Who is Rick Perry?

[WyldemanATX]

Who Is Rick Perry? By Bill Franklin


He is a fifth generation Texan, the son of hardscrabble
west Texas tenant farmers - Democrats but conservatives through and
through. He grew up in a farm town too small to be on the state map.
Life was so hard that he was six years old before his house had indoor
plumbing. His mother sewed his clothes, including the underwear he wore
to college.

He is an Eagle Scout. After Paint Creek High School, he
attended Texas A&M, graduated, and was commissioned into the Air Force
where he became a C-130 pilot.

Now 61 years old, he has won nine elections to four
different offices in Texas state government. In the first three
elections he ran as a Democrat then switched to the Republican Party. He
is currently the 47th governor of Texas - a position he has held for 11
years, the longest tenure of any governor in the nation.

He has never lost an election.

Rick Perry was the Lieutenant Governor to whom Governor
George Bush handed over the office after winning the 2000 Presidential
election. Since then, Perry won gubernatorial elections in 2002, 2004,
and 2010, the last time by 55% against a field consisting of a Democrat,
a Libertarian, a Green Party, and an Independent.

Since he became its Governor, Texas - a right to work
state that taxes neither personal income nor capital gains - has added
more jobs than the other 49 states combined. In the last two years, low
taxes and little regulation led his state to create 47% of all jobs
created in the entire nation. Five of the top ten cities with the
highest job growth in the nation are in Texas. People follow jobs, so in
the last four years for which data are available, Texas led every state
in net interstate migration growth.

Perry signed ground-breaking "loser pays" tort reform
and medical litigation rules that caused malpractice insurance rates to
fall. Some 20,000 doctors have since moved to Texas.

Texas boasts 58 of the Fortune 500 companies - more than
any other state. Since May 2011 Texas resumed its pre-recession
employment levels. Only two other states and the District of Columbia
have done that.

Texas ships 16% of the nation's export value. California
trails at 11%. Of the 70 companies that have fled California so far in
2011, 14 relocated in Texas.

In this year's Texas legislative season, Perry got most
of what he wanted. With no new taxes, a fiscally lean state budget was
passed leaving $6 billion in a rainy day fund even as other states
around the country struggled to balance budgets and avoid more deficit
borrowing. A voter ID bill passed that was designed to prevent ballot
box fraud and illegal voting. A bill passed that makes plaintiffs pay
court costs and attorney fees if their suits are deemed frivolous.

Perry scored points even in his legislative failures. He
failed to get sanctuary cities banned - Texas towns in which police
cannot question detainees about their immigration status. The blame fell
on the legislature. Perry also failed to get a so-called "anti-groping"
bill passed that would put Transportation Security Administration agents
in prison if they touch the genitals, anus, or breasts of passengers in
a pat down. Federal officials threatened to halt all flights out of
Texas airports and the bill died in special session. That endeared
Texans even more to TSA employees living in Texas.

Perry jogs daily in the morning. He has no bodyguard
with him, but his daughter's dog runs by his side and he carries a
laser-guided automatic pistol in his belt. Last year while jogging in an
undeveloped area, a coyote paralleled his jogging route, eyeing his dog.
He drew his pistol and killed the animal with one shot, leaving it where
it fell. "He became mulch," Perry said. Animal rights groups protested,
but Perry shrugged it off. "Don't come after my dog," he warned them.

Recently, Obama asked Perry to delay the July 7
execution of Humberto Leal in order to comply with the International
Court of Justice in The Hague and the Vienna Convention on Consular
Relations. Perry refused. Therefore Obama asked the US Supreme Court to
delay the execution because it would damage US foreign relations. The
Court refused 5-4 and Perry ordered the execution to go forward as
scheduled. Over the howls of diplomats, politicians, and the UN, Leal
was administered a lethal injection at 6:20 p.m. Before he died, he
admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness.

The case has special implications for Perry, who is
considering a run for the presidency in 2012. Even his critics resent
federal interference in a Texas execution, which is related to a state,
not a federal, crime - an alcohol and drug-fueled rape and murder 17
years ago by an illegal whose family brought him into the country 35
years ago as a child. The interference hinges not on the man's guilt,
which Leal's advocates acknowledged, but on a technicality - failure to
inform Leal that he could have gotten legal representation from the
Mexican consulate in lieu of the court-appointed attorneys who
represented him. Independent Texans saw Obama's interference as another
intrusion of federal power into the affairs of a state, which could cost
Obama support in other states.

