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Rick Perry to Join Republican Fray for Nomination

Rick Perry wants a second chance to run for President. He will announce his campaign tomorrow.

I was listening to an interview with his wife on the car radio today. She said a few times he's a different person now than four years ago. She said he was a person living in pain from his back surgery then. She said the Rick Perry she knew then is not the same Rick Perry she knows today. The impression she gave, which was probably not what she intended, is that Rick Perry had a major personality disorder for an extended period of time. [More...]

In the midst of America's war on pain pills, is America ready for a President that had a problem with them himself? And lied about it?

I'm not convinced Perry's gaffes in the 2012 campaign were the product of pain pills. Pain pills don't make you stupid and come up with bizarre ideas, like calling for the U.S. military to invade Mexico in the fight against drug cartels.

Also, pain pills may make you nod out, but I doubt they would make anyone sing out loudly in a public restroom. Blaming Rick Perry's bizarre behavior on pain pills doesn't wash.

Perry claims to now be against the War on Drugs and in favor of decriminalized (not legalized) marijuana. I'm not buying it.

Another Perry problem: He is still under Indictment for abuse of power in Texas. If Republicans bet on Perry, and he's convicted before the 2016 election, he'll have to drop out, leaving them having to make a mad scramble for a replacement.

Perry talks about wanting a second chance, but he gave no second chances to more than 260 people who were executed in Texas under his watch. He granted clemency in 28 cases, but in 25 of them he had no choice due to the Supreme Court's ban on execution of juveniles.

Napoleon Beazley was a juvenile sentenced to death before the Supreme Court ban. 18 state legislators and the trial judge urged Perry to commute his sentence to life. In Beazely's last statement, he wrote:

In a final statement, Mr. Beazley, 25, wrote that he was not the same person who had committed the murder. “I’m sorry that it was something in me that caused all of this to happen to begin with,” he wrote. “Tonight we tell the world that there are no second chances in the eyes of justice.”

Perry refused to commute the sentence and Beazley was executed. He told reporters at the time:

“To delay his punishment is to delay justice.”

Rick Perry didn't believe in second chances then. Why should Republicans give him one now? He switches positions with the wind. He's an opportunist and a laughing stock. Maybe if he demonstrated his newfound belief in second chances by providing them to others before asking for one for himself, he'd have some credibility.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Back pain can manifest itself in many ways (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by scribe on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 08:47:18 PM EST
    When I was in law school, CJ Rehnquist came to visit.  One of the profs had been one of his clerks or something.

    Saw him up close - he walked with a lot of difficulty and was in evident pain.  He had bad back problems.

    I remain convinced a lot of his jurisprudence was an expression of his back pain.

    Getting back to/on Perry, I wholeheartedly agree with TL in the main post:  Perry should get as many, and as generous, of second chance(s) as he gave while governor.

    One more thing:  I thought he was going to lead Texas to secede.  Now he wants to be President?  Who does he think he is, Jeff Davis?

    Funny you mention his wife (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 08:54:01 PM EST
    Someone make it stop, please? (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by Anne on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 09:08:14 PM EST
    Seriously, I can't take it anymore...

    When you say Rick Perry (5.00 / 5) (#4)
    by Peter G on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 09:10:11 PM EST
    I think of the late, great Molly Ivins and her commentary on "Governor Goodhair."

    Clown Car... Clown Bus... (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 09:23:06 PM EST
    Clown Ship Lollypop...

    I'm sort of hoping for... (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by unitron on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 03:03:29 AM EST
    ...clown Titanic.

    And at the rate the candidate count is rising, they are going to need a pretty large vehicle of some sort.

    Parent

    Carnival Cruise at this point (none / 0) (#6)
    by ruffian on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 09:35:24 PM EST
    with lots of barkers.

    Parent
    Would-be captains of the Costa Clowncordia (none / 0) (#9)
    by Mr Natural on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 07:53:24 AM EST
    - with full heads of hot air, and headed for the rocks.


