Happy Thanksgiving!

Two Sisters From The Right will be away for a week to celebrate Thanksgiving with family.  We will return the week after Thanksgiving.  We  would  like to leave you with this thought and wish you all a very happy and peaceful Holiday.
Two Sisters

Thanksgiving Prayer for Our Nation

With less than a week to go before our holiday of Thanksgiving, it is a good opportunity to stop and reflect on our blessings, as well as to commit ourselves to making our nation great once again so future Thanksgiving holidays for our future generations of Americans will be celebrated with even more reasons to express gratitude.

• We can still worship at a church, synagogue,  of our choosing every day or once a week or not at all.
• We can still express ourselves openly in open forums such as blogs, meetings, rallies, and other venues.
• We can still own our own firearms and use them for sport or for protection.
• We can still own property and are free to move about the country.
• We can still look at one another and know that each of us are among the most generous people on earth.
• We can all be proud of our young men and women in the military and thank our God for them.
• While almost 1 in 5 of us are without jobs, there are friends, relatives and neighbors in our communities ready to help out the less fortunate.
• By all standards, we live in a country where all are equal.

For these things, and many more, we are truly thankful to our God for allowing us to live in this great country.

Remember Psalm 136:1 on this Thanksgiving Day:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good”. 

Our bounty did not come from Washington DC. It came and comes from God alone. Our Founding Fathers understood that perfectly. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

RD Pierini



Painting by Norman Rockwell

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

David DeFreese's Reality Report - Part 2

A the GOP presidential candidates continue to vie for the top spot, the media and the voters are keeping a close eye.  Basically everyone goes on by the poll results, but some of us don't place much stock in polls. We are not quite certain that they are polling the proper people and the seem to concentrate on Iowa and New Hampshire. The candidates ofter are at the mercy of the media and whether or not they choose to give them  negative publicity or give viewers a positive view of a candidate.

One example was Rick Perry's standout performance at the CBS debate.  Most of the coverage we read chose to focus on Governor Perry's exchange with CBS' Scott Pelley about his gaffe at the previous debate, rather than the  fact that Governor Perry performed well and it was quite clear that he is knowledgeable and conversant  on issues of foreign policy as opposed to some of  the other candidates. 

This week we welcome the return of David DeFreese with a follow up to the Reality Report he brought us last week.  Enjoy!

Sister One

for Two Sisters of the Right

Reality Report: Part Two

by David DeFreese

I heard Mary Jo Matalin on CNN  speaking to John King recently.  She said on the show that the GOP nomination is coming down to 3 groups, the ABM (Anybody But Mitt) Group, the Newt Group and the Perry Group.

So essentially what I predicted in my first Reality Report is coming to pass.

Mitt Romney  will always have his 25%, so it will come down to Newt Gingrich competing against Rick Perry for the remaining 75% of the votes once the rest of the field drops out of the primary race. 

It is possible that Perry and Gingrich  could split the 75% in a way that leaves them the last two men standing. But the vast percentage of that 75% are Tea Party members, meaning Perry will beat Newt, and in sufficient numbers to beat Romney. Why? As I said Mitt will always have that 25%, but Newt won't do much better because of his lack of appeal to that vast number of Tea Party voters comprising that remaining 75%.

So this means it'll come down to Governor Rick Perry vs. former Governor Mitt Romney, or it could go the other way, Rick Perry  vs. Newt Gingrich.

Personally I hope it is Perry  vs. Romney  because Newt Gingrich will pick up a lot of Romney voters if he drops Romney drops out. This could put the race into a statistical dead heat between Rick and Newt, in which case I am betting Perry will win by a nose. 

However,  in either scenario, I predict Rick Perry  comes up the winner!

Copyright David DeFreese - November 2011

Our thanks to David for his analysis and prediction.  May  you be correct.  Two Sisters From The Right believe that a Rick Perry win is a true victory for the United States!

Sister One

Doer Not A Talker

Once again, someone has written a truly significant and to the point essay on the essence of Rick Perry.  Appearing in The Damn Dirty Rhino, Walt, the poster of this magnificent essay is right on the money about Rick Perry - the man.  His observations are excellent.  We realize that this spot on essay has made the rounds, but just in case some of our readers have not had a chance to read it, here it is.  Two Sisters are delighted to bring it to you.  Enjoy!  For more interesting and well written articles please visit The Damn Dirty Rhino.
Two Sisters From The Right


Having finally watched the full debate . . . . . from Saturday night, I can see why the reactions in my Twitter feed were so positive toward Rick Perry’s performance. It was undoubtedly his best performance to date. It was also his most authentic debate performance to date. In previous outings, I’ve gotten the sense — amply vindicated by his lapse in the Wednesday night debate — that he’s been stifled. It was hard to put a finger on what was holding him back until I finally had the chance to watch the Saturday night debate.


And then it hit me.


