Issues on which I agree with Rick Perry

Believe it or not, after watching the two recent GOP debates, there are a couple of places where I agree with Perry. I find the possibility that he might be elected president horrific, of course, but I find myself on his side in two areas in which the other Republican candidates have attacked him.

The first is on the issue of giving in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who are pursuing their educations at Texas colleges and universities. This issue has also been controversial in North Carolina. Many of the immigrants who are in the United States illegally are among the hardest working people among us, doing some of the most backbreaking and unpleasant work for little pay and usually no benefits. What many on the right seem not to comprehend is that if we summarily eject those immigrants from the country, as most of them advocate, the effect on the US economy would be devastating, particularly in areas such as farming and food production. Undocumented immigrants are here, they will continue to be here, they are productive and contributing members of our society, they pay taxes (no matter what the right wants us to believe), and if they and their children want to improve their lives, get an education, and contribute to society at a higher level, then I believe that this should be encouraged, not prohibited.

The second issue is that of the vaccinations for the HPV virus for which Rick Perry issued an executive order in Texas. The order called for girls at the age of twelve to be vaccinated unless their parents opted out of the program. Other candidates have criticized Perry for this order, especially Michele Bachmann, who accused Perry of forcing the vaccinations on "innocent little girls" against their and their parents' wishes as a favor to the pharmaceutical company, Merck, that marketed the vaccine. This program is controversial among Republicans because the HPV virus is usually transmitted through sexual activity. The virus is a leading cause of cervical cancer, one of the most deadly forms of cancer since it is often undetected in its early stages.

While Bachmann and other conservatives see Perry's executive order as an invasion of parental rights, they should consider the catastrophic effects of cervical cancer that these girls could face later in their lives. Since the vaccination is no more invasive or risky than the other vaccines that are routinely given to almost all children, it should not be any more controversial than those other vaccinations.

As I have made clear, I am thoroughly and utterly opposed to Rick Perry's candidacy. It is almost painful for me to support his positions on anything. However, given the attention that has been focused on these two issues, I felt that I wanted to throw in my two cents on them.

Rick Perry and the Death Penalty

I'm not sure what bothered me more in the GOP debate last night: the creepy round of applause that followed Brian Williams' mention of the 234 executions that Rick Perry has overseen during his terms as Governor of Texas; or Perry's answer to the question regarding whether he ever struggles with the decision to execute a human being.

“I’ve never struggled with that at all. The state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place,” was Perry's response. I find this an utterly disturbing statement from a man who is in a position to determine the life or death of so many people. And if he realizes his ambition to become President of the United States, this is likely the same attitude with which he would approach the decision of whether or not to use American military force.

Decisiveness and self-confidence are certainly qualities that we want to see in our political leaders. However, these qualities have to be balanced with a measure of introspection, thoughtfulness, and reflection. Based on his performance last night's debate, it seems that Perry lacks these tempering qualities. That can be a very dangerous shortcoming in a president.

Rick Perry: Complicit in the Execution of an Innocent Man?

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in the Texas death chamber in February 2004 for the 1992 arson that caused the deaths of his three young daughters. Shortly before Willingham's execution, Governor Rick Perry was presented with a report that raised serious questions about the arson investigation, and presented convincing evidence that the fire was not arson at all, and that Willingham was innocent of the crime. Governor Perry refused to consider this evidence and allowed the execution to go through.

Since the execution, Rick Perry has used his power a Governor to block the work of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which has recently attempted to further review the overwhelming scientific evidence that Willingham was not guilty, and that in fact the fire was a tragic accident. The details can be read here, in an outstanding article by Jason Linkins in the Huffington Post.

Perry's suppression of the work of this committee is disturbing, not only because he is preventing the likely exoneration of an innocent man who was wrongly put to death, but because this case has far-reaching implications on the ethics of the use of capital punishment itself. If the evidence shows that Cameron Todd Willingham was not guilty, then his death calls into serious question the morality of the use of the death penalty, and provides a strong argument for its abolition.

Furthermore, the efforts of Governor Perry to suppress the evidence of Willingham's guilt, and the fact that Perry was presented with and ignored this evidence before the execution when he had a chance to stop or at least postpone it, has to call into serious question the conscience of a man who has a serious chance of becoming the next president of the United States.

It is worth noting that Rick Perry, in his time as Governor of Texas, has overseen 234 executions to date, by far the most of any Governor, even topping his predecessor, George W Bush, by more than 80. The Willingham case is certainly not the only among Perry's executions that has been controversial. This June, Milton Mathis was put to death in Texas despite strong evidence that he was mentally impaired. Back in 2001, Perry had vetoed a bill passed by the Texas legislature that would have prohibited the execution of anyone who was mentally retarded.

I have long opposed the death penalty under any circumstances, both on ethical and practical grounds. I believe that deliberately killing another human being is morally wrong. I also believe that the death penalty is inherently flawed in that inevitably mistakes will be made, that the imperfection of the judicial process will lead unavoidably to innocent people being put to death.

But it seems to me that even those who advocate capital punishment should be disturbed by Rick Perry's seemingly callous disregard for evidence that, had he paid attention to it, could have prevented the execution of a man who was most likely innocent of the crime for which he was put to death; and by Perry's subsequent transparent attempts to prevent further review of that evidence.