    Parent
    When I see Rick Perry, ... (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Jun 03, 2015 at 10:10:30 PM EST
    ... I'll always think of the "Bad Lip-Reading" videos on YouTube. It's hard to ridicule someone who's actually his own best parody, but they managed to pull it off. So, save a pretzel for the gas jets.

    For the Record... (5.00 / 4) (#11)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 09:21:51 AM EST
    Pain pills don't make you stupid and come up with bizarre ideas...
    They most certainly do, especially opiate based.
    Also, pain pills may make you nod out...
    Not for me, Vicodin, makes it nearly impossible for me to sleep, aka chronic trouble sleeping

    I doubt they would make anyone sing out loudly in a public restroom.
    Beyond the ridiculous of caring that someone sings in the restroom, mixed with alcohol pain meds would most certainly amplify the effects.  

    The guys record speaks for itself, I don't care if he was on carrot juice or moon rocks, all I care about is his politics, which are rotten to the core.  

    I find it more disturbing that the people around him, who are suppose to be looking out for his best interest, would allow him to run for President while on ' high doses of pain medication throughout the race'.

    I don't like the way you are vilifying what may have been an actual problem.  Vilify his politics, there is plenty of meat there, not his prescribed drug use/abuse.

    I believe (none / 0) (#67)
    by lentinel on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 10:07:27 PM EST
    that what was particularly disturbing to Jeralyn, was not that Rick took pain medication, but that he lied about doing so.

    See her link above.

    Parent

    It's official (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by CoralGables on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 09:25:23 AM EST
    Jeb has announced that he will announce.

    the Perry Bush feud (none / 0) (#14)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 09:50:49 AM EST
    I guess we might as well have fun (none / 0) (#15)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 10:00:13 AM EST
    with the announcement announcements, huh?

    Parent
    Good announcement CG... (none / 0) (#27)
    by fishcamp on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:46:28 PM EST
    Finally (none / 0) (#30)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:56:31 PM EST
    I saw they were beginning to investigate him for FEC violations.  And the FEC even admitted they were a toothless paper tiger, but the Indy vote might care.  Hopefully the Indy vote will still care that greed was beating out the humble heart called to service :)

    Parent
    He is so (none / 0) (#50)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:47:43 PM EST
    creepy I can't imagine what his "announcement" will look like.

    Parent
    Yes. (none / 0) (#68)
    by lentinel on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 10:11:06 PM EST
    I saw the announcement that Jeb would announce that he was going to announce.

    I knew that was going to happen because I had read an announcement that there was going to be an announcement that Jeb was going to announce that he was going to announce.

    Something to look forward to look forward to.

    Parent

    Perry, The Clown du Jour, (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 10:34:27 AM EST
    but from that circus car will emerge a Republican candidate for president, possibly become president.   It is pretty scary to think that present polls do not show any Democratic contender to be ahead by 40 points.

    The Republican line-up never ceases to amaze with freshly minted wackiness: Cruz joking about Vice President Biden while his son is lying in state; Walker earning the "Todd Akin Award"; Santorum telling the Pope not to mix politics and religion (leave that to him);  Carson suggests that Palestine move to Egypt; and, of course, Huckabee wishing he claimed to be transgender so that he could have showered with the girls.  

    Then there is Paul, sane on Monday, and anyone's guess for Tuesday.  Bush, the non-candidate candidate who finds the biggest fault of his brother's presidency was not reigning-in Congress spending (so it was Hastert?).   And, still to go are Kasich, Rubio, Fiorino, Christie, Patacki, Lindsey, and, ta da....Trump.  

    Adding one for Rubio (the (none / 0) (#55)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 03:10:23 PM EST
    day is not yet over, so probably more to come on the others):  Marco Rubio, apparently not sufficiently hydrated while speaking about Iraq on FOX, said he does not advocate nation-building. No, as for his policy: "It is not nation-building, We are assisting them in building their nation."

    Parent
    Ha ha ha! That's exactly what I thought (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:15:19 PM EST
    Watching the interview. She kept saying the Rick Perry she knew then is not the Rick Perry she knows today.  It's kind of scary.  She's his wife, I would think right now nobody knows him better.