Up until now, Rick Perry has been playing by his competitors’ rules. On a stage with eight other candidates, give or take, Perry has seemed as though he was trying to project the sense that he had the qualities that others have forwarded as their strengths instead of relying on his own. It’s as though he’s been listening to Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Newt Gingrich effortlessly recite policy minutiae and felt the need to try and project some semblance of wonkery when the man simply is not a wonk.


Rick Perry is a leader, not an egghead. He strikes me as the kind of man who takes in information, distills it down to its essence, runs it through a three-stage filter of ideology, personal conviction and horse sense, and then acts accordingly. He doesn’t retain data points the way Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney do, nor try to fit the unruly and confounding details of contemporary challenges into a world historical context the way Newt does. He’s a man for whom the retention of details is entirely secondary to their actual, real-world implications.


The difference between Rick Perry and Romney and Huntsman is roughly equivalent to the difference between a mechanic and a mechanical engineer. When your car breaks down and you need to get to work, you don’t call upon a mechanical engineer unless you want to spend a week waiting for schematics and exploded diagrams to come in before the problem can be diagnosed and remedied. The difference between Perry and Newt is the difference between a gunnery sergeant and a military historian. When you need to take a hill and you’re taking artillery fire, you don’t call upon a military historian unless you want to know the implications of your success or failure on the future of western civilization.


The key for Perry in the debates from now on rests in his ability to re-frame questions in a way that fits his governing style. He’s not running for Micro-Manager-in-Chief or Historian of the Free World, so he shouldn’t allow himself to be jawboned into trying to compete on those terms. America doesn’t look to technocrats or theorists to get us out of trouble. We look to leaders who call upon technocrats and theorists for input when needed and otherwise act decisively on available information to solve intractable problems.


The “Doer, Not a Talker” ad Rick Perry is currently running on Fox News makes that point well. If he can project that sense through the rest of the debates and not allow himself to be dragged into trying to come across as a master of fine detail or grand, sweeping theories, he’ll avoid being tripped up on the third item in a list of three as he was last Wednesday.


The best approach for Perry can be summed up in a phrase often used in baseball when a hitter is mired in a slump brought on by over-thinking at the plate: See the ball, hit the ball.


This essay was first posted on November 14, 2011 by Walt
in the blog The Damn Dirty Rhino

The Day After The Debate - Commentaries

One of our favorite news sources, Lucianne.com posted a beautiful photo of Autumn trees reflected in a body of water.  It had a caption beneath it that said, "Forget all the bad news for the day and enjoy the work of God's paint  brush"  Sound advice, but difficult to follow  during these troubled days.  Sundays are not a good day to blog.  Most news sources on the Internet publish dated editorials and commentaries.  We'd decided to find such material which commented on the South Carolina GOP Presidential Debates. 

Admittedly, we wanted to find articles which presented Governor Perry's performance in a good light.  It seems however that the media blackout on praising Perry is still in effect.  Most of what we found were comments on Newt Gingrich's rise in the polls, and Romney's staying power.  Even the Herman Cain sex scandal was played down.  As far as Bachman, Santorum and Huntsman, they might as well not even be in the race.  Ron Paul's die hard supporters keep him in the news.

In the previous election we supported John McCain because as we quoted Pamela Geller, "The alternative is unthinkable."  This time around we chose to support Rick Perry as soon as he entered the race as we hoped he would.  However, we had decided not to declare our preference until we were closer to the primaries.  Then the unexpected happened, Rick Perry who had topped the polls at the beginning of his candidacy suddenly began a downward spiral.  Admittedly his poor performance in the debates contributed to it, but it was the press blitz against him that began to sway voters towards other candidates.  Personally, we feel that Herman Cain's aggressive and continuous attacks towards Rick Perry were a contributing factor.  It was perhaps his conscience nagging him for being so unprofessional which caused him to accuse the Perry camp of leaking the information about his pattern of fending off accusations of sexual harassment.  Cain was very wrong to accuse the Governor, and as all have seen, the one candidate to have benefited from Cain's woes has been Newt Gingrich whom many had given up for lost before his campaign got off the ground. 

When we saw that even our preferred news station FOX did nothing to promote Governor Perry in a positive light, we decided, then, when he was at his lowest point in the polls to declare Two Sisters From The Right as a blog in support of Governor Rick Perry.  As bloggers our responsibility is to be accurate in our information, and truthful at all times.  Our opinion and that of our contributors is simply that, opinion.  Our goal is to lend support to those who have chosen Governor Perry as their candidate, and to perhaps help those who can't quite reach a decision to see it our way. 

In the meantime we are reminded that we live in incredibly turbulent times, domestically as well as globally.  There will be many times when Two Sisters will choose to focus on a topic that has little to do with the Republican race.  We hope you enjoy our links tonight, and we thank you for your continued support.
Sister One 
for Two Sisters From The Right 



Perry Takes a Page from The Gipper

By George E. Condon Jr. - National Journal

Backstage Perry jokes about
making another "oops"

Taking a page from Ronald Reagan, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Saturday sought to use humor to rebound from his much-noted debate flub earlier in the week. That flub, a 53-second brain freeze that was replayed endlessly on news shows, had him forgetting the name of the Department of Energy, the third federal agency he pledges to eliminate.

