Rick Perry talks secession--national media goes gaga

Gov. 39% is NOT for the citizen against big government--he's on big government's side

Hard to know whether to laugh or cry, seeing all the coverage that Gov. 39% has gotten as being a small-government conservative (whether or not this is viewed favorably) because of his remarks at April 15 Tea Parties, resulting in appearances on national radio and TV and favorable comments on widely read blogs. He has been a major story, “Rick Perry: Tea party darling,” with a picture, no less, on politico.com.

Texans know that mentioning “secession”—in jest or seriously--is not that rare in the Lone Star State, given our unique journey from sovereign nation to statehood and the discussion over the rights given to Texas in exchange for becoming a state—whether Texas can just up and leave or can divide into several states.

However, the rest of the country evidently has never heard about this, so Perry really got their attention by mentioning the “s” word. Unfortunately, the rest of the country has not paid that much attention to the details of Perry’s governance, so took him at his word when he said things like, “shrink the government; reread the Constitution.”

They have never heard of Perry’s “vision” as he says, and “nightmare” as residents say, of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), a network of quarter-mile wide road lanes, rail lines, and utility-pipeline zones. The TTC would wrest 600,000 acres from Texas landowners through eminent domain and turn their private property over to Cintra, a Spanish corporation. Perry rammed his TTC authorization through the Legislature in 2003 before legislators had time to read it.

When Perry says, ungrammatically, “But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot,” and when he decries government “intrusion into the lives of our citizens,” the rest of the country doesn’t know that HE has been the enemy of Texas landowners—trying to take over citizens’ land unnecessarily to benefit the road lobby and foreign corporations. HE hasn’t been fighting for Texans; Texans have been fighting HIM.

In fact, the TTC/toll issue has become a defining difference in the 2010 gubernatorial race between Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has asked, “Are you concerned that our state government ignores private property rights and property owners in a quest to cover our state with massive toll roads?” Up until now, KBH has led Perry in most polls. This is at least one reason that Perry tried to perform the old trick—and apparently somewhat successfully—of seeing the Tea Party parade starting and running around to get in front of it.

Additionally, this became another opportunity for Perry to test the national waters, as he has done from time to time. His camp probably realizes that the country is not ready yet for another president from Texas, but they may think that if he starts rising now through the ranks of possible presidential candidates, he may be prominent in 2012 and be positioned for 2016.

When I hear Gov. 39%, I hear arrogance (“Why don't you let us get on down the road,” “Mofo,” etc.) and phoniness. Will the rest of the country hear that?

Perry is not an advocate for the small businesses, the farm and ranch families—the people who are the backbone of the nation. He is an advocate for the corporative state where large private concerns are able to take over and use the power of government to oppress the individual and take his private property. Will the rest of the country realize that?