    So the old Rick Perry is gone, just vanished, and this new personality just stepped in and she can't wait for this new guy to be president.  Even though she hasn't known this new guy for very long :)

    Well he does wear glasses now (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by ruffian on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:53:53 PM EST
    Don't those add 50 IQ points?

    Parent
    Yes, my second fave of the interview (none / 0) (#31)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:59:40 PM EST
    The new Rick Perry also comes with new intelligent glasses :). Was that interview on Comedy Central?

    Parent
    For me, anyway, (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by NYShooter on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:33:24 PM EST
    the pain issue, while relevant, is a distraction.

    The man himself, and his beliefs, is someone I wouldn't want anywhere near the levers of power.........of any organization that affects other people.

    I believe he is a psychopath, much like former President G.W. Bush, in that he enjoys killing fellow human beings. I've read numerous reports & articles regarding the flippant manner in which he's rejected clemency, or stays of convicted death-row inmates, even in those cases where the evidence was highly questionable, and, in spite of appeals by some of the most highly respected legal authorities in the country. He is the opposite of what we would call a "thinker" in that his mind seems to be cognitively limited to a black/white simplicity.

    In some of the more notorious cases, the ones where mountains of evidence were produced questioning the validity of the verdict, his decision making process consisted of: "Did he get a trial? Were his appeals rejected? Stay of execution.......Denied!

    In reading those accounts, and the feeling of disgust I felt at the lack of humanity, let alone, intellect, that he displayed, I can't help but remember the reports of the frat-boy mocking G.W. Bush & his cronies exhibited at the time of Karla Faye Tucker's impending execution, and her appeal for consideration. Those callous, narcissistic, and venal traits were there for all to see. His lack of remorse for having killed countless thousands of soldiers and civilians, unnecessarily, with his vanity war in Iraq, should have come as no surprise to anyone paying attention.

    Bush & Perry, identical twins, Monsters.


    Maybe Rick Perry is just a (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:45:52 PM EST
    not-very-bright guy with significant defects in his character, who under other circumstances might be living in one of those Texas prisons himself.  He's lucky to have had [somewhat] smarter people around to pull his irons out of the fire, and he's lucky to hold an office in Texas that isn't much of an office.

    The people of Texas aren't so lucky, however, and based on the range of his positions that are just so universally bad, it would be colossally and terminally stupid to give this man a national office of any kind, much less the presidency of the United States.

    Whatever it is that's going on with him isn't helped by pain medication; I daresay the rest of us would have to take massive doses of it just to be able to tolerate living in a Rick Perry-ruled world.

    And even then...I just shudder to think.

    Meet the guy who performs (5.00 / 1) (#61)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 08:41:39 AM EST
    Perrys campaign song-

    In the lyrics of the original song, Ford says, "I'm a flag flyin' bible totin' son of a gun." But what flag is Ford flying?

    I also imagine that this guy owns more than one southern flag, which means he loves America so much he wants to leave it, just as soon as he's done celebrating his right to own people as property, as long as they are dark enough. Just after he appropriates more of their culture.

    Run Rick run!

    Um (none / 0) (#10)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 08:17:14 AM EST
    In the midst of America's war on pain pills, is America ready for a President that had a problem with them himself? And lied about it?

    We've already had at least one president who was hopped up on prescriptions (and not honest about it) - John Kennedy

    I don't think that will be the reason Rick Perry is not the president in January 2017.

    :: shrug :: (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by sj on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:36:53 PM EST
    Chronic pain is no joke. I guess on balance I would rather deal with someone who is medicated. From my observation the sufferer who is unmedicated makes worse decisions.

    But add chronic pain (of either the medicated or "un") to intellectual deficiencies and you get what you get.

    Parent

    Agreed. (5.00 / 2) (#28)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:51:01 PM EST
    When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma the first time, I was in such severe pain in my lower neck that when I finally went to my doctor, she initially thought that I had fractured a vertebra. (The subsequent x-ray proved otherwise.) The pain was completely debilitating and I could barely move my head and right arm. There was no way I could have even functioned effectively without prescription pain medication.

