Tag Archives: Rick Perry

State news

Ex-governors relegated to obscurity

Texans elected two men to be their governor and they served, in retrospect, with considerable presence and gravitas.

George W. Bush and Rick Perry served back to back in the early 2000s. Bush got elected president in 2000 as Texas governor, then resigned to enter the White House. Perry, the lieutenant governor, succeeded Bush and served longer than any man in state history.

Let me be clear about one thing. I didn’t vote for either man. Looking back, though, I find them both to be men of considerable stature. What earned them this belated praise from little ol’ me? They both are right on immigration. They both have argued for reforming the nation’s immigration system. They have favored treating foreign-born Texas residents who entered the country as children as Texans. Perry and Bush both argued to allow those residents to enter Texas public universities as in-state students, thus, reducing their costs.

Both men espoused views on immigration that reflected their experiences governing a big, important border state. Perry ran for president in 2016 and was pilloried by the MAGA morons for actually speaking out in favor of the DACA program: Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals. This is an executive order from President Obama that granted amnesty from deportation for those who came here as children of undocumented immigrants, were raised in the United States and became de facto Americans who got educated, landed good jobs and paid taxes.

Perry did become energy secretary in Trump’s first go-round in the White House … and has said or done virtually nothing of significance ever since!

No one should doubt these men’s Republican credentials. Now, they’re considered RINOs — Republicans in name only — for reasons that baffle me.

State news

Perry spot on regarding Paxton

How about that Rick Perry, coming to the defense of the rule of law and the process that produced the impeachment of fellow Republican, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton?

Perry is the longest-serving person ever to hold the office of Texas governor. He wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that it is imperative that the Texas Senate proceed with its trial of Paxton on various charges that he abused the power of his office.

“Republicans once believed in the rule of law. My party had confidence in the U.S. and Texas constitutions and the processes and freedoms they recognize and protect,” he writes. “That’s why it’s shocking to see some Republicans—through a coordinated effort of texts, emails and social-media posts—working to delegitimize the impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton. It points to an important question: Do we trust the processes outlined in our Texas Constitution or not?”

Perry does trust the process and he implores his fellow GOPers to cease their attacks on it.

Perry also said the impeachment that came from the Texas House in the waning days of the 2023 Legislature was done above board and is quite legitimate. He noted, too, that the vote to impeach the AG was overwhelmingly bipartisan, which in Perry’s mind gives the charges against Paxton more legitimacy.

In his Wall Street Journal piece, Perry wrote, “I know that processes can be abused. But that isn’t what I see here.”

Nor do many other Texans.

local news

Rick Perry earns a bouquet

I am going to do something I never envisioned doing when this politician was serving in public office.

Rick Perry has earned my admiration for the job he did as Texas governor, even though I was reluctant to say so in real time.

Two issues stand out for me in the wake of the current trends we are seeing in the Republican Party. Neither of them is a “social issue,” but they appeal to two policy issues that are near and dear to my ticker.

Wind energy and Dreamers.

On Perry’s watch as a Republican governor — which seemed to go on forever — Texas became the nation’s leading producer of electrical energy from wind. Think about that for a moment.

A state that has prided itself on the production of fossil fuels is now the nation’s leader in generating electricity through a clean and renewable source. The wind that howls across places like the Caprock, the South Plains and the Trans-Pecos is producing an increasing amount of electricity.

The explosion of wind farms throughout West Texas occurred on Perry’s watch as governor. I want to applaud the former governor for enabling and allowing wind-generated electricity producers to lift the state’s environmental awareness profile. If only he would have been more out-front on wind power while he served as energy secretary during the Donald Trump administration.

Dreamers? You know who they are, right? These are the individuals who entered the United States as “illegal immigrants” because their parents sneaked them into the country in search of greater opportunity.

Although he didn’t exactly boast out loud about this policy stance, Perry stood firm for the notion of allowing these Dreamers to attend our public colleges and universities as “in-state residents.” That gave them a break on the cost of their higher education. Perry treated Dreamers as Texas residents … which they most certainly are!

That view has become anathema to the MAGA crowd that dominates today’s GOP, which is driving the state’s current lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, to push for a more rigid legislative agenda. Gov. Greg Abbott is marching to the same cadence.

Republicans such as Rick Perry are becoming an endangered species. Believe me when I say that it isn’t easy for me to write that previous sentence.

It is just that Perry’s view of the value of harvesting wind for electricity and his compassionate view of those who were brought here as children make him sound downright reasonable and rational.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, media news, State news

Do endorsements matter?

(David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)

Rick Perry might have been a politician ahead of his time a dozen years ago as he sought re-election to his post as Texas governor.

Perry announced to the state’s editorial boards — and I was a member of one of them in 2010 — that he wouldn’t visit newspaper offices to seek editorial pages’ endorsement.

Why, he would just “talk directly to Texans” and not mess with newspapers’ editorial pages.

