Huntsman Slams Perry On Global Warming And Secession, Suggests Perry Is ?Unelectable?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 22nd, 2011 4:36 am by HL
Huntsman Slams Perry On Global Warming And Secession, Suggests Perry Is ?Unelectable?
In an interview this morning with ABC News’ Jake Tapper, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman repeatedly ripped his fellow GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry for Perry’s “extreme” views on global warming, monetary policy and secession: TAPPER: [C]omments from Governor Perry prompted you to Tweet, quote: “To be clear, I believe in evolution and […]
In an interview this morning with ABC News’ Jake Tapper, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman repeatedly ripped his fellow GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry for Perry’s “extreme” views on global warming, monetary policy and secession:
TAPPER: [C]omments from Governor Perry prompted you to Tweet, quote: “To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.” Were you just being cheeky or do you think there’s a serious problem with what Governor Perry said?
HUNTSMAN: I think there’s a serious problem. The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party – the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012. . . .
TAPPER: A former Bush political guru, Karl Rove, called [Perry’s claim that monetary stimulus amounts to treason] “un-presidential.” What do you think?
HUNTSMAN: Well, I don’t know if that’s pre-secession Texas or post-secession Texas. But in any event, I’m not sure that the average voter out there is going to hear that treasonous remark and say that sounds like a presidential candidate, that sounds like someone who is serious on the issues. . . . I think when you find yourself at an extreme end of the Republican Party you make yourself unelectable.
Watch it:
It will be up to the voters to decide how electable Rick Perry is, but Huntsman is absolutely correct that Perry is an extremist even within a deeply radicalized Republican Party. Perry believes that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional. He didn’t just flirt with secession, he signed an unconstitutional law claiming that Texas has the power to nullify federal laws it doesn’t like. Perry opposes letting voters elect their own senators. He thinks federal environmental laws are unconstitutional “nonsense.” And he wants to eliminate all federal involvement in education, a position that would cause millions of college students to lose their Pell Grants and student loans.
Needless to say, Texas has suffered dearly because of Perry’s poor governance. One quarter of Texas children live in poverty. It has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the country, and one of the highest teen birth rates. Texas has the highest percentage of minimum wage jobs in the nation and the worst health insurance rate in the country.
Nor is there any truth to incessant right-wing claims that Texas is a Mecca for new jobs. Texas’ unemployment rate ranks 24th in the country — slightly worse than New York’s — and the state’s unemployment rate would be much worse if it wasn’t for the fact that, as a major oil producer, Texas’ economy benefits enormously from an era of sky-high gas prices. “The Dallas Fed has found that, every time oil prices rise 10 percent, Texas gets a 0.5 percent GDP bump.”
So Huntsman is absolutely right to call out Perry’s record, which has been an almost unbroken streak of extremist statements, failed policies and economic misery.
McKibben and 100 Others Arrested at White House, Many Held Until Monday, “Lighting a Fire” Among Demonstrators
Bill McKibben sends this message from jail: The only thing we need in here is more company. We don’t need your sympathy, we need your company. The U.S. Park Police have decided to take a get tough attitude with those protesting the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline: On a phone call late this afternoon, U.S. […]
Bill McKibben sends this message from jail:
The only thing we need in here is more company. We don’t need your sympathy, we need your company.
The U.S. Park Police have decided to take a get tough attitude with those protesting the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline:
On a phone call late this afternoon, U.S. Park Police told organizers of the sit-in that the jail time was expressly intended as a deterrent for future participants.
The Park Police were especially concerned that sit-ins would continue during the week of events beginning on August 28 surrounding the dedication of a new memorial to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest exponents of creative nonviolence.
In multiple phone calls and in person meetings before today’s sit-in, the Park Police had previously assured organizers that participants in the protest would be facing a “post and forfeit” situation, meaning they would pay a $100 fine and be released the same day. While participants in this morning’s sit-in were trained the evening before to prepare for the worst, many were operating on the “post and forfeit” assumption due to police assurances.
How much better to clamp down hard on those trying to avert catastrophic global warming, than, say, those who are working to accelerate it (see “Tar sands: Still dirty after all these years” and Hansen slams Keystone XL: “Exploitation of tar sands would make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous global climate impacts”).
You can get updates at Tar Sands Action. Here’s the latest, More Arrests “Lighting a fire”:
If the police thought that they would discourage more Americans from taking part in the sit-ins at the White House by keeping Bill McKibben and Saturday’s participants in jail, they were completely wrong. Another group of over 70 people gathered in Lafeyette Square Park today. 45 of them were arrested for the second day of sit-ins at the White House.
“Saturday’s arrests and overnight jailings are already lighting a fire,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, who was also arrested Saturday. “More people are now inspired, determined, and committed to join. On Monday alone over 20 DC-area doctors, lawyers and students will be going to jail to chant, sing, and stop the pipeline. They’ll be joining Nebraska ranchers and others nationwide. Word is spreading.”
Earlier this summer, a young man named Tim DeChristopher was sentenced for two years in jail for disrupting the sale of federal land for oil and gas drilling. He and his allies in Utah spoke of the need for “joy and resolve,” both in the face of the climate crisis and in specific situations like civil disobedience.
I think the words “joy and resolve” describe the look on the face of the young woman in the photo above. When asked how they felt risking arrest this morning, especially after the escalation of threats by the police, many people said “proud” and “patriotic.” From Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King, Jr., civil disobedience has been a great American tradition. It is an honor to stand and work with those 45 people today and the many more tomorrow who are making that tradition a living, breathing reality.