    Parent
    Kind of a silly (none / 0) (#18)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 11:56:05 AM EST
    analogy because first of all I don't know if back then they even recognized that there could be such a thing as an addiction to pain pills

    Parent
    Sure, they did. (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:42:44 PM EST
    Most severe pain medications were opiate-based, and we've known about opiates' addictive qualities for well over a century. In fact, two well-known addicts from the 19th century were Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale.

    Parent
    Are you kidding? (none / 0) (#20)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:24:09 PM EST
    Leaving aside for the moment that I'm pretty sure the medical community was aware of the addictive quality of opiates, are you saying that the pills wouldn't have or couldn't have affected him if there was no recognition that one could be addicted to them?

    That's like saying that someone didn't have an addiction to tobacco because the tobacco companies didn't recognize their product was addictive.

    Parent

    Yes, If Anything... (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:00:35 PM EST
    ...the pills back then were worse for you because they didn't have the synthetics, like Oxycontin, and certainly didn't understand near as much about how narcotics and opiates effect the brain.

    He probably got straight up Opium, Morphine, or Dilaudid with Quaaludes to sleep.

    Perry is an idiot with or without medication, and that is what should be focused on.

    But what is really silly, the notion that Perry can get elected to POTUS.  That would requite some sort of catastrophe that kills everyone with an IQ over 100.

    Parent

    Well, (none / 0) (#23)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:42:31 PM EST
    are you sure the medical community was aware? I remember women being handed Valium back in the 60's and 70's like crazy with no one talking about it possibly being addictive until the mid to late 70's.

    It seemed like back then as long as it was prescription it was "okay".

    Parent

    Ga, you're correct until, (none / 0) (#34)
    by fishcamp on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:15:30 PM EST
    Karen Ann Quinlan died from an overdose of Valiums and alcohol.  I can't remember,  but I don't think she had much of either in her system, but it radically slowed down the Valium prescription situation.  She died in 1985.

    Parent
    Tobacco (none / 0) (#25)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:43:47 PM EST
    wasn't even recognized as being addictive until 1964 when the surgeon general's report came out and that was after Kennedy was assassinated.

    Parent
    That didn't mean it wasn't addictive. (none / 0) (#33)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:09:55 PM EST
    Just as with the painkillers and muscle relaxers and uppers that were being handed out like candy, it didn't negate the physiological and psychological effects of these medications on people's brains.

    Parent
    Right, the Entire Reason... (none / 0) (#39)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:47:47 PM EST
    ... for making a drug illegal is the effects discovered when it was legal.

    Were morphine junkies in 1800 making better decisions than morphine junkies today because no one understood addiction ?

    Parent

    Well (none / 0) (#43)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:59:41 PM EST
    you're kind of missing my point. I'm talking about the science of addiction. In hindsight with knowledge and science we have now it would be recognized as an addiction. However, would it have been recognized as such in 1960? Tobacco addiction like I said above wasn't even recognized scientifically until 1964.

    Parent
    I Think You Are Missing the Point... (none / 0) (#46)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:24:29 PM EST
    ...which was, more or less, that Kennedy did just fine addicted to pills whereas for some reason Perry would be a huge liability on pills*.

    The effects on their brains and bodies would be the same, the only difference being what we understand about the exact same addiction, just in different decades.

    Or at least that is what I thought the point was  when JB posted the Kennedy information.

    * I am in no way suggesting Perry would be fine w/o pills.


    Parent
    No, I'm not missing the point. (none / 0) (#48)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:35:03 PM EST
    The point is that painkillers have the same effect on the body and the brain whether they were or are recognized as addictive or not.

    People developed physical addictions to these medications even if they hadn't been classified as addictive.  The high was the same.  The physiological response was the same.  People who took them were just as under the influence before they were classified as addictive as they were afterwards.

    Classifying them as addictive made them harder to get and harder to prescribe because of the reporting requirements.  It also changed the approach to treatment for people who developed addiction, but it never changed the effect the drugs had on the body and the brain.

    That's the point.