Needless to say, Perry is a hard-edged conservative and
a ferocious defender of 10th Amendments rights ("The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people.") - an explicit restriction of the federal government to only
those powers granted in the Constitution. Perry accuses the federal
government, especially the Obama administration, of illegal overreach.

Perry said "no thanks" to the feds whose stimulus
offered taxpayer dollars for education and unemployment assistance. The
strings on "free money" from Washington, he said, would restrict Texas
in managing its own affairs. Perry even depleted all state funds to
fight recent wildfires before asking Washington for disaster relief. His
request has been ignored, which comes across as an unvarnished federal
power play, further pitting Perry and Texans against the federal
government.

It's little surprise, then, that 31% of Texans prefer
Perry, who hasn't announced for the presidency, versus 15% who prefer
Romney and 11% who like Bachmann. This is consistent with a Fox poll
which put Romney at 18% with national Republicans, Perry at 13%, and
Bachmann at 11%. A Marist poll had Romney leading with 19% but Perry and
Giuliani, neither of whom has announced, are tied for second at 13%.
Perry is the favorite among Tea Party voters, beating Palin, also
unannounced, and Bachmann. For a guy who is not officially running,
Perry has more than an insignificant following compared with the
announced candidates.

But none of the candidates - announced and unannounced -
has caught fire. It's still early in the 2012 election cycle, and
polling results this far out border on meaninglessness. Yet I would have
expected Romney to have a greater lead, given his money and name
recognition, unless he is being perceived by voters as a nomination
retread, now haunted by the Massachusetts experiment that Obama claims
inspired his unpopular remaking of the national healthcare system. His
business and economic expertise towers over Obama's, but I suspect it
would be easier for him to be elected than nominated. Palin has a fan
base rather than a constituency ready to hand another rookie the keys to
the White House. Bachmann, recently insulted by Chris Matthews in an
interview asking if she was a "flake" because of her bizarre statements,
might keep in mind that James Garfield was the only House member to be
elected President - and that was over 130 years ago. Ryan may have
recalled that fact when he declined to run.

But Perry is not without his negatives. French cuffs and
cowboy boots adorned with the words "Freedom" and "Liberty" bespeak a
self-assuredness that wears well in Texas and even in the south and
southwest, but will it work in Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and Ohio?

Perry is ruggedly handsome - a modern Marlboro kind of
man - whom the late Texan and liberal columnist, Molly Ivins, called
"Governor Goodhair." His high octane rhetoric is unmistakably
conservative. Speaking to the Republican Leadership Conference in New
Orleans last month, he pumped the air with both fists as he strode to
the podium. "Whew!' he cried repeatedly. "Yeah!" He was like an excited
race horse being shoved into a starting gate.

I stand before you today a disciplined conservative
Texan -- a committed Republican and a proud American -- united with you
in the desire to restore our nation and revive the American dream...

Our party cannot be all things to all people. It can't
be. And our loudest opponents on the left are never gonna' like us so
let's quit trying to curry favor with 'em! ... Let's speak with pride
about our morals and our values and redouble our effort to elect more
conservative Republicans. Let's stop this American downward spiral! ...

This administration in Washington that's in power now
clearly believes that government is not only the answer to every need,
but it's the most qualified to make essential decisions for every
American in every area. That mix of arrogance and audacity that guides
the Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American
and a threat to every private sector job in this country.

He left the podium and stage as he had mounted it:
pumping his fists, shouting "Yeah!" and "Whew!" as if he were returning
to his corner after Round 1 of a prize fight.

It's hard to imagine the cautiously moderate Romney, the
bland somnambulistic Pawlenty, or even the outspoken and misspoken
Bachmann delivering that performance. Yet, what a contrast Perry is to
the pontifical, condescending Obama speaking style, his head robotically
swiveling from side to side, nose unconsciously elevated. I suspect even
the leading GOP candidates wish they had Perry's "negatives."

Perry's speech was a tea partier's delight. The almost
cocky swagger. The Texas accent. But I wonder how it would sell to
political independents - those more pragmatic than ideological?