So Perry was quick to cut off CBS’ Scott Pelley, one of the debate moderators in South Carolina, when he began a question, saying, “Governor Perry, you advocate the elimination of the Department of Energy. If you eliminate the Department of Energy...”

“I'm glad you remembered it,” interjected Perry with a big smile as the audience broke into applause and laughter. Pelley responded, “I've had some time to think about it, sir.” And Perry shot back again to even more laughter, “Me, too.” Read More


The Big Loser of the Night: CBS

By Marc A. Thiessen - The Corner - National Review Online

If there was a loser on the debate stage tonight, it was CBS. First, they scheduled their debate on a Saturday night between two major football games. Then they decided to only broadcast the first hour of their 90-minute debate. Then their Internet feed failed for the final 30 minutes. This was CBS’s first and only debate — and it showed.

Scott Pelley was a terrible moderator. He treated the men who might be the next commander in chief like schoolchildren, cutting them off in mid-sentence, lecturing them to answer his questions. He even lectured Newt Gingrich on policy, telling him that killing “terrorist suspects” is “not the rule of law.” Big mistake. Newt smacked him down, explaining that we are at war and in war we are allowed to kill the enemy without a court order.  Read More

 

Rick Perry hires George Will’s wife, but it doesn’t stop ABC commentator from describing Perry campaign’s “steep climb”

by Richard Dunham -Houston Chronicle

There wasn’t any press release sent out, but we learned today on ABC’s “This Week” program that Rick Perry had hired Mari Maseng Will, a veteran Republican communications adviser, to help him focus his campaign message.



Mari Maseng Will

Maseng’s hiring was not announced by the campaign, but Politico reported yesterday that she had been brought aboard Team Perry. That report was confirmed today by her husband, conservative columnist and ABC TV commentator George Will. During the roundtable segment of “This Week,” Will said Perry’s campaign hired his 57-year-old wife last Monday to help with “messaging and debate prep.”

Her hiring came two days before Perry committed the flub heard round the world in a Michigan debate.

“That’s what she’s there for — to fix things,” George Will said this morning. Read More

Debate: Perry recovers, Cain wades in the shallows

by Kathie Obradovich   - Des Moines Register
2012 Iowa Caucases

Tonight’s debate on foreign policy helped Texas Gov. Rick Perry get his head above water after his campaign-swamping stumble on Wednesday. Herman Cain, meanwhile, never got out of the shallow end of the pool.

Perry was sharper than he has been in past debates, staking out and defending a position that foreign countries should have to earn every dollar they receive from the United States. “The foreign aid budget in my administration for every country is going to start at zero dollars. Then we’ll have a conversation about whether or not a penny of our taxpayer dollars needs to go into those countries,” Perry said. r sharper than he’s  Read More


GOV. RICK PERRY CLEAR WINNER OF CBS DEBATE; HIGHLIGHTS COMMITMENT TO UNAPOLOGETIC LEADERSHIP AT HOME AND ABROAD

Editorial - The Cypress Times

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Texas Gov. Rick Perry clearly won last night’s debate, hosted by the South Carolina GOP (SCGOP), CBS and National Journal, setting the agenda early with regard to foreign aid. CBS’ Scott Pelley even directed a similar line of questioning to other candidates, who agreed with the governor’s position.

Gov. Perry made it clear that Israel is a special ally to the United States and would continue to be a beneficiary of foreign aid. He reminded voters all across the nation that he volunteered to wear the uniform of the U.S. Air Force, which sets him apart from virtually everyone else on stage.

The most powerful moment of the debate was when Gov. Perry forcefully said he would use all means necessary to protect young men and women serving overseas. He also stressed the need to sanction the Iran Central Bank to deter Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“America has the greatest military in the world and we owe it to the men and women who daily put their lives on the line to command a clear foreign policy driven by America’s vital interests,” said Gov. Perry. “We can no longer afford the failed leadership of President Obama, which has wrecked our standing in the world, along with our economy.  Read More

GIG'EM Rick!

Gov. Rick Perry Clear Winner of CBS Debate; Highlights Commitment to Unapologetic Leadership At Home and Abroad

Posted November 12, 2011

Team Perry

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Texas Gov. Rick Perry clearly won tonight’s debate, hosted by the South Carolina GOP (SCGOP), CBS and National Journal, setting the agenda early with regard to foreign aid. CBS’ Scott Pelley even directed a similar line of questioning to other candidates, who agreed with the governor’s position.

Gov. Perry made it clear that Israel is a special ally to the United States and would continue to be a beneficiary of foreign aid. He reminded voters all across the nation that he volunteered to wear the uniform of the U.S. Air Force, which sets him apart from virtually everyone else on stage.