    Parent

    Well the point was, really (none / 0) (#35)
    by jondee on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:25:24 PM EST
    that anything questionable that some current Repub candidate has done, some Democrat in history has also done.

    jb likes to remind us of that to provide balance in these discussions.

     

    Parent

    They were passing out mothers little helper (none / 0) (#21)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:31:07 PM EST
    By the handfuls then.  The masses didn't understand the addiction properties.  You got them from the doctor and took them with a glass of water like a vitamin.  They were good for you :)

    It's a different time now, a different era.  The masses understand things now that they didn't then.

    Parent

    And honestly (none / 0) (#26)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 12:46:02 PM EST
    unless the doctors were doing the research themselves they were relying heavily on what the pharmaceutical rep was telling them. Not much different from today on that account but there is more information out there to check behind what the reps are telling you these days.

    Parent
    His doctors knew (none / 0) (#41)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:53:58 PM EST
    of the potential effects.  At least some of them.

    He had an amazing will, and probably taking so many drugs made him not even recognize some of the bad effects.

    Parent

    That article (none / 0) (#45)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:22:18 PM EST
    even though I just scanned it because it's very long seems to be more about his hiding of his health problems and other president's hiding their health issues than anything about addiction.

    I will say though JFK must have suffered a lot. He was in and out of the hospital his entire childhood something I did not know previously.

    Parent

    You're still missing the point (none / 0) (#47)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:31:10 PM EST
    Jeralyn made the comment that we've never had a candidate who had problems with prescription pills and lied about it.

    I merely said we had - JFK being the one we know the most about, and he took so many prescriptions, it was amazing he was still alive to even run for office.  I didn't say anything about addiction and who knew what, when.  You brought that up.

    Parent

    ... JFK actually had a problem with his pain medication. In that regard, I would remind you that (a) he was under physicians' care at the time; (b) the medication was prescribed; and (c) his prescriptive regimen was strictly monitored by those physicians. It wasn't like he was sending his maid out to buy pills off the street, or that his physician was Dr. Feelgood.

    I would think that the same would apply to Gov. Perry with regards to his own chronic and debilitating pain, that he was under a physician's care. In such instances, medication can offer the individual an opportunity to resume normal everyday functions to the extent capable. Otherwise, the pain can render you out of commission in pretty short order -- and THAT would be a problem.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Unfortunately Donald (5.00 / 3) (#59)
    by fishcamp on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 11:25:58 PM EST
    JFK was literally and truly sending his maid out on the streets of Aspen to search for drugs.  As I've mentioned before I skied with the entire clan for several years.  JFK would ask me every morning if I was able to find any extra pain and sleeping pills.  He was very bold and open about his requests.  I didn't have or look for any pills for him.

    Parent
    Dood! (5.00 / 1) (#60)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 08:34:15 AM EST
    JFK would ask me every morning...

    Awsum.

    I had not heard this before.  

    Parent

    You see (5.00 / 2) (#65)
    by sj on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 11:34:05 AM EST
    why the fishcamp's memoirs would have instant readership? It's practically Forrest Gump-like in scope. :)

    Parent
    Actually Donald (5.00 / 3) (#63)
    by jbindc on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 11:29:50 AM EST
    If you read the links I posted, JFK was in fact, did get amphetamines and other drugs from the original "Dr. Feelgood" -Max Jacobson.  JFK used the name "Mrs, Dunn" and Jacobson would travel by private plan to give JFK his drugs.

    Parent
    Warning: Leap of logic not included (none / 0) (#52)
    by sj on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:55:04 PM EST
    Jeralyn made the comment that we've never had a candidate who had problems with prescription pills and lied about it.
    Here is why there was a misunderstanding:

    1. You didn't specify the clause of Jeralyn's that you were speaking to, and
    2. You misrepresented that clause because during JFK's term we were not "In the midst of America's war on pain pills", and
    3. You placed your comment under an addiction subthread.

    Don't blame us because we didn't read your mind.

    Parent
    I'm not blaming you (none / 0) (#54)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 03:10:14 PM EST
    Because you can't read my mind - I'm blaming you because you can't read.

