Tuesday, October 18, 2011

[Case Study] Who Is Rick Perry?

In attempting to understand who Rick Perry is and what he represents for the new Republican party (GOP), we first have to figure out who he is. Based on a compendium of articles one thing is for sure, I can't tell if he is really a conservative or a liberal. However, there is one thing I can tell with absolute certainty, he is not even remotely consistent.

Outline of GOP Candidate Rick Perry

1. Rick Perry's Inconsistencies..

Despite His Current Vehemence on Taxes, Perry Has a More Nuanced Record
To hear him tell it on the presidential campaign trail, Gov. Rick Perry has never met a tax increase he liked. But at home, over a political career that reaches back to the oil price shocks of the 1980s, Mr. Perry has embraced billions of dollars worth of them — including a $528 million tax increase approved in 1990, after he defected to the Republican Party.

Rick Perry's Gaffe Problem
A spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee said, "Rick's ramblings from the past 48 hours in the Hawkeye State show a candidate that's trying to create his own reality." Even Fox News commentator Karl Rove, the former political strategist for President George W. Bush (a former Texas governor who named Perry as his lieutenant governor), said Perry seems unpresidential and needs to choose his words more carefully.


Rick Perry Flip-Flops On The 10th Amendment and States Rights With Abortion
The thing about conservatives and state’s rights is that they are for them except when they are against them. Take Texas Governor Rick Perry, for example. Gov. Perry is on record for believing that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. That way states would be free to pass their own laws concerning abortion without having that pesky federal law and constitutional protections to worry about.

It appears that Gov. Perry has had a change of heart. According to RH Reality Check, Perry now supports a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would grant personhood status and legal protections to unborn children. That’s right. The same Governor who openly flirted with secession now believes the federal government should dictate abortion law to the states. That’s an interesting evolution on the topic of federalism.


Rick Perry Flip Flops On Gay Marriage, Backs Federal Ban
Texas Governor Rick Perry (R), one of the country's most prominent defenders of the 10th Amendment, is making an exception when it comes to gay marriage. After initially telling reporters that it's "fine with me" if states like New York legalize same-sex unions through their own legislature, Perry is pulling a 180 and calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment

Do as I say not as I do...
Stimulus-Hating Gov. Rick Perry Used Stimulus to Balance Texas Budget
Gov. Rick Perry used federal stimulus money to pay 97 percent of Texas's budget shortfall in fiscal 2010--which is funny, because Perry spent a lot of time talking about just how terrible the stimulus was. In fact, Texas was the state that relied most heavily on stimulus funds, CNN's Tami Luhby reports.

"Even as Perry requested the Recovery Act money, he railed against it," Luhby writes. "On the very same day he asked for the funds, he set up a petition titled 'No Government Bailouts.'" It called on Americans to express their anger at irresponsible spending.

Thanks to the stimulus funds, Texas didn't have to dip into its $9.4 billion rainy day fund. Still, now that the stimulus is spent, Texas, like many other states, is facing severe cuts--$31 million must be carved from the budget.

Rick Perry is George Bush on Steroids!?!...

Rick Perry Announces His Candidacy

Perry Makes It Official: He's Running for President
Through three terms as governor, Perry has overseen significant job growth in his state while working to keep taxes low. He was an early backer of the tea party movement and enjoys the support of social conservatives because of his opposition to abortion and gay rights. He is also an evangelical Christian who organized a well-attended prayer rally in his state last week.

Perry is a prodigious fundraiser who has already begun laying the groundwork for a national finance network his supporters say would rival that of President Obama, who is expected to exceed his record-breaking $750 million haul from 2008.

But some Republicans worry that Perry's hard-core conservatism and Texas style may not play well in a 50-state contest, particularly coming so soon after former President George W. Bush's two White House terms. Bush had record low approval ratings when he left office in 2009.


