Perrymania and Open Thread

 

"Screw You, We're From Texas" - Ray Wylie Hubbard*

Someone with a stronger stomach than mine is going to have to listen to the presidential announcement speech by the idiot governor of Texas. 

Any of you who are so bold should make a report.  I actually do think he will be the nominee, but I think such predictions probably unwise until we actually see him in action.  Obama should have some fun with an opponent who believes Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are unconstitutional and wants to repeal the direct election of senators, among other things.

What do y'all think?

*I am unfairly giving this song the "Born in the USA" treatment.  Ray Wylie Hubbard is not striking a blow for mindless Texan chauvinism, but rather for the virtues of Texas music versus the crap that comes out of Nashville.  As he notes in the song, Texas "corporations are corrupt, and our politicians are swindlers and loco."     That sounds like a pretty good description of Perry. 

Comments

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

I have, in the past, apologized for inadvertent 'thread-flooding' but this time i will be doing it unashamedly, because there is going to be one mistake made repeatedly in discussing Perry, and that is referring to his ties to 'fundamentalists.' But while there were some classic 'fundies' involved in The Response, for the most part Perry's allies are not 'fundies' but members of the New Apostolic Reformation. And one of the more important things I've tried to do and willbe trying to do is to explain the differences between the two groups, and to make it plain that the differences are a lot more important than 'trivial theological wrangling.'

The NRA does, ay first glance, look a lot like the Religious Right of Francis Schaeffer, Bob Jones, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and the like, only a little crazier -- and that craziness makes them look harmless to secularists and even to moderate to conservative Christians. But they are in fact representatives of what is truly a new religion, as 'traditionally Christian' as are the Moonies, the Mormons, and the followers of various Korean saviours.

I'll be chopping this post up a bit, trying to spend as much time as pain and responsibility wil let me to making the point in different ways. But to make one immediate point, it is possible -- rarely -- to reach a Fundie by using the words of Jesus to teach him compassion, care for the poor, etc. But NARs don't -- for the most part -- even pay attenton to the Gospels, or to the reports of his life and teaching. For them "Christ's" role as King and Ruler is what matters, not his role as a preacher, or even as a 'personal savious' or as the 'judge of mankind.'

(While I'll be spending a lot of time -- I hope -- today on listening to recorded speeches by the NAR -- courtesy of PFAW's Right Wing Watch and even the full originals -- I expect to hear few references to the Gospels, to the Sermon on the Mount, the 'Great Commission" or the other "Christian Classics."

I'll be spending other posts explaining why this is much more important than it sounds, but I'll make one further point here.

We think of fundies as 'older wgite folk' who -- to put it at its crudest -- should 'hurry up and die and get out of the way of the progress that will come from a new, younger, multi-ethnic America.'

But the NAR is -- rightly -- proud of its appeal to all races, the audience is frequently as racially and ethnically diverse as any of us could wish for, and these people are really making appeals not to grandparents but to their kids and grandkids.

I'll be returning to this but let me end this part with a somewhat torturous -- but, I insist, accurate -- metaphor. Fundies see the world through a pair of out-dated, warped, and mud-flecked spectacles, and have a very shaky understanding of the reality they see through them.

That's bad, but for the NAR, their goal is for their followers to put on VR glasses so that the only 'reality' they see is what they are allowed to see, with any glimpses of outside light being dismissed as literally -- and I will always be using that word accurately -- demonic-inspired illusion.

I have claimed before that any 'religious orientation' makes critical thinking difficult. But the NAR -- which is, in this way at least, a true cult -- is devoted to eliminating it entirely. (Again, I'll have examples a plenty as I follow on with this.)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

One point to make quickly. I am trying extremely hard to use words accurately and to avoid 'rhetorical exaggeration.' Thus, we frequently refer to Fundies as 'theocrats' because they seek to filter laws through thir 'Biblical' world-view, particularly on gay matters and forced pregnancy.

But in reality, this is no more 'theocracy' than is the argument by a believeing Christian liberal that we should support New Deal-type programs based on the New Testament's concern for the poor and the Jewish Bible's concern for social justice.

The NAR are real theocrats that is, qaomg their core beliefs is that "Christians" (by their definition) should 'reclaim' control of government as just one of the 'seven mountains' they seek dominion over. (Others include business, education, entertainment and 'the media').

They do not hide this. They make it perfectly plain that this is their goal, and in various ways -- including electrorally -- they have attempted to achieve this, not just in the US but in other countries.

