that SB 9 passed the Texas Senate in special session. This bill outlaws sanctuary cities in Texas. The bill is now in the Texas House State Affairs Committee. The Breitbart piece above explains the details of this as well as an article at the Texas Tribune covering the Texas special legislative session taking place this month.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this legislation.
nametagPerry
Charles T. writes:
I would be cautious about Governor Perry.
Here is a piece about Perry and the Texas Legislature process at Breitbart’s Big Peace website.
The article states:
“As Arizona’s immigration law—SB 1070—received overwhelming public support last year, Texas Governor Rick Perry attempted to thread a political needle by talking tough on immigration while asserting that a law similar to Arizona’s “would not be the right direction for Texas.” In a case of dramatic political theater, the Texas legislature has unwittingly and quite unexpectedly, put Perry in a box he made every attempt to avoid being placed in.”
I was disappointed when Perry made this statement. However, the article explains the very interesting proceedings in the Texas Legislature which may require Perry to take a firm stand on illegal immigration enforcement issues.
I read today that SB 9 passed the Texas Senate in special session. This bill outlaws sanctuary cities in Texas. The bill is now in the Texas House State Affairs Committee. The Breitbart piece above explains the details of this as well as an article at the Texas Tribune covering the Texas special legislative session taking place this month.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this legislation.
Gerald M. from Dallas writes:
Subject: A Texan looks at Rick Perry
Pretentious title for a short email, but I’ve always admired the old-school Texas historian and rancher, J. Evetts Haley, who wrote a devastating book about Lyndon Johnson, A Texan Looks at Lyndon, right about the time he became president. Now to business: I despise Rick Perry. My brother knew him in the corps of cadets at Texas A&M and reports he was a pure political animal even then, obsessed with getting elected to every office possible. To his credit, he served as an Air Force pilot after graduation and hasn’t been a terrible governor. But he is a total stooge of the Big Business, Cheap Labor lobby, which dominates Texas in general and the Texas Republican party in particular. And, like Texas senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, he’s an expert in making just enough noise about securing the border and being against illegal immigration to make the electorate think he’s serious about these issues. He is not. Also, he recently signed a petition calling for a massive increase the number of H1B visas—ignoring the fact we are in a very bad recession.
So, it’s not just Perry’s support for Giuliani for president that should make us oppose him. The man really has no core beliefs, except believing he should be elected to whatever office he desires.
Finally—and I make this suggestion as a native-born Texan and in almost total seriousness—it’s time to do something about the plague of presidents from Texas. Considering the immense damage done to America by LBJ, George Herbert Walker Bush, and George W. Bush, I propose a constitutional amendment, banning anyone from the Lone Star state from the office of the Presidency or vice-Presidency for the next 100 years.
After a century of no Texas presidents, we may have recovered enough to risk letting one in the Oval Office again.
Gerald M. from Dallas writes:
Subject: A Texan looks at Rick Perry
Pretentious title for a short email, but I’ve always admired the old-school Texas historian and rancher, J. Evetts Haley, who wrote a devastating book about Lyndon Johnson, A Texan Looks at Lyndon, right about the time he became president. Now to business: I despise Rick Perry. My brother knew him in the corps of cadets at Texas A&M and reports he was a pure political animal even then, obsessed with getting elected to every office possible. To his credit, he served as an Air Force pilot after graduation and hasn’t been a terrible governor. But he is a total stooge of the Big Business, Cheap Labor lobby, which dominates Texas in general and the Texas Republican party in particular. And, like Texas senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, he’s an expert in making just enough noise about securing the border and being against illegal immigration to make the electorate think he’s serious about these issues. He is not. Also, he recently signed a petition calling for a massive increase the number of H1B visas—ignoring the fact we are in a very bad recession.
So, it’s not just Perry’s support for Giuliani for president that should make us oppose him. The man really has no core beliefs, except believing he should be elected to whatever office he desires.
Finally—and I make this suggestion as a native-born Texan and in almost total seriousness—it’s time to do something about the plague of presidents from Texas. Considering the immense damage done to America by LBJ, George Herbert Walker Bush, and George W. Bush, I propose a constitutional amendment banning anyone from the Lone Star State from the office of the Presidency or Vice Presidency for the next 100 years.
After a century of no Texas presidents, we may have recovered enough to risk letting one in the Oval Office again.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 21, 2011 04:09 PM | Send