Sweeping these concerns aside, Perry's biggest challenge
may be overcoming the fact that he is "another" Texas governor seeking
the White House. After four years of Obama, Bush fatigue may have
attenuated. But by how much? For those in the center - the ones who will
decide the next election - the choice will be between four more years of
someone they know (which they didn't four years ago) versus someone who
reminds them of someone they know (Bush) and wish they didn't.

Beyond the Texas Governor's mansion, the accent, and the
swagger, however, the similarity ends. Their differences have been no
small source of friction between the Bush and Perry camps.

A 2007 YouTube, for example, showed Perry at a
fundraiser saying, "George Bush was never a fiscal conservative - never
was," going on to say, "I mean, '95, '97, '99, George Bush (while he was
Texas Governor) was spending money." The video came to the attention of
Bush aides and they were not happy with Perry's criticisms of their man.

Then after initially embracing Bush's "No Child Left
Behind" law, Perry turned against it, calling it "a monstrous intrusion
into our (i.e. the Texas education system) affairs" in an interview. His
10th Amendment fire-breathing can't be contained.

When Perry ran for his third gubernatorial election, the
Bush family and political team retaliated by backing Perry's Republican
opponent, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, providing her campaign with
fundraising and organizational support. Perry won the primary and went
on to win in the general election by a sizable margin, no doubt giving
him cause to gloat and giving the Bush camp cause to mope.

The relationship between Perry and Bush continues to be
frosty. But it would be foolish for Perry to provoke the Bush family
into working against him if he chooses to run for President. And it
would also be petty of the Bush family to deny that politics requires a
candidate to show that he is his own man, not a clone of his former
boss. Gore ran against Clinton in 2000, and if Perry runs, he will have
to show his independence of Bush if he is to have any hope of shedding
the "Oh no, not another Texas Governor" image.

Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative," probably a
euphemism for the liberalism of his rich family, which is what caused
Reagan to balance his conservative ticket with running mate George H. W.
Bush. Perry will have to show that he intends to reverse the reckless
spending of the Bush-Obama years.

Bush ran as a "uniter, not a divider." Perry will have
to show that he intends to be an unmistakable contrast to everything
Obama stands for and will undo the Obama program, even as Clinton undid
the Reagan legacy and Obama undid the Bush programs, complaining all the
while that Bush was responsible for everything that was wrong with
America.

Perry has not yet said he is in the race. Time is
running out for him to do so. But should Obama be concerned if Perry
runs? Absolutely. Obama cannot run on his record - an unpopular
healthcare law, a failed stimulus, unprecedented spending and debt, a
jobless "recovery" and the threat of a double-dip recession, not to
mention a foreign policy he can't explain and his undeclared war on
Libya. Obama's record is a disaster. Perry by contrast produced in Texas
an oasis of prosperity in a sea of misery during the Obama years.

Not being able to defend his own economic record, or
attack Perry's, Obama might try to paint Perry as a representative of
the far right. That wouldn't be easy. Perry served three terms in the
Texas House as a Democrat, and supported Al Gore's 1988 presidential
bid. That was when there were still some conservative Democrats. Perry
switched to the Republican Party in 1989 when the Democrat Party began
moving left.

Obama might attack Perry's ideological extremism. But
Perry could remind voters that Reagan was initially painted as a
conservative extremist, until Reagan's folksy "Now there you go again"
confidence showed Americans that the extremist was in the White House.
Reagan's proof was the economic chaos Carter had wrought ("Are you
better off now than you were four years ago?") and the foreign policy
catastrophes his policies produced in Iran, whose hostage crisis was
nearing 400 days.

Unlike Perry, Obama is all hat and no cattle. There is
no Obama thrust that Perry can't parry if he keeps his good humor and
enthusiasm and reminds Americans that, yes, his flaws are large - until
you compare them with Obama's.

I am sure that Sup will get all riled up on this one....

[Guest040616]

Will the real Prick Erry please stand up!



