In the convoluted world of the Voting Rights Act, about which Chief Justice Roberts famously said, “It is a sordid business, this divvying up by race…” (see LULAC v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399 (2006)), it is never surprising when high-minded liberals use racism to combat supposed racism. Rare, however, is it that the Department of Justice or a Court is so blatant about it.

Welcome to Kinston, N.C. The city overwhelmingly voted to eliminate party affiliations for candidates in local elections. Given the state of each of the political parties these days, one might give the city the benefit of the doubt that this decision is a good, healthy thing.

But, Kinston must pre-clear any actions it takes regarding voting and elections with the Department of Justice pursuant to the Voting Rights Act. And the Department said, “no.” That, in and of itself, is not all that surprising (troubling, but not surprising). What is quite startling is the language the Department uses. According to the Washington Times:

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters’ right to elect the candidates they want.

That’s right… “white voters… will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats.” Well, this is fairly common theory among abusers of the Voting Rights to political ends, but it usually isn’t said in such clear language.

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In 2010, Texans either will lead the nation forward according to conservative principle and under conservative leadership, or they will put their trust and faith in the ways of Washington. In the last several weeks, current Texas Governor Rick Perry and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison - each vying for the Texas Governorship in 2010 - have each made significant public statements that make their positions crystal clear. Perry is for Texas. Hutchison is for Washington.

This past Friday, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “Fiscal Conservatism and the Soul of the GOP,” centered around an interview of Governor Perry. In that article, the Governor outlines his view of the current state of affairs and of the appropriate path forward… for Texas and for the nation. It is absolutely rich with solid, well articulated conservative position. For example, he acknowledges that the reason the GOP has “been hurting” is that “they spent too much money. They acted like Democrats.” He gets quite specific, stating “When they passed that pharmaceutical bill for everybody forever—I mean, one of the most expensive entitlement programs that this country’s ever seen before—we started on the road to hell.” Amen.

He blasts Obamacare - calling it “one of the scariest policies.” He touts tort reform. He notes the absurdity of focusing on a flawed immigration plan as a way to “win” hispanic votes, and shows an understanding of that community which represents more than one third of his state demographically. He recognizes good people to follow and miserable people to follow. For example, stating, “I love Sarah Palin… [s]he is substantially more the face of this country than some other people who might want to be…” He points to Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom,” and the more contemporary book by Amity Shlaes, “The Forgotten Man,” as books currently occupying his thoughts. On the other hand, he notes the squandered opportunities by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he rightfully calls Senator Voinovich (R-OH) a “piece of work,” in response to the Senator’s idiotic and misplaced dismissal of southern conservatives. Finally, he calls out the Obama administration directly, saying, “[t]o me, this is one of the great Frankenstein experimentations in American history. We’ve seen that movie before. It was from 1932 to 1940.”

In short, Perry “gets it.” He swatted issue after issue out of the park - relying on limited government conservatism to make the case for Texas and for the nation, and possibly more importantly, unabashadly calling people out who fail to stand on principle and praising those who do.

Now let’s take a look at a recent op-ed by the Senior Senator from Texas - in which she makes the case for blowing your brains out while sitting around a table with a bunch of Washington insiders rationalizing their way to mediocrity and obsolescence while bowing down at the altar of the national government. Overstatement? Well, go ahead and waste a few minutes of your life reading the uplifting masterpiece she “wrote” (we know some staffer wrote it, but her name’s on it…) in the Austin American-Statesman a few weeks ago. Ok - feel inspired yet? Uh-huh.

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Governor Rick Perry has upped the ante after remarks during his appearance at the Tea Party in Austin, Texas. According to news accounts, the Governor acknowledged that independence is theoretically an option, but that it’s not currently necessary.

…An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that officials in Washington have abandoned the country’s founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.

…Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters’ questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that.

“There’s a lot of different scenarios,” Perry said. “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot…”

Some folks will no doubt be concerned that this statement is too strong and will marginalize the growing movement of citizens opposing the actions of our national government in Washington. Some may even characterize it as unpatriotic.

I completely disagree.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry – like all other Governors – has a responsibility to protect the interests of the people of his state. It should come as no surprise, then, that he endorsed a resolution in the Texas legislature supporting states’ rights under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

This topic has been covered by quite a few folks, recently. Pete Randall posted here on RedState an interesting comparison with Georgia (which is doing nothing) and you can catch both transcripts from Rush Limbaugh’s commentary about it and audio clips of Governor Perry on Sean Hannity’s radio show here.

In his support of the measure, Governor Perry stated, “I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.”

Well said.

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