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Rick Perry – the Lonestar Grifter

By: Hrafnkell HaraldssonJun. 20th, 2011more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson

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Would you buy a used car from this man?

Governor Rick Perry of Texas, former Democrat, now Republican presidential wannabe, a man who asked the federal government for money to fight the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and then a year later wrote a book calling for a limited federal government that would not have had that money to give, and most recently self-proclaimed prophet of God, has put himself on display before the nation by organizing a vast, unconstitutional prayer rally at Reliant Stadium in Houston this August.

 

Though Rick Perry is hosting this vast gathering (letting Bryan Fischer’s American Family Association pick up the tab), he seems as unsteady in his religion as he does his politics. MySanAntonio.com has this to say of his failure to put his money where his mouth is:

But when it comes time to giving, the governor doesn’t come close to the biblical guidance of tithing.

From 2000, when Perry became governor, through 2009, he earned a total of $2.68 million according to his tax records. Of that amount, he gave half a percent to churches and religious organizations, or $14,243.

By comparison, Americans averaged gifts of nearly 1.2 percent of their income to churches and religious groups from 2004 to 2008, according to Empty Tomb Inc., an Illinois-based research firm specializing in U.S. church-giving trends.

Look at these examples of his tithing:

  • In 2007 – makes $1 million — gives $90 to his church, “according to the Perry family’s tax return.”
  • “Twice since becoming governor, in 2000 and 2009, he reported no contributions to churches or religious organizations.”

The traditional tithe is ten percent – tithe is an Old English word that means a tenth part of something. No wonder he is letting the AFA pick up the tab.

Miraculously – if I can use that term here – Governor Perry says through a spokesman that he does not talk about his faith, which should make for a very boring prayer revival in Houston. It leaves me wondering what he intends to talk about.

“He never talks about his faith,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said.

You have to wonder too how the prophet gig is going to go if he doesn’t talk about his faith. Isn’t that sort of on the job description?

And for a guy who says he doesn’t talk about his faith, he sure talks about it a lot:

While on the campaign trail in East Texas on March 28, 2002, Rick Perry said:

I want people of faith on my side, not just voting on election day but by hoisting me up by getting down on your knees and lifting me up in prayer. Those who have a different view of things are already organizing…Will you stand in the gap with those of us who believe there’s a God, and a God who is strong? We can stand in the gap together and speak about issues we believe in and we will be victorious.

I don’t know about you but it sounds like he’s talking about faith there.

In August 2009 he visited Israel and was interviewed by the Jerusalem Post. In this interview he stated that he supported Israel because of his religious beliefs: “I’m a big believer that this country was given to the people of Israel a long time ago, by God, and that’s ordained.”

Sounds like faith again. Then in April, while Texas was afflicted by a near biblical plague of drought and wildfires, Perry called on Texans to “pray for rain,” (they had to pray, because he was busy cutting funding for the agency that puts out wildfires):

WHEREAS, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal and robust way of life.

Apparently, Rick Perry is a liar. He talks about faith all the damn time.

Now he is claiming that his god caused our economic crisis. I didn’t know George W. Bush had gotten that promotion. I thought God had only chosen him to ruin our economy.

PERRY: I think in America from time to time we have to go through some difficult times — and I think we’re going through those difficult economic times for a purpose, to bring us back to those Biblical principles of you know, you don’t spend all the money. You work hard for those six years and you put up that seventh year in the warehouse to take you through the hard times. And not spending all of our money. Not asking for Pharaoh to give everything to everybody and to take care of folks because at the end of the day, it’s slavery. We become slaves to government.

Rick Perry comes across as another cult of personality opportunist-grifter like Sarah Palin, the difference being that so far he has not quit his gig as governor, though he is roundly disliked in Texas (but we all know prophets are not liked in their home towns, right?)

He says he wants a limited federal government but wants that government to give him money; he says he is a man of faith but skimps on his tithing; says he is a man of faith but won’t talk about his faith while he’s talking about his faith; and pretends he is going to hold a non-denominational apolitical prayer rally paid for by the hate group known as the American Family Association, whose Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association has acquired the duty of vetting each Republican presidential candidate as they surface.

I wouldn’t buy a used car from this man; I’m certainly not going to buy his religion. They say everything is bigger in Texas; apparently that goes for confidence men too.


Rick Perry – the Lonestar Grifter was written by Hrafnkell Haraldsson for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Jun. 20th, 2011. All Rights Reserved

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