(And that is another difference between the NAR and Fundies. Fundies are almost entirely American-based and see America as the true 'subject' of the Bible. The NAR started in America and is still mostly led by Americans -- but it is world-wide in scope and intent, and has actually gained power in both Africa and the Pacific islands.)

[Sir Charles]

Jim,

That's an interesting and slightly frightening description.

I'd like to think that no matter how sophisticated the salesmen that there is a limited audience for this sort of thing. And that if exposed propoerly it will chase a lot of people away.

I hope.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

More frightening than you realize, but nap time. I'll deal with how little it seems to be chansing people awau, and how incredibly crazy these people are -- if you can briefly forget everything you've learned from the enlightenment and realzie that 'superstitious' means more than 'not changing your jock strap during a winning streak' and 'not living in a house with the number 13,' but means 'belief in a world controled by authentic, personalized rulers of invisible forced that must be propitiated or fought' you'll know where they start.

In a novel, the simple 'over-the-top' nature of their beliefs would be a deliberate cover, letting them fly beneath the radar while no one was taking them seriously.

As for their popularity, it is true that, last year in Hawaii, the one non-NAR connected Gubernatorial candidate won handily against NAR supporters in both the primary and teh general, but whether that is the encouraging sign, or the fact that the NRA supporters did as well as they did is, so far, an open question.

More later, but if anyone wants to look at some recent coverage by PFAW, or wants to go back and listen to the whole sermon by the Reverend Thomas Muthee that included the famous 'blessing of Sistah Sarah against witches' you might find it entertaining.

One other quickie about public acceptance. In 2008, John McCain reached out to John Hagee -- and was forced to drop him within a month because of his 'controversial' statements. Hagee was a sponsor of The Response and was one of the saner of the group -- and this time there was no outcry.

(Yes, saner. He never suggested that the 'U.S. was under a curse because of the erection of a demonic idol in New York Harbor' -- yes, the Statue of Liberty -- or named the demons guiding both the Democratic (Jezebel) and Republican (Ahab) parties, or claimed that Oprah was a forerunner of the AntiChrist -- as other sponsors and backers did.)

[beckya57]

Good heavens, Jim. I consider myself pretty well-informed on this sort of stuff, but this is all news to me. Has Dave Neiwart looked into these people? Sounds up his alley.

Like Sir C, I think and hope that this won't wear well with the general public, but given the current sour mood, who knows.

[beckya57]

@Jim: have you seen the article in the Texas Observer about NRA (August 2011 issue)? Someone better at computers at me should post the link (I got to it via Benen). Seems like a good rundown of a very scary bunch. Isn't this how the Nazis got started?

[beckya57]

Sorry, "NAR," not "NRA." I got my wingnut groups confused.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

becky: I caught myself doing the same thing at least twice, and am glad i didn't miss any. Actually, Dave Neiwert is better on the secular radicals, but the info has been oth there -- most specifically at Talk2Action -- which had a resourse directory of the NAR up as long ago as January 2010 -- Rachel Tabachnick has done yeoman work on the subject. It's also been covered by the people at Religious Dispatches Magazine -- Sarah Posner has done a lot of work, and I believe so has ulie Ingersoll.

Rachel Maddow 'came late to the party' but she's done several pieces on her show.

And most of all, PFAW's Right Wing Watch has been invaluable once Kyle realized these weren't the same thing as Fundies. You really should go through their posts on The Response particularly those in the month before to see what these people are like. He's found their sermons, God, he's even read their books, and he's posted them on the site. After you've checked the posts under The Response, check out some of the individual names, particularly Cindy Jacobs, Mike Bickle and Lou Engel.

But why they have been so invisible? Two reasons that deserve another post.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

First, the NAR isn't one organization. There is a bewildering group of interconnections between them, so much that the respurce directory is several pages. Therefore, it takes stepping back to see the whole web -- and a careful rechecking of your sources to avoid the danger of 'guilt by association.' In fact, these people are associated, but in complex ways -- and you really have to check any given person to see if he or she (there are a LOT of female preachers in the group -- another way they differ from Fundies) fits, and if so, where.

But there is a more important reason, and a good way of demonstrating it is to look at the first example of "7 Mountain Dominionism" to touch national politics.

In Summer 2008, a video came to light of the famous 'Blessing Sister Sarah' sermon by Bishop Thomas Muthee.. At first all most people saw -- probably still what most people saw -- was just the 'blessing against witchcraft' part of the sermon.

