Behind the Lines
Dear Yankee
Eight things you ought to know before you start writing stories about Rick Perry. You’re welcome.
48 comments
Saturday, December 10th, 2011, 5:14 am
Fred says:
I know that our lives are largely shaped by the quality of those with whom we associate, especially during our early years. Too bad Rick Perry’s dog wasn’t smarter.
Saturday, November 26th, 2011, 12:26 pm
Nadine says:
Hay there--how do you feel about this article now that your governor has clearly made a fool of himself on the campaign trail? That Texas corn doesn’t translate well to Yankeeland.
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011, 2:53 pm
Indiana Red Raider says:
Mr. Burka - I quite enjoyed the article about Gov. Rick Perry, and despite being a Red Raider, I’d support this Aggie for President! I’m hoping his first order of business would be to get Congress on board with REAL TORT REFORM!
Sunday, September 11th, 2011, 12:18 am
Dragon says:
Mr. Burka - I LOVED THIS "GUIDE" FOR YANKEES! I smiled so many times throughout this writing. Not that any journalist will take your advice, at least you can say you tried! However, for those who lack the inability to understand what you attempted to convey, I offer a very simplified version of your piece, "DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS!" I am proud to say I support the straight-shooting, vocal, opinionated, homegrown, down-to-earth, presidential candidate, Rick Perry. Ready or not USA - HERE WE COME! Let’s get FIRED UP!
Friday, August 26th, 2011, 7:07 pm
says:
So, "Rick Perry reinvented" the governorship of Texas and now it’s no longer a "weak" governorship? You act like that’s a good thing. Well, he’ll fit right in up in DC. That’s where everyone reinvents stuff... like the constitution. Bush, Obama, Perry... One Republican, One Democrat, and one who can’t make up his mind, but knows he wants power.
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011, 9:19 pm
david says:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/162782/rick-perrys-neocon-friends
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011, 11:19 pm
TheSpiritOfTheWest says:
Rick Perry reminds me of Rango except he hasn’t become a real hero yet. I was born and raised in Texas. Ive seen the poor, rich and everything in between. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Ghettos, they’re the same all over the world, they stink even to yanks.
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011, 11:28 am
Steve says:
Having endured three years post-doctoral research and teaching at TAMU (That which does not kill me makes me stronger), the prospect of an Aggie c.t. yell leader as Presidential nominee is genuinely appalling.
Monday, August 15th, 2011, 6:53 pm
Joey says:
Heil Perry! http://i.imgur.com/Ptw8H.jpg Bachmann/Perry 2012, Let’s Go to Crazy Town
Monday, August 15th, 2011, 6:42 pm
Yankee who lived in Texas says:
I’m from Boston and lived in Texas for six years. Last month I moved back to Boston. The main reason? Education. I want to raise my children in a place the puts a high premium on education. Texas is not that place, due largely to Rick Perry. Seeing the recent cuts in education, and cramming creationism into the schools, opened my eyes. Texas is just like every other state. It has both good and bad. But education is not its strength. Sincerely, A Yankee who lived in Texas
Monday, August 15th, 2011, 3:22 pm
Eyes Wide Whatever says:
nice try. you left out the main point: he’s a power-mad jerk who gets where he gets by pandering to the greedy and ignorant, the king of backroom deals and straight up lying. He is the one of the very best examples of a crap politician. Bad enough he’s running Texas into the dirt, would hate to see what he can do with a country that’s already this deep into its last legs.
Saturday, August 13th, 2011, 5:26 pm
Missy77 says:
So is number six supposed to be a pro? Or is it supposed to prove that he’s a good ol’ boy and therefore somehow deserving of our support? Texas ranks 49th in the nation in terms of education, and the majority of the much-ballyhooed 1.2 million jobs created last year are in fact part time minimum wage no benefit jobs with no job security because the line of high school dropouts willing to take said crappy jobs goes around the block. Interestingly, while he was descimating education funding, he managed to find almost three million dollars of taxpayer money to help his friends finance a new NASCAR track (hooray, more minimum wage jobs!). Rick Perry didn’t singlehandedly run this state into the ground, but he did a fair bit of it himself.
