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nice way to show your gra ude for those that are dodging bullets and roadside bombs for their country
Texas governor suggests gay veterans should leave state
Gay groups demand Perry apologize
By STEVE KOVAL
Jun 8, 2005
Washington Blade
The WashbladeTexas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that gay veterans unhappy with the proposed anti-gay cons utional amendment should move elsewhere.
"I'm going to say Texas has made a decision on marriage and if there's a state with more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's where they should live," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Perry said Sunday.
Perry's comments were in response to a question during a news conference about what he would tell gay war veterans returning from Iraq.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group for gays in the military, today joined calls by the Lesbian & Gay Rights Lobby of Texas for Perry to apologize.
~snip~
First, about 'the rumor'. It started a while back when there was a rumor in the media that an attractive governor was about to be outed, and that he was battling his wife over a divorce. The rumor never named Perry, but a lot of people jumped on the "Perry is gay" bandwagon. Not long afterwards, the New Jersey Governor admitted he was gay, so a lot of people assumed the rumors were about him.
Perry's Leuitanent Governor, David Dewhurst, has long been rumored to be gay, and I've met people that work around him who can even name a man in Houston he's been with a long time--who knows if they are right, but they are convinced. So it's possible the rumor was never about Perry, but that wishful thinking and confused iden y made it about him.
Either way, the rumor made the rounds, and people now think of Perry that way, so I think, he is trying extra hard to be anti-gay, and it has something to do with the rumor. It also has to do with shrewd, though disgusting, politics. The Republicans here in the last few years have switched from smearing Dems with abortion to smearing them with gay rights. Perry can now say he stood up for morals in this state, and any Democratic opponent has to either say "But you were wrong," in which case he gets labeled as a "gay lover," or he has to go along with Perry's actions, in which case he angers Dems.
So Perry kills a lot of birds with this one stone, and he makes it very hard for a Democrat to campaign against him. If he had signed this bill quietly, it might not become an issue, so he has done it in a way that everyone will remember, so they will talk about it during the election.
nice way to show your gra ude for those that are dodging bullets and roadside bombs for their country
Is there any room for reality in that small mind of yours?
Yeah, he should just abandon a fundamental plank in his party's platform because some gay soldiers are pissed about his stance on gay marriage.
Reverse the situation. Let's say it was a bunch of conservative soldiers, opposed to gay marriage, and Perry were a liberal governor signing into law a bill that allowed for such.
Would he then be justified in suggesting that if the returning soldiers couldn't abide his policy choice they might be better off in a State that does?
its never justified to disrespect members of our armed forces, especially ones that just came back from fighting...you really do put party before country and military, dont you?
I don't think he disrespected them. What could he have possible said that would have made them happy and not compromised his position on gay marriage?
I was merely pointing out that you can't please every military person coming back from Iraq. Their political ideologies are as diverse and polarized as everyone else's.
You can't please 'em all. I wish you could...they deserve to be honored. But, so do their brothers in arms that oppose their political view on any given issue.
you're right...telling soldiers who are just returning home from a tour of duty in iraq that they should move elsewhere is just pure classI don't think he disrespected them
the gay troops.. many gays have actually tried to screw the military... get their law or medical degrees, then say, "oh i am gay, you have to kick me out now!" at first the military did, now they are trying to bill them... regardless, they waste tons of the military's time and money... if you are gay, just stay out of the military...
You know something, I'm a strong supporter (and card-carrying member) of the Republican Party.
I'm a former soldier who started as an enlisted man, went to school and became a commissioned Army officer working in logistics.
I was in a fight one time in the desert. My convoy got ambushed by some losers who dressed in civilian clothing and carried military weapons.
My driver was a lesbian - but she was a great driver and a great NCO.
I rolled out of my truck and pulled out my M9. I can still remember thinking "what the is this little pea shooter going to do against 7.62-shooting zealots. I got a couple shots off, but engaging targets long distance with a pistol isn't a good way to prolong your life expectancy.
I was fine, though, because SGT " " was prone with her M16 at her shoulder. She was calmly engaging targets and picking off the nutjobs with precision. She came up big for me that day -- and for the other soldiers in the convoy.
What do I take from this?