And, my apologies, but the video got responses worthy of Beavis & Butthead "Heh,he,he,, he said 'WITches'."

Some people saw the entire video. and caught the subtle anti-Semitism (of the most vicious kind) included in Bishop Muthee's "We should learn from the Semites..." which, in context meant, learn their skill at taking over who sections of life, from business to the Media. Some people may even have noticed the list of things he claimed Christians should strive to control -- but took it as 'pastoral exaggeration' and not a 'plan of action' that it was. (He didn't quite get the '7 Mountains' straight but he had the 'right idea.')

Even then, it made little impact. I wonder how many people that remember it aren't sure if it was a real video or part of a Tina Fey sketch. Most of all, no pone even asked the two key questions:

Who the hell was 'Bishop Thomas Muthee'?

or even

What the hell was a black African Bishop doing giving a sermon in Wasilla Alaska anyway, and how was he aware of the political aspirations of one of the church parishioners?

If people wondered at all, they probably thought of him as some itinerant preacher who drove up to the church in his 1987 Dodge and was given a chance to deliver a sermon as a courtesy to a passing guest. In fact, he is not merely the leader of an African megachurch but also the head of an association of churches that claims over 500 Churches as members. And his being invited cast light on Palin's pastor, and his own connection with the NAR.

But I really have to spend some time with my wife and the tv shortly. I'll try to check in during the rest of the day, but will have more to say on this even as late as tomorrow.

[kathy a.]

here is a link to the benen piece re perry's religious/political views.

and here's the one from the texas observer, where molly started doing what we miss so much.

[beckya57]

Jim: I guess you're right, Aryan Nations/militia stuff is more Neiwart's beat. I'm sure glad other people are willing to read this stuff so I don't have to; I don't have the stomach for it. Did you see the Texas Observer piece? Seemed like a pretty good introduction.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Time for a quick response. The TO piece is good, but from far too much of a distance. The best place is the RWW pieces, which even shows the sermons being delivered. But the most difficult thing to do -- first, before you begin watching them -- is to 'get in the right frame of mind.' Forget every hint of The Enlightenment. Become, briefly truly superstitious. Establish the same mindset that convinced thousands of people that the sun did a wild dance across the sky at Fatima -- and that was only a hundred years ago and there were even newspapers reporting it. Be capable of briefly believing that these people have performed true miracles, that some have even raised the dead -- and be willing to accept it without even thinking of Googling it, because if it isn;'t there, that just shows Satan's work of deceiving the masses. (That includes the thousands of people miraculously cured of AIDS when the Musevenis' concecrated their country to Jesus Christ.)

Picture the same mindset that may have conjured the entire Resurrection story over Peter having seen, in the shadows of dawn, someone who 'looked like Jesus' walking along the shore when he was fishing. Or, for that matter, the same mindset that has a parent refuse medical treatment for a child because 'Praying is enough, if God wants him to be healed, he'll heal him."

Then listen to the sermons and read the book exerpts.

(Maybe this time I'll make my getaway.)

[kathy a.]

here is rachel maddow on perry's prayer rally.

[nancy]

If you'd like to take leave of Perry & Co.'s religious Crazyland for a while, here's a pretty complete roundup of Perry's other unwieldy baggage -- it's a heavy load indeed. No. 4 on the list, his interference in the one serious chance Washington Staters have had in the last 30 years to put our regressive tax code to rights, has left me with new and extra loathing. None other than Bill Gates Sr. headed up the ballot measure effort to approve and implement a state income tax [getting voters to even consider this has historically been a mean feat]. We won't see this on the ballot again for probably another 30 years. Perry's pre-vote implied bribery and tampering was outrageous--it also made clear that he's an nasty sidewinder from the get-go.

[beckya57]

@Jim: frankly I'd rather keep a distance from this insanity. The TO piece was more than enough for me.

[kathy a.]

oy, nancy. 1, 2, and 4 are each enough to make me lose my lunch. also, i feel sorry for texas.

i think shrub still holds the all-time gubernatorial record for killin' people, but even he commuted the death sentence for one guy on innocence grounds. the willingham case is extraordinary. texas has gone the extra mile, and the forensic science commission first had hearings on the willingham case delayed; now the AG has said the commission cannot look at the willingham case.

[nancy]

kathy-- GWB survived Karla Faye Tucker and "please don't kill me" (along with twisted smirk). Media, however, better get ready to repeat the name of Cameron Todd Willingham should Perry go one step farther on the presidential road to 2012.