Thursday, August 11th, 2011, 11:33 pm
Angry Liberal says:
What is the relevence of these factoids about Rick Perry? So, what if not every one in Texas ropes steers and actually lives in an urban environment? States have stereotypes; one might say all Idahoans eat potatoes and all people in Washington state drink Starbucks. I cannot infer from Mr. Burka’s column what is actually good about Rick Perry, just because some "yankees" make minor mistakes. The biggest difference noted, and most relevent, was the George Bush and Perry’s education difference, AND the sad thing about that, is that Rick Perry’s cuts on education make him even worse than George Bush on that subject! If this article was meant to put Perry in a good light, it didn’t work. I am a native Texan, was born in, and live in Fort Worth. But to condescendingly address the people up north, as Yankees, and then say a bunch of mostly irrelevent facts in order to disprove their misconceptions, didn’t help any cause to promote Perry. If Perry is electable (as he has just announced his presidential candicacy) he will have to change his stance on almost every major issue in American politics, from education, alternative energy, gay rights (as a federal civil rights concern, not a state’s rights issue.) The reason why Romney is highest in the GOP polls is because he is almost as moderately conservative, as Obama, being that Obama is moderately conservative, as there are no liberals anymore. Perry would have stop being an extremist when the primary is over, for him to have a chance.
Monday, August 8th, 2011, 3:54 pm
Arkansas Traveler says:
Here’s my contribution to the debate: That story about Perry shooting a coyote with his pistol? Anybody who’s ever dealt with coyotes in the wild knows it’s hokum. It sounds like something Sarah Palin made up. Otherwise, yeah, Americans can be fooled by the proverbial man on a horse. Especially one who looks and talks like Tommy Lee Jones. Jesus loves a tough guy. It’s in the Bible.
Sunday, August 7th, 2011, 3:06 pm
Willys says:
@yankee in a Grey Shirt... Flying C-130s, Perry lived in Germany and Saudi Arabia. He flew in Central and South America, North Africa and all over Europe.
Sunday, August 7th, 2011, 12:05 pm
Maria says:
Mr. Burka, Rick Perry’s nostalgic states’ rights stance reminds me of George Wallace. Your "Dear Yankee" piece is patronizing, silly, pandering to Mr. Perry. Why don’t you just join his staff and write speeches for him? Or maybe you already do? Texas is ranked #1 among the fifty states in many measures of pollution; air quality and particulates. Texas is ranked 49th in percentage of low income population covered by Medicaid. Texas is ranked 50th in state spending per capita on mental health. Texas is also 50th in percent of adults, 25 and older, with high school diplomas. Before the most recent and drastic cuts to school spending, Texas was ranked 47th in state education aid per pupil. Texas is ranked way up near the top in the percentage of population living below the poverty level. I love my state of Texas, but I do not share your love of Rick Perry. Remember what Molly Ivins said, "Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention." Maria Calderon Garza 400 East Saint Charles San Diego, Texas 78384
Friday, August 5th, 2011, 9:40 am
jim in austin says:
The Gov will have some challenges. While all the candidates will have to coddle and curry favor with The Base to some extent, the trick is then to be able tack back a bit towards the center after securing the nomination so as to not scare the straights too badly. Given his record and rhetoric, The Gov may have some problems in that department. And after waging essentially a conservative purist campaign that tends to be long on rhetoric and short on facts, whoever wins will need to be able to shift gears and compete intellectually with and debate the exceedingly smart cookie that currently occupies the White House. I don’t think the Gov’s gearbox goes that high. And lastly, anything that even remotely stirs up the ghost of W outside of Texas will be a significant negative. Just sayin’...
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011, 8:23 pm
Hal says:
Perry will be a BIG improvement over the know nothing do nothing we have in charge now. Just take a look at TEXAS vs the rest of the country. There must be some reason we are able to get all the new companies moving into TEXAS. Perry all the way.
Monday, August 1st, 2011, 2:42 pm
ClaireDW says:
In response to #9 No, no he is not!
Sunday, July 31st, 2011, 8:54 pm
Fella says:
9. Probably gay.
Friday, July 29th, 2011, 6:17 pm
Lori says:
It seems strange to mounting a defense for someone who hasn’t said he will run for president for certain. Make me think that there is something wrong with Perry. I’ll do my own research, thank you, Mr. Burka.
Friday, July 29th, 2011, 6:15 pm
Damn Liberal Yankee says:
I think it is a little strange that there is already a defense for someone that hasn’t even said he will run for president for certain. Makes me think that there is something wrong with him.
Friday, July 29th, 2011, 2:30 pm
Tamara says:
Just because you don’t go to sleep at night thinking about drawing a line in the sand, doesn’t mean that others in Texas don’t. I know many who are sick to death of Moderates, and ride the fence Republicans, who are so tired of wishy washy ideals. You had better learn to stand for something right, and find out what those who are not in your sphere of influence think; as for me, I think Gov. Perry is a refreshing change from the rest of the pack.
Friday, July 29th, 2011, 12:09 pm
Jenny F. says:
With such power and the willingness to step so far into the personal lives of Texans, I can’t help but worry about his wisdom when it comes to personal issues, like same sex love, divorce, religion, in other words, more government control over the people than we already endure. I also read a speech he made, and found it to be pretty stupid. The thing is, I vote Republican, so this isn’t about being a supporter of the Demo dummies.
