Off-Topic

Even some of Perry’s fiercest Texas critics say they do not believe he is racist. They point to his record of appointments as evidence: He appointed the state’s first African-American state supreme court justice, Wallace Jefferson, and later made him chief justice. (Jefferson’s great grandfather was a slave, “sold like a horse,” Perry once said with disgust.) Perry’s former general counsel and former chief of staff, Brian Newby, is black; so is Albert Hawkins, the former Health and Human Services Commissioner who Perry handpicked to lead the massive agency in 2002.

“He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body,” said former Democratic state Rep. Ron Wilson, who is black and served with Perry in his early years in the Legislature. “He didn’t then, and he doesn’t now.”

Added Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West, who is also black: “I don’t agree with him on policy issues, but you can point to many things he has done that were sensitive to ethnic minorities.”…

“He appointed a black man chief justice of the state Supreme Court, for crying out loud, one of the many high-profile positions he’s given to minorities during his time as governor,” Jason Stanford, a Democratic opposition researcher and author of an upcoming book on Perry, wrote in a weekend blog post. “… If he were an n-bomb dropping cracker, we’d all know.”

but I thought all Republicans were racists?

A politician cannot be tied to that word in any way and win on a national level. He will never be President and will do his party a favor by bowing out now. Obama would have crushed him too, he should have called the WaPo and had them hold off on this story until Perry had won the nomination.

We have enough actual racists in this country to try looking for reasons to paint our national politicians over as racists.

If Perry's father painted over it the first chance he got, then I don't see anything indefensible or unjustifiable from the Perry family perspective.

Somebody out there somewhere has to have a picture of that rock that can substantiate or disprove Perry's claim that it was painted over as soon as they had the ability to paint it over. Perry needs it more, because clearly if you are a southern republican you're assumed racist until proven otherwise.

I did think it was strange driving down a highway in Texas and seeing hundreds of crudely painted signs where someone named their land. When there's that much pressure to come up with a name, maybe it IS excusable that a racial slur was used. I mean, there are only so many words in the english language and you can't be repetitive.

Maybe the painters were trying to get Tobias Harris to commit?

canadianpotato agenda alert

So what's the issue here? His father leased land that had a rock painted with racial slurs? And he painted it?

There's got to be more to this that I'm missing right?

Beat me to it.

This thread got real Hollywood

I'd like to see a picture of this rock.