It does occur though when reading the results of the Iowa straw poll -- the GOP simply does not have a candidate. It just doesn't.

[beckya57]

@nancy--#4 is truly disgusting to those of us who know how desperately WA needs an income tax. That alone is enough to make me loathe the man forever.

[nancy]

Just realized--I should have written that Karla Faye Tucker didn't survive GWB. He walked triumphantly away from his sorry Texan tale. I vow to never use the word "survive" metaphorically again.

[big bad wolf]

being unwise, i persist in my beleif that perry can't win, either the nomination or the presidency. i did have a moment of doubt today when i realized the mayan calander stops after 2012---or right before perry would take office. if one had foreknowledge of a perry presidency, one might simply stop one's calendar

[kathy a.]

karla faye was but one disgusting example for W, out of many (152). of course, she wasn't innocent; she just had a strong case for redemption/rehabilitation, which seems to be a talking point for traditional christians.

the national academy of science published a report in 2009 about scientific deficiencies in forensic science evidence. the kinds of problems in the willingham case are illustrative of ways that junk science has been used in criminal cases, even capital cases -- that second link is to the draft report of the texas forensic science commission following its examination of the willingham case. as noted above, the texas AG has decided it's not a good idea to air in public what is already broadly known about that case.

bbw, i have no idea who might win the GOP nomination, only the thought that there is plenty of material for the general election.

[oddjob]

The profound damage done to salmon by dams (& the federal judge willing to do something about it).

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

More on the NAR tomorrow, but the Ames Straw Poll results are in. The truly insane got 4 of the top 5 places, with Bachmann leading and Paul second (total votes 9494, and Santorum and Cain getting 3113 total. Only Tim "I'm not a lunatic, I just play one on television" Pawlenty broke into the Madman Medal Round, getting the bronze with 2293 votes -- putting his campaign to sleep the way it does voters.

Romney, who was on the ballot, trailed Perry, who wasn't, and sanity (huntsman) got a total of 69 votes.

[oddjob]

AP reports Pawlenty to drop out of race.

[MR Bill]

My congressman, Tea Partier Tom Graves (who ran unopposed in the General election) doesn't have to pay back 2.2 million 'cause the bank shoulda knowed they couldn't pay it back..

Fiscal responsibility for thee but not for me.

[Joe S]

Now it's all up to Michele Bachmann to represent for the great state of Minnesota !!

[Joe S]

I haven't listened to the Prairie Home Companion for a long time. I wonder what Garrison Keilor has been/will do with a Michele Bachmann as national figure.

[low-tech cyclist]

Via Benen, one tidbit from Perry's announcement speech:

We’re dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all Americans don’t even pay any income tax.

All the wrong sorts from the WSJ editorial board to megachurch pastor Rick Warren have got their panties in a wad about the 'lucky duckies' who aren't making enough money to have to pay Federal income tax. But Rick Perry is, as far as I can tell, the first person who's called it an 'injustice.'

Yeah, it's an injustice that so many people get paid so little. But I kinda suspect that isn't what Perry meant. He means that despite their paying sales taxes, payroll taxes, state and local income taxes where they exist, gasoline taxes, and who knows what else, the people in the lower half of the income distribution aren't getting taxed enough.

I can only hope that someone in the White House political operation sees this, and is smart enough to wrap this quote around Perry's neck.

[low-tech cyclist]

Color me surprised that Pawlenty had the good sense to get out right away, rather than keep plugging away for another few months.

It's really down to Romney, Bachmann, and Perry at this point, and given the limitations of the first two, one has to be a bit scared of just how good Perry's chances are if he doesn't shoot himself in the foot in the next several weeks. Intrade says he's the frontrunner, and I've got to agree.

[Sir Charles]

The fuckin' lucky duckies. Or "fluckin" duckies as I like to call them.

Perry, because he has a penis and big business support, will be taken much more seriously than Bachmann. And unlike Drum, I do not think prgamatism will carry the day with Republicans. I think Perry will get the nod.

Needless to say, beating him will be among the most important tasks undertaken in generations. This guy is hideously stupid and deeply dangerous. A Perry presidency would make us feel nostlagia for Bush 43.

[MR Bill]

Great Juan Cole piece on Rick Perry and the Hucksterism of the Rich..

