Governor Perry Drones On

Nothing like ratcheting up the fear factor to “red alert” to get those campaign juices flowing. Governor Rick Perry wants a Predator drone President Obama – and he wants it now! He’s even got a picture of one on his Web site in case Obama needs the style and model Perry craves.

They only cost $4.5 million, Obama. Normally, Perry treats federal dollars as if they were radioactive. But in this case, he’s willing to make an exception. We’re not sure what Rick plans to do with his drone, but it sure does bolster his conservative cred, and heck, Bill White will never get his hands on a drone – take that you wimpy ex-mayor of a “sanctuary city.”

“How many Americans will have to die before our federal government takes serious action along the Texas-Mexico border?” Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle harrumphed this afternoon in a Dallas Morning-News article with the headline: Homeland Security rejects Rick Perry’s request for more border enforcements.

Bolstering the militarization of the Texas-side of the border will do wonders for Perry’s campaign, but I’m baffled how it will save American lives. Ciudad Juarez is teeming with soldiers and weaponry and still the violence goes unchecked. The deaths of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Juarez happened in Mexico, not Texas.

This afternoon, I was on my way to Walmart to buy my duct tape and plastic sheeting, but decided to turn around when I heard that Perry had activated phase one of the state’s border violence spillover contingency plan. Thank the lord! Of course, us Texan civilians are not privy to what that plan might be since Rick’s press release says “its law enforcement sensitive and will not be released to the public for operational security purposes.”

While Obama slacks off in D.C., Rick Perry is keeping us safe by “increasing ground, air and maritime patrol presence; and increasing intensity of day and night DPS helicopter patrol operations along the Rio Grande River.”

He’s also got “additional resources ready for rapid deployment … placed on standby, including DPS SWAT Teams and Trooper Strike Teams, as well as Ranger Recon Teams prepared to reposition based on threat.”

While he’s at it, Rick might want to send one of those strike teams to Zapata County in case one of those black helicopters that Sheriff Siggy reported last week comes back.