The most powerful moment of the debate was when Gov. Perry forcefully said he would use all means necessary to protect young men and women serving overseas. He also stressed the need to sanction the Iran Central Bank to deter Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“America has the greatest military in the world and we owe it to the men and women who daily put their lives on the line to command a clear foreign policy driven by America’s vital interests,” said Gov. Perry. “We can no longer afford the failed leadership of President Obama, which has wrecked our standing in the world, along with our economy.

“A strong defense and a strong economy go hand in hand you can’t have one without the other. We must have both if we are to remain free. I will work to restore confidence in America both at home and abroad, by implementing policies that will reinvigorate our economy while upholding consistent foreign policy so our allies know where we stand.”

Gov. Perry is a veteran the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a tactical airlift pilot from 1972-1977. As governor of Texas, he is commander of the Texas National Guard, which in recent years was deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and to border security operations.

During the debate, Gov. Perry said he would start all U.S. foreign aid budget decisions at zero, approving aid that is in America’s best interest for deserving nations like our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel.

Gov. Perry also reiterated his commitment to leading our county, at home and abroad, with conviction and strength. He pledged to uphold foreign policy based on America’s interests, use every tool available to support our allies and deter our adversaries, and engage our military only as a last resort, but when necessary, engage it forcefully, with clear objectives and a path to achieve those objectives.

The governor also championed his Cut, Balance and Grow plan and reiterated key parts of his Energizing American Jobs and Security plan, which will create up to 1.2 million jobs in every sector, reduce our nation’s dependence on hostile foreign oil, revitalize manufacturing and help contain the cost of electricity and fuel. It is based on one simple premise: make what Americans buy, buy what Americans make, and sell it to the world.

Our nation is most secure when we have the strongest economy in the world. Gov. Perry’s job creation record and vision to get America working again will revitalize our country’s economic strength and security. He is the only candidate in this race that has the record of creating a pro-jobs, pro-innovation and pro-business environment, which allowed Texas to create almost 40 percent of all the jobs across the country since June of 2009. Under Gov. Perry, Texas has created more than one million net new jobs and ranked first in job creation. Under President Obama, America has lost more than two million jobs.


It is our usual practice to write a preface to pieces that are not originally written by us, however, as a member of Team Perry, I felt that the information above should be read first.  For those who are waiting to hear the mainstream media praise Governor Perry's performance tonight, I fear we do so in vain.  From the onset, the media in general has set out to ridicule governor Perry, beginning with publishing his university grades to trekking over to West Texas to turn over a rock and accuse him of racism.  Governor Perry's less than stellar performance in his first debates, a format with which he is not comfortable or familiar, did not help him and the man who came on the scene in first place saw his ratings drop drastically.  The liberal media and Fox news did their best to help his descent in the ratings, but they were  not counting on Governor Perry's determination and resilience.  Stay tuned!
Sister One
for Two Sisters From The Right


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Reality Report

Two Sisters From The Right welcome to our page a new citizen journalist.  David L. DeFrees is a Rick Perry for President supporter as are we .  When he wrote this op-ed for a group to which we both belong, I asked for permission to post it on Two Sisters.  It is an excellent analysis of what we conservatives must do in order to oust Barack Hussein Obama and to bring a true conservative to the White House.  Rick Perry is a champion of conservative principles, and has the proven leadership to allow Americans to believe once again that America's best days are still ahead of us. Two Sisters would like to take this opportunity to thank David for letting us publish his words.  We've come to rely entirely too much on the words of the media commentators and pundits.  We believe it is time that voters started listening to one another. 
Sister One
for Two Sisters From The Right

Reality Report             

by David L DeFrees

Here is what I think would happen if the general election were held today.

Obama would be a dead bang winner!

Why?

Simple! Because slick Republican operatives just don't get it!

Enemy Situation:

Obama has 20 million illegals who will vote for him. How? What's stopping them? Two of the largest Liberal States, California and New York certainly aren't going to stop them because they want Obama to win.

Friendly Situation:

Romney can't win no matter how bad Obama is because vast numbers of Christians and/or pro- lifers won't vote for him.

Cain's positions are more aligned with the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party Platform. Think about it. His 999 Tax plan introduces a National Sales Tax while keeping the Personal Income Tax in place, which the Liberals have always wanted. Further, he is not pro-life or pro-Second Amendment. 

In spite of how sympathetic a figure he becomes over these planned allegations of sexual misconduct, voters will wake up to these facts between now and next November and  they will stay home.  If you think about it for a minute, how can the Democrats lose over these allegations? If the allegations stick, a popular Republican candidate is neutralized. And if Cain becomes so sympathetic a figure that he wins, the Democrats still have one of their own in the White House and a proven Federal Reserve shill on call.

The liberal press will rip Newt Gignrich apart for his infidelity and extra marital affair.  Once again, a lot of Christians will not  vote for him because there are two  Newts. We are seeing the Conservative Newt in these debates, but there is another Newt. It's the Newt that can't talk to a liberal without talking like one.

The rest of the field, except for one candidate, has zero chance.

Rick Perry is the only GOP candidate that can inspire and mobilize the Christian and/or Tea Party support in sufficient numbers to win in spite of his questionable debate performance. Also, he may well get large numbers of, what we used to call Reagan Democrats to cross the aisle to vote for him.