Top 10 Things Texas Gov. Rick Perry Doesn’t Want You To Know About Him

By Scott Keyes on Jun 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm


With widespread discontent on the right over their current presidential field, all eyes are trained on a likely new entrant: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).
Perry, who has been elected governor three times and served for more than 10 years, enjoys bona fides from social conservatives and Tea Party-types alike. Glenn Beck even described Perry as a man he was so enamored with that he wanted to “French kiss.”
However, as conservatives fawn over their newest presidential hopeful, it’s worth taking a closer examination at his record as governor. On issues across the board, from Perry’s support for dropping out of Social Security and Medicaid to his state’s abysmal pollution levels and his proposal that Texas secede from the United States, the Republican governor has amassed a record of far-right extremism.
ThinkProgress has assembled the top ten hits from Perry’s tenure as governor:

(1) PERRY ALLOWED THE EXECUTION OF A LIKELY INNOCENT MAN, THEN IMPEDED AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MATTER: In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Huntsville, Texas after being convicted of arson and the murder of his three children. Even after significant evidence emerged showing that arson had not caused the fire (thus exonerating Willingham), Perry refused to grant a stay of execution. Five years after Willingham was executed, a report from a Texas Forensic Science Commission investigator found that the fire could not have been arson. As the commission prepared to hear testimony from the investigator in October 2009, Perry quickly fired and replaced three of its members, forcing an indefinite delay in the hearing.
(2) PERRY WANTS TO REPEAL THE 16th AND 17th AMENDMENTS, ENDING DIRECT ELECTION OF U.S. SENATORS AND THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX: In his 2010 book Fed Up!, Perry called the 16th and 17th Amendments “mistaken” and said they resulted from “a fit of populist rage.” The 16th Amendment allows the federal government to collect income taxes, which is the single biggest source of revenue, accounting for 45 percent of all receipts. The 17th Amendment took electing U.S. senators out of the hands of political insiders and allowed the American public to decide their representation instead. If Perry had his way, the federal government would be stripped of its current ability to fund highway construction projects, food inspectors, and the military, and the American public would not even be permitted to elect their own senators.
(3) PERRY PROPOSED LETTING STATES DROP OUT OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICAID: Despite the programs’ importance and popularity, Perry has argued that states like Texas should be allowed to opt out of Social Security and Medicaid. Were Perry to have his way on Social Security, “the entire system would collapse under the weight of too many Social Security beneficiaries who had not paid into the system,” notes Ian Millhiser. On Medicaid, in addition to stripping 3.6 million low-income Texans of their health care, Perry’s proposal would actually hurt, not help, the state’s budget deficit. This is because, as Igor Volsky writes, opting out of Medicaid would take “billions out of the state economy that goes on to support hospitals and other providers,” while forcing hospitals “to swallow the costs of caring for uninsured individuals who will continue to use the emergency room as their primary source of care.”
(4) TEXAS IS THE COUNTRY’S BIGGEST POLLUTER, BUT PERRY SUED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR DISAPPROVING OF THE STATE’S AIR QUALITY STANDARDS: Texas is the biggest polluter in the country, leading the nation in carbon dioxide emissions. However, when the EPA published its “disapproval” of the state’s air quality standards for falling short of the Clean Air Act’s requirements, Perry sued the federal government to challenge the ruling. Perry’s environmental record doesn’t end there. He is a global warming denier who called the 2010 BP oil spill an “act of God” while speaking at a trade association funded by BP.
(5) PERRY DESIGNATED AS “EMERGENCY LEGISLATION” A BILL REQUIRING ALL WOMEN SEEKING ABORTIONS TO HAVE SONOGRAMS FIRST: In January, Perry proposed requiring all women seeking abortions to have a sonogram at least 24 hours before the procedure. Under the bill, doctors would be required to “tell a woman the size of her fetus’ limbs and organs, even if she does not want to know.” Before a woman is permitted to have an abortion, physicians are also forced to provide an image of the fetus and make the woman listen to the sound of its heartbeat. Perry designated his proposal as “emergency legislation,” allowing the bill to be rushed through the legislature. He signed it into law last month.

