Random Thoughts

This evening our thoughts wander randomly to various topics, but we focus on the hypocrisy of politics.  On Saturday before  Super Bowl Sunday 2010, my best friend and I drove to the Houston, TX suburb of Cypress and stayed at a hotel so that we could  be at the front of the line early, at the Berry Center to see and hear Governor Rick Perry and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Sunday morning, after a quick breakfast,  we stood outside in the bitter cold, in line for nearly two and one half hours before they allowed us into the arena.  Sarah Palin was coming to Texas to endorse Rick Perry's reelection.  She was all we'd expected her to be, and she fired up the crowd to vote for him.

"I look forward to Texas sending Washington a message about how things can be done right. Problems are either going to be solved the Texas way or the Washington way. "  Palin told the crowd in her unmistakable voice.

Well, that was then and this is now.  It doesn't seem that Palin took too kindly to Rick Perry's deciding to take the Texas way to Washington after all.  Since he announced his candidacy she hasn't had much good to say about her "Texas pal!"  In fact today she is perpetuating the issue of Gardasil and appearing to support Michelle Bachman's false claims that Gardasil "causes mental retardation."

As a Texans we have our own random thoughts on Gardasil.  Rick Perry made a mistake when he mandated by executive order that all girls from the age of 12 on receive the Gardasil injection to protect them from contracting the Human Papiloma Virus, a sexually transmitted disease.  His intent was to mandate the vaccine so that the insurance companies would have to pay for it.  He SHOULD have let the Texas legislature pass it as a bill, but he didn't do it.  He has admitted he made a mistake, and he has apologized for it.   Well we say, "Let he who is without guilt cast the first stone."  Who doesn't make mistakes?  But, how many have the dignity, honesty and integrity to apologize for it publicly?   The present occupant of the White House certainly would not.

In his mandate there was a clause that allowed parents to "Opt Out" and not have their daughters vaccinated, but that  was given little publicity.  Not one girl child in Texas was vaccinated with Gardasil against her will.  Bachman also tried to imply that Rick Perry had received a donation from a pharmaceutical company, but was cautious not to name which one.  Governor Perry himself identified it as being Merck Laboratories, and the amount of their donation to his campaign had been $500,000.    We happen know Texans who can easily write a personal check for that amount and often do, and not just to Rick Perry.  Democrats too are recipients of their generosity.  Michelle Bachman was way off base with her ugly implication.  In trying to attack Perry she did herself more harm than good.  Would Merck have profited from this action? Yes, of course they would, as do all the pharmaceutical companies who profit from the "mandated baby shots" all newborn infants receive, and no child can enter school without.   

When Sarah Palin continued to harp on the subject and to criticize her now former good friend,  we lost a great deal of respect for her. She might say that she's not afraid to call fellow Republicans on things they do wrong, but  Sarah Palin knew all about the "Gardasil affair" when she came to Texas to endorse Rick Perry, and it didn't seem to bother her then at all.  In fact she brought along her youngest daughter Piper, to meet the wicked Governor.  In March of 2007, the Texas legislature overturned Perry's executive order.  That should have been the end of the story. 

At the time Rick Perry issued his executive order,  Gardasil had been put on the "recommended" immunization schedule issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control.  However,  two years after the Gardasil issue had blown over in Texas, the Journal of the American Medical Association declared that "serious questions regarding the overall effectiveness of the vaccine" needed to be answered and that more long-term studies were called for.  By then it was a non- issue for  Perry, and Gardasil was old news in Texas.

I bear an ugly Small Pox vaccination scar on my left arm from  a vaccine administered to me in a public school in the 1950s.  Parental consent was not a requirement.  Every Polio vaccine I ever had was given to me at school, and we were tested yearly for Tuberculosis, without parental consent.  As a parent, I am happy that schools stopped giving vaccinations.  All three of my children were vaccinated by a pediatrician when we took them in for their shots, so have our grandchildren, the last of whom was put on a delayed schedule because her mother, read about vaccine side effects and was fearful.

Another issue about the Gardasil that bothered us  was the parents' accusations that the Governor was promoting sexual activity for pre teens.  We're sorry, but that charge just simply did not fly with us.    With the incidents of child molestation and rape that exists in the country, we simply thought of it as protection for young girls.  I've often asked myself, if there were a vaccine for HIV would parents feel the same about having their children inoculated?  After all unlike HPV, HIV is not just a sexually transmitted disease. 

A random thought.  Just something to think about.

Another random thought we had was the disappointment  we felt as we saw the GOP turn on each other during the debates.  Since Rick Perry entered the race he has participated in two events.  The first one was an assault on Rick Perry by NBC and Politico.  Rightfully he said he felt like a pinata up on that stage.  The  second debate has been called a "battering" by Major Garret in a piece for the Atlantic, and a "Thumping" by  Matt Drudge.  All were in agreement that the entire panel with the exception of Newt Gingrich "ganged up" on Rick Perry.  After all, how dare he enter the race late and immediately become the front runner, when they've been spending money and campaigning for months?

Tim Pawlenty's endorsement of Romney came as a big surprise to us and has changed our opinion of the former Minnesota Governor.  In January of 2011 we wrote a piece on Tim Pawlenty which has received more than 4,000 page views.  The man we are hearing on television these days is not the man we wrote about earlier in the year.

 The behavior of the GOP candidates was rather appalling because they did not address the issues that need to be given priority.  We expected to hear how each of them intend to change the economy, create jobs, talk about the wars, or funding of the military, or how they will deal with entitlement programs.  They had a captive audience and instead they chose to act like bullies in the playground attacking the new kid.


We're sure the Democrats enjoyed it because they fear Rick Perry.  We thought it was an embarrassing display.  What no one expected  was that the new kid came prepared with facts and an engaging smile.

In case you haven't noticed the MSM still favors Barack Obama.  He gets all the air time he wants and needs, and it doesn't cost him a dime.  Free publicity.  The GOP needs to learn to seize the moment and use the time they have on prime time to let the American people know what each, as individuals, will do to turn this country around.  How else will the people identify the candidate they most favor to win the race and face off with Barack Obama?

Instead of attacking Perry on Social Security, use the time to tell us what each of them intends to do about it.  It  is the same with immigration, the border, education, job creation, taxes, the economy, foreign policy, unions, et al.    Thanks to the rest of the GOP field, we now know fairly well where Rick Perry stands.  He's been made to publicly defend himself and his position.  Now let's hear where the rest of them stand.  Instead of "raucous" the debates should be reported as eloquent, informative, orderly.   In spite of their individual desire to be elected, we expect Republicans to put country before political ambition. The main purpose of this election must be to defeat Barack Hussein Obama.   After the last three years we have had to endure, we don't think that is too much to ask.

TWO SISTERS