Just as importantly, Rick Perry is the ONLY candidate that can garnish the Hispanic vote. This is because Hispanics view Perry as more rational in dealing with the illegal immigrants issue. In 2000 Bush got 44% of the Hispanic vote, while in 2008 McCain's percentage was half of that, and how did that work out for McCain?

I've got one last point to emphasize;  Rick Perry has no real personal angst with  the competitors whom he debates. This fact makes it difficult for a Christian man like Rick, to really go after them.  I am willing to bet that he'll have no such reservations about going after Obama on the stage of debate because Obama attacked Rick's beloved Texas. He will go after Obama like a Pit Bull after red meat!

The GOP has only two choices if it wants to beat Obama. Either support Rick Perry or find somebody better within the next couple weeks to run for President.

Copyright ©  David L. DeFrees November 2011

Style, Substance, Perry, and the Media

by Mike Johnson

Rick Perry gave a superb speech to NH Cornerstone, a New Hampshire conservative group. The full speech is here and well worth the time to watch (about 25 minutes). In fact, this partisan New Hampshire reporter considers the speech close to perfect for the audience.

How did the left-leaning media react? As could perhaps be anticipated, with ridicule and mockery. For example, in a harsh piece by Brian Browdie of the NY Daily News titled "Rick Perry's unusually expressive 2012 speech in New Hampshire sparks rumors he was drunk," Mr. Browdie said:

During his remarks at the Cornerstone Action Dinner in Manchester, the Republican presidential candidate seemed to titter at his own jokes, gesticulate wildly, make odd facial expressions and go off on strange tangents.

A video, edited to about eight minutes, is included in a Politico posting by Alexander Burns titled "Rick Perry's Bizarre New Hampshire Speech." There are several other similar edits. A three-minute, forty-second version that appeared on the ABC News website was used to create a timeline for the comparisons that follow. The edited versions went viral, but very few people took the time to watch the entire 25-minute speech.

Why did the media react this way? Maybe because Perry is a conservative, and the media are liberal. Maybe for Perry's exhibiting "unquestionably unpresidential behavior," as David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement put it. What is the current definition of presidential behavior during a speaking engagement? The loud, monotonous rant we are witnessing so often of late? The disingenuous or worse content of those rants?

Perry opened his remarks with the World Series. He said that he had arrived in New Hampshire Thursday evening with the Rangers leading 7-4. He gave an exuberant shout, with much arm-waving ("gesticulating wildly"). Texas was finally going to be a world champion after fifty years. Then, in a much more subdued voice, Perry said that it was now Friday, and they were still playing. This is where the edited version dropped out. In the actual speech, Perry went on to say that Chris Carpenter was pitching, and he is from New Hampshire, implying that Texas had no chance. Self-deprecating humor, timing that Jack Benny would envy, and audience involvement. The crowd went wild -- cheers and applause. He had them.

As an aside, President Obama snubbed the Cardinals (from the swing state of Missouri) by not giving the traditional presidential congratulations.

Presidential behavior, Mr. Badash? Smart politics, Mr. Badash?

One of the edited clips concerned Perry's use of New Hampshire motto "Live Free or Die" and the Alamo rally call of "Death or Victory." Perry was high-spirited in his comparison, using a loud "Bring It" emphasized with arm motions. The edited clip ends at this point, but in the actual speech, Perry segued to an inspiring two-minute discussion of freedom and its meaning to the governor and to Americans. He said, "Government exists to protect our rights and guarantee our freedom." Compare this thought to the authoritarian use of executive orders that is our current governmental paradigm. Small wonder the left-leaning video editor did not include Perry's description of freedom.

A little later in the speech, Perry made the following points:

You know, I have a great respect for the New Hampshire model. Think about it, no state income tax, no state sales tax, do that Right-to-Work thing and you are going somewhere (applause). You can put some big signs up, big neon signs up, on the border of the state that say "Open for Business" and they will come. They will come.

Our mocking progressive video editor did not include this clip, even though the right-to-work statement was presented in a loud, exuberant manner, with exaggerated hand and arm gesticulations. Of course it wasn't included in the edited version. Right-to-work and its connotations of individual liberty scare the collective socks off our left-wing statists.

In the grins and giggles department, Perry did have instances of tittering at his own jokes and making odd facial expressions. In one case, early on in his presentation, he urged his audience to contribute to the organization sponsoring the event, saying:

Write the check. Gold is good. If you've got any in the back yard, you know, if they print any more money over there in Washington, gold is going to be good. And she will take it.

Now, this is humorous by itself, but consider the implications. Is Perry channeling Ron Paul? He is certainly taking a not-too-veiled shot at Ben Bernanke and the policies of the Fed. And by the way, according to this piece, gold really is good.

In another grins-and-giggles comment, Perry gently chided Herman Cain for suggesting a nine-percent sales tax in the great state of New Hampshire.

