What's dangerous about Rick Perry

(Source: Maryanne Chastaine)

I lived in Texas for almost 2 decades, so I think I'm entitled to comment on the current governor.  The other day, I blogged about Wendy Davis, the woman that's been filibustering Senate Bill 5; the bill would be one of the most conservative abortion laws in the country, limiting abortions in Texas to only 5 locations in the state (as an FYI, it's 696,241 kilometers squared).  

Regardless of your moral view on abortions, this is an underhanded way to effectively reverse Roe vs Wade for the citizens of Texas and would very likely result in illegal, back-alley clinics.

So, lets say you agree with Senate Bill 5.  Why is Rick Perry still dangerous?
Well, he has a history of imposing his personal views on the entire state, which is fine if you agree with him, but that may not always be the case.  It's also the same thing that dictators do. 

As an example, during his 2011 presidential campaign, he was questioned on the disconnect between Texas' teen pregnancy rate (4th highest in the country) & its abstinence only education.

He responded with:

"It works. Maybe it's the way that it's being taught or the way that it's being applied out there, but the fact of the matter is it is the best form to teach our children. I'm gonna tell you from my own personal life abstinence works. And the point is if we're not teaching it and we're not impressing it on them, no, but if the point is we're gonna go stand up here and say, "Listen, y'all go have sex and go have whatever is going on and we'll worry about that and here's the ways to have safe sex," I'm sorry, call me old-fashioned if you want, that is not what I'm gonna stand up in front of the people of Texas and say that's the way we need to go and forget about abstinence."

That's great that abstinence worked for Rick Perry, but in reality, 80%+ of teens have had sex, 25% of teens have an STD & only 3% of Americans wait to have sex until marriage; therefore, there is a major disconnect between the education that Rick Perry supports and the reality of citizens' behavior.

It's dangerous when a leaders' personal views get in the way of him or her providing the best policies for its constituents.  It's why we have the Bill of Rights, to protect personal rights against the government or the majority.

"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)." - Ayn Rand

Based on his history, it's not all that far-fetched that in the future, he could: 

• Enforce the anti-sodomy law on the books, outlawing gay partners from living together
• Use government funding to proselytize the Christian faith in the classroom
• Allow concealed handguns in public schools, endangering the individual
• Secede Texas from the United States, removing individuals' federal rights 

All of these in some form or fashion would go against the Bill of Rights.

So, what's my recommendation?

We need more Wendy Davis-es standing up to Rick Perry.  And, Perry needs to learn the basic principle that "what's right for me may not be right for you".