Friday, July 29th, 2011, 11:34 am
Eph 6:12 says:
Let’s not forget that Rick Perry is a member of the Bilderberg Group since 2007. In case you did not know The group consists of elites from around the globe. Prominent attendees include David Rockefeller, Henry Kissenger, Texas governor Rick Perry, and many other bankers and top officials. The Bidlerberg group represents the amalgamation of elites and other globalist organizations such as the CFR, and Trilateral Commission (often, members have chairs in each group) coming together under one roof. Rick Perry has been instrumental in facilitating the Trans-Texas Corridor against the People’s voice. And lets be clear Bypassing the Legislature altogether, Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued an order making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. By employing an executive order, Perry sidestepped opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents’ rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way Texans raise their children. Governor Perry has quite a lot of baggage wouldn’t you say?
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 11:26 pm
damn yankees says:
Did anyone mention for the yankees to be sure and get the hell out of Texas as soon as humanly possible? And Dallas Austin Houston, I am pleased to hear that you are in Colorado where you belong. Here’s to hoping you never come back!
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 7:55 pm
Guy James says:
Dear Yankee: ONE thing you should know about Texas Monthly - it’s a wanna be New York Times. Nothing but a bunch of goddamn liberals trying to turn Austin in New York. Most texans wipe their ass with it when it comes out.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 6:34 pm
sandi says:
Perry has my vote
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 3:19 pm
GlennO says:
As a national business owner I have already voted FOR Gov Perry’s stewardship. I (we) chose TX over NY and CA for our next brand development venture that will employ people, create more commerce and improve the quality of life for the people who already enjoy our products. Why TX and NOT CA, NY or others? It took 18 months to get a State approval from NY, 16 months from CA and both required considerable cost to approve what 48 other States approved within weeks. Also, we met with resistance from the bureaucrats who ran the dept’s we had to deal with. The cost of doing business, the regulatory environment, the very-positive working force in TX was undenialbly the hands down reason we went south instead of E or W. They liked us in TX. We’re loving them back.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 2:30 pm
Joef says:
To Dallas Austin Houston commenter above.... After having been gone from Texas for twenty years I re-relocated back. Since you have been gone there has not been one thing the Lone Star State has missed about you.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 1:32 pm
Dallas Austin Houston says:
Having relocated to Colorado after living over 20 years in Texas I can say that there is not one thing I miss about the Lone Star State.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 12:56 pm
Robert of Virginia says:
Regardless of whether Perry is a smart politician or even a good or bad leader, I think one thing is clear: he will never be president (unless, of course, he becomes VP to a different republican, in which case all bets are off). The reason is simple: Perry just looks mean and nasty! You can never forget how much of a media-dominated age we now live in. So if the highly successful Tom Dewey could be so easily dismissed as looking too much like "the little man on top of the wedding cake," imagine how much easier it will be for voters to reject Perry, who looks like nothing so much as a sneaky used car dealer or, to be historical, a slick riverboat gambler. Americnas will not choose him for their president, which nowadays requires a combination of political leadership, movie star good looks, and a folksy touch.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 11:18 am
Rodolfo says:
Poor lefties, like Gus and Joe. I can just see them, with their little fists shaking, and tears in their eyes. They think themselves "progressives", when the opposite is true. God(s) bless Texas for giving us enough people to invalidate the backward thinking viewpoints of the welfare-addicted North and coasts.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 10:53 am
Gus says:
Why is it that every place with oil is filled with violent religious maniacs? God bless the North and the coasts for giving us enough people to invalidate the backwards-thinking viewpoints of idiot Texans.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 8:56 am
Trisha says:
I’m a N.Y. Yankee and I’m ready to cast my vote for Perry, especially if he considers Marco Rubio as V.P....a great team
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 7:01 am
Kady says:
The "luck" thing could play out again. Obama’s approval/disapproval has shifted 7% in just 60 days. By the time he’s done self-destructing, the GOP could run a german shepherd and win.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 2:31 am
psych495 says:
I live in Arizona but.... I go to sleep dreaming of Col. Travis drawing the line in the sand. And every now and then when the rest of the country seems to be falling apart I remember the infamous words of Davy Crockett.... ’Y’all can go to hell. I’m goin’ to Texas’
Thursday, July 28th, 2011, 12:15 am
joe says:
Two things you need to know about Perry: 1) unemployment rose in June to 8.2% from 8% in May. Texas shed 34255 jobs in June (There were 11295497 employed in May and 11261242 employed in June). 2) when Perry became Governor, unemployment was 4.2%
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 12:16 pm
Stoshio says:
Hey, Yankee in a Grey Shirt. You sure do output a lot of words without making much sense. If you live outside of Texas please stay there. We don’t need your Progressive, Marxist rhetoric. Refusing federal money constitutes racism toward a black president? You’re a nut.
