I was especially interested in yesterday's program, when he sailed into Dick Cheney and the former Veep's defense of waterboarding. Reagan pulled no punches, denouncing the practice as torture and Cheney as a war criminal for countenancing it. Cheney, who is under indictment by the International Court of Justice and cannot travel to Europe for fear of arrest, still insists that nearly drowning prisoners is justified.
If Cheney is a war criminal of course, so is George Bush.
Recent polling indicates, ironically, Rick Perry is the new darling of the most conservative Republicans, though the Tea Party that forms the backbone of his support is less popular among the electorate than Muslims or atheists. Go figure. Perry, who presides over Texas, currently experiencing the hottest summer on record and an intense drought, claims global warming and evolution are unproven.
Perry touts an "economic miracle" in Texas, but his claims will not pass scrutiny. Much of whatever prosperity Texas has achieved is due to the presence of oil there, which has nothing much to do with Perry's administration. Texas remains among the states with the greatest disparity between the wealthy and everyone else, their students continue to rank near the bottom in every proficiency test, Perry has presided over more than twice as many executions as any other governor in a similar time period, and there are disturbing stories concerning his alleged indifference to exculpatory evidence in death penalty appeals.
Perry even spoke to a secession rally in Texas, suggesting it is a concept worth considering. Perhaps he needs to be reminded that we fought a war over this issue one hundred fifty years ago and secession lost.
Can the GOP, the party of Abraham Lincoln, seriously consider nominating such a man?
Ron Reagan and his sister are VERY liberal. I don't know how he is registered,but certainly he votes Democratic. The diversity in Reagan's family about political and philosophical matters is to the late President Reagan's credit. He was not a hater. He had his views, but was much more tolerant of those who disagreed than we see in today's political sphere. (There are all the stories about Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neil drinking a beer together and relaxing, etc.) We have all said and done some stupid things. Honestly, Perry's comments about secession were very stupid and inappropriate, but I hope he is judged on more than just that. As a registered Republican it is MUCH too early for me to finalize who I will vote for in the primary. Just about everyone is being at least considered at this point. I agree, though, that Abe Lincoln would FLIP to hear Rick Perry's comments!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who thinks it politic to discuss secession from the USA should pretty much automatically be disqualified from trying to run for president. If I were running against him I would be playing that secession rally on repeat 24/7. Seriously: if you don't want to be here, why the hell do you want to run here?
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