February 6, 2007 9:06 AM

Is it possible to do the right thing in the wrong way? You can if you're Rick Perry.

Perry orders anti-cancer vaccine for schoolgirls

Republicans attack Perry’s HPV vaccine order

Lawmakers: Rescind HPV Order

Since I’ve been quite ill over the past few days, I’ve had nothing but time to think about Governor Goodhair’s latest attempt at displaying leadership. My first reaction was “My God, Governor Goodhair is actually employing something resembling leadership??” I was speechless. Like most anything in Texas politics, though, this isn’t nearly as simple as it looks. After much reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that while Governor Goodhair may well be onto something, he (not surprisingly) has managed to go about it completely back-asswards as only he can.

Let me, for the sake of self-disclosure, begin by stating where I come down on this issue. I don’t believe that there is ANYTHING wrong with protecting young women from exposure to HPV and cervical cancer. This is a disease that’s easily preventable, and we have a (by all indications thus far) a relatively safe vaccine that will help do so. That can only be a good thing, right? Besides, the state already requires a laundry list of vaccinations before a student can matriculate. One view might be that the HPV vaccine is merely one more entry on that list.

Would that it were so simple….

If Governor Goodhair feels so strongly about protecting Texas’ young women, then why did he choose to go it alone through an executive order? Why risk making himself an easy target for everyone with an axe to grind?…which is exactly what he’s done. When it comes to issues of great importance, it’s incumbent upon a leader to use his moral authority and powers of persuasion to convince his constituents and fellow politicians that the course he’s proposing is the correct one. By using an executive order, he’s effectively said “Screw you, this is what were doing.” Not exactly the message you want to be saying to the warehouse of oversized egos that is the Texas Legislature…unless you enjoy channeling Sisyphus.

If Governor Goodhair had anything resembling horse sense, he would have realized that getting as many people on board as possible would have been the smart thing to do. Of course, that would have required a lot of work, a lot of persuasion, and a lot of arm twisting. You know what, though? THAT’S WHAT LEADERS DO. And that’s exactly why the 10 years of Rick Perry’s governorship will be remembered as 10 years of little more than chair warming. Governor Goodhair is presented with a golden opportunity to demonstrate that he could actually lead, and what does he do? He takes the easy way out, and in doing so, loses what could easily have been some considerable moral high ground. This is lazy leadership at it’s worst and most egregious, but then this is what the voters of Texas apparently wanted. How else could you explain the sheeple of the Great State of Texas electing and RE-electing one of the most ineffectual governors in this state’s long and checkered history? To paraphrase Paul Begala, this is little more than the soft bigotry of low expectations…and they couldn’t possibly be much lower.

Of course, if Governor Goodhair feels so strongly about the HPV vaccine, then why did he include language in his order that allows parents to opt out for religious reasons? Governor Goodhair, being a strongly pro-life Christian himself, knows where his base is, and even he’s not politically clumsy enough to aggravate his core supporters over an issue such as this that’s almost guaranteed to piss them off. Viewed in this light, Governor Goodhair’s executive order looks like little more than an attempt to have his cake and eat it, too. It looks as if he’s thinking that he’ll score points with the Liberal Democrats who would normally support this sort of thing AND his core Evangelical Republican base.

Then again, like anything else in Texas politics, the argument wouldn’t be complete without discussing the money. Yes, and there is a LOT of it at stake here. Merck, the manufacturer of the HPV vaccine, has been pushing this move for a long time. They know that once a big state like Texas makes the vaccine mandatory, it will be much easier for them to accomplish the same thing in other states. You don’t even really have to do the math to understand that there is an ungodly sum of money in play here…not that Governor Goodhair would EVER see any benefit from that. Perish the thought….

‘Course, if you were curious, and just happen to check the list of Governor Goodhair’s campaign donors, methinks you’d find Merck featured prominently.

I know, what a shock, eh? Whodathunkit? Big Business, throwing money at Texas politicans…what a novel and horribly (un)original idea.

There are a few ideas floating around here that I wanted to address, mostly because they’re so patently offensive and silly.

First, I can’t tell you how sick I am of people arguing against the HPV vaccine because it will implicitly encourage, indeed condone, young women to have sex. There is nothing about this vaccine that encourages, or discourages, young women to have sex. This vaccine is about protecting our daughters from a horrible disease that is easily preventable. If you think it’s promotes sexual activity, you really need to remove your anterior from your posterior.

Second, this is NOT a “human rights issue”, as I’ve heard some argue. This is not Big Brother in the form of some jackbooted thug holding your daughter down as she’s being forcibly vaccinated. Governor Goodhair’s executive order, flawed though it may be, does provide for parents to opt out. Honestly, though, if you’re unwilling to protect your daughter from exposure to HPV and cervical cancer, you ought to seriously rethink your fitness as a parent.

Third, this issue has turned into a cheap and easy way for Republican legislators to take potshots at a Governor with more power than sense. When you get right down to it, this is about a collection of oversized egos upset at being passed over. They feel they should have been involved in this decision…and they’re probably right. Does this fact give them the right to lob verbal broadsides at Governor Goodhair? I suppose the answer to that will depend on what side of this issue you happen to come down on.

Speaking for myself, and only for myself, I believe that Governor Goodhair did exactly the right thing for exactly the wrong reasons and in exactly the wrong manner. There is nothing in the world that can be wrong with wanting to protect young women from an easily preventable disease. Having said that, though, Governor Goodhair would have been much more effective had he done the hard work of exercising the leadership required to get the Legislature and Texas citizens on board. Instead, it looks like an imperious, heavy-handed decision made to benefit a major corporate benefactor…with the side benefit of protecting the health of Texas’s young women.

Nice job, DUMB@$$….

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 6, 2007 9:06 AM.

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Every now and again, a little well-placed outrage goes a long ways.... is the next entry in this blog.

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