Asshole Of The Week - Rick Perry

There are any number of reasons to dislike the state of Texas: the heat, the urban sprawl, the gun totin’, the Cowboys, George W. Bush, the oil industry, the crap healthcare and country music, to name a few. But now their governor, Rick Perry, is slowly but surely climbing to the top of that list.

This week Perry announced that the 6th of August will be a day of prayer. He coined it “The Response” and he’ll take part in an “event” at Houston’s Reliant Stadium that will be equal parts call to prayer and exercise in self-denial. To help him out with this event, Perry has partnered with the American Family Association, a group of homophobic dimwits if ever there was one.

From The Response homepage:
“Fellow Americans,
Right now, America is in crisis: we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy.”

I couldn’t make this shit up. Here, watch the video:

Putting aside questions of separation of church and state, if I were so inclined to do so, I might question the very sanity of an elected official who reverts to prayer to solve political issues. Or the irony that this is the same man who suggested, in 2009, that Texas might secede from the Union, citing the increasing encroachment of the US Government on the daily lives of its citizens. That last bit is extra funny, considering that he, a long-serving member of THE GOVERNMENT, is now trying to induce not only Texans, but the populations of all 49 other states. Yes, he sent a letter to the 49 other govs in an attempt to persuade them to partake in this massive “Pull-The-Blinds-Over-Your-Eyes-So-You-Don’t-Realise-How-We-The-Government-Have-Failed-You” day. This sort of voodoo politics is what makes countries like Haiti so dysfunctional.

Then there’s the sheer ignorance of believing that prayer is a valid response to the plight of millions of Americans. I mean, I am sure a day of prayer and self-immolation will make a few people feel better about the shit we’re in, but the millions of others – those who can’t find a job, or put food on the table, or find that their mortgage is higher than the current worth of their house – probably need a bit more than appeals to Yahweh.

For such a pious individual, Rick doesn’t put a lot of stock in God’s ability to mete out justice. Since he took office, 200 prisoners have received the death penalty in Texas. By the way, we’re also experiencing drastic environmental issues – but wait! Perry and his cohorts dismiss the idea of global warming – as well as functional healthcare and educational systems. I could go on with all the twisted ideas compiled like a heap of dung on a pig farm in Perry's brain, but that's really not the point here. The point, rather, is this: For his medieval spirit, his clerical bent, and his absurdly deviant policies, Dick Perry is this week’s asshole.