Well, you know what? Perry’s strategy worked. Virtually every newspaper in Texas endorsed the Democrat running against Perry that year, former Houston mayor Bill White. The Amarillo Globe-News, where I worked at the time, was among the papers that gave its “blessing” to White.

I will never forget the reaction we got from our readers. Many of them responded to us as if we had endorsed the Son of Satan himself.

What’s more, Perry was able to cruise to re-election, much as he had done in every year he ran for the office.

What’s the lesson here? It is that voters no longer rely on newspaper editors’ “wisdom” in helping them decide how to cast their ballots. In many cases, readers’ minds are made up. They have heard all they need to hear about candidates and their views on pressing issues of the day.

This trend saddens me. I edited opinion pages in Amarillo for nearly 18 years, for nearly 11 years in Beaumont and for a half-dozen years in Oregon, City, Ore., before my career ended in August 2012. I was proud of virtually all the endorsements we made during those years. Moreover, I took pride in the respectful reaction we received — even from readers who disagreed with what we offered.

Newspapers aren’t as “respected” these days as they used to be. That, too, saddens me greatly. Those of us who write for newspapers, be they major metro dailies or community papers, aren’t “the enemy of the people.” We seek to do our job with fairness and accuracy. When we offer commentary, we do so with the same noble motives.

Rick Perry didn’t see it that way when he stiffed editorial boards’ desire to visit with him on why he sought to return to public office.

He was ahead of his time.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

How about cell phone ban enforcement?

My wife and I live in a house that is about 50 feet past a sign that marks the end of a “school zone” in Princeton, Texas.

I am mentioning that because of something I witness repeatedly: the sight of drivers using hand-held devices while they pass through a zone where such activity is illegal.

Indeed, using hand-held devices while driving a motor vehicle is against state law. The Texas Legislature made it so in 2019 and Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law. It was a long slog to get it enacted. Then-Gov. Rick Perry vetoed an earlier bill on grounds that it infringed on driver’s “personal liberty.” Sheesh.

My point is that law enforcement officers surely have a headache trying to enforce this law. It’s one thing, I suppose, to pull someone over on a suspicion of illegal activity. Police officers I know have told me over many years they can act only when they witness a crime being committed.

So, does a police officer pull someone over when they witness that motorist yapping on a cell phone that he or she is holding up to his or her ear? I would hope that would be the case.

My witnessing of such law-breakers driving through my neighborhood, though, suggest to me that enforcement of this law isn’t a sufficient deterrent against motorists from fumbling with a cell phone while driving a two-ton motor vehicle … in a school zone!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Protect DACA recipients

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The young men and women who reside in the United States need not be kicked around in a political skirmish that involves a decision made by their elders.

I refer to those who live here under the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals provision that was enacted through executive order by President Obama, but has been ruled unlawful by a federal judge in Texas.

DACA recipients comprise several hundred thousand U.S. residents who were brought here illegally by their parents. They grew up as Americans; they came of age as Americans; the U.S. is the only country they know; many of them have flourished.

President Obama sought to give them some sanctuary from deportation by enacting the DACA program. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen — nominated for the federal bench by President George W. Bush — declared the DACA program to be illegal.

President Biden vows to appeal the ruling. I will take the president at his word. He should appeal it.

DACA is a humane and effective policy that should be codified  under law. Congress has the power to do that. My hope would be that enough fair-minded Republicans could join their Democratic colleagues in ensuring that these men and women — who came here as children and who have grown into responsible U.S. residents — can receive a clearer path to citizenship or permanent residency status.

Oh, but wait! That might require comprehensive immigration reform, which Republicans in Congress are unable or unwilling to enact. Why? Well, beats the hell out of me!

DACA recipients have been kicked around for too long already. Two former Texas governors — George W. Bush and Rick Perry, both Republicans — have spoken in favor of allowing so-called “Dreamers” to attend Texas colleges and universities; moreover, they have supported allowing them to attend under in-state tuition rules, given that they have been Texas residents of long standing. I consider that to be a fair and decent public policy.

The federal judiciary has intervened, though, in the effort to help these folks assimilate more completely into the society they adopted as their own when they came of age.

For the life of me I cannot understand why some politicians prefer to punish these individuals because of something their parents did when they were too young to fend for themselves.

national news

Rick Perry leaves Cabinet under his own power; no small feat

I’ll acknowledge what you may already suspect: Rick Perry wasn’t my favorite Texas politician when he served as the state’s longest-ever tenured governor.

However, as secretary of energy, Rick Perry proved to be, well, a survivor in the sausage grinder that passes for Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

He’s about to leave office under his own power. He’s walking way because he chose to do so, not because Donald Trump kicked him out. Believe me, given the president’s record of booting top-level officials to the curb, that is no small feat.

How has he done as energy boss, running an agency he once targeted for elimination were he elected president in 2012 — and which he (in)famously forgot to mention when he sought to list the agencies he would eliminate? Not bad, but not great.

