It is difficult to keep up with who is in and who is out of the Republican presidential race. Now it appears that Newt Gingrich is on the way out of the race and Texas Gov. Rick Perry may be on his way in. Perry should be a serious candidate, having managed a large state with a large budget.
As is typical of a big government conservative, Perry is opposed to business regulation while promoting regulations that involve which religious doctrines will be taught in public schools, and which scientific positions on global warming and medical research are correct, and even behavior in the bedroom.
These are positions taken by most of the social conservatives in the Republican Party. But some wing-nut supporters of Gov. Perry articulate an even more radical position, and that is the talk of Texas seceding from the United States.
If Perry is to be taken seriously, he needs to stand apart from this craziness, but so far he has been amazingly quiet.
He fails to chide these unpatriotic supporters for their "Secede Now!" signs in the crowds he addresses.
He fails to point out that his political party is not the Tea Party, but the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, the party that saved our union, the party that opposed the idea and the reality of secession with blood and treasure.
So far, Gov. Perry has not warned his supporters. Instead, he has warned the rest of us voters that we better pay attention to Texas—or who knows what could happen.
In Perry's case, silence isn't golden. It's utterly unnerving.
