Texas Governor Rick Perry keynoting E3
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ May 19th 2008 at 1:25PM }
The ESA says Perry's "forward-thinking leadership" is a roadmap for other states on how to welcome the video game industry. As a side note, Perry also defeated an anti-gaming gubernatorial candidate during the last election who sought to place a 50% tax on violent video games. It'll be interesting to see if Perry's keynote is pure business or if it addresses some of the other issues going like publishers leaving the ESA or the national game law ID bill.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 1:36PM
The more kids that get 'unhinged' by games, the better off this guys' supporters will be; namely Merck. That's probably what Rick is thinking.
Kujel @ May 19th 2008 1:37PM
I'm already starting to like this Yankee.
Co @ May 19th 2008 4:22PM
Yankee? He's the governor of TEXAS.
Damn not-Americans....
Kujel @ May 19th 2008 4:34PM
Damn dirty yankees.
iconmaster @ May 19th 2008 1:41PM
Wow. E3 really has jumped the shark, hasn't it?
Cesaria (MKW:2621-2994-1376) @ May 19th 2008 1:43PM
I miss when E3 was in May. We'd be knee deep in new games/coverage RIGHT NOW! I can't wait the two more months...and I won't!
roflercopterer @ May 19th 2008 1:50PM
Sooooo...should we call the police?
John Z @ May 19th 2008 1:49PM
This guy right here, single-handedly, redeems the phrase "Texas politician".
George @ May 19th 2008 3:18PM
And you, single-handedly, tarnish the phrase "single-issue voter".
Yay for the pro-gaming stance, but seriously, Perry would not have been re-elected except for the fact that two wildly popular independents split the vote enough for him to sneak back in. There's rumblings he won't even win the Republican nomination if Hutchinson leaves the Senate and tries to run for Governor.
danny. @ May 19th 2008 3:32PM
Don't forget, they had Charlie Wilson down there...
Good Time Charlie ftw
Michael @ May 19th 2008 1:53PM
Our state keeps representing all the genres. What can't we do?!
(Expects ridiculous posts citing what we can't do. Will be shielded by our pride!)
Andy @ May 19th 2008 2:26PM
"The faith that permeates the lives of so many middle Americans is often derided as a crutch for weak people," Perry writes. "This seems to be the view of many liberal elitists who worship the false idol of self. The views of a great many Americans are cast aside as over-simplified, and the liberal intelligentsia like to think of themselves as the only legitimate arbiters of morality. They think the public simply doesn't know better and is easily manipulated by the emotional appeals of troglodyte, conservative commentators."
-Rick Perry
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/02/09/0209perrybook.html
Sounds like a nice guys. You should hear what he thinks about atheists and the ACLU.
BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 3:18PM
EA profits are proof the public doesn't know any better. Rick Perry will do anything to keep his campaign finances rolling in.
LubaLub @ May 19th 2008 3:22PM
Definition of a liberal: never satisfied; never enough
Trickob @ May 19th 2008 3:35PM
I don't know what Rick Perry thinks about atheists but this atheist doesn't give a crap either way. What does it matter? Is he going to bring all peoples of the world together? That would be cool. Go Rick Perry!
BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 3:37PM
Definition of a Mock-Conservative (there aren't many true Conservatives in politics these days): do ANYTHING to get what YOU want, fuck everyone you lie to and trample on.
As I said, Rick Perry will do ANYTHING to keep his campaign finances rolling in.
Christian @ May 19th 2008 6:15PM
Yep, he is the fourth Republican Space Ranger
12345 @ May 19th 2008 2:27PM
These is one of the politicians i like the most,probably just because its one of the few i dont dislike.
Still,E3 is sucking,PAX ftw now.
OMGOMG @ May 19th 2008 3:17PM
I used to hate Rick Perry (Plano resident FTW!), but I gained a lot of respect from him when he signed an executive agreement requiring Guardisil for middle school girls. The shot basically prevents the two biggest strains of HPV in girls, which most often lead to cervical cancer.
The decision would have taken many years (due to some of the crazies down here) to get passed, and he realized that saving lives was more important than bickering for bickerings sake.
