Another president from Texas? Well, yahoo! Yahoo?

James Richard --- Rick to 25 million Texans, I guess --- Perry for 11 years the governor of the Lone Star State, wants to be president. Well, let's see now. There was LBJ. He gave us the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Vietnam War. And then there was George W Bush. He gave us wars in Afghanistan --- which would never have happened if the Bush administration hadn't missed what bin Laden was up to --- and Iraq --- which would never have happened if the CIA, the President and his cabinet had told the truth: no WMD in Iraq, no way, no how. So... from Texan presidents in the last 50 years we've gotten one civil rights act and three unnecessary wars. That tells me the odds of my liking another Texan president as only one in four. Add to this that this morning a commentator described Perry as making "W" look liberal, and I think I'm staying off this campaign bus.

Thirty years ago my wife and I briefly lived in Texas. I was on the business law faculty at UT-Austin. My wife always likes to recall how much she enjoyed living in a foreign country. The Six Flags Theme Parks derive their name, having originated in Texas, from a fact that "native" Texans (big meaning in that little word) like to tout: Texas in its long history has been under the Spanish, French, Mexican, Texan, Confederate and American flags. It's the only state that was an independent nation, albeit briefly. When we lived there, the "natives" liked to remind us of that in a number of ways:

--- Bumper stickers: "I don't care how you did it up North!"

--- Tee shirts: "We're guarding the wrong border."

But most of all it was an attitude. We had a fence installed around our backyard. The first really windy day, it blew down. "Aw, shucks. We ran out of concrete and put the posts in with ordinary cement. Guess you got us." The same fence proved to be on the neighbor's lawn. "Aw, shucks, you got me. Guess my guys screwed up the survey."

Of course, this had a humorous side. Finding a dead cat on the front lawn, my wife called the municipality, hoping to get it removed and disposed of. "Well, ma'am, if it were a dead horse..."

UT-Austin in 1981 was still well remembered --- and still had a strong institutional memory --- regarding the Texas Tower massacre that left dozens dead back in the sixties. This tragedy was eclipsed in 2007 by the Virginia Tech slaughter.

We enjoyed our two years there and we still have dear friends in Houston. For those who decry capital punishment, Texas is anathema. That's not a real problem for me.

I get a little more upset by the state's lousy high school graduation rate and poor record on providing health insurance coverage. And with an unemployment rate rivaling the rest of our beleaguered nation, Governor Perry's claim to being a job-creator is questionable.

So, on balance, while I have fond memories of my time in Texas, neither those experiences of yore, nor the state's/Perry's recent record persuade me that I see my candidate coming out of the Lone Star State.