By Gary P Jackson
In times of disaster the people expect to see and hear from their leaders. Though I’ve praised Rick Perry in the past, for his leadership in this disaster, the latest episode is totally unacceptable.
KXAN TV reports Rick Perry failed to show up for a scheduled walk through Bastrop and press conference on Saturday. As you see in the video, the people of Bastrop, who have lost everything, are not happy.
Reports were it took some effort to secure a location for Perry’s scheduled press conference. Lot of work went into preparing for Perry’s visit. It was all for nothing though, as Perry, despite being in Austin, roughly 25 minutes away, never bothered to show up.
At press time no explanation was give for Perry’s no-show.
For the life of me, I can’t think of anything that could have been more important for Perry than to have been in Bastrop on Saturday. Even though there’s not a lot he could have done, the residents would have been comforted seeing their Governor.
![sarah-marvelous-eyes-trig[2]](https://thespeechatimeforchoosing.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/sarah-marvelous-eyes-trig2.jpg)
A Time For Choosing 
Gary, I think he was recovering from his blockbuster fund-raising trip, just following the Sept. 7th debate in California. Maybe he was just too gosh darn tired on Saturday. Dunno. All this is pure conjecture on my part.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the article dated September 6th [link below quote] likened his fund-raising to spreading like a wildfire:
” […] Perry has already proved his bona fides as a world-class fundraiser. Members of his finance team says (sic) ‘it is going like wildfire’ and their California schedule backs up the claim.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-perry-california-20110906,0,7741437.story
In that article, there is mention of a “just-released schedule from Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign”. The link shown for this in the article does not specifically lead to any schedule, but I googled that phrase with no quote marks, and viola, could locate lots of links regarding Super PAC action for Perry-
http://tinyurl.com/3j2jlml
And here’s another source talking about how his campaign said, “it’s going like wildfire”-
http://www.care2.com/causes/perry-campaign-says-its-going-like-wildfire.html
So, he skips Senator DeMint’s South Carolina event because of the wildfires, but after the Sept 7th debate, he goes to fund raisers on at least Thursday and Friday, per the following article, while Texas still burns:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/politics&id=8344029
Got feed that monster Super PAC, eh, Gov. Perry? It can be exhausting. I wonder why he did not show up in Bastrop Saturday. I would like to know the reason given by his campaign.
Perry is already snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory – just speeding up the pace! Good research (but rotten subj), Seattle! And don’t you just love his choice of words, “Fundraising’s goin’ like wildfire!?!” Talk about open mouth, insert foot!! Methinks a little “bonfire” under his a** and/or mansion in Austin outta throw a little reality in his face…
No Mansion in Texas. A bit back it was undergoing a total down to the studs restoration. It was nearly complete a some douche-bag set it on fire. A real tragic deal. So …. Perry stays in a $10,000 a month rental.
“?Fundraising going like wildfire” is beyond the pale. Despicable.
I actually started seeing this maybe about 4-6 days ago. I held off mentioning it because one of the 1st sources (and many that followed) that used this, with its particular error-filled English –[“Members of his finance team says” (sic), such and such]– were liberal/progressive sources. I wanted to see if it was amended or disputed, if anyone denied that Perry’s unnamed “finance team” did say this, but then the Chicago Trib used the story as well. So I thought I’d mention it.
Oddly, this link, —
http://m.nctimes.com/mobile/article_94077771-9517-5633-b4ac-06560dbb8afb.html
has the phrase written as “Members of his finance team say ‘it is going like wildfire’ and their California schedule backs up the claim.” It’s the only source so far that doesn’t use that form, “says” attributed to the plural, “members”. I am still unclear who wrote the original story that got picked up by others, e.g. whether it used “says” or “say” in the original text.
But I bring it up because I had thought that Perry had this superb, winning, star team, including his finance team. They are a bit callous or very dumb in using this phrase, “it’s going like wildfire”. (I would like to see Perry’s “finance team” discount the story, if it’s not true — or apologize to Texas, if indeed true.)
Gary, when I try to share this on twitter via your share feature it omits all spaces between words. fyi
Interesting. Works for me. Must be some sort of technical glitch. Technology is great, until you try and use it!
It’s going to be fun watching Perry unravel.
Couldn’t happen to a better guy either.
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He’s workin’ hard, ‘tho … endorsements of Gov. Jindal, Chuck Norris, and still courting Chris Christie, this time for an apparent, upcoming dinner date:
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/christies-meeting-with-rick-perry-is-a-product-of-karl-rove-era-politics
Trying to court Sheriff Joe, too…
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/perry-seeks-blessing-from-an-immigration-hardliner-20110912
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