2. Rick Perry leads a prayer group to help the economy and proves his Christian Evangelical credentials...




Rick Perry targets Bible belt to ignite Republican race for the White House
The battle for the "Bible belt", one of the most crucial constituencies in the Republican White House race, will begin in earnest in Waterloo, Iowaon Sunday, where Texas governor Rick Perry, who announced his candidature on Saturday, is to speak at a dinner in the Electric Park ballroom that will also be attended by congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

Bachmann changed her diary to be there, setting up an early showdown between two Christian evangelicals either of whom could be Barack Obama's opponent in the presidential election next year. Bachmann received a big early advantage on Saturday night when she came top of the Republican straw poll in Ames, the biggest political festival in America this year. In the second biggest vote in the history of the straw poll, with almost 17,000 voting, Bachmann took 4,823. Perry, as he had not declared in time, was not on the ballot but still managed to win 718 write-ins. The victory provides Bachmann with a short-term advantage but it is unlikely to last long with the arrival of Perry. The real race begins now.

The importance of the evangelical vote is huge, representing an estimated 40% of Republicans who will vote in the Iowa caucus, which is scheduled for February. Iowa, as the first of the contests, matters – helping to propel candidates to the front of the race and seeing others heading for oblivion.

Bachmann has received the endorsement of more than 100 pastors and Christian leaders in the state in the past week alone. But Perry's entry upsets her calculations. He is both a politician and part-time preacher, the kind of southerner who appeals to the Christian right. "Perry's entry shifts the dynamic," said Steve King, a rightwing congressman from Iowa, who was speaking at the Iowa state fair, where a string of Republican candidates used soapboxes to address voters sitting on straw bales.

American Christianity: constantly reimagined, manipulated and exploited
The politicised church, which has submerged religion under politics but claims to be the only real keeper of the flame, feeds off attention from vote-hungry politicians. Their pastors become players on the national stage, even while subject to criticism from their orthodox brethren and secularists alike.

Rick Warren's "purpose-driven" theology, for example, is considered unbiblical by some Christian critics. Kenneth Copeland, whose Word of Faith doctrine is considered heretical by Christians from both conservative and liberal traditions, is nonetheless quietly courted by Republican presidents and presidential hopefuls. He believes Jesus wants him to fly on a $20 million private jet while he sponges money off his television viewers.

The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, who plans to run for president, hosted a prayer rally that featured believers in signs, wonders, prophecies and spiritual warfare inspired by Joel 2. These are the generals Perry hopes will lead an army of believers, who insist that America must repent for the "sins" of abortion and homosexuality, to propel him to greater heights of political power. The candidate to whom he presents the greatest challenge, Michele Bachmann, studied law not how most American attorneys learn it, but through a curriculum designed by Christian Reconstructionists, who aim to have America governed by "biblical law".

Christianity in the US is collapsing: Christianity will struggle to re-emerge from the mishmash of self-help groups it has become in America
The rhetoric and politics of evangelicals and self-help gurus are different but the essential message is the same: it is the doctrine of salvation by faith according to the canonical born-again scenario. You are seized by the conviction that your life is profoundly unsatisfactory in some global way that eludes further analysis: you are sinful, neurotic, stressed, addicted, co-dependent – insufficiently happy. You assemble a customised mix of the beliefs that "work" for you: your personal faith. Through it you achieve salvation, healing, and personal growth, the start of an endless spiritual journey to further self-improvement. You, and other Americans whose only hobbies are themselves, support legions of pastors, gurus, therapists and motivational speakers.

It is easy to see why most people are contemptuous of this amalgam of credulity, sentimentality and narcissism, which in its evangelical Christian form is tied up with myths about the age of the earth and origin of species, sexual taboos and a conservative political agenda. With this as the public face of religion it's not surprising that in the US, as in Europe, Christianity is collapsing.

That is a shame because if it collapses everything essential to it and worthwhile, which is now merely obscure, will become inaccessible. Christian theology, metaphysical doctrines about the existence and nature of God that I believe to be true, will become curiosities, like the teachings of second-string neo-Platonists. Service books will languish in archives, for study by antiquarians. The better churches will be preserved as museums; mediocre ones will be gutted and refurbished as restaurants, condos and office space.

Reports: Rick Perry's backers behind stories against Mormon faith
Two new stories suggest that while Rick Perry has said he doesn't believe Mormonism is a cult, as one of his backers characterized the LDS Church, Perry's campaign team might be cheerleading negative messages about the Mormon faith, and his backers might be behind them.

First, The Daily Beast's McKay Coppins wrote about a series of emails that appear to show "Perry's team may be quietly advancing the notion that Mitt Romney 's faith should disqualify him from the White House."