Gender and sexual orientation don't make a damn bit of difference when the sh*t hits the fan, gang. Cool under fire doesn't come as a result of with whom you share your bed or with what chromosomes you have.
Fallacy: Hasty Generalization
Also Known as: Fallacy of Insufficient Statistics, Fallacy of Insufficient Sample, Leaping to A Conclusion, Hasty Induction.
Description of Hasty Generalization
This fallacy is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough. It has the following form:
Sample S, which is too small, is taken from population P.
Conclusion C is drawn about Population P based on S.
The person committing the fallacy is misusing the following type of reasoning, which is known variously as Inductive Generalization, Generalization, and Statistical Generalization:
X% of all observed A's are B''s.
Therefore X% of all A's are Bs.
The fallacy is committed when not enough A's are observed to warrant the conclusion. If enough A's are observed then the reasoning is not fallacious.
Small samples will tend to be unrepresentative. As a blatant case, asking one person what she thinks about gun control would clearly not provide an adequate sized sample for determing what Canadians in general think about the issue. The general idea is that small samples are less likely to contain numbers proportional to the whole population. For example, if a bucket contains blue, red, green and orange marbles, then a sample of three marbles cannot possible be representative of the whole population of marbles. As the sample size of marbles increases the more likely it becomes that marbles of each color will be selected in proprtion to their numbers in the whole population. The same holds true for things others than marbles, such as people and their political views.
http://www.nizkor.org/features/falla...alization.html
I trust by "many" you have some definite figure?
I think you took one anecdotal story (if you aren't completely talking out your ass and making stuff up) you heard and trying to make that into some grand case.
When I was in the army I knew at least two people who I strongly suspected were gay (I never asked, and didn't think it relevant), and neither of them tried to "game" the system in the least. They were both good troops, who I literally trusted with my life, and felt comfortable doing so.
I personally think that Perry's quote is taken a bit out of context and this is a bit of a straw man argument, and therefore slightly unfair.
I agree.
Having said that, however, it doesn't give you the right to come back and demand changes when it conflicts with the ideals of others who similarly served with valor.
All the Governor suggested, and believe me, I'm no Perry fan, is that if they couldn't abide with the decision of this State, that there were alternatives...
Heh, I didn't read this before I posted my bit, but it is good to see that I was not alone.
Just to make sure there isn't any puffing myself up at all, let me expand a bit: I never saw combat, being REMF, but doubting the character or substance of the gays that I knew in the military never crossed my mind.
(humor) Intel analysts are too expensive to train (the figure I heard was $300,000+ if you count the FBI's time in background investigations for security clearances), they didn't like us anywhere near combat.
Valor or not - it doesn't matter.
As I've said, I am a Republican (and quite proud of it).
Rick Perry is not a Republican, he's a RINO (Republican In Name Only). He lacks the maturity to run a state of this size. Texas - as they say - "is like a whole other country." That's an accurate statement, even if it's a tourism slogan.
Perry would fit in well on the SA city council, but the guy's not the right person for governor.
Me, I'm hoping that Kay Bailey Hutchison runs.
It's time for a grownup in Austin.
I don't think that there should be any reason for sexuals not to serve in the armed forces. I also believe that about women in combat. I don't think Perry did anything wrong by the statements he made.
RACK^(nth power)
I have many reasons to dislike Rick Perry, but this issue isn't one of them. He's the political equivalent of a Julian Castro - he's only held the offices he's had so that he can put them on his resume. A complete sellout on several issues, and he gerrymandered the Rep. districts so that he could take that little favor from the national party and keep it in his pocket. A total bag - hopefully KBH will finally "let him get on down the road".
The worst Aggie governor ever!
I agree.
See...there can be agreement between Catholics and Protestants!
KBH?
give me a ing break
Perry makes me laugh. He reminds me of that mayor of Spokane WA who was pushing every anti-gay bill possible...at the same time he was bagging every young man he could find. The rumors about Rick have been around for a while, and this won't make them go away.
AmenSee...there can be agreement between Catholics and Protestants!
Well, perhaps a little confession is in order. I'm actually signed up to be a Kinky Friedman volunteer. I'm only hoping KBH runs so that her Senate seat opens up for Bonilla.
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