"Perry is in the American tradition of the huckster and the booster, the snake oil salesman who promises you a cure for what ails you that turns out to be one part pretty words and another part dream castle.... Perry sees no problems that can’t be fixed by slashing taxes further on our 400 billionaires and then holding prayer meetings for the unemployed. This blindness is not an accident. The Republican Supreme Court’s interference in election campaign reform has ensured that the super-wealthy in this country can get the best politicians money can buy into office."

[low-tech cyclist]

Can't argue with a word of that, SC, including just how dangerous President Perry would be, and how important it is to beat him.

Hell, a Romney Presidency would be exceedingly dangerous: he may be sane, but he will only put the most minimal brake on the craziness of the GOP Congress. (If the GOP wins the White House, I don't see how we hold the Senate.) The combination of Perry and the GOP Congress would be even more loony than the sum of its parts.

For all my carping about Obama, we might actually get through the next few years with government as we know it semi-intact if he's re-elected. If Perry wins, it'll be like the Visigoths sacking Rome.

[beckya57]

Agree with everything everyone else has already said. I can't believe we've gotten to this place. It's UNJUST that almost half the population doesn't pay income tax???? Yes it certainly is, but absolutely not the way Perry meant. Do we even live in the USA any more?

[nancy]

SirC -- And right on cue, our media steps up to meet the challenge. Here's David Gregory paving the way for the rest of the horde.

Upside to this thread -- That clip sent me off to rummage around for the old Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff. And "house is a rockin', don't bother knockin'………" :-)

[Morzer]

I suspect it comes down to Mittens The Moderately Maniacal and Perry the Primping Plunderer. For my money, T-Paw's fate prefigures what will happen to Romney - much fixed smiling, increasingly desperate pandering, and a growing awareness that there's really no point, before he ultimately drops out and slinks into obscurity as the Ghost of Beltway Past. That said, I don't see Perry beating Obama. He consistently runs worse against him than Romney in state by state polling. It's not so long ago that one poll suggested he could lose Texas to Obama!

[MR Bill]

Nancy, that l'il dance of Gregory's got me to email NBC and ask if the Game of Equivalence hasn't gone far enough.
I said I was a Southerner and could tell the difference between a social program and secession, and that it was sad this empty suit feel he has to pretend they are somehow the same...
Idiots.

[kathy a.]

nancy, that link sends chills down my spine. quite an amazing example of teh stoopid, journalism division.

dear lord, it's more than a year until the republican convention.

[low-tech cyclist]

That said, I don't see Perry beating Obama. He consistently runs worse against him than Romney in state by state polling. It's not so long ago that one poll suggested he could lose Texas to Obama!

The problem is, polling doesn't mean much about any issue where the electorate's opinions are weak or unformed. Most Americans don't know anything about Perry other than that he's governor of Texas, and a Republican. When the media introduce Perry to them with its usual kid-glove treatment for Republicans (see nancy's link above), their opinion of him will improve. It'll take awhile to see just how much.

[Sir Charles]

My wife happened to flip through MTP this morning -- I watched about ten minutes and had to turn it off. I missed that quote, but there was plenty of horror in watching that arrogant, empty-headed, pituitary case.

[Morzer]

Low-tech cyclist - given that the poll in question was one taken in Texas, where Perry has been governor for 10 years, I doubt that the electorate has much in the way of unformed feelings. Yes, polls this far out don't matter much, but it was certainly interesting and not what one would expect. As for Perry himself, I think he's getting out while the going is good. He only barely kept Texas afloat by using stimulus money, he's wrecked their education system and the "economy" he's created is one that a banana republic might consider a touch excessive. I don't see how the whole ramshackle contraption sputters on much longer. As for the prayer to end the drought, not to mention the idea of God redeeming the state of Texas from its entirely predictable woes.. well, what can one say?

[oddjob]

The Christianist Takeover

[nancy]

Oddjob--Andrew writes:

"And it has hijacked an entire political party; and recently held to ransom an entire country. I knew it would get worse before it gets better. But this bad?"

This dodge is what needs to be countered from here on out I think. This was no hijacking any more than the original Southern Strategy was a hijacking. The GOP sent specially engraved party invitations and got the rsvp's and now they are stuck with the clean-up after the party turned ugly. Well, fuck them.

[nancy]

Oh my. Not very ladylike, was that? I should have written fuck them .

[kathy a.]

ahem. good point, nancy, but we will be stuck with the cleanup if one of the clowns gets elected.

