althouse/RoundUp composite
The short history of HB4825: Filed by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, April 27. Signed into law by Perry, June 19. Take my word for it, you couldn't win approval that quickly for a bill you wanted passed. Some of us can't get our dry cleaning back that quicklyNote: Mr. Herman is a Pulitzer prize winning political reporter for Cox papers and the Statesman. We're glad to see that he can easily see through the smoke, as opposed to the oft-misguided editorial board of his newspaper.
Send your comments and news tips to online.editor@valleyspringcomm.net, to Mr. Herman at kherman@statesman.com, or click on the "comments" button at the bottom of the story
Read the complete story here: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/is-anti-government-governor-worth-his-salt-if-292393.html
By Ken Herman
Austin American-Statesman
Help me out here, folks.
Please tell me what, if anything, is wrong with this picture. Nothing — as in there is nothing wrong — is an acceptable answer.
The picture: Gov. Rick Perry's primary night party will be at the Salt Lick barbecue joint out in Driftwood.
How very Perry. No generic, could-be-anyplace-in-America hotel ballroom for him. Perhaps no suit and tie. Perhaps a gimme cap. Perhaps some ribs. (FYI, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's primary night party will be at Eddie Deen's Ranch, which bills itself as "the premier Texas-themed event facility in Downtown Dallas." Real Texans don't go to "Texas-themed" facilities.)
Back to Perry/Salt Lick. What self-respecting Texan (other than vegetarians and PETAphiles) could object to primary night at a barbecue place?
But here's some background about this particular barbecue place and this particular governor. Perry, as you know, is kind of an anti-government guy in that 10th Amendmenty, secessiony way. Forget the fact that he has been in elected governmental office since 1985. Really, no snark intended here. It is possible to be for limited government while serving in government. Seriously, it is. (No, really, seriously, it is.)
But here's the dissonance that I — and perhaps only I — perceive in Perry partying at the Salt Lick. It has to do with what I perceive to be some of the kind of folks who back Perry, folks who see abuse of government (particularly when it comes to taxes) at every turn.
Abuse comes in many forms. To some, that could include a law — signed by Perry — setting up an election in which only one person gets to vote on a tax hike. And that person gets to potentially benefit from that tax hike.
17 comments:
Now that Sarah Palin is no longer Governor of the oil money socialism state, Perry is both the most stupid and the most opportunist of the remaining state governors. At a Governor's convention, he would be wearing the dunce cap sitting on a stool in the corner.
Perry is the prototype Republican Party fallacy. He promotes anti-government hate, runs the state like some corrupt & incompetent CEO, and then proves to his mindless supporters that government does not work. Of course government will not work with someone like Perry running the state. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. He is the Hugo Chavez of current US governors.
If Perry gets re-elected, Texas will be the "Idiocracy" of the Union. Why not just replace the Texas flag with the Confederate flag?
The most sad thing is Texans are proud of their lack of critical thinking and their poor education system. In fact, the religious nuts are trying to make the education system even worse with their textbook editing.
Texas may be the perfect example of the saying: "A big step backwards can be a huge leap forward." Let's hope that is the case. Otherwise, this short-term hype that Texas is the best economy in the US will finally rear its ugly head.
Overpriced and fashionable farming jackets, guns, and anti-government rhetoric cannot disguise incompetence and stupidity forever.
This premature barbeque celebration tells me one thing: Boycott Salt Lick.
Any restaurateur opportunist enough to allow Perry the Imbecile to exploit his haunt for some political statement doesn't deserve my business. And the Salt Lick owner's incorporation tax grab is a clear example of corrupt government bull___t!
Besides, his tourist barbeque isn't that good anyway. Lockhart barbeque here we come.
Few politicians give a crap about this little part of Hays County, a.k.a., Driftwood.
Most of the people who eat at The Salt Lick come from Austin and elsewhere. Some local people and/or local workers eat there, but then they don't care about the politics going on.
Many of my friends and neighbors have informally boycotted The Salt Lick for the past 8 years or so, but so what?
The Salt Lick does NOT make big money from locals, so no one give a crap about overtaxed and outwitted homeowners here.
The addictive attractant of Perry and others of his stripe such as Bush, Rose, Barton, Conley, Powers, Cobb, even LBJ, is that they CAN and WILL do whatever they dam well please - a long held Texas tradition. Their participation in democracy ends once they attain public office. (Cobb has not been elected, but you can sense the urge deep down inside him).
The problem with Anonymous's thinking, although on the surface accurate, is that it ignores the fact that a statewide boycott justified by the Salt Lick's collaboration with Perry would hurt profits.
