As I mentioned in my open letter to Texas' governor Rick Perry, I snail-mailed a copy of the letter to the Office of the Governor since Mr. Perry has not been a consistent visitor to my site.  Today, not surprisingly, I received the form letter response from Dede Keith who works in Administration and Constituent Services (sadly, however, Dede didn't really send the letter either).

Let's start with the response.

June 21, 2005

Dear Mr. so-and-so:

Thank you for sharing your concerns with the Office of the Governor.

Please note that Governor Perry has asked no one to leave this state.  He said those seeking a gay marriage may find other states more receptive than Texas, but whether to leave Texas to pursue such an arrangement would be their choice.  The governor's comment was in direct response to a reporter's question.  The question asked pertained specifically to gay war veterans returning home and what they might think of a state not allowing them to marry.

The governor will welcome back to Texas any veteran who has served this nation with distinction.

Governor Perry respects the viewpoints of others, but he also believes that the vast majority of Texans agree with him that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman.

Sincerely,

Dede Keith
Administration and Constituent Services
Office of the Governor

DK:kwa

No, I don't see a need for you to actually read my letter before responding.  Why waste that precious time, right?

I did in fact mention the context in which the comment was made.  Look, it's right there in the second paragraph.

Your comments telling these veterans, specifically those returning from Iraq, that "a state that has more lenient views than Texas" might be "a better place for them to live" do not represent the views of most Americans, nor do they represent the views of most Texans.

Not to throw water on your holier-than-though, witch-burning pyre, but at least read my letter before responding.

As for telling me "whether to leave Texas to pursue such an arrangement would be their choice," Perry's remark is unmistakably a commination of gay veterans.  What the Office of the Governor fails to comprehend is the context of the very remarks they are now defending.

When in a position of authority, the idiots in the state capital fail to fully appreciate that inferences are as powerful as the actual language used.  Again I say, if you'd put yourself on the receiving end of those remarks, you'd have a much better idea of what was actually said.  The clear and concise inference is that gay veterans (and, by context, all non-heterosexuals) should accept that they're being discriminated against and, if they don't like it, they should leave the state.

Regardless of how you try to spin it, that's precisely what he said.

As for Perry respecting the viewpoints of others, that is, in the words of my dear mother, a bunch of malarkey.  Rick Perry respects nothing but power and discrimination and hatred and bigotry and the rule of the radical Christian element in our society.  This much is clear from his actions; I don't need more words to try to convince me otherwise.

Clearly defining his governorship as being controlled by the Christian cult, the "marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman" comment is self-explanatory.

In case you didn't know poppets, sacred means "devoted to deity: dedicated to a deity or religious purpose; of religion: relating to or used in religious worship; worthy of worship: worthy of or regarded with religious veneration, worship, and respect."

I don't know if anyone was paying attention when this form letter was put together, but it seems apparent to me that this simply enforces the rule of the church in state matters.  The conservative Christian movement in this country has indeed moved into the top leadership positions in our various governments.  Why is the state writing into law protection for religions?  If churches want marriage to be between a man and a woman, they can make that decision — the government, on the other hand, cannot enforce religious doctrine or use law to subjugate the population with any religious ideology.

Yet here we are…

Understand this, Mr. Perry.  I hope this is indeed the last time you sit in the governor's office.  You have blatantly voiced discrimination from the highest office in our state; you have clearly rejected anyone who's different and made clear that they are unwelcome in this state — especially by your régime — and that they should simply leave; you have demonstrated again and again that the separation of church and state is dead and gone and that those who are not conservative Christian are despised by you and wholly unwanted.

I greatly appreciate you not listening to anything I said in my letter.  I sincerely appreciate your form-letter response which essentially contained the same information I wrote in my original letter (thereby proving you didn't even read it or care about it).  I really do enjoy knowing that our governor happily practices exclusivity, bigotry, discrimination, hatred, and Nazi-like determination to get rid of those who are different.

You are a small man, Rick Perry, but then so was Hitler.