(6) PERRY GUTTED CHILDCARE SERVICES EVEN AS TEXAS CHILDHOOD POVERTY HIT 25 PERCENT: Facing a $27 billion budget deficit this year, Perry decided to gut child support services, despite a report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities that found nearly one in four Texas children lived beneath the poverty line. Instead of raising revenue like California, a state facing a similarly sized deficit, Perry scaled back more than $10 billion of child support over two years. As Think Progress’ Pat Garofalo noted, these cuts were proposed despite Texas’ possession of a $8.2 billion rainy day fund.
(7) PERRY WAS A STRONG SUPPORTER OF TEXAS’S ANTI-SODOMY LAWS: Perry was a strong proponent of Texas’s anti-sodomy law that was struck down in 2003 by the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas. Calling the law “appropriate,” Perry dismissed the Court decision as the result of “nine oligarchs in robes.” Even after being struck down, Perry supported the Texas legislature’s refusal to remove the law from its books.
(8) PERRY IS A STIMULUS HYPOCRITE WHO LOUDLY CRITICIZED FEDERAL RECOVERY MONEY BUT USED IT TO BALANCE HIS STATE’S BUDGET: As the nation struggled to avoid economic collapse in 2009, Perry was a vocal critic of Congress’s recovery package, even advocating that Texas reject the money because “we can take care of ourselves.” Months later, after Perry was able to balance the state’s budget only with the aid of billions in federal stimulus dollars, Perry again repeated that he would reject federal funding, arguing that the government “spends money they don’t have.” Five months later, Perry again took advantage of federal funding to issue $2 billion in bonds for highway improvements in Texas. Even so, the state faces a $27 billion budget deficit.
(9) PERRY SAID THAT TEXAS MIGHT HAVE TO SECEDE FROM THE UNITED STATES: One hundred and fifty years ago, Texas and other southern states seceded from the Union, resulting in a bloody Civil War. 148 years later, Perry floated the idea that Texas may again have to secede because of a federal government that “continues to thumb their nose at the American people.” Perry was roundly criticized for his proposal, yet he repeated his threat the next month on Fox News, telling host Neil Cavuto, “If Washington continues to force these programs on the states, if Washington continues to disregard the tenth amendment, who knows what happens.”
(10) DESPITE HAVING THE WORST UNINSURED RATE IN THE COUNTRY, PERRY CLAIMS THAT TEXAS HAS “THE BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE COUNTRY” : On Bill Bennett’s radio show last year, Perry claimed that “Texas has the best health care in the country.” In reality, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents of any state. More than one in four Texans lack coverage; the national average is just 15.4 percent. As such, there are more uninsured residents in Texas than there are people in 33 states. Despite Texas’s low coverage rates, the state has some of the most restrictive Medicaid eligibility thresholds, and Perry has even proposed dropping out of the program. Texas also has an inordinately high percentage of impoverished children, yet Perry opposed expanding the successful State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

[Yssup Rider]

Wyldeman, did you bother reading anything about Governor Perry, or did you just Google him?

THIS DICKSMOKER SAYS HE'S TO THE RIGHT OF ATTILLA THE HUN! And wants us all to thing GW Bush was a liberal pussy. THAT'S JUST WHAT WE ALL NEED, DON'T YOU THINK?

If you've been in Texas the past 12 years ... or have been paying attention during that time, then you'd know that he's the most evil mofo to come down the pike in the history of our great state.

People talk about what a ruthless motherfucker LBJ was. He couldn't have held Perry's bible!

People talk about what a strong-willed President Bush (both) were. They couldn't stand up to Perry's lube tube.

And Perry is the Kung Fu Pander ... nobody has sucked up to a single market segment this big since Big Tobacco invented the Marlboro Man. (How many of you boys and girls are still hooked?)

The fact is, that this douchebag will do more to ruin the world on purpose than than Dubya, that happy ass clown, EVER did by accident.

OH YEAH, DID I FAIL TO MENTION THAT SOME FOLKS WILL GET TO BREAK OUT THEIR HOODS AND ROPES? Not just for the President but for everybody who isn't of the same educational basement of OP and those who follow lockstep in the wake of Perry, Bachmann and others who would cast a pall on our civilization in the name of ... WHATEVER.

READ SOMETHING, FOR A CHANGE!

I'm trying to cut you some slack here. But you're not helping yourself. Eventually, you're going to have to answer for your intellectual transgressions.

And i say that with all due respect and affection.

That's right, bro. Don't be a sap!

BTW -- there is NO WAY YOU USED "THRUST" AND "PARRY" IN A SENTENCE. I'm willing to bet you've never used those two words in a sentence before, unless you're mispronouncing them

Bill Franklin is ... well, by all accounts, an evangelical wingnut. Care to prove otherwise?

[Booth]

Who is Bill Franklin and why should we believe any of this post is credible after Wylde's recent attempt to pull the wool over everyone's eyes? When he copies and pastes a long piece like this, does anyone actually read it? Hard to imagine who would bother.