[big bad wolf]

perry is not real popular in texas outside his base, which of course votes. chris bell ran quite well against perryin 06---in fact, if far too many usual demo voters hadn't been wanking off to their youthful love for the the stunningly immature kinky friedman, bell might have had a chance to win a serious race. instead, we got a bunch of 40 to 65 year old dems who thought an idiot (kinky) was cool and transgressive (people i know who can find intolerance and isms everywhere let kinky's stunningly offensive comments about katrina refugees slide; perhaps he was being subversive (i'm so tolerant) but it still disqualified him from public office, if not a cable show)and let another idiot (perry) off easy

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

I think I've figured it out. All I have to do is find a piece of the right side of the mushroom, nibble it until I regain my full height, and then i can look down on the whole political world and scream "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" ...

...and then wake up to the feel of Kittwnz schnoozling my forehead.

This is Wonderland after all, isn't it? Not that the characters match up so well with the originals (Mitt Romney might be a perfect 'mock turtle' but there are too many candidates for the other roles -- and after all 'we're all mad here' which fits.)

I do remember reading, following, and even commenting on politics back in the real world -- and the rules were totally different back there. Then, some candidate for even a minor statewide office who appeared on the radio show of someone accurately described as a 'one-man, all-purpose hate group' would have been ostracized by his party, probably be asked to leave the ballot, and might, if he was recalcitrant, find his party supporting the opposing candidate.

Here, appearing on Bryan Fischer's show is almost a requirement for Republicans -- and I wonder how long before some Democrats ask to be invited.

Back there, a Governor who made a bad joke about secession would have been a national sensation, and might have found his career set back at least a cycle or two.

Here, Rick perry makes a serious suggestion that secession would be a potentially good option to consider -- and is one of the three frontrunners for 2012.

Back there, a candidate whose spouse did 'ex-gay therapy,' who received substantial campaign donations from a conman who was defrauding people by pretending to collect for Naval Veterans (and who was last seen at a rally for the candidate before he disappeared totally) and who was a close associate of a minister who praised Islamic nations for having the moral courage to carry through on their religious views and execute gays, would simply be a one-term footnote to history.

Here, she's another of the big three.

And, of course, back there, any of these headlines would end a politician's national -- and frequently even his state-wide -- ambitions. Here...

Presidential candidate accepts support from minister who says (each a different minister):

a) The Statue of Liberty is a Demonic Idol;
b) Both political parties are under the control of specific demons -- which the minister identfies, names, and describes;
c)claims that Oprah Winfrey is a precursor to the Antichrist
d)denies a connection between homophobic bullying and suicide, claiming that the suicides were because the gay 'realized his life style was abnormal';
e)compares gay adoption to children who lost their parents in 9/11;
f)claims that God sent Hitler as a way of encouraging Jews to return to Israel
g)is a prime advocate of 'bible-based baby beating';
h)claims that repealing DADT caused bird deaths in Arkansas
h)recommends burning Catholic, Mormon, and non-Christian religious objects
i)recommends 'spiritual housecleaning' because demons can sneak into houses through ordinary objects.

And that candidate is opposed by one with the following (in the real world) disqualification, recommending as a 'must read' and describing as a mentor an author who (one author this time) -- no, I'll write about John Eidsmoe tomorrow when I am awake.

Meanwhile, here in this delightful land of gardens and insanity, we are all desperate that our President -- who we supported and hoped would be the leader of a 'return to FDR liberalism' -- doesn't make yet another blunder that turns off co many people that it will be impossible to find the monetary contributions, enthusiasm, and GOTV needed to elect a candidate.

(Possible example. If there were to be a vacancy on SCOTUS, nominating -- through compromise and pragmatism -- a candidate who would vote to overrule Citizen's United but who also believes there is no 'right to privacy' included in the penumbra of the 14th Amendment and who would thus vote to overrule Lawrence, Roe, and Griswold and return such matters to the states.)

[Sir Charles]

bbw,

It would be interesting to see how well Perry would do in a high turnout election in Texas.

I don't even want to talk about Kinky Friedman -- anyone who makes politics seem like a joke is a dangerous person. This is, literally in Texas, life and death shit.

Jim,

I had similar thoughts on looking at the results of the Ames straw poll -- two certifiable lunatics take over half of the vote, helping to prompt the entry into the race of a guy who thinks Social Security unconstitutional and who thinks threats of secession are appropriate.

It is genuinely bad to have one of two major parties in this country controlled by religious fanatics and lunatics.