THE SHAME OF RICK PERRY

“Mr.Trump, have you no shame?”  These are the words addressed to Donald Trump by Rick Perry only a short time ago in Perry’s effort to shame Trump out of the presidential race.  It now appears Rick Perry has no shame.  It seems he is willing to put aside his so-called conservative principles in an effort to further his own self-aggrandizement and to stay in the public’s view.  Perry has placed the good of the country second to his own personal ambition by endorsing Trump while offering himself up as Trump’s vice-presidential running mate. [Update, June 8: Trump declines veep idea but still has a post in mind for Perry.]

Perry called Donald Trump a cancer on conservatism, a phony—in other words, indicating Trump was merely a huckster trying to pull the wool over the eyes of American voters.  When asked how Perry could put aside his criticisms of Trump given his past condemnation, he said that was simply political talk.  It seems to me this is a confession that Rick Perry will say whatever is necessary in a political context to curry favor with voters.  On the other hand it is pretty good evidence neither Perry nor his fellow travelers ever mean what they hold forth about pretending they are concerned only for what is good for the state and nation. 

If one believes Perry’s touting of his fervent Christian beliefs, which he claims to be long-held, one would have to question how he could support someone like Donald Trump.  Last time I checked, Christian beliefs did not include having numerous affairs out of wedlock, divorcing one’s wife twice or three times, or being so smug about your self-righteousness that you claim you never felt the need to ask God for forgiveness.  This is in addition to the obvious evidence that Trump holds very doubtful beliefs about Christianity.  Although he claims the Bible to be his favorite book, he could not correctly quote a scripture fromthe Book of Corinthians and refuses to reveal his favorite biblical scripture.  So much for Perry supporting candidates with so-called family values that he seems to espouse so greatly.

For Perry, who was Texas’ governor for fourteen years, supporting someone like Trump who babbles insults based on gender, religion, national origin or race brings into question all of the proclamations of Perry doing what was right for citizens of Texas.  Anyone with an iota of political experience could readily see the phoniness of building a wall on the Mexican border, arresting and banishing 11-million Mexicans who do not have legal papers, or doing away with the national debt in two years is simply ignoring the truth. For Perry to support someone who has told the litany of falsehoods and uttered the insulting comments as has Donald Trump can only be explained by Perry's burning ambition to stay in the public limelight and retain status that holding a high office brings.

We are only now discovering how Perry doled out millions to his buddies from gubernatorial slush funds in exchange for financial support in the elections.  We are also seeing how willing he was to let little children suffer without adequate health care by refusing the billions of dollars available to Texas from federal funds merely to burnish his conservative credentials while running for president.  Yes, Rick Perry have you no shame?