Unfortunately, the Texas Senate overturned his executive agreement. I guess saving girls lives isn't important to some people. *rolls eyes*
BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 3:30PM
That shot is still largely untested and nobody knows what it will do ten years down the road. Knowing Merck, the company that made Guardisil, the outlook has a good chance of being very bad. HPV does not = cervical cancer and the cancer can be found and treated early with regular testing. I know a fair amount about it since I was in the middle of discussions and information gathering two years ago in California.
OMGOMG @ May 19th 2008 3:33PM
Yes, they do. My mom (I know, this won't be believed) did her main research paper while getting her masters degree in nursing on the vaccine. She told me the risks are very minimal. She's worked in the field for 30 years, so I'll take her opinion over yours (no offense, you seem to be a smart person!)
BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 3:41PM
Merck did a bit over a year of testing before it got approval for the vaccine. They only tested the current bank of shots on about 400 girls. That isn't enough for a governor to mandate the vaccine. That's exactly what he did at the time and then Merck gave him a huge donation about two weeks later.
BigD145 @ May 19th 2008 4:28PM
I only worked with professors, health care providers, and midwives that desperately wanted the vaccine to be real and safe and had been doing what they did for 20-30 years.
OMGOMG @ May 19th 2008 3:37PM
I know HPV doesn't equal cervical cancer, but it's the main reason.
"Persistent HPV infections are now recognized as the major cause of cervical cancer. In 2007, it was estimated that 11,000 women in the United States would be diagnosed with this type of cancer and nearly 4,000 would die from it."
That means it's a 63% of survival. That's not very good. That doesn't sound like a very treatable disease. Yes, it's still better than 50/50, but the trial was done with over 15 thousand patients. Very few reported any side effects.
unitqm @ May 19th 2008 3:44PM
I was born and raised in Austin TX. I work in the local media. I have to say that Rick Perry the worst Texas Governor I have ever covered in television news. The HPV vaccine that the previous posters were referring to was nothing more than a favor to the drug company Merck. Perry has several ties to Merck. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, his former chief of staff. Perry has been the lead proponent of the Trans-Texas Corridor, a $145+ billion-dollar highway project, partially financed, partially built and wholly operated by private contractors who will receive all toll proceeds, notably Cintra, a Spanish-owned company. Rick Perry is a no good SOB. All of the gaming community should be upset that such a tool is speaking at their biggest event.
Jason @ May 19th 2008 8:05PM
Amen. (TX resident, btw)
Murray @ Jul 10th 2008 11:24PM
not surprising you "work in the local media" in Austin. The whole Austin media community seems to live for the chance to take potshots at a guy who really has made our state a better place. They keep flinging out phrases like 'governor good hair' and 'governor 39%' and overlook the fact he's willing to endure the brickbats of ninnies like you in order to make our state a better place. i, for one, appreciate rick perry and appreciate the job he has done.
unitqm @ May 19th 2008 3:46PM
And he is a closet homosexual. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
xFenixKnightx @ May 19th 2008 3:55PM
:O
Josh @ May 19th 2008 3:50PM
Oh, please, the candidate he "defeated" was never a serious contender.
AstronautDinosaurFiretruck @ May 19th 2008 5:48PM
Still, wouldn't a governor Kinky have been awesome?
Jason @ May 19th 2008 8:15PM
I bet almost every politicians gets into politics for the right reasons. But they can never stay in politics unless they're willing to play. That means favorable policies for big money, and big business. Most are corrupted by this (I think Perry falls into the corrupted category like most); very few are able to play along and occasionally squeeze in a microscopic bit of policy that actually helps the majority of the people who elected them. This grand idea of democracy is nothing but a fine brick facade on the run-down crack house that is America.
Phinehas @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:39PM
What!?! They're bringing in some mainstream figure that the media will take seriously? What are they thinking? Don't they know that the answers to the litigation issues that plague the gaming industry will only be found in remaining insular, denying the research, and hating on anything and everything that isn't on the fringe? I suppose next they'll try to convince people that gamers aren't simply a bunch of prepubescent males pursuing violent wish fulfillment.