CNN's John King speaks with Rev. Jeffress about his comment that a vote for Romney "would give credibility to a cult"...






(CNN) – Anita Perry stuck up for her husband Thursday, saying Texas Gov. Rick Perry was being "brutalized" by fellow conservatives for his Christian faith...

No one gets it worse from the base of the Republican party than evangelical Christians -- also known as the base of the Republican party.


The US evangelicals who believe environmentalism is a 'native evil'
What is often not fully absorbed by onlookers, though, is the underlying role that religious doctrine – or "pulpit power" - plays in the environmental debate in the US. On the one hand, you have the "Creation Care" movement which is prevalent in some quarters of the Christian Church. On the other, particularly among evangelicals, you often see a vitriolic reaction aimed towards environmentalism.

Just last month, a survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors found that 41% strongly disagreed with the statement: "I believe global warming is real and manmade." The survey also found that 52% of the pastors address the issue of the environment with their churches once a year or less, with evangelical pastors speaking less often on the environment than mainline pastors.


3. Rick Perry vs. Other Candidates...


Rick Perry demonstrates an incredible unlearning curve at his third debate, and the media notices.

Note: Perry says 'you don't have a heart' concerning empathy on a policy issue - This was taken personally by anchors/news-analysts/Frank Luntz (media mastermind) and turned into 'Rick Perry said ALL conservatives don't have a heart' rather than talk about whether the issue should be reconsidered (i.e. official 'conservative' policy is that this policy stays) - You can see this 'conservative' echo chamber functioning from about 40 seconds into the video across cnn, msnbc and fox...


More info...

...for Rick Perry, the Texas governor and the apparent frontrunner for the Republican nomination, immigration suddenly has become a serious liability.

He came under sustained attack from his rivals at last Thursday’s debate in Florida for signing a 2001 Texas law granting in-state tuition rates at state universities to illegal immigrant students.

One of the memorable lines of that debate and perhaps of the 2012 campaign will be Perry’s attempted rebuttal of his critics over the Texas law: “If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart.”

So why is his popularity down at the moment? Some poor debate performances coupled with a temporary backlash on immigration. With that out of the way he will be ready to come back...

Rick Perry Vs. Herman Cain


Herman Cain is a pizza guy who is singing about pizza on tape. He has no chance.


Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney

Rick Perry takes shots at Mitt Romney before the debate, but Romney doesn't take them lying down.



In the GOP debate that was Rick Perry v. Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney got rickrolled.

Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House
The far right and Christian fundamentalists have an inordinate amount of influence in the GOP primary process and, regardless of messages of inclusion, very few of them will vote for a Mormon.

"We think a them Mormons as bein' in kind of a cult," one of the Houston rally attendees told me. "I couldn't vote for one a them when we got a real Christian like Governor Perry runnin'."

Perry, of course, can't come right out and print bumper stickers that say, "Rick Perry -- 2012 -- Not a Mormon." But he doesn't have to. He's wearing his faith like a power tie while Romney stays quiet as a tabernacle mouse on the topic of religion. Romney has business experience and intellect that are not on Perry's resume' but he is from "Massatoositts," (Webster's Texas Edition, see also "Massachusetts"), and Texans love to kick their political boots into New Englanders' squishy parts. Perry is about to remind the tea partiers and fundamentalists that Romney created a state health care plan, (the horror, affordable health care for everyone), believes global warming is real, and has a troubling history for conservatives on the matters of abortion and gay marriage.

So much for Mitt.

Michele Bachmann, who is from Iowa, and is Perry in Prada, has the same appeal among Teavangelicals. Her husband's reparative gay therapy sessions, the Newsweek cover and a few speeches that were not reality based will, eventually, make even the GOP primary voters realize she is bound for the desert and not the Promised Land.

Bachman will run close to Perry in Iowa but will disappear into the snows of New Hampshire where religious fervor isn't exactly considered a positive attribute. In South Carolina, Perry's money, image and support will become overwhelming.

Romney and Bachmann are the only serious impediments to the Perry nomination. Ron Paul, who makes more sense than any crazy person to ever run for public office, has never been able to expand his cult to the mainstream.

