Those are the words of the ever-vigilant Michelle Malkin, a conservative thinker, author, journalist and blogger for whom I have the greatest respect. I first became acquainted with Michelle somewhere in the aftermath of 9/11 when I saw her interviewed on television; her blog was the very first one I began reading daily since its creation. She has remained over the years a trusted source of information, someone who always backed up her opinions with legitimate sources and stood strong in defense of conservatism.
Far from being a “Republican shill” an accusation frequently hurled at her by Ron Paul zealots, Malkin fearlessly calls out the Republican establishment consistently, whether for its open borders/amnesty push or so-called “compassionate conservatism” (e.g. big government spending under the GOP label). She was one of the most vocal critics of the Bush Administration, particularly with respect to its incessant amnesty push. Because of Michelle, I was one of many grassroots activists who participated in the push-back against this noxious legislation, promoted by so many so-called conservative Republicans in D.C.
Remaining true to her character, with Governor Rick Perry’s entry into the presidential race, Malkin has done her due diligence and reported honestly on Perry’s record. As always, she backed up every assertion with well-sourced facts. And for that she’s come under assault from Perry supporters who seemed to have abandoned all due diligence in their rush to declare him the next President of the United States.
In fact, even though it’s still August, many of Perry’s fans appear to want all grassroots conservatives to immediately fall in line, overlook some very troubling issues in his record and declare him the only one who can beat Obama. I suppose just like lefty lemmings, they want us to accept the inevitable fate of Perry as the Republican candidate to whom we should offer nothing but gratitude and blind allegiance since he’s the “electable” candidate. There’s that word again — “electable”.
Well excuse me, but I for one will not fall in line. As Malkin rightfully states, this is a primary, not a coronation and I would like to see Rick Perry defend his record in the debates and answer some serious questions about the things he’s said and done. Unfortunately, the desire of many of us to hold Perry accountable is in the eyes of his supporters, tantamount to “attacking” him.
I beg to differ.
One of the multitude of qualities that distinguishes the right from the left is our ability to think as individuals — individuals who ask pointed questions of those who seek to represent us, not simply fall in line behind a charismatic candidate who happens to have an “R” after their name.
Today, I discovered yet another red flag from Jihad Watch:
Nonetheless, these questions must be asked. I criticized Bush for his ties to the Saudis, and Obama for his fatuous fawning over the Islamic world. I don’t see why Rick Perry should be sacrosanct. The next President of the United States will inherit a responsibility made even more awesome than it usually is by the catastrophic policies of his predecessor, which he will have to move quickly to reverse or else see the nation continue on the path of a prolonged and severe decline from which it may never recover. That is all the more reason not to leap onto the bandwagon of just anyone who looks this week as if he has a chance to defeat Barack Obama, and to rush to demonize those who dare to ask if the emperor’s clothes are really of that good a quality. Now is the time, of all times, to ask of Perry and of every other candidate probing, searching questions, and to investigate their ideas and associations with a critical eye – an operation which, if it had been performed on Barack Obama in 2008, we might not be in this fix.
And so we see first of all that Perry and Grover Norquist held a joint press conference in March 2011. Perry appeared at a fund-raiser for Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform group. Also, Norquist actively campaigned for Perry back in 2009. Their association is longstanding: Perry was investigated by the Texas Ethics Commission in 2004 for allegations that the Governor illegally used campaign money to finance a trip to Bahamas; the point here is not the allegations, but the fact that along on the Bahamas trip at his own expense was Grover Norquist. Perry and Norquist are clearly not just casual acquaintances.
As David Horowitz pointed out several years ago, Norquist has worked with “prominent Islamic radicals who have ties to the Saudis and to Libya and to Palestine Islamic Jihad, and who are now under indictment by U.S. authorities.” Among them was Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was once the most prominent and powerful “moderate Muslim” in Washington, and is now in prison for helping to finance an al-Qaeda plot to assassinate the Saudi king, whom jihadis consider to be inexcusably lax in his Islamic observance (primarily in allowing infidel American troops onto the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War). Alamoudi gave Norquist’s Islamic Institute, a gambit to try to garner Muslim votes for the Republican party, a $10,000 loan and a $10,000 gift.
Norquist is unrepentant; he continues to partner with Islamic supremacists. Is this the sort of man our next president should be associating with? Does Perry really need Norquist to carry over his tax-cutting message? Does he know about Norquist’s unsavory ties? Does he care? Do Republican candidates need Norquist so much that they have to put up with his taint?
Given the long list of strikes against him, I think it’s only fair to let the process play out and hold Perry accountable for his record. We’ve yet to see him in a debate, nor do we know if the entire field is even set at this point. So don’t expect me to submissively fall in line behind a Rick Perry candidacy before he’s even been made to defend his actions and address his many decidedly non-conservative positions.
And no, Josh Trevino because Malkin did her own homework without consulting you does not give you the right to smear her as “fringe”, nor does it negate her arguments against Rick Perry.
My message to the Perry cheerleaders: If your guy is the right one for the job, you have nothing to gain by alienating conservatives who have legitimate grievances with him. He will have plenty of opportunities to defend himself and just like everybody else in the race, he needs to earn his votes.
Kool-Aid is for lefties.
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