Quit playing the defeated victim and send this link to all your friends and colleagues all over Texas and tell them that the Lockhart barbeque is better than Salt Lick's anyway.
You cannot grow anything without planting the seed first -- and have faith that it will grow.
You are dealing with people who like to bring their own hard alcohol, beer and wine to eat BBQ.
You are silly in thinking that your political concern is of importance to them.
Only 4 to 6 percent of the REGISTERED voters actually vote.
It is not being a victim to view the reality. You have to choose your battles with some reality of winning.
Go ahead and try to do as you suggested. It will not work.
It is not defeatism, it is reality.
There is no other BBQ place in the immediate area that people can go to sit inside or outside, bring their own alcohol with them and stuff their faces with all you can eat BBQ.
Good luck!!!
boycotts don't totally work but say you want to feel good about where you drop your $20s.. why the hell not avoid this place? It's your choice where you drop your cash and besides you really should take your own drink to this place as the water there has been declared unfit for human consumption - even the bumbling TCEQ has managed to site this joint for its unsafe water over the years.. just saying the public can drop their cash where they want to and if the public uses its public information it will stay clear of this joint..
At the eight days out reporting mark:
Backus had spent $8,267
Rose had spent $291,531
Vote your pocket book! Can you even relate to $291,531 for a job that pays $7,200 every two years? There's more to this as the totals for the more recent activity will be in after the election.
Boycotts do work if they are organized effectively. It is copout complacency to say otherwise.
Change starts with one person setting an example. If it is valid, others will follow.
So, go ahead and do it LLB instead of just talking about it.
Go and roundup the sheep and start the boycott.
I hereby stop going to The Salt Lick --- not that I ever do because I don't like the BBQ served there and I don't particularly care for Scott Roberts and his local politics.
Patrick Rose surely thinks he
has the primary election race for
State Rep sewn up. What galls me
is that he intends to celebrate
tonight at a REPUBLICAN get-together sponsored by Gov.Perry at the Salt Lick. (I just
saw confirmation on the 5 o'clock
TV news.) Patrick isn't even
trying to hide the fact that he
actually IS a Republican. We
Democrats shouldn't let him
publicly rub our noses in it.
Barbara Hopson, Wimberley
Thank God! Maybe we can start with the Salt Lick as the HQ for being liberal-free. No idiotic birkenstocks and shorts and tank tops with their idiotic social consciousness t-shirts. No more of their b.s. about how the Salt Lick sucks for having an opinion, and playing the same game as Democrats have played for generations in Texas when they had the ability to. Just as in Washington, with the hypocrisy of a corrupt Republican Majority, and the Democrats' whining about their (the Republicans) to resign when there was even a hint of immorality, or something dark and sinister; and now in the most "moral" congress ever, Charlie Rangel has been slapped down for his egregious violations of the ethics rules. Yet, even as of today he continues having the support of his Party leaders. See? Same old, same old. Democrats are just as hypocritical as they accuse Republicans of being. If they were in charge of Texas they would be playing the same games as Perry. It almost sounds as if the Democrats are little children crying, "it ain't fair! we want to cheat and steal, but aren't able to because the Republicans are beating us to it."
perhaps he'll officially switch parties tonight....
Barbara Hopson!
You ignorant, uninformed voter. I sat with Patrick Rose most of the night in San Marcos. He did not go to Driftwood to celebrate with Perry. Nor did any news confirm this.
I have heard some whoppers out of Wimberley, but maybe you guys have yall's own news station now? That was not confirmed on any channel and I will reiterate that Rep. Rose was in downtown San Marcos the entire night. Keep your lies to yourself.
What's the big deal? It's political business as usual. They all do it.
There seem to be some poor sports on this blog.
How much money will it take for Rose to buy honesty?
We already know how much it takes to fool enough voters to buy/swallow his checkbook politics.
20% of the voters couldn't be fooled or bought. That's a start and not a finish.
We'll have a recap of the numbers when he files his reports - that's if you really want to trust his own numbers...
"Everything's been sold American" thanks to Kinky for the appropriate lyric.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with all this because it is Texas politics as usual.
Nothing will change until we get rid of long time incumbents, implement laws that eliminate huge campaign contributions, and introduce term limits.
Then we need to do something about wealthy lobbies that get the governor and lawmakers to do what they want and then when the officials leave office they inevitably wind up working for the very lobbies and businesses they approved laws and perks for. CONFLICT OF INTEREST anyone???
There is little ethics and consciences in our Texas legislators. They are mostly crooks, flim-flam artists, greedy as hell and extreme sociopaths.
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