Where is Rick Perry?
Rick Perry
By Jeffrey Page
More than a week has passed since a reporter in New Hampshire asked if he agreed with the slander uttered by one of his great supporters against the Mormons in general and Mitt Romney in particular.
It was the Rev. Robert Jeffress, the spiritual leader of the 10,000 members of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, who said Mormons are not Christians. He went on to say that Mormonism isn’t even a religion but a cult. They said that about Christianity once, didn’t they?
Perry had the opportunity to smack down a bigot like Jeffress. He could have been valiant. He could have been courageous.
Instead, when the reporter asked straight out if he agreed with Jeffress’ thinking, Perry responded with a pathetic “No” and let it go at that.
Gutless.
Jeffress sounds like just another nut job. Still, he’s loudly in Perry’s corner and so, millions of Catholics, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, main line Protestants, and Mormons waited – and continue to wait – for him to say something meaningful.
They didn’t have to wait long for Jeffress. He ran a piece in the Washington Post this week defending his position about the Mormons, and basically informing us that if we don’t like what he has to say, it’s tough. You may not like what he had to say, but he was more forthright than Perry who is still answering one syllable at a time.
What a candidate for president of the United States of America owes the people is a statement along the lines of: “Rev. Jeffress should repudiate his comments just as I repudiate him.”
But Perry just slunk away even though Jeffress’ bigotry is not new. I picked up an item from CNN that reported some of his other observations. Jews, gay people, Muslims and Mormons, Jeffress has said, are bound to spend eternity in hell. Islam, Jeffress has said, encourages pedophilia. The reason to keep gay people out of the military is because, Jeffress has said, 70 percent of all gay people have AIDS.
He didn’t cite his sources.
Which brings us to the Republican candidates’ debate Tuesday night this week in Las Vegas. When the subject of Rev. Jeffress’ views rose, Perry said: “He has his opinion. I don’t agree with him. I said so.”
Maybe back home, where he’s been governor for the last 11 years, Perry can slough off Jeffress’ prehistoric views with 15 syllables of Texas twaddle or a nice, easy, second rendition of “No.”
But to ignore the rest of America and its splendid diversity is to invite the electoral disaster Perry deserves.
jeffrey@zestoforange.com
Tags: Jeffrey Page