One of the transgressions Mr. Browdie of the Daily News attributed to Governor Perry was going "off on strange tangents." Now, laughing at your own jokes and making faces and being animated are matters of personal style, and Perry exhibited all three. This is wrong because...? Going off on tangents might be more serious, but Perry did not do this. In each of the examples above, Perry's style was on display, but in none of them did he end up on a tangent. Each case resulted in his making a solid political point -- usually a solid conservative point.

Style and substance. Perry had style, and his speech had substance -- a lot of substance.

Most of the speech was given in a well-modulated conversational tone (not included in the out-of-context edited clips). There was no slurring of words or stumbling with context (as one would expect if the presenter were drunk or otherwise impaired, as suggested by the media). I suspect that Mr. Perry had some sort of a teleprompter device on the podium, as he would glance down occasionally as if looking at notes. This was not at all distracting, nor was the governor a slave to prepared remarks. He often ad-libbed, directing questions or observations to specific members of the audience in several instances.

Governor Perry is a man of faith, and his faith was evident; he is a patriot, and his patriotism was unmistakable; and he is a conservative, and his conservative principles were the very foundation of his presentation. Don't take my word for it -- watch the speech.

Perry has been stiff and ineffective in the debates. He was also ineffective in his short opening remarks at an event my wife and I attended. At that event, Perry went to the floor (see the photograph here) to answer questions, and it was as if a switch had been thrown. He was energetic and articulate, answering in depth and with obvious understanding of the issues, connecting with his audience one voter at a time.

After the event, Perry came into the crowd to sign autographs. My wife had a copy of Newsmax with Perry's picture on the cover. See the wonderful photograph by Kayana Szymczak in the LA Times. Look at that look! And the rascal included a heart with his autograph. One voter at a time.

Was Perry high at the Cornerstone speech? Yes, very much so. He was high on patriotism, high on faith, high on family, and high on his message. He was the epitome of the comfortable conservative -- comfortable with his beliefs, comfortable with his audience, and comfortable with his message.  

Continuing the campaign in a similar manner could well capture the nomination and the presidency. Go, Rick.

Mike Johnson is a concerned citizen, a small government conservative, and a live-free-or-die resident of New Hampshire. E-mail at mnosnhoj@comcast.net

The previous article first appeared in American Thinker.

Why I Will Continue to Support Perry



Rick Perry's boots

I simply loved this post on  RS Red State and just had to share it with those who probably wouldn't read it otherwise.  For those of us who will continue to support Rick Perry in spite of his 53 second memory lapse, you'll enjoy it. I chose to feature Rick Perry's boots on this story because after the debate was over he was overheard to quip, "I'm glad I wore my boots, because I really stepped in it tonight."  I'm sure that momentary lapse will be played over and over on television tomorrow night. Those of you who don't realize he had a strong debate otherwise, need not bother reading it.  There were more important things to be considered in that debate than a memory lapse which can happen to the best of us, especially those without a teleprompter.  Gene Simmons of Kiss, a Perry supporter said today on FOX and Friends, "The problem that Rick Perry has is that he isn't glib."  He's obviously not, and he's obviously not comfortable in a debate format with other candidates.  One on one, he's terrific!  I'd rather have an efficient president than a glib one, and after the all around incompetence we've had in the white house for the last three years, I welcome a president who can be human and have a momentary lapse, more than one who can run off at the mouth and not mean a thing he says.   I think the poster of this article makes a fine case for Rick Perry and does it with a sophisticated sense of humor which might go over some people's heads.  Enjoy!
Sister One
for Two Sisters From The Right

Why I Will Continue to Support Perry

Posted by gator_hoo (Diary) - RS RED STATE

By the time you are reading this, people in all 57 states, civilians and corpsemen alike, will know that Perry had a horrible gaffe at tonight’s debate because he forgot his third department to cut. This will overshadow what was otherwise a solid debate by him (I know, I know, “Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”)

Despite his gaffe, I still support Rick Perry. Going into tonight’s debate, Perry was the only candidate who I felt had a great combination of strong executive experience and a record of fighting Washington and advancing conservative causes. Coming out of tonight’s debate, Perry is still the only candidate who has a great combination of strong executive experience and a record of fighting Washington and advancing conservative causes. And he will still have a strong record of conservative leadership after he finishes his waffle.

Rick Perry may not know off the top of his head which three departments he would like to cut, but he does know how to cut spending. Under Perry for the first time since World War II, Texas cut its budget, (take that W.), not by growing the budget less than proposed, but by actually spending less than it did in the previous budget. Every budget that Rick Perry signed was a balanced budget. We need someone with a strong record of fiscal responsibility to right the ship, when even the Republicans in Washington are willing to sell us out to the SuperCommittee by raising taxes now for the promise of future cuts that never come.


Rick Perry may not know how to develop debate points, but he knows how to develop a pro-business environment. The thing that this country needs most can be summed up in three letters: J-O-B-S. Texas has created one million net jobs during his tenure in Texas, during that same time, the country as a whole lost 2.5 million net jobs. Texas added four seats in the latest census because of the number of people moving to Texas in order to find work.

