R. Perry, the ex-governor of the State of Texas, has been nominated by Da Trumpf to head up the Energy Department. In some ways this is appropriate for Perry is known for his commitment to fossil fuels, building nuclear plants, fracking the hell out of west Texas and generally ignoring the welfare of his constituents with the exception of the well-heeled, the ignorant religious kooks, and the well-connected.
He's also an accomplished liar, much like da Trumpf. For example, when he was governor he complained constantly that the federal government took Texas money and gave nothing or very little in return. The truth is much different. Texas received considerably more money from the feds than they sent to Washington. But the truth wouldn't play well with the folks in the hinterlands who had been brainwashed into thinking Texas didn't need nobody and could go it alone.
Another of Perry's accomplishments is the public schools. Texas has been a constant leader in the race to the bottom. And in terms of caring for the welfare of women and children, Texas is comparable to most third-world countries.
Texas is known for football, though, and most every high school sponsors a football team filled with wannabes looking toward a career with the Dallas Cowboys. That, of course, rarely if ever, happens.
Texas also has lots of religion, fundamentalistic Christianist religion, with huge churches that look like big box stores, and preachers that rant and rave against sex and drugs and infidelity (well, at least until they're caught in a tryst of their own) and unbelievers who they claim are leading Texas and the nation toward some mythical biblical apocalypse.
During the recent presidential primary race, Mr. Perry was an enemy of Mr. Trump. Mr. Perry couldn't stand Mr. Trump and said so at every opportunity. There was one funny moment when Perry complained about several federal agencies, claiming he would get rid of them if elected president. Then he couldn't remember the name of one of the departments he intended to abolish!
It turned out to be the Energy Department. When asked about that department it quickly became clear he knew nothing about it: he did not know its mission or how it worked; nothing. (Interestingly enough, some of da Trump's "advisers," when asked about this department, acted like they'd never heard of it.)
Back to the primary race. Perry had this to say about da Trumpf in an address he gave at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.:
"He offers a barking carnival act that can best be described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued. Let no one be mistaken, Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised, and discarded."
And there's more.
"...Donald Trump, the reality television star, is a great generator of ratings. But Donald Trump the candidate is a sower of division, wrongly demonizing Mexican-Americans for political sport. He has piqued the interest of some Republican voters who have legitimate concerns about a porous border and broken immigration system. But instead of offering those voters leadership of solutions, he has offered fear and sound bites. This cannot stand."
You might think that such statements would disqualify anyone from a position in the Trump administration. But noooooo. In spite of those terrible comments about da Trumpf and even though Perry knows nothing about the Department of Energy, he was offered the position of head of that department by da Trumpf.
This is one more example of the crass stupidity of Trump and friends. Once again they put their own welfare above the welfare of the country for Perry can be counted on to serve the rich and powerful first and foremost.
A Washington Post article said it best:
“There is no doubt that Rick Perry is completely unfit to run an agency he sought to eliminate — and couldn’t even name. Perry is a climate change denier, opposes renewable energy even as it has boomed in Texas, and doesn’t even believe CO2 is a pollutant,” League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said in a statement.
“Not only that, he is deep in the pocket of Big Polluters, who have contributed over $2.5 million to his presidential campaigns, a disturbing sign that they expected him to protect their profits in office, not do what’s best for the American people.”
Hang on to your hats, because if there is a hell, we're headed in that direction.
