He’s in ur braynez, killin’ ur cells.
Rick Perry is trying to drive you insane. And by “you,” I mean “me.”
So, remember how Rick Perry brought up this birther nonsense, destiny farted, and all seemed as it should be? It was only — oh — like — TWO DAYS AGO.
Here’s a refresher:
SATURDAY: Rick Perry says he doesn’t know if he has seen President Obama’s birth certificate. “I don’t know. Have I?” he coyly purrs to a reporter for PARADE “magazine.”
MONDAY: Rick Perry, apparently blind to the fact that this birther shit is about as racist as it gets (it’s a fuzzy standard given the racist coating that surrounds the Tea Party’s gooey white center), says “It’s fun to poke at [Obama] a bit and say “Hey how about let’s see your grades and your birth certificate.” (Just as his ancestors thought it was fun to go huntin’ at Niggerhead.)
MINUTES LATER THAT MONDAY: Rick Perry calls the birther issue “a great distraction” but then says “I’m not distracted by it.”
TUESDAY: In response to a reporter questioning him about birther nonsense — the very same nonsense that he himself raised merely two days prior — Rick Perry says:
“You know, I’ll cut you off right there. That is one of the biggest distractions that there is going. We need to be talking about jobs. Somebody wants to see my birth certificate, I’d be happy to show it to ‘em. But the fact is, that is a distraction, and Americans really don’t care about that, if you want to know the truth of the matter. What Americans want to talk about is jobs. Who is going to lay out a plan, which will get America working again.”
Do you feel that? That’s cognitive dissonance slapping you in the face.
Either Rick Perry is the most un-self-aware ignorant asshole on the face of the planet, or he is trying to confuse America into voting for him.
[via Political Animal]
[cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles]
Brachiator
The GOP mainstream is slapping Perry hard about his birther BS.
Perry just seems to be a loose cannon shooting off all over the place over this. I don’t know who he’s trying to reach or impress with this. And apparently, he doesn’t either.
Villago Delenda Est
Rick Perry: I can out flipflop that Mittens guy any day of the week! To Eleven!
KG
Sure it’s not both?
Martin
Either?
Martin
Damn you KG.
Mattminus
Welcome to the post-modern candidacy. Both Perry and Cain have been playing the same game. Abortion is both a decision for the family and none of the governments business, but the government should make it illegal in all cases. Depending on his audience he can truthfully claim to have taken whatever position he thinks they want.
When the Lamestream media tries to get him with a gotcha question about his abortion extremism he can indignantly say “Look, I’m on the record saying thats a family’s decision.
Then, when the reichwing goes nuts, he can say “The media is trying to twist my words, I said very clearly on fox that I think it should be illegal in all cases.”
Both technically true, and I think he’s betting correctly that he won’t be challenged on it by the media.
Villago Delenda Est
The catch of course is that most of Obama’s economic initiatives have been blocked Rethuglican senators, and besides, the economic mess we have is the sole property of Jeb’s deserting coward of a brother.
kindness
More Perry Jedi mind tricks eh?
Martin
Any bets on whether Bachmann will press Perry on whether he agrees with the Fed recommendation to give the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in boys?
Villago Delenda Est
@kindness:
They’re the most pathetic attempts at Jedi mind tricks I’ve ever seen.
Then again, they’re aimed at the 27%, who are susceptible to even a novice youngling’s first attempt at a Jedi mind trick.
dmsilev
My hope is that the American public is not yet ready for President Yosemite Sam.
Miss Barbie
@Villago Delenda Est: “It is a complete distraction from the failed economic policies of the (previous) president.”
FTFY
patrick II
Rick Perry
— Charles Pierce
General Stuck
Teehee. Most excellent!!
bleh
Yeah, and to repeat what I said elsewhere, it’s media-bait, and it’s working like a charm. It’s ALL OVER the blogs, even this one!
This is politics. It is not rational discussion. And that’s doubly true when you’re competing in the Republican primary, and TRIPLY when you’re trying to outflank Romney on the right.
Chris
@Villago Delenda Est:
Minda tricks don’t work ona me – only money!
General Stuck
I think Perry is channeling, or trying to, Donald Duck Trump for saying wild ass shit to get the cameras pointed his way. If he keeps saying wild ass shit, the cameras will be laughing. It’s not a new tactic, but it is a desperate one.
kindness
Perry is Obama’s best hope.
Yes mittens is a sop that Barack should be able to wipe the floor with, but MSM isn’t playing that game. Every utterance makes Republithugs good and Obama as evil. It’ll be that way up until January 2016.