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 10:14 am
sheryl says:
I would add a ninth - Perry would lose to Obama. America isn’t going to trade out a far left wing ideologue that can’t lead both Republicans and Democrats for a far right wing ideologue who won’t curry favor, hence won’t be able to lead both Republicans and Democrats. And let’s go to ten - Perry is too religious for a national campaign. I like my president to believe in God but not to proselytize and Perry has done far to much of that.
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 9:15 am
wanderlost says:
A commenter says: "I’ve always got hope and faith in the American people to do the right thing and re-elect a well-qualified President that inherited one of the worst financial catastrophes of the last hundred years. At least he’s trying." That was too ridiculous to be believable; thanks for the laugh, but you really turned a guffaw into a titter.
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 9:13 am
wanderlost says:
"Only twice has he made strategic errors that brought him into conflict with his hard-right base." There’s more than that. I can think of a third: in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 8:26 am
ChuckTX says:
Perry will make a great VP choice for Palin.
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, 8:17 am
Karl Magnus says:
Thank you for the interesting, insightful, and comprehensive column re: Gov. Perry. I have a feeling that he’ll do just fine on the campaign trail where men are men, umm, and sometimes women. This former Arizonan would vote Rick Perry for POTUS in a heartbeat. ~(Ä)~
Monday, July 25th, 2011, 9:59 am
Yankee in a Grey Shirt says:
Despite his humble beginnings, don’t be deceived he’s in it for himself. Everything’s just worked out so perfectly for the native Texan. He probably doesn’t know what it’s like to live in a different state at all -- particularly one born without a staunch pro-slavery statement of intent. Our country was founded on slavery and native slaughter -- How is that Christian? How is that Christian? What these tea partiers don’t get is that the immigration system is antiquated and designed for immigration from Europe. We share a thousand miles of land border with Mexico and most of that doesn’t have a toll booth. Close the border indeed. If we can’t keep Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, how do you suggest we close the border to tens of millions of potential undocumented immigrants from Mexico and South America? Texas has one of the weakest education systems in the country and Perry doesn’t seem to have all that much of a problem with it. I can understand tailoring education in the state to match agrarian subcultures and local economies, but tossing the baby out with the bath water -- rejecting federal education money -- smacks of confederate resentment towards a well-educated black president that provides "proof of concept" for affirmative action. If we can’t educate the youth of this state I’d hate to see what happens to education in America after he gets elected. We’re already relatively far behind in our respect for education and I blame lax educational concerns for our constant desire to inflate the pockets of the people that ship jobs overseas and manufacture products in China. Truth be told, American white people are among the laziest in the world and evolved that way. We simply can’t compete with latinos who have more discipline in the way they work and we resent them for that offering a life of indentured servitude. Fine day. Communism solves that problem in a heartbeat -- then we don’t have to compete with anyone at all. There wouldn’t be near so much border violence if our gun laws closed loopholes in response to the technological realities of social networking. Get over it. Our problems are our fault -- why spill them over into the realm of national politics? I’ve always got hope and faith in the American people to do the right thing and re-elect a well-qualified President that inherited one of the worst financial catastrophes of the last hundred years. At least he’s trying.
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011, 9:37 pm
freeta goodholm says:
Jim "fire ant" Hightower is a far left truther wacko!
Saturday, July 16th, 2011, 9:46 am
anthony haley says:
". . . [T]his is an urban state of 25 million people. We don’t go to sleep at night dreaming of William Barret Travis drawing a line in the sand. We do admire our rural history, as this month’s cover attests, but our vitality is in the cities." Well put, Paul.
Friday, July 15th, 2011, 7:16 pm
Betsy Moon says:
Burka asserts, "His opponents self-destruct, as Jim Hightower did in 1990, when Perry, a big underdog, won his first statewide race, for agriculture commissioner". Contrary to self destruction by the incumbent, Perry began his ruthless political career with help from big money and big business interests. Hightower was very popular and far ahead in all polls until Friday before the election on Tuesday. That weekend ads devised by Karl Rove and his mentor, Lee Atwater (famous for bringing nasty ads to the big-time) ran in the big markets of Houston and DFW. The ads used association with Jesse Jackson (race-baiting) and burning flags in in the images with Hightower. Hightower had not time to respond - and no money as he was considered safe for re-election, and all right minded people in Texas were supporting Ann Richards against the millionaire Clayton Williiams. it was this DIRTY campaigning that allowed Perry to win by a fraction of a percentage point. And, one of Karl Rove’s early triumphs - creating a perfect front man, pretty boy who would do anything the money people wanted - and getting rid of a likable, effective, progressive Hightower.
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