Rick Perry's Texas Should Not Become Rick Perry's America

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When someone who is running for president has governed a state, it is a good idea to look at his home territory before deciding whether or not to hand him the keys to the entire nation.  Texas is a beautiful place, with some nice people;  but under the governorship of Rick Perry, it is not a good place to live.

Rick Perry has been governor of Texas for eleven years.  First, during this period of time, there have been 234 executions--  making Texas the highest-ranking state for executions in the entire nation.  Rather than looking at this as "Texas is tough on crime," we should ask instead why they have so much of it.  

Second, while Rick Perry is supportive of strict border policies to keep Mexican immigrants out of the United States, less is done about keeping Mexican drugs out of the United States.  Texas continues to be a pipeline through which large quantities of heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and so-called club drugs filter in to the rest of the country.

Third, behaviors which most of us would consider criminal continue to flourish in Texas.  One example is turning cities where decent citizens may wish to live into "dumping grounds" for sex offenders.  A police officer said to me:  "There are at least forty sex offenders living on this block--  and many are in your building!"  Many "offenders" who had committed multiple crimes continued to be on the streets, rather than incarcerated.  A second example came from another officer who stated it is perfectly acceptable for men to beat their wives if they financially support them.  A third example came from a Texas newspaper:  "Girls in our culture are taught to be sexually submissive."  Well, I cannot speak for anyone else, but these are not the kinds of "values" I wanted my family to be subjected to.  

Fourth, as of January, 2011, Texas has the lowest high school graduation rate of any state in the nation.  

These are only some examples of Texas under the governorship of Rick Perry.  Paraphrasing an old song, if he cannot even run his own state effectively, he surely should not be allowed to run the entire country.