Perry Should've 'Cowboyed Up'

Statesman.com’s John Kelso dishes out some tough, Texas-style photo analysis in response to the Rick Perry Newsweek cover.

He writes:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry should have taken a tip from NASCAR legend Junior Johnson. When asked how he was fixing to run an upcoming race, Johnson said something like, “I’m gonna run it flat-out.”

Sadly, when Perry appeared on the cover of the April 26 edition of Newsweek, he didn’t run it flat-out. He didn’t fly his Texas flag high enough. He should have called a fashion consultant to give him some tips on how to really Lone Star State it up.

He looked just a little too, as Sarah Palin might say, Wall Streety. Now, the black cowboy boot sticking out of the leg (on the right, I might add) of his conservative, dark suit was a nice touch. And so was the message showing toward the top of the boot: “Come and Take It.”

Trouble is, only Texans — and certainly nowhere near all Texans — will know the slogan comes from a battle flag flown by Texians in 1835 near Gonzales when they battled Mexicans to keep their cannon. (A small cannon, by the way, that you might could legally take into the Texas Capitol.)

Reading the rest of the piece, Perry gets taken to the woodshed for the absence of a gun, string tie or cowboy hat.  But yes, Wall Streety, indeed.  These guys could look the part, but the comparison still holds.