Again, this is a man who may well be our next President. Think about that.

This Man Is Not the Texas That I Know

I have posted several times now about Rick Perry, and I feel that I need to try to explain in more why I find his candidacy for the presidency particularly disturbing and threatening to the values and principles that I and many others hold as important.

I grew up in Texas, specifically in Lubbock, a medium-sized city surrounded by seemingly endless miles of cotton fields, out on the high plains of the northwest part of the state, approximately at the base of the Texas panhandle. I lived in Lubbock from the age of eight until I started college in San Antonio, and after that off-and-on until I finally moved for good to Charlotte, North Carolina at age 33, in 1997.

As I was growing up in the 1970s, I was very much aware that I lived in a conservative area, where Protestant Christianity was the dominant faith and "old-fashioned family values" ruled... probably all the more acutely aware being raised with my sister by a single mother who is an atheist and a liberal democrat. While there were certainly times, particularly in elementary school, when I felt somewhat out of place and self-conscious, I can honesty say that rarely if ever was I genuinely threatened or excluded because of my family's structure, attitudes, or beliefs. Looking back, I have to say that with few exceptions, the prevailing philosophy that I recall in Lubbock was one of political conservatism with regard to fiscal or economic issues, and a general "mind your own business" attitude toward most social issues. The social climate was certainly not one of genuine openness or tolerance, but on the other hand I recall few instances of true hatred, intolerance or bigotry. It's possible I could be wrong about this--time and distance can affect our memories and perceptions--but this is how I remember it.

I know that the description I've given must sound like damningly faint praise, and there are certainly reasons why I am glad I'm not living out the rest of my life in West Texas. But the point is that the toxic aura of radical intolerance and bigotry that I see surrounding Governor Perry is something truly ominous, much different from the more dignified conservatism that I remember from my time in Texas. When I see a man with Perry's popularity, who promotes policies and attitudes that directly exclude and demean anybody who does not share the governor's religious beliefs; who deliberately denigrates science and knowledge when it conflicts with his narrow interpretation of Biblical "truth" and suggests that the children of his state be indoctrinated with his beliefs; who pursues policies that are actively hostile and destructive to the health and well being of the people of his state and beyond... I find it abhorrent that this man might have the chance to do to the United States and the world, what he has already done to his, and my, home state.

Apparently Rick Perry Hasn't Been Praying Hard Enough

More than 90 percent of the state of Texas is under either "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions. A wildfire currently burning west of Dallas has destroyed twenty homes and forced evacuation of over a hundred others.

I thought that prayer rally in Houston earlier this month was supposed to take care of all this.

Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if the Texas drought is God's punishment on the state for inflicting Rick Perry on the world.

Be careful about making rash statements about things that you assume could never really happen, because they can

I can still remember when I was a child, sometime in the 1970s, my mother, a lifelong liberal and sometime socialist, saying with confidence that if Ronald Reagan was ever elected president, we would move out of the country.

He was, of course, and we didn't. The point is not that she was not prepared to back up her words, but that at the time that she spoke them, the election of Reagan, a former actor and right-wing extremist, seemed, to her at least, to be at most a remote possibility.

It is unsettling to say the least that in retrospect, and compared to the current gang of Republican presidential hopefuls, Reagan seems almost a benign centrist. The spectacle of Democrats invoking President Reagan earlier this summer during the debt ceiling debate shows just how much more extreme the GOP "mainstream" has become.

So it's even more unsettling that after months of apparent apathy, the Republican masses, those who will be voting next year in the primaries, are now growing comfortable with, and even enthusiastic about, their slate of candidates. This contrasts with the latest opinion poll results for President Obama, in which his ratings are at an all-time low, with even his leadership ratings, formerly a strong area for the President, dropping below fifty percent.

These numbers can and will change over time, of course, and a lot can happen in the next year running up to the election. But in my opinion, the left wing of the Democratic Party should at least seriously think about the possibility of fielding a challenger to Barack Obama in the primaries. Obama has failed to adequately set himself apart from the Republicans in Congress, compromising and capitulating at almost every step. It is not surprising that his leadership numbers have dropped. If he emerges from next year's primary season appearing crippled, and the Republicans have nominated a strong candidate, such as extremest right-winger Rick Perry... the Democrats are going to wish that they had considered a candidate who could establish an equally strong, forceful contrast.

Rick Perry Has a Substantial Lead in Republican Primary Polls

What I find most scary about these poll results, and what the NY Times analysis does not go into, is that Rick Perry is a highly skilled campaigner. Even though so many of his statements sound justifiably absurd to those of us on the left (that is, the correct) side of the spectrum, Perry is an expert at pulling the exact strings of his constituency that need to be pulled to ensure his success. There is a reason that this guy, who was a D student in college, who thinks that creationism is taught alongside evolution in his state's public schools against the ruling of the US Supreme Court, who believes global warming is a hoax perpetrated by climate scientists and that prayer is an instrument of public policy, has been elected governor of one of the largest states in the US three times, and in his entire political career has never lost an election.

In spite his seeming penchant for idiotic gaffes and errors, Perry is no idiot. The political left and center will take him lightly at our own risk.