Indeed, CNBC named Texas it’s number one state for business in 2010. And just like when the stock market crashed and Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television to explain what happened, Rick Perry will explain how overregulation and overtaxation are killing employment in America.

Rick Perry may fight against words, but he also fights against Washington. Texas has fought against overregulation by the EPA; the Department of Education; State Department, and The Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services, just to name a few.
Rick Perry is not a good debater. Rick Perry is a good leader and a solid conservative. If we can’t have all three in a candidate, I would rather have the guy who knows how to put conservative policies into action and show that they can work through example, rather than a candidate who can explain why conservative policies are great on paper, but never plans to implement them. Showing that your policies work in practice and not just on paper, translates to any language: including Texan and Austrian, or anywhere else your trip on the Intercontinental Railroad will take you.


Can Perry best Obama in a debate? I don’t know. What I do know is that people are seeing that Obama’s policies don’t work, and that even Perry can show that his do. People understand that. What I also know is that when consevative policies are implemented and get the economy growing again, people aren’t going to remember what was said in some debate.


I will gladly pass over Rick Perry the next time I need to pick a debate partner. I will gladly continue to support Rick Perry the next time I need to choose a president.


         

Let's End The Rumormongering

Mr. and Mrs. Herman Cain

Until recently all we knew about Herman Cain's wife was the fact that she would not be openly participating in his campaign.  Mrs. Cain, it turns out, is a Democrat and votes that way regardless of who is running.  A while back we wrote a piece on how the role of the First Lady of the United States has changed through the years.  I can't recall however, ever having a First Lady whose political ideology differed greatly from her husband's but there is a first time for everything, and if Cain is elected president, it should be interesting to see what project Mrs. Cain will choose to focus on as First Lady.

Since women began accusing Herman Cain of sexual impropriety I've thought a little more about Mrs. Cain.  It has to really hurt when a woman hears that her husband is accused of being derelict in the observance of his marriage vows.  Whether the charges are true or false, a woman's pride and her confidence in her marriage and her partner must take a sharp blow.  Mr. Cain himself  revealed over the weekend that it is his wife Gloria who has been hardest hit by the decades-old allegations. [1]

Karen Kraushaar in the 1990s when
she worked for the NRA

When the allegations were first published in Politico, Mr. Cain's campaign chairman accused Governor Rick Perry's camp of having leaked the decades old scandal.  However, the Perry staffer who was accused denied any knowledge of the accusations, or of ever leaking anything to the press.  In fact, he was very complimentary of Mr. Cain.  At first there were two women who alleged to having received compensation after accusing Mr. Cain of sexual impropriety over a period of time, while they all worked for the National Restaurant Association.  The women, have now been released of a confidentiality agreement, and are free to talk about the incidents.

Today, however, according to the U.K. Daily Mail Online, Karen Kraushaar, a 55 year old federal employee and registered Republican was one of two women who in the late 1990s settled claims of sexual harassment against Mr. Cain.  In an interview in the New York Times on November 8, Mrs. Kraushaar was upset that her name had been leaked to the press.  She has finally decided to speak out, telling the Times:  "When you are being sexually harassed in the workplace, you are extremely vulnerable.  You do whatever you can to quickly get yourself into a job someplace safe, and that is what I thought I had achieved when I left." [2]


The other woman who had joined Mrs. Kraushaar in the suit, has not had her name released.  Mrs. Kraushaar suggested that she may be open to the idea of coming forward along with each of Cain's accusers and their attorneys and allow all of the evidence to be considered together.




Sharon Bialek and attorney Gloria Allred

Thus far there have been five women who have come forward and have accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment.  Only two of those women have been identified.  The fourth accuser and the first woman to appear publicly is Sharon Bialek who is being represented by the publicity seeking liberal Democrat lawyer Gloria Allred.  Ms Allred's  appearance on the scene lends credibility to the rumors that Sharon Bialek is a money grubbing woman whom Mr. Cain has described as "mentally unstable."  By all accounts, Ms Bialek does seem to have a shady background, a less than spotless reputation and facts about her "murky" past are gradually emerging.  According to the The Daily Mail Online, Ms Bialek has "filed for bankruptcy twice, missed credit card and rent payments and is constantly avoiding bill collectors.   

Karen Kraushaar in 2011

Contrary to Sharon Bialek,  Karen Kraushaar currently serves as communications director at the Inspector General's office of the Treasury Department.  She lives in Maryland with Kevin, her lawyer husband of 26 years.  Mrs. Kraushaar has a long career in professional government jobs.  Prior to that, she was a news reporter, editor, and an accomplished equestrian.  She has worked as a public affairs specialist at the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  [3]


The U.K. Daily Mail Online interviewed Karen Kraushaar's family and friends and all pronounced her to be "very reliable" and "not the type of person who would make things up.


As all of these events unfold, Mr. Cain addressed the American public in a speech saying:  "I chose to address these accusations directly rather than do it through a series of continuous statements...because that's the person Herman Cain is. The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen."


