Drudge does it again; and, was this Perry’s “flop-flop”?

Here’s the over-the-masthead photo and headline at Drudge tonight:

PERRY DOUBLES DOWN

ON ILLEGALS

A tough Texan, standing proud and strong—for compassionate surrender to an alien conquest.

That’s the ticket.

(UPDATE: For further reflections on “the odd combination of Texan cowboy braggadocio with Texan gooey compassion for Mexicans,” see the entry, “Out of touch.”)

- end of initial entry -

September 23

Paul K. writes:

When the other candidates went after Perry on the preferential treatment illegals enjoy in his state university system, he replied,:

“[I]f you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart.”

When I heard that I thought, “I don’t think I can vote for this man.”

It is one thing that Romney flip-flopped on his medical plan in Massachusetts; it is possible that he has changed his mind and will now take a position more in line with his party. But for Perry defiantly to defend a position so antithetical to the views of his party’s base, not to mention Americans as a whole, I find outrageous. Dennis Miller dubbed it a “flop-flop”—he has a bad idea, and dammit he’s sticking with it. Evidently Perry has drawn no conclusion from the failure of Bush’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the damage his pro-amnesty position did to McCain’s candidacy, or the failure of the DREAM Act to pass in congress.

Among the viable candidates, Romney is looking better to me.

LA replies:

A “flop-flop”—that’s very good.

Romney’s a flip-flopper, Perry’s a flop-flopper.

LA writes:

CBS News sums up the illegal immigration exchange:

In 2001, Perry signed the Texas DREAM Act, which allows Texas students to take advantage of in-state tuition prices even if they lack legal status in the United States.

“If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they have been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Perry said at the Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News and Google.

“We need to be educating these children because they will become a drag on our society,” Perry said, noting that the law passed with near unanimous support in Texas. At the debate, Perry was lambasted by nearly all of the other candidates for his stance on the issue.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Perry’s position “doesn’t make sense to me.”

“That kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education to get the hundred thousand dollar break. It make no sense,” Romney said, referring to a hypothetical student who took advantage of the roughly $22,000 price differential for all four years required to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Rick Santorum was even harsher on Perry, calling the Texas governor “soft on illegal immigration,” in part because he does not want to build a fence along the southern border of the United States.

Santorum also claimed Perry had advocated for “bi-national” health insurance between Texas and Mexico in a speech a decade ago.

“I don’t even think Barack Obama would be for bi-national health insurance,” Santorum said.

Perry fired back at Santorum, telling him that he has no clue about border issues.

“I’ve got one question for you. Have you ever even been to the border with Mexico? I’m surprised if you have but you weren’t paying attention because the idea that you are going to build a wall, a fence for 1200 miles and then go 800 miles more to Tijuana does not make sense,” Perry said.

Perry then pledged to stop illegal immigration, stop the drug cartel and make America secure when he is president.

LA writes:

Perry become embarrassingly inarticulate at times, and not just for a moment, but for an extended period. See his challenge to Romney’s flip flopping, starting at 1:30 in the full length video of the debate. It’s painful. He keeps tripping over words, and instead of recovering, he trips over more words. I hope for his sake that he was simply not feeling well last night.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 23, 2011 12:15 AM | Send