So, Governor Perry Is Running for President

Recently, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that he was running for President of the United States.

Only a few months before, he said, many times, that he was not running for President, didn't want to run for President, wasn't planning to run for President, and wasn't thinking about running for President.

Now, such statements made in some general way are pretty common. However, Governor Perry's statements were unambiguous and unequivocal. I listened carefully, trying to see if the Governor had left himself some wiggle room in case he later ran for President. There wasn't any.

I even discussed the statements with some of my friends. We all agreed that there really wasn't any wiggle room in his statements. Yet, his behavior was definitely that of someone running for some national office. The best would could come up with was that he was angling to be the Vice Presidential candidate on the Republican ticket.

But, now he's officially running. What happened?

Governor Perry says that two things happened. First, his wife asked him to reconsider. Second, he heard the call of duty.

Maybe so. Or, maybe not. There is no way I can know. I know what I think, but I can't know.

However, there are a couple of possibilities. The first possibility is that at least once when he said he was not going to run for President, he secretly knew that he was. That makes him a liar.

The second possibility is that every time he said he was not going to run for President, he meant it and later changed his mind. That means he didn't keep his word and (not "or"), perhaps, wasn't very careful about what he said in the first place.

Those considering whether to vote for him for President may be comfortable with either one or both of those possibilities, but before casting a vote for Rick Perry to be President of the United States, the voter ought to decide if he or she is comfortable voting for a man for that position who is either a liar or does not keep his word.