Decidedly Good News for Texans

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I'm one Republican voting Texan who is overjoyed at Governor Rick Perry's announcement this afternoon that he will not be seeking another term as Texas' Governor. The only news that could have been better would have been if he had decided to step down before his current term ends in January of 2015.

I've never been a fan of the Governor. I have never once voted for him. He's always just been too slick, and I must say too transparent, for my taste. Perry comes across as a pretty shallow individual to me, and in all his years in public office that initial assessment has been confirmed over and over again. Perry was first elected to public office as a Democrat and remained a Democrat for many years. As late as 1988 he was an enthusiastic supporter of Al Gore for President of the United States. As it began to become clear that being a Democrat was not conducive to a successful political career in Texas, Perry switched parties.

I'm also turned off by Perry's use of religion to further his political career.

I suspect that religion is much more important to Perry as a means of attracting voters than anything else. I could be wrong of course, but what I am not wrong about is that Perry is doing everything he can to push his religious views down the throats of Texans who do not share them or want to share them. Perry was raised a Methodist, but as the votes of the religious right became more important to him his self reported views on religion took a definite swing to the right. In December, 2011 in the run up to his bid for the Presidency, Perry claimed he had a transformation in his views on abortion and announced that he was against abortion for any reason except, perhaps, to save the life of the mother.

Earlier in 2006, Perry had announced that he believed in the inerrancy of the Bible and that anyone who did not accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior would go to Hell. He later tried to back off that position a tad when it brought heat. Perry proclaims himself to be a firm believer in "intelligent design" and has said it should be taught in Texas schools along alongside evolution.

Perry has said he thought Texas' Anti-Sodomy law was an "appropriate" law. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it he  became an enthusiastic supporter of amending the Texas Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

In his book "On My Honor," Perry drew a parallel between homosexuality and alcoholism. He said that gays should take the same tact alcoholics take and simply abstain from gay behavior.

His latest call to require extraordinary measures for the licensing of abortion centers is a perfect example of his pandering to the religious right for votes. He and other Republicans are cloaking the measure in the guise of patient safety. The reality is they don't give a damn about patient safety. Their real goal is to make abortion so expensive that no one can meet the burden of the law and thus abortion centers will have to close in Texas. Anyone that was really as religious as Perry claims to be, would just tell the truth rather than making up a cover story for their actions.

Finally, I'm not a fan of Perry's because he has been altogether too successful financially while feeding at the public trough in Texas. Perry is, after all the son of a Texas farmer. He did graduate from Texas A&M with a degree in Animal Science. He served four years in the Air Force after college and then returned home to cotton farming with his Dad. He became more and more interested in politics. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1984 as a Democrat. In 1990 he used his new status as a Republican to win the office of Agriculture Commissioner. In 1998 he ran for Lieutenant Governor and won. In 2000 he became Governor when George Bush began his preparation to be President of the United States. All this public service has been good for Perry financially. His net worth is reported to be three million dollars.

Many Texans were greatly embarrassed by Perry's performance in his run for the 2012 Presidential

nomination. His major accomplishment in that race seemed to only be successful in reinforcing the negative stereotypes many have about Texas. However a number of Texans were happy that his meager efforts ended in failure. Having him as Governor is quite enough. We don't need him as President under any circumstance.

With the Governor's announcement today, with any luck, by 2015 Perry will have had his day in the sun and will be relegated back to the ranks of private citizen. It will be a good thing for Texas. And with any luck, the American people will see nothing in his second run for the Presidency that they didn't seen in his first run and reject him again. That will be a great thing for the United States. After eight years of Obama, we'll need someone in the Presidency that can be Presidential. Perry's not that guy.

Jack Scott