Litlebritdifrnt2
Hey when even Pat Robertson thinks you’re fucking nuts you got damn problems.
AA+ Bonds
Perry’s campaign is reading the numbers correctly – they’ll need birthers to beat Romney.
The reason why? Because Rove and Co. backed Romney, in part, for his non-birtherism.
In other words, Romney’s people have painted Perry’s campaign into a corner as primaries approach and the racist-ass base starts rumbling, and Perry’s people know it but they’re going for it anyway.
There are also talking head careers to worry about.
JPL
Watch Fox and Friends and Megyn Kelly will tell us what Rick Perry means. It will have something to do with
averageReal Americans, I’m sure.Zifnab
@Mattminus: Is this even really a new phenomenon? Or are candidates just getting busted on it more frequently? I mean, they made this joke on Boardwalk Empire just a few weeks ago when Nucky Thompson gets up in front of a black audience and disavows the KKK, then gets up in front of a white audience and condemns the blacks. People got played for suckers in large part because no one would bother to show up to both meetings.
But now that media is so diffuse, you know saying something on morning radio station A is going to make it over to blog B and all over front page of tabloid C by dinner. So you get this nonsense talk that tries to claim everything and nothing at once.
The question I have is will it work? Will people buy it? Will they just keep voting the old party lines because that’s all they know how to do? Or are we going to just see a bunch of purity police dismiss the whole lot as insincere?
AA+ Bonds
@Brachiator:
Rove put money behind Romney and people aren’t stupid, their money will follow Rove’s on the basis of 2010. Romney is your Karl Rove candidate for this election cycle so the primaries have always been his to lose.
Chris
@AA+ Bonds:
“The money,” with the exception of the Koch brothers, who put it behind Cain. I’m very curious what that’s all about.
nader paul kucinich gravel mckinney baldwin ventura sheehan
Ricky . Willard . Herman
three corporate puppets
Do NOT Believe A Word
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaGNAL_u-SU
AA+ Bonds
@Chris:
Pushing discourse to the right before they join the Popular Front. They’ll put their money behind whoever actually wins when Cain drops into “possible VP”, barring some sort of personal grudge, but the Kochs view politics as a series of crisis points for their moneyed class and Cain’s the voice for their serious beliefs about the world right now. This is the famous quasi-Stalinist analysis we know from Grover Norquist.
JGabriel
Rick Perry:
The long form or the short form? African or European Swallow?
.
harlana
Of course it’s racist. That’s the whole point.
By now, it’s no longer a dog whistle, it’s a trumpet blast. It delights the base.
harlana
Speaking of racism, can anybody see the eventual republican nominee picking Cain as VP?
WereBear (itouch)
I love the smell of Right Wing Desperation in the morning.
It’s gonna be Romney and they are despairing about that. As they say, “Suck on it, wingnuts!”
harlana
@Litlebritdifrnt2:
Amen
Origuy
Hey, Ricky! Didn’t you say something about Obama’s grades? Wanna show us yours?
Lojasmo
Something something niggerhead?
What a boat of fail this group of candidates is. It almost makes me wish Huntsman will get the nod.
Jebus.
Linda Featheringill
Nice picture, BTW. :-)
rodnchance
Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law, so I suppose that it is possible that his grades were really, really good. I am willing to bet that Little Ricky’s were sadly, very poor, likely worse than Dubya’s. I could use a good laugh, so Ricky, produce those report cards. If Little Ricky does show his birth certificate how will we know that it is not a forgery? Inquiring people want to know.
Cat Lady
All the Republicans are apparently trolling the whole country. Popcorn!
trnc
OK, I think RP deserves all the scorn that has been heaped on him for all sorts of reasons, and he’s obviously stupid to try to ride the birther train. But am I supposed to have respect for reporters who ask that question at this point?
Bago
From a font nerd perspective I am going to be forced to Bing and decide.
Rick Taylor
Also, too, it’s not true. Though maybe that’s only a secondary consideration if you’re Republican.
And where does Bush who’s administration ended with the greatest economic calamity since the great depression get off talking about any other President’s failed economic policies?
Mnemosyne
@Origuy:
But, see, Perry failed honestly, while Obama used affirmative action to intimidate his professors into giving him good grades. So therefore Perry’s failure automatically proves that Obama is dumber than Perry. QED.
Origuy
Huffington Post got a copy of Perry’s transcript at A&M. If GWB was the C+ Augustus, would Perry be the C- Caligula?
Admiral_Komack
I like the picard_rikerWTF picture; thank you.
Rick Perry is an idiot.
Steady as she goes.