The report incriminates Vice President Mike Pence, Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former energy secretary Rick Perry by asserting they “had knowledge of, in some cases facilitated and furthered the President’s scheme, and withheld information about the scheme from the Congress and the American public.”
As Energy Secretary, Perry allegedly pressured the newly elected Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to award lucrative government oil and gas contracts to his longtime friends after he attended Zelenskiy’s inauguration in May.
Possibly sparking Perry’s resignation as cabinet secretary was Trump’s statement to Republican legislators that it was Perry who asked him to call Zelenskiy.
I didn’t even want to make the call,” Trump said. “The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant.
Bill Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified in a public congressional hearing that Perry was one of several administration officials involved in a “highly irregular” channel of U.S. policymaking toward Ukraine.
Perry may be most famous for his embarrassingly disastrous “oops” run for the presidency in 2012 when he forgot the three government departments he wanted to eliminate if elected president, one of which was the Department of Energy that he would later lead.
During that not-so-long ago campaign season, as I watched from my home in Ames, Iowa the political TV ads of the candidates running in the all-important first-in-the-nation Republican Iowa Caucuses, a recurring theme emerged.
In their attempts to appeal to the estimated 60% of Iowa Republican caucus goers who define themselves as Evangelical Christians, most of the candidates emphasized their “so-called Christian family values,” which, by the way, opposed marriage for same-sex couples and LGBTQ members in the U.S. military.
After both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made moving and heartfelt speeches in 2011 pressing for civil rights for LGBTQ people internationally, Rick Perry responded:
This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country. Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong. President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles.
Rick Perry double-downed his insults.
In my capacity as an associate professor at Iowa State University in Ames, I taught courses in multicultural education and also LGBTQ/Queer Studies. During the final week of classes in the fall semester, December 2011, I was reviewing with students the course material in anticipation of their final exam.
Throughout the semester in our Queer Studies course, we had discussed the candidates’ positions on the issues. One student asked if we could take a few minutes for him to show former Texas governor Rick Perry’s newest ad titled “Strong.”
Projected on the video screen, Perry looking intensely into the camera, wearing a tan leather coat, sounds of composer Aaron Copeland (who, by the way, was an out gay man) streaming in the background, with Perry saying:
I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pews every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.
Visibly shaken, some students wiped tears from their eyes and cheeks. Others looked bewildered, mouths open, audible gasps escaping. I too felt shaken, attacked, saddened, overwhelmed by his sheer unapologetic and marginalizing tone, and by his blatantly dishonest and deceptive statements.
I learned that Perry was due to speak at a local Ames café at a town hall meeting. I showed up to the event thirty minutes before his scheduled arrival giving me some time to talk with his supporters. Joining me was my friend and neighbor, an administrator at one of our local public schools.
We entered and joined three people at a small round table. We introduced ourselves, and I asked whether they supported Rick Perry. One of the women told us that she supported Perry “because he will restore to us the freedoms taken away by Barack Obama.” I asked her to tell us what were these freedoms taken away by Obama?
“Well, for one,” she forcefully asserted, “students can no longer pledge allegiance to the flag in schools.” I told her that this is simply not the case. I turned to my friend who mentioned that students are routinely led by their teachers in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in the schools, K-12, unless they voluntarily opt out.
I disagree,” cried the supporter. “Well,” said my friend, “it’s a fact that students pledge the flag in the schools.
So then I asked: “What other freedom has Obama taken away.” And she responded, “He took away students’ right to pray in the schools.” My neighbor responded that this too is simply not true.
He told the woman that he sees students praying before taking exams. In his school, students organized a Bible Study Club where they read the Bible together, and sometimes pray. The administration allocates a quiet space for Muslim students to pray 5 times a day according to one of the foundational pillars of Islam. Students hold a prayer vigil each year before their end-of-the-year graduation.
I informed the woman that the courts have held constitutional the teaching of world religions in the public schools, but not the officially-sanctioned promotion of religion. Students are free to pray and to organize prayer sessions as they wish, and Obama has not taken away these rights.
“I disagree,” was her response. I asserted that this is not an issue to which one simply agrees or disagrees. This is an issue of fact versus misinformation.
“You seem to be buying into the misinformation coming from some of the politicians, like Rick Perry.” I suggested that she might want to attend one of her local schools to see what is actually happening related to prayer and the pledge. She responded by arguing that she “had all the information she needed.”
By this time, the candidate had arrived and was mounting the stage. I had intended to ask him questions regarding his “Strong” TV ad, and I listened to his canned stump speech.
When he seemed to come to a natural break in his remarks, I raised my hand. Being only a few short feet from the candidate, he looked me in the eyes, and continued his brief remarks. I then raised my hand again, he looked at me, turned, and departed the stage for the back door of the café, for he obviously had no intention of considering any questions.
At this point, I realized that if I was going address my concern over his campaign ad, I had no option other than to shout. Though my intent in coming to this event was to engage in a reasonable give and take with the candidate, I cupped my hands around my mouth, and yelled:
“Why are you marginalizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people! Why are you marginalizing non-Christians!” which I repeated several times.
Perry supporters attempted to drown me out by shouting the candidate’s name in loud unison. One supporter yelled at me: “Hey, this is MY country. This is NOT your country.” Someone in the crowd accused me of being “religiously prejudiced” against Perry’s religious views.
After the event hit the news outlets, a local newspaper referred to me as “a heckler.” One of my students called me and explained: “Well, I guess the definition of a heckler is someone who asks a question that someone else doesn’t want to answer.”
A man who read a news account emailed me that the “Founders were all Christians who had intended this as a Christian nation.” Seeing my name in these news reports, he continued that “if I don’t like it here then I should move to Israel.”
I would now ask Perry in reference to his ad “Strong”: Is it a sign of strength to scapegoat others as the cause of the problems we face, and symbolically use their bodies as stepping stones to advance your political ends? Is it a sign of strength to disseminate misleading information, at best, and play on the fears of potential constituents so you can ascend to higher office?
And, Mr. Perry, is it a “Christian value” by attempting to interfere with the security of another nation for the purpose of delivering dirt on a political opponent of your President? And what type of a “Christian value” is it to ask that your friends and polical supporters move to the front of the line in consideration for highly profitable contracts?
Democracy demands an educated electorate. Democracy demands responsibility on the part of the electorate to critically examine our politicians so they can make truly informed decisions. Unfortunately, even prior to this post-truth Trumpian era, I observe a certain anti-intellectualism within the political discourse.
After careful and continuous vetting to plough through the reality from the show; the truth in their message from their appeals to fears and insecurities; their sincerity and ability to bring people together from their overt and covert attempts to divide; their talents and strengths from their bravado and performance; their attempts to maintain their integrity, their compassion, their humanity, and their empathy from their insincerity, manipulation, half-truths, and lies; their attempts to answer questions honestly rather than giving answers derived from polling data saying what they think we want to hear rather than what they actually believe, these are the things we need to consider when judging our candidates.
We must rate them on the quality of their characters, on their policies, and how well we believe they will follow through on what they promise.
Rick Perry showed us, through words and misdeeds, his true character.
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