    Here's my first comment, in which I most certainly DID address Jeralyn's mistaken comment:
    Um(none / 0) (#10)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 08:17:14 AM EST
    In the midst of America's war on pain pills, is America ready for a President that had a problem with them himself? And lied about it?
    We've already had at least one president who was hopped up on prescriptions (and not honest about it) - John Kennedy

    I don't think that will be the reason Rick Perry is not the president in January 2017.

    Point one of yours negated.

    Next if I didn't specify which of Jeralyn's clause, as you wrongly state. then how did I misrepresent it? Logic fail on your part.  But you are technically correct - we weren't in the middle of a "war".  However, JFK still was not honest because he knew people wouldn't vote for someone on so many drugs.  Ergo, he was on prescription meds (serious ones) and he lied.  

    Finally, NOWHERE until now did I mention addiction; instead, it was GA who brought it up and keeps bringing it up. Even though that wasn't the point.  Anne and others understood this, but apparently you didn't.

    Fail.

    Parent

    You're right (none / 0) (#57)
    by sj on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 04:13:14 PM EST
    I didn't go up far enough. Mea culpa.

    And it wasn't Ga6 who brought in addiction, it was MT. So you didn't go up far enough either. If I fail, so do you.

    But really, who cares. It's just a discussion. You can grade if you want to, and I can ignore it if I want to and we're both fat and happy.

    Parent

    A history of addiction (none / 0) (#53)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:56:37 PM EST
    Okay, so I'm confused (none / 0) (#58)
    by sj on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 04:28:38 PM EST
    A history of addiction (none / 0) (#53)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:56:37 PM MDT

    It's been known about in some form, for centuries


    I just got used to theidea that you weren't talking about addiction...

    Parent
    But not until (none / 0) (#62)
    by jbindc on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 11:23:29 AM EST
    GA brought it up, where the conversation went off on a fork.

    Still not the original point.

    But it does seem to be in the undercurrent of the conversation, so let's talk about it.

    Parent

    So you're not talking about addiction (none / 0) (#64)
    by sj on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 11:30:38 AM EST
    except for when you are.

    Parent
    Agree with Ga6 (none / 0) (#51)
    by sj on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 02:49:17 PM EST
    That article is about JFK hiding his multiple health problems which began in childhood, not about any sort of concern about "addiction!!!"

    And, in spite of those health problems, he performed exceptionally both as a President and as a Naval officer.

    Actually, if you think about it, Kennedy on steroids could be the poster child for "addiction-may-not-result-in-poor-performance".

    So if you want to warn about the dangers of "addiction!!!", I would not recommend using JFK as your example.

    In any case, when it comes to Perry, there are LOTS of other reasons to shudder at the idea of his candidacy.

    Parent

    Absolutely correct sj (5.00 / 2) (#66)
    by fishcamp on Fri Jun 05, 2015 at 03:12:25 PM EST
    JFK never seemed high on his meds, because he needed them for pain.  As Donald pointed out, he was given his proper dosages daily, but he wanted more.  There were always many family members that skied every day, and that gets painful.  There  wasn't a variety of drugs available back then, as scott pointed out, and I had never taken anything stronger than aspiri.  There was no cocain in Aspen until the mid 60's, and JFK was gone by then,.  The entire Kennedy family did believe in vodka, and drank quite heavily after skiing and out at dinner.  They also drank vodka stingers after dinner to camouflage the alcohol odors.  They were Irish, and they believed in drinking..  After the brothers were killed, Ethel continued to bring most of the family to Aspen, for the holidays, so I skied with them for years.  They were fun.


    Parent
    Texas' contribution to the Presidential race: (none / 0) (#13)
    by Chuck0 on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 09:40:07 AM EST
    Tweedle-crazee and Tweedle-dum.

    Could Perrys two steely eyed oafs (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 11:50:51 AM EST
    standing behind him be more obvious?

    Very well said, Shooter (none / 0) (#37)
    by jondee on Thu Jun 04, 2015 at 01:40:57 PM EST