Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks we're jealous his state

By GottaLaff

Stop me if you've heard this one before. It's a real knee-slapper... Gov. Ricky thinks we're jealous of his state:

Gov. Rick Perry’s turn in the states’ rights spotlight brought him national attention and made Texas a late-night punch line (not the first time) — and he’s not through, yet. [...]

Perry will moderate a forum Monday on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days.

Expect more talk about out-of-control Washington spending, says spokesman Mark Miner, with much time spent listening to people at the Dallas-area stop on a tour by three conservative radio talk-show hosts.

Perry himself says he doesn’t worry about a national reputation. He emphasizes he didn’t advocate secession when asked about it after an anti-tax Tea Party in Austin, though he suggested Texas has the right to leave the union.

Perry must have forgotten about this, this, and this:

Perry Raises Secession at Tax Protest

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said that his state could secede from the United States because "the federal government has strayed somewhat from what our founders wanted and is choking Americans with excessive spending and taxation," reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Said Perry: "Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. My hope is that America, and Washington in particular, pays attention. 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."

Should someone with such a poor memory be holding a public office as important as governor? Let's sleep on that. We have bigger fish to fry.

See, now Ricky's accusing us of being jealous. Of Texas. Economically. Choose any of those last three points and do what you will with them:

To those who might poke fun at Texas or call it backward, he says, they are “most likely jealous of this state’s position ... economically.”

Chagrined or incredulous might be more accurate, some say.

Some very well might. Why, here's Some now! Larry Sabato:

“This was a throwback to the Old South, a South that was out of the mainstream and viewed as something of an embarrassment. You think of people like George Wallace when you think of the claim of states’ rights. I don’t think that’s the image that modern Texas wants,” Sabato said.

As for the Texas economy, Sabato suggested that Gov. Ricky's rhetoric "could chill businesses and top faculty pondering a move to Texas."And Stephen Hess isn't any kinder:

Stephen Hess of the Washington-based Brookings Institution said Perry “is no George Wallace.” He said Perry has “certainly damaged his own reputation” among those who closely follow politics.

But when asked whether the talk could affect Perry’s national reputation, he said: “The answer is, ‘Who?’ You couldn’t find very many people who could tell you the name of the governor of Texas, or any other governor with the exception of the governor of California, at this moment.”

So it pretty much boils down to this: We're all jealous of a guy named "Who?"