When I saw this article he wrote (“The Rick Perry I Know“) I somehow misread the name as Maureen Dowd.
You can imagine the resulting feeling of fascinated dread that thus came over me as I clicked the link. Indeed, I’m almost sorry that MoDo hasn’t written something along those lines; it’d have the same sort of compelling awfulness as you might find in some of the more relentlessly illustrated medical texts out there.
The idea that Perry has “never been fully vetted” is just stupid on its face. He has faced strong challengers from both the left and the right in his decade as governor. Kay Bailey Hutchinson was as desperate for that governor’s seat as any candidate possibly could be. And we’re supposed to believe that she DIDN’T have an extensive, full-time oppo research team digging into every possible nook and cranny of Perry’s professional and personal life?
If there was dirt to find, does Dowd seriously believe that NOBODY would have found it in a TWO DECADES? Really?
Remember that Texas Democrats were the ones who forged the Bush ANG documents that brought down Dan Rather and Mary Mapes instead. But even that desperate bunch of low-life political operators haven’t managed to make anything stick to Perry in his time as ag commissioner, lt governor or governor.
But we’re supposed to believe that he hasn’t been “fully vetted.” Really Dowd? Really?