Here in it's entirety is Mr. Cain's Speech as it appeared in the U.K. Daily Mail Online.

I am Herman Cain and I am running for president of the United States of America. I normally don't have notes but in this case I wanted to make sure I didn't miss any points that I need to cover today. Secondly I chose to address these accusations directly rather than trying to do it through a series of continuous statements.

The most recent accusation - I have never acted inappropriately with anyone. Period. I saw Ms Allred and her client yesterday in that news conference for the very first time as I sat in my hotel room with a couple of staff members. When they got to the microphone, my first reaction was, I don't even know who this woman is. Second, I didn't recognise the name at all. That time she referred to was during the time I was CEO of the NRA in Washington DC where 150 workers work and another 150 in Chicago, where she claims she worked.

I tried to remember if I recognised her and I didn't, or even remember her name. The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject, they simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen.

You know for decades the American people have wanted a businessman in the White House and not another politician, as all they have been doing is kicking a can down the road while America's problems got worse.

Well, a businessman man by the name of Herman Cain stepped forward. I know by the people we talked with that's what they want. We are not going to allow Washington to deny me or the opportunity to represent this great nation. As far as these accusations trying to get me to back off and withdraw from the race - it ain't gonna happen, because I'm doing this for the American people and for the children and the grandchildren.

Americans believe Washington is broken, and our system of getting elected is broken. In part it is but in another part it is not. As long as we have decency and honesty it will work. But when we allow deceit and false accusations to rue the day and distract us from the part that is broken.

Nine days ago the media started to beat me up with anonymous accusers and then today another one came forward and identified herself. Was it tough last week? Yes. Has it been tough the last couple of days? Yes. But that's one thing about Herman Cain, just because it's tough doesn't mean I won't do what I feel what I have to do, we will get through this.

These anonymous allegations are false and now the Democratic machine have brought forth a troubled woman to make false accusations, many of which exceed common sense and certainly the standards of decency in America.

I have been married for 43 years to my wife Gloria. After watching that press conference, I called her and said, ‘Sweetheart did you see the press conference on TV?’ and I asked her what she thought. She said, ‘I have known you for 46 years, and that doesn’t sound like anything you would do to anyone.’

That's my top priority in respect to me. My family respects my candidacy and they know who I am.  However, I ask that the media not drag my family into this. They’re not running for president. I ask you as professionals to direct your questions and criticism towards me. Not my family.

My reputation is something I've worked in 43 years to build up. Now that I'm running for the highest office in the land, and accusation after accusation are now coming to light. This is not a surprise. It’s expected. But I will vigorously defend my reputation because I will not allow these allegations to tarnish my character and my reputation.

I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.  It simply did not happen.

Whether this scandal is the product of the liberal media or that of Democrats fearful of Herman Cain’s popularity, and rise in the polls it is accomplishing what it was designed to do and that is to throw a monkey wrench in the Republican campaign, distracting the voters from the very important issues that we must face.  While conservatives and Republicans sit around speculating about Herman Cain, Barack Hussein Obama continues his campaign, making excuses for his failed presidency and attempting to regain the base that elected him in the first place.

Reporters, pundits, and even comedians are having a field day with this situation.  I was hesitant to write about this topic, but the facts were very well presented in the article from the U.K. Daily Mail Online and I thought that some of our readers would like to read them.  I've only covered some of the highlights.   As long as this scandal continues to take center stage in the media, we cannot move on with the real issues of this campaign.  I am repulsed by the way television commentators or “contributors” as they like to call themselves, sit around hypothesizing about our future as if they had some magic crystal ball that allowed them to see all.  There is more to this election than how well they are doing in New Hampshire, Florida or Iowa. I’m tired of pundits, pollsters and soothsayers predicting our future.

We have a country to save, and a campaign to run, and we are the ones who are going to do it at the polls in November of 2012.  Either we put an end to the coverage of this Cain affair, or we won’t have the time to truly give the American voter an opportunity to get to know all the candidates and their platforms.  Women have spoken, Mr. Cain has made his speech.  By now most should know whether or not these allegations will affect how they feel.  Let’s put it to bed, and get on with the business of real politics.  Although angry, I have to snicker at the arrogance of the people on television who think so much of their opinions that they laugh at the GOP field.  The fact is that any one of those candidates would make a better president than Barack Obama, and certainly better than any of those know-it-all who believe themselves qualified to put them down.  Barack Hussein Obama is beatable.  He might still be popular, but it is WE THE PEOPLE who will elect a president.  We just need to become informed voters and decide on the person who can lead this country out of this morass.  Let’s put this scandal to bed and get on to the business of the more important issues. 

I have said in this forum before that this is the most important election that my generation will ever face.  We can speculate on what the future holds for our progeny, but we can try to make it better by defeating Barack Hussein Obama. Let’s stop the gossip mongering and get down to the real business of politics.  The future of this great nation depends on our decisions and our votes.
Sister One
for Two Sisters From The Right