Exceptional Editorial

The discussion on Texas Exceptionalism really made me think, so when I saw this article written by Michael King in his op/ed for the Austin Chronicle I was excited to see this theem as it applies to current politics. King's intended audience seems to be those of us in the public who may unconsciously believe in Texas exceptionalism, and therefore take Governer Perry's words at face value. The claim he is making is that Perry has made "a recklessly callous exaggeration" in saying that  "By any meaningful measure, the state of our state is strong." The evidence he uses to back this up is well cited, concise, and clear in pointing out that in fact our state has several key weak points that the government seems to be ignoring. He makes some other points that are less sustantiated however, such as stating that the currently proposed budget is going to adversely affect the Texas economy. The evidence he presents most centers around the current situation being less than rosy, not what led us to this poor situation and what will plunge us further. I do think he was a little unfair in pointing out that Perry did not specify what his sources of "meaningful measure(s)" were because Perry, giving an address to the Legislature, was unable to defend himself and cite sources in response. Maybe that's green of me, but it seems unreasonable to tear down someones argument in that way without them having an opportunity to respond. His arguments and information are well done on the whole, though, and I for one found myself seeing things from his perspective.