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Gov. Perry Will Make Chuck Norris An Honorary Texas Ranger

Chuck Norris
Image courtesy Aaron Webb http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronw79/
Chuck Norris at a Mike Huckabee campaign rally in 2008. Gov. Perry will name Norris an honorary Texas Ranger this afternoon.

For years, Chuck Norris played a Texas Ranger in the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.

Today, fiction meets reality when Governor Rick Perry anoints Norris and his brother Aaron Norris as honorary Texas Rangers.  The event is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Texas Rangers Company B Headquarters in Garland.  

The editorial board of the University of Houston's student newspaper decided to weigh in on it.

While Chuck Norris is a great guy, he doesn’t seem to live up to some of the other honorary Rangers. John Wayne is an American icon who set the standard for western actors everywhere. Nimitz served in World War I and was Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet in World War II. President Bush was, well, a president. Chuck and Aaron Norris, on the other hand, starred in and executive produced “Walker, Texas Ranger” from 1993 to 2001.

Meanwhile, political prognosticators are trying to read the tea leaves. With Perry maybe or maybe not thinking about running for President, what kind of bump could he get from Chuck in a primary campaign?

Here's what it looked like when Norris endorsed then-Republican presidential primary candidate Mike Huckabee in 2008. Perry, at the time, was busy backing Rudy Giuliani.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.