There’s a line from the 1999 film Cookie’s Fortune where Sheriff Lester Boyle (Ned Beatty) is discussing the charges against Willis Richland (Charles Dutton), who is sitting in his jail:
Lester Boyle: He's innocent.
Eddie "The Expert" Pitts: And what makes you so sure of that?
Lester Boyle: I've fished with him.
What Sheriff Boyle was referring to was taking the measure of a man:
- Martin Luther King said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
- Even as far back as the 1700s, Samuel Johnson understood the concept of the measure of a man: “"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley, English historian and statesman (1800-1859) “The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.”
· But I think Phillip Dick really gets it right, “The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give."
Which brings me to why I’m supporting and voting for Gov. Rick Perry in his re-election bid for Governor of Texas.
Over the last several years, I’ve had quite a few opportunities to meet and speak with Gov. Perry. I’ve shaken his hand, stood beside him at the funeral of fallen Soldiers, and stood next to him on the shooting range while he gave me pointer on shooting his personal concealed carry handgun (on that day, a Ruger .380).
And on each of those occasions, I took a measure of the man. The way he shakes your hand. The way he looks you in the eye and listens to you while you’re talking. The way he honestly seems to enjoy talking to his fellow Texans.
The first time I met Gov. Perry was at the funeral of General Tex Hill in 2007. After the funeral, Gov. Perry made a point to come over and talk to our group of Patriot Guard Riders. He shook hands, posed for pictures, and thanked us all for being there to honor Gen. Hill. But there was more to it than that. He stood and talked with us for more than 30 minutes. Not talking politics or policy…but chatting about military service, honor, and our motorcycles.
And each time I’ve met Gov. Perry since then, I’m always struck by his willingness — if not eagerness — to respond to the needs of others and giving of himself. I have very little doubt that Rick Perry is a good and decent man who deeply loves Texas, and is genuinely concerned about the citizens that he governs.
While I haven’t always agreed with all of Gov. Perry’s policies, I’ve taken a measure of Rick Perry the man — and as a man he truly measures up. And that’s why I’m voting for Gov. Rick Perry.
By the way, Sheriff Boyle was right, as it turned out: Willis was innocent.
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Thanks Robbie, We see eye to eye on this one!
There was never any doubt in my mind about Perry. But I would like to explain why.
When I attended President Bush's inauguration in Jan., 2005, I went to Senator Hutchison's office looking for tickets to certain events. I got absolutely no help. But I did have a long conversation with one of her aides. I asked if KBH was going to run for governor in 2006 and was told that KBH was looking into it. Basically, KBH did not run then (although she wanted to) because the polls did not support her. Whenever I have contacted KBH's office, I get some canned answer to my questions, yet, John Cornyn never does that and, in fact, addresses the questions I have posed.
The event that sealed the deal was the day of the Fort Hood shootings. As I watch Fox News interview KBH, she was clueless as to what was happening in her own state. She smiled a lot, but when asked how many were dead, she did not know, although it was scrolling across the bottom of my tv screen – 13. Every question posed to her, she did not know the answer to.
It was not much later that I saw RP on tv. He was informed, on top of the situation and in control. No guessing what was happening in Texas, like KBH, he KNEW what was happening in Texas. Shortly after Rick's presser, KBH was again on Fox and still knew little, although Shepherd Smith (who I hate for other reasons) stated that Senator Cornyn was not available for an interview as Cornyn WAS ON HIS WAY HOME TO TEXAS.
How a person deals with an emergency tells us a lot about them. KBH is just a D.C. insider who seems pretty clueless, or at least she did that day that we had a terrorist attack on Texas soil.
As I have said; Rick has made a few blunders. The TTC and Gardisil being the two that everyone talks about. But our economy is better than almost any other state (no thanks to Kay) and Perry truely loves Texas and Texans. The pride he feels for this state is apparent in every interview he gives. Can we say the same about Kay?
RETIRE05…..I had a similar instance with KBH. I am trying to get my pilot’s license through SanJac college and the flight contractor the college uses is not VA approved yet in Texas. I contacted KBH’s office in Aug of 09. Here it is Feb and I STILL have not heard from her. I contacted Perry’s office the same day and got a response in 2 days. He can’t help cause it’s not a state level issue….it’s a federal issue now. I got to Cornyn and his office answered me the following morning and he STILL sends me letters letting me know he’s there for me if I need him. Great guy.
As I told my best friend, all things considered, Perry has not screwed the pooch during his time as Governor. No he isn't perfect, but I have yet to meet anyone who is, especially in politics.
Of the things that keep getting mentioned as reasons not to support him, they just never seemed that important, as those issues went away. Perry has done a great job overall, and unlike Washington Kay, I have never doubted his commitment to the best interest of Texas or Texans.
To me, Kay would be as compliant to D.C. as Governor, as Ann "Doritos" Richards.
I’m afraid KBH would give our surplus of money to Washington to help with the Obama Trillion dollar deficit. KBH does NOT care for the veterans as she claims. Medina wants to get rid of property taxes and increase our sales taxes. I think our gas prices are high enough and Great Value milk is already $3 a gallon. Don’t know what’s wrong with these people. If it ain’t broke….don’t fix it.
And i want to keep my guns.
I bought some of those oval Perry 2010 stickers and put one on my SUV's back window last week.
I'm going to give the others away, but only if they'll dislay them somewhere.
I've taken the "measure of the man" too…from a different viewpoint and it's all good.
Okay Dianne, behave your bad self.