Herman Cain is too brutally honest and lacking political experience, and Tim Pawlenty, what's-his-face-from-Minnesota, suffers from the heartbreak of ineffectuality.

Fueled only by speculation that he might announce, Perry became the putative front-runner (heard that word at a fancy Washington restaurant and thought it was cool). Because presidential politics tend to be more visceral than intellectual, Perry's coyote-killer good looks, $2,000 hand-tooled cowboy boots, supernova smile and Armani suits, combined with podium skills to embellish the mythology of Texas, all will create a product Americans will want to believe and buy.

After he wins the nomination, protocol will require Perry to have discussions with Bachmann about the vice presidential slot, but he will, eventually, turn to Sarah Palin. The general election will force the Texan back toward the middle and he will stop talking about faith and abortion and gay marriage; Perry will campaign on jobs and the economy.


I agree with the above analysis. That said, there is only one candidate who doesn't flip flop, Ron Paul, who is often ignored... even though all the Republican talking points come from him (in part only, for example; cutting spending but no withdrawal of troops and decreasing regulations but no corresponding increase in property rights). Add to the fact that the GOP is offering half an economic plan (at most) through Rick Perry (and even if Rick Perry flip flops all the way to Ron Paul's explanations, can you trust him?). Anyways, all of this, plus the fact that the media has ignored him...


... leads to only one conclusion. Ron Paul is the better candidate.

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Note;

Rick Perry: 'quantitative easing akin to treason'

[Article 3 Section 3 - Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. ]

Based on the above definition and what going into the bond market means in economics, I can only assume that Rick Perry is acting crazy or telling the truth. If he is telling the truth then what he is saying is that Ben Barnake and The Federal Reserve in general have INTENTIONALLY being waging war against the people in favor of the rich...

Quantitative easing 'is good for the rich, bad for the poor'
"Real wages and salaries have fallen by £4bn. Profits are up by £11bn. The spoils of the recovery have been shared in the most unequal of ways."

Joshi adds that this also helps to explain why sales of high-end luxury goods have continued to soar, while many consumers have been forced to tighten their belts.

"High-income earners are more exposed to profits as owners of businesses or shareholders. Low-income earners are dependent on wages," he says."

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Miscellaneous...

Stephen Colbert and The Super Pac Scandal

Comic Colbert Using PAC to Encourage Iowa Vote, Sort Of...
More about Super Pacs and Rick Parry - "Out-of-state groups like Grow PAC and Jobs for Iowa PAC are flooding the Iowa airwaves, telling you to vote Rick Perry at the Ames Straw Poll. They think they can buy your vote with their unlimited super PAC money," says Colbert. "We want you to vote for Rick Perry too, but not their Rick Perry, our Rick Parry. On August 13th, write in Rick Parry. That's Parry with an A for America, with an A for Iowa."

Colbert says he purposely misspelled Perry's name because campaign finance laws prohibit Super PAC's from being affiliated with candidates.

The first ad has already aired in Des Moines and a second one is now available online. One Des Moines station has refused to air the ads because it was afraid they would confuse viewers.

Colbert, who portrays a conservative commentator on his show, "The Colbert Report," got approval from the Federal Election Commission in June to start his political action committee, "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow."

The development of Super PAC's began after the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which allows groups unaffiliated with a candidate to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.

Colbert has been continuously mocking the decision ever since.

The Colbert Super Pac joins in the group of unlimited funds super pacs seeking friendly relations with Rick Parry and his "Billionaire Buddies".(Are the buddies paying for election strategies such as the Mitt Romney 'Mormonism' scandal?)

Rick pArry 1


Rick pArry 2

Rick pArry 3

Rick pArry 4

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Added October 28th 2011

Mitt Romney has surveyed the Republican field and decided 23% is enough to beat any of those yahoos.

Note: Jon Stewart's reaction to Rick Perry putting his hand in his coat has to do with the image that is being created for him by the GOP (such as running with a gun and what Rick Perry considers to be like 'golf' - which is supposed to create an image of confidence in some large segments of American society)...


While Vladimir Putin bags tigers in Siberia, Barack Obama bags a pie on his Midwestern safari. ... and Rick Perry is compared to Yosemite Sam...

(Image from here.)

Such image creation is generally done by media master-minds like Frank Luntz.

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