Facing down Rick Perry on the library steps

I won't ever vote for Rick Perry.  Here's why...

One summer my wife and I had taken our girls to Fredericksburg, Texas for the weekend.  None of us had ever been there, but we'd heard great things about it, so decided to give it a try.  (Unsolicited travel plug...it's a great place for both kids and adults to spend a weekend.  Here's their Website:  http://www.fbgtx.org/).

That Saturday afternoon we were sitting on the library steps, reviewing the local travel guide, trying to decide what to do with the balance of the day.  We discovered that Fredericksburg has a lot to do, so we were running out of time.  (The art of plotting travel strategy with three small children is perhaps a topic for another post.)

We were startled to see a big tour bus, complete with blacked out windows, but otherwise unmarked, pull up right in front of us; it was flanked by two highway patrol cars. 

This was several years ago when Mr. Perry was merely the governor, before he got imperial ambitions.

The bus ground to a halt and just sat there for a moment or two.  Suddenly the the doors flew open and the great man himself, Rick Perry, came bounding down the steps onto the sidewalk just a few feet from us.  The bus then spewed forth a coven of minions.  You know the type, serious,  sinister-looking people with pinched eyebrows and beady eyes, all huddled together.  They were all looking at their Blackberries with great concern.  No doubt a democrat had gotten loose in the capitol building and was threatening to introduce legislation that might help regular people.

 My wife and I recognized him straight away; kids 1 and 2, as well, were old enough to recognize Mr. Perry, and were looking at him with wide eyes.  Kid 3 wasn't old enough yet to recognize such an auspicious person and wasn't all that impressed with the developments.

In any case, being raised to respect our elected officials, the wife and I stood up in anticipation of meeting Himself.

Perry, trailed closely by his minions and two state troopers, walked right by without a hello, nod of the head, or a "kiss my ass."

So much for the humility of elected officials.

I was prepared to write this off as another asshole politician who forgot who he worked for, but my wife had other plans.

In a loud voice she sang out, "That sorry bastard didn't even stop!  I'll never vote for him!"

My girl!

Governor Perry slammed on the brakes so abruptly that the minions piled into the back of him, literally almost knocking him over.  Lord, God!

He reversed direction, pushing through the minions and walked up to us.  The coven crowded around us and for a moment I wondered  how my girls would react to seeing their daddy clubbed to the ground by Perry's evil posse.  I wondered if the state troopers would help me, or join forces with the minions.  Turns out that both troopers were smirking the whole time, which made me feel marginally better. 

Rick tried to make amends, introducing himself to us and our girls and shaking all our hands, asking where we were from and what we were doing in town, but the damage was done.

After about 30 seconds of glad-handing he reversed directions and headed into the library, still followed by his minions, to conclude whatever nefarious business brought him to town.

Again, we were alone on the library steps.  The wife and I looked at each other and started laughing.  We decided to go have some ice cream to celebrate our delivering a dose of comeuppance to Governor Perry.

That's why I haven't voted for him since, and won't vote for him in the future.  When an elected official considers it beneath him to even nod to the common man, he loses my vote.