[Guest040616]

Originally Posted by Booth

Who is Bill Franklin and why should we believe any of this post is credible after Wylde's recent attempt to pull the wool over everyone's eyes? When he copies and pastes a long piece like this, does anyone actually read it? Hard to imagine who would bother.

I wonder if it has dawned upon Wylde that he has zero credibility. Zilch, Nada!

[Booth]

Did Bill Franklin really say "I am sure that Sup will get all riled up on this one...."?
I call bullshit.

It's hard to imagine anyone getting riled up. We just consider the source and move on.

[Yssup Rider]

Good call, Booth.

I'm not riled up about this. I'm bored by it. The only Franklin that gets me riled up is the THIRD ONE!

But isn't it a blast to be the people following the guy that has the "kick me" sign on his back?

Wylde is a gluten for punishment! (I didn't misspell it, hosebags!)

[Guest040616]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

But isn't it a blast to be the people following the guy that has the "kick me" sign on his back?

Wylde seems more like a punching bag.

It doesn't matter how many times you hit him, he never hits back!

[Yssup Rider]

Well he tries. Unfortunately he has no arms!

[Guest040616]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Well he tries. Unfortunately he has no arms!

And neither does a punching bag!

[Booth]

I've never seen anyone so determined to make sure everyone sees his own "kick me" sign. I think it's on his forehead and his back.

[irishlad]

Originally Posted by Booth

I've never seen anyone so determined to make sure everyone sees his own "kick me" sign. I think it's on his forehead and his back.

I love Perry on the economy, states rights and even view #s 2,3,4,6,9 and 10 of the "bad things about Perry" as wholly or partially positive.

Two things bug me about him a lot though.

First his whole attempt to personally claim the "TX Miracle" of job creations. It's all BS. Due to immigration, we have low wages and a growing workforce. Those things in combination lead to higher employment rates and job creation.

Second and of far greater concern, the guy is a bible thumper. He shamelessly wraps himself in jeeeeeeeezuz!!! If you read the bible you know that even Jesus facepalms at this guys public antics in this regard. Aggressively making this part of your public persona is not acceptable for someone who aspires to represent all Americans as a leader and I doubt I can get past that issue.

[F-Sharp]

"Rick Perry is skipping this weekend’s celebration and unveiling of the new MLK memorial in Washington, D.C. (No surprise there.)
Instead, Perry will be heading to Fredericksburg, Texas to attend a “call to action” retreat/fundraiser, where he will hobknob with religious nutbag and self-styled historian David Barton.

From Joy-Ann Reid at The Grio:
Barton was among a group of Texas conservatives who in 2010 sought to revise that state’s textbooks to promote their view that the notion of a constitutional separation of church and state is a myth, and that students should be taught a version of American history that blends theology with themes of a constant clash of civilizations between Christians and Muslims.

According to a Washington Monthly article in January 2010, Barton, the former head of the Texas Republican Party, and Peter Marshall, who the article described as “a Massachusetts-based preacher who has argued that California wildfires and Hurricane Katrina were God’s punishment for tolerating gays,” had even more ideas in mind when they testified before the Texas Education Assembly.

Per the Washington Monthly:
Barton and Peter Marshall initially tried to purge the standards of key figures of the civil rights era, such as César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall, though they were forced to back down amid a deafening public uproar. They have since resorted to a more subtle tack; while they concede that people like Martin Luther King Jr. deserve a place in history, they argue that they shouldn’t be given credit for advancing the rights of minorities.
As Barton put it, “Only majorities can expand political rights in America’s constitutional society.” Ergo, any rights people of color have were handed to them by whites–in his view, mostly white Republican men.

<blank stare>

I just watched Joy Reid make an excellent point on Al Sharpton’s show, and that is (in my words): If right-wing nutbags are going to keep pounding the Jeremiah Wright/”Goddamn America!” drum (and you know they will, even though they can’t explain how Barack Obama is simultaneously a secret Muslim and an America-hating Christian), then Democrats need to make sure that Rick Perry is held accountable for the racist and utterly absurd views of his BFF, David Barton.

This is your Republican party, people.
Drink it in. Let the crazy wash over you."

http://www.angryblacklady.com/2011/0...rve-no-credit/

[Yssup Rider]

Amen, brother! Can you FEEL it?

[Booth]

His view on states rights is wildly inconsistent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_938054.html