Rick, "What Me Worry," Perry's Latest Grandstanding

Texas Governor Rick “What, Me Worry?” Perry has announced plans today, Sept. 11, 2009, he will be sending teams of Texas Rangers to the border with Mexico to help stem the tide of border drug war violence and illegal immigrants. Governor Perry has a penchant for grandstanding and political show and of course, that is just what this is. Driving most of Perry’s actions in the past year plus has been the looming challenge by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 Republican primary for the gubernatorial election.
Announcing the action on September 11, is most certainly no coincidence. Perry has been steering the ship of state hard to starboard for some time now as he races to the right in his effort to appeal to the most extreme elements of the state where he feels sure to garner support against the seemingly more moderate Hutchison.
It's pretty funny to keep referring to Hutchison as "Someone from Washington..." when she is the U.S. Senator from Texas, elected by Texas voters and a life long Texas resident. Perry, the aspirational secessionist, is desperate to portray the race as himself, the protector of Texas, against the big, bad ogre from, gasp..., Washington!

Texas Sends Rangers to Mexican Border By MICHAEL GRACZYK,
AP
(Sept. 11) — Special teams of Texas
Rangers will be deployed to the Texas-Mexico border to deal with increasing
violence because the federal government has failed to address growing problems
there, Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday. "It is an expansive effort with the
Rangers playing a more high-profile role than they've ever played before," Perry
said of the Department of Public Safety's elite investigative unit.
The forces, dubbed "Ranger recon" teams, are the latest effort "to fill the gap
that's been left by the federal government's ongoing failure to adequately
secure our international border with Mexico," he said.

David J. Phillip, AP
Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at a news conference Thursday on border security.
He has asked the federal government to send 1,000 troops to the Mexican border,
but the request is being held up by questions about money and logistics.
The governor early this year asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
for 1,000 National Guard troops and renewed his call last month in a letter to
President Barack Obama. The request is bogged down over who will pay for the
troops and how they will be deployed.
Perry's announcement Thursday comes amid increasing border violence, particularly in El Paso, mostly involving people with ties to Mexican drug gangs.
"They'll be deployed to high-traffic, high-crime areas along the border," he
said. "They'll give us boots on the ground, put people in these hot spots no
matter what or where they may exist."
Perry said the effort also would focus on remote areas where farmers and ranchers have complained of being overrun by smugglers and gangs from Mexico in numbers that also overwhelm local law enforcement and border patrol officers.
"Washington is shortchanging them, not giving them the support they need," Perry
said. "As a result, we're having to dedicate our resources to deal with the challenges we have along the Texas-Mexico border and ensuing issues that porous
border has created all across state of Texas."
He said the state would pick up the tab of $110 million, allocated by the Legislature in the past two sessions.
Perry's announcement drew immediate criticism from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is running against the two-term incumbent in the March GOP primary.
"Today's announcement is yet another empty election-year promise from Rick Perry
on border security," Hutchison spokesman Joe Pounder said.
Perry fired back that it was the "height of hypocrisy for someone who's been in
Washington, D.C., for 16 years, who's had the opportunity to help Texas on our
border security, and they've been no more successful in delivering the resources
and help."
"So please do that job up there first before you come down here and start
criticizing about the state of Texas," he said.
Hutchison also took Perry to task for the absence of any Texas agency from a
federal program that allows Homeland Security personnel to work with local law
enforcement on immigration issues.
"Texans need a governor they can trust to actually improve our security," her
campaign said in a statement.
"I happen to think we've taken advantage of every program that's been effective," responded Perry, who has been branding his opponent as someone from Washington out of touch with her home state. "Pointing out one program that has been funded and leaving the 800-pound gorilla — which is 1,000 National Guard troops that we need — I am stunned someone from Washington, D.C., would say they've done enough to secure our border."
Brig. Gen. Joyce Stevens, commander of the Texas Army National Guard, said about
200 soldiers and airmen already have started integrated operations with the
Rangers.
Tony Leal, assistant director of the Texas Rangers, declined to provide the number of his officers involved in the effort.


From USA Today story:
Eliot Shapeleigh, a Democratic state senator representing El Paso, says Perry "gets real revved up right around election time" and described earlier border security measures, including cameras, "abject failures."
The campaign of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is challenging Perry for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, called his announcement more “empty rhetoric and broken promises.”
Perry fired back that it is the "height of hypocrisy for someone who's been in Washington, D.C., for 16 years, who's had the opportunity to help Texas on our border security, and they've been no more successful in delivering the resources and help,