My biggest bone to pick with him is that he was virtually silent in pushing alternative energy development. That was not what occurred on his watch as Texas governor, when he presided over the state’s ascent to leading the nation in the development of wind energy. OK, so his governorship wasn’t a total loser.

His energy secretary tenure featured none of that kind of leadership, which I find a major disappointment.

However, he is able to walk away from the Cabinet without being forced out. That is a relatively important aspect of his departure from public office.

He wants to come home. I guess he wants to do something else. Maybe spend “more time with the family.” I don’t know.

There might be some questions to answer, though, as his name has gotten entangled in that Ukraine matter involving his soon-to-be former political benefactor, Donald Trump … the man he once described as a “cancer on conservatism.”

Keep your phone close by, Mr. Secretary. Congress might be on the other end of a call.

national news

Trump was ‘chosen’? By whom and for what purpose?

There can be little if any doubt that Energy Secretary Rick Perry has swilled the Donald J. Trump Kool-Aid, the elixir that turns Trump foes into slobbering sycophants.

The lame duck energy boss, who’s leaving office at the end of this week, has declared that the president is the “chosen one” who got elected in 2016.

Really? I could swear I heard the former Texas governor declare that Trump was a “cancer on conservatism.” He said that during the 2016 presidential campaign when Perry was one of a large group of Republicans challenging Trump for the party nomination.

Perry told Fox News that Trump was “sent by God to do great things.” I am resisting the urge to upchuck my breakfast.

I will not delineate the areas where I believe Trump has fallen flat on his face as president, other than to say that Perry’s phony-sounding fealty to Trump has the sound to my ears of a cult follower.

“God’s used imperfect people all through history. King David wasn’t perfect. Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect,” Perry said in the interview, which aired this past Sunday.

Oh … my.

You may go now, Mr. Secretary.

national news

Fix the DACA mess; restore humaneness to our immigration policy

 ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A Facebook friend, a man I actually know and respect, brought up a point on an earlier blog post that I want to acknowledge here.

He agrees with my belief that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency needs to be repaired, not eliminated, but he cautions about the need to deal with the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals matter as well.

He is correct.

DACA recipients are being punished unjustly only because they were children when their parents sneaked them into the country illegally. The Donald Trump administration wants them deported. The president rescinded an executive order that President Obama signed that gave DACA residents a form of temporary amnesty from deportation.

ICE is under orders to find these folks and detain them.

This isn’t right. It’s cruel and it is inhumane to deport DACA recipients, many of whom have excelled scholastically in the only country they’ve ever known.

I should point out as well two previous Texas governors — George W. Bush and Rick Perry, both Republicans — have all but embraced the idea contained in the DACA executive order that Obama signed. They have supported initiatives, for instances, to grant DACA students in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in Texas. Why? Because they recognize the contributions these young students can make if they are allowed to succeed while continuing to reside in Texas.

ICE can do much good for the country as we seek to reform our immigration policy. I also agree with former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s campaigning for president, that the best way to ensure a thorough and lasting repair of ICE is to change presidents. Donald Trump won’t do it.

Indeed, DACA reform must be part of any effort to re-humanize our nation’s immigration policy.

environmental news

Texas is becoming the ‘windy state’

We’re No. 1! It’s a common refrain heard on fields of athletic competition in Texas.

However, Texas has achieved a top-tier ranking in a most fascinating — and one might say unexpected — category. Texas has become the most wind-powered state in the Union. Texas is known more for its pump jacks that pull oil out of the ground. They’re still doing all over the state, but wind power is not to be denied.

I just posted a blog item lamenting the lack of discussion about climate in the upcoming presidential campaign. Here, though, is a reason to hope that Texas might become a leader in the discussion and promotion of wind energy.

The Electrical Reliability Council of Texas reports that wind has replaced coal as the leading provider of electricity in this state. Yes, natural gas remains a huge energy source. Texas, though, has seen a skyrocketing rise in wind energy over the past several years.

I am happy to report that my wife and I have sat at a ringside seat while Texas has become a major wind-power producer. We used to live just a bit east of the wind farm in Adrian pictured along with this blog post. We’ve since moved on to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, but the wind energy industry is continuing to grow significantly along the High Plains of Texas.

This is exciting news.

Wind power remains a costly endeavor. It is expensive to produce and store electricity generated by wind. Believe me, though, the Texas Panhandle has an infinite supply of wind, which to my mind is the cleanest possible energy source possible. Whereas petroleum, natural gas and coal are finite resources, the wind will always blow.

I usually am quite critical of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, however, I want to give Gov. Perry — who is soon to depart as secretary of energy — a proverbial high five for presiding over much of Texas’s wind-power development during his lengthy stint as governor. And, no, it didn’t hurt a bit to say something good about the man the late columnist Molly Ivins dubbed “Governor Goodhair.” 

So, the wind will blow in Texas. The state’s growth will require more electrical use. The wind will continue to play a growing role in fulfilling those power needs … and our precious environment won’t suffer a bit.