Are the New York Times' editors just discovering that there's no love lost between George W. Bush and Texas Governor -- and potential GOP presidential contender -- Rick Perry?  Or are the Times' editors kicking up dust to make trouble for an anticipated Perry run?

The Times reported yesterday that Governor Perry is breaking with former President Bush.  The fact is the Bush-Perry break began years ago.  Perry has never been a fan of Mr. Bush's "Compassionate Conservativism" --  or as true-blue conservatives term it, "Less Big Government Managed Better."  Perry, it appears, holds old fashioned conservative principles, and less big government is still too big.  And wasn't managing big government better Jerry Ford's and Nelson Rockefeller's idea?

The Bush-Perry feud bubbled to the surface last year when Perry ran for re-election as governor.  Though Mr. Bush prudently kept a low profile, Bush supporters, including former Secretary of State James Baker and Dick Cheney, and key advisers, like Karl Rove and Karen Hughes, jumped in to support Perry's primary opponent, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.  The topper was George H. Bush's public endorsement of Hutchison's candidacy.