Rick Perry with George W. Bush

With how debased American political “debate” has become, is it any surprise that the 2012 “election” is sinking into the scatological? From CBS News’ Political Hotsheet:

Texas Gov. and presidential aspirant Rick Perry believes the Obama administration is using “over-the-top rhetoric” and shows “disdain for the military” in its handling of the Marines videotaped urinating on dead fighters in Afghanistan.

Speaking to CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley Sunday, Perry said, “What’s really disturbing to me is the over-the-top rhetoric from this administration and their disdain for the military.”

“When you’re 18 or 19, you do dumb things. These kids made a mistake, there’s not any doubt about it,” Perry continued.

He added that those involved in the incident should be “appropriately punished,” but that charging the Marines with a criminal act is “over the top.” He maintained that the soldiers were following in the tradition of Gen. George Patton, who he said acted similarly in war times.

Republican Sen. John McCain told “CBS This Morning” earlier this week that the video would do “great damage” and called for a complete investigation. He said that U.S. service members found guilty should be punished…

Read more here.

Finally an inspirational candidate with something exciting to say emerges in the presidential race.

Larry Flynt. Photo: Toglenn (CC)

Good old Larry Flynt is pulling one of his favorite stunts on Repuplican presidential candidate Rick Perry. What do you think, is there someone out there who’ll take the bait? From Reuters:

Pornographic magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered $1 million on Thursday to anyone with proof of “an illicit sexual liaison” involving leading Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry.

The offer by the politically left-leaning Flynt targeting Perry was similar to past efforts by the Hustler magazine founder to embarrass public figures he dislikes.

Los Angeles-based Larry Flynt Productions, which publishes Hustler, said it bought full-page advertisements in the weekly editions of the U.S. satirical tabloid The Onion and the Austin Chronicle, a Texas alternative paper, seeking evidence of any Perry peccadilloes.

“I’ve been doing this for 35 years,” Flynt said in a telephone interview with Reuters. “We’ve found running these ads were very successful in finding sources to come forward.”

A copy of the most recent ad circulated to the media by Flynt’s company read, “Have you had a gay or straight sexual encounter with Governor Rick Perry?”

“Can you provide documented evidence of illicit sexual or intimate relations with the governor? Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine will pay you up to $1 million if we choose to publish your verified story and use your material.”…

[continues at Reuters]

The Parable of the Blind. Pieter Bruegel (1568)

In Business Insider, scuttlebutt that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be softening up Obama, Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner for yet another round of bailouts for the incompetent multinational financial elites.

Awesome! I was afraid that the next round of bailouts would require “patriots” like representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) to take to the floor begging again. I feel so relieved now, knowing that the whole thing can proceed quietly without anyone having to jeopardize their campaign funding.

But where do our other, prospective “leaders” stand on this topic? Hard to say. Irrelevance and opacity seem to be the primary tenets of the major candidates’ PR machines. Here’s what I mean.

Ron Paul’s heart may be in the right place regarding the need to end counterproductive wars and pointlessly intrusive social wedge issues, but his knack for failing to identify urgent priorities remains unequalled. Witness the most recent update to his news page: Paul’s response to the burning issue of a vaguely worded email RECEIVED (i.e., NOT sent) by a third-tier lackey in the slave galley of Obama’s PR establishment. Yeah, I know. $527 million is 0.05% of the $1 TRILLION in bailout money supposedly at stake in the Euro bailout, but Ron’s never claimed to be more than what he clearly is:  an amateur.

Still, it was a bit of a disappointment. Those of us who had taken heart in the earnestness of Ron’s campaign do feel a little saddened by his betrayal of it’s core moral theme, that public figures should take firm stands on what they believe and know to be correct, regardless of the short-term pragmatic consequences. Ron doesn’t have and never had a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning anything other than honorable mention. But his piling on here to the failure of an innovative business venture, and one pioneering a technology that could threaten the petroleum-military complex at that, just feels like he’s gotten himself lost.  Hopelessly lost.

And that was the high ground, folks. The rest of the lot could either bore you with their predictability or make you laugh at their vapidity:

A quick visit to Michele Bachmann’s website yielded only her trumpeted zeal for “politicking” in Iowa. FYI to Bachmann:  You’re from Iowa.  You have home turf advantage. You already won the straw poll there last month.  Time to move on.  There’s another 49 states in the union, some of them with more than 1 electoral college vote.

Rick Perry’s site wasn’t a helluva lot better. True, he seems to have left last month behind him, but devil a word you’ll hear about the impending bailouts. He also spent all his gunpowder in low-grade partisan b*llshitting. G*ddamn it, at least Bachmann gave us a few laughs.  All Perry did was bore me to tears.

Mitt Romney’s response was a little more nuanced and amusing. Yes, no one is surprised that the much-vaunted hedge fund manager uttered not peep #1 about the use of public funds to underwrite his pals’ vacation homes in St. Tropez, or that he cleared his policy platform with these same scum bags. But did you know you could win a once-in-a-lifetime date with this Tiger Beat dreamboat?  I don’t know about you, but his flat, nasal automaton speech and “Reaganesque” elder statesman-y graying temples just make me melt. ‘Specially the way he says: “Corporations are people, too, my friend!”

No, you won’t hear much about Bailout III:  The Re-”Bush”-ening on any administration web site either.  Not the Fed. Not the Treasury. Not the president’s blog. Hardly much of a surprise. Obama’s always been an awkward, “play-behind-the-beat kind” of guy anyhow.  He seems continually caught off-guard by the way his bailouts, unconstitutional wars, plutocratic tax giveaways and civil rights violations have continued to erode the economy and the support of the people who voted for him in 2008.

But shouldn’t we expect more from his “challengers”? There should be no question of pragmatic compromises in order to achieve tactical victories, because going on the 4th year of 10%+ unemployment and simultaneously sky-rocketing unemployment claims and corporate profits, there’s really nothing left to compromise any more. Ergo a complete and overwhelming moral victory seems free for the taking.

Another tidal wave of tribulation from Dystopia Diaries

The Prophet Joel as imagined by Michelangelo

Glenn Wright wrote recently in the Examiner (before Gov. Perry officially declared his presidential candidacy):

If Governor Rick Perry (R) of Texas runs for president of the United States, he will have one of the most unusual and specific bases for his platform of any candidate in many decades—the spiritual visions of the ancient Hebrew prophet Joel.

Perry has jumped on the “Joel’s Army” bandwagon, claiming in his promotional message for his The Response prayer and fasting event in Houston in August: “Some problems are beyond our power to solve, and according to the Book of Joel, Chapter 2, this historic hour demands a historic response.”

The language of Joel 2, written centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ, and referring to a time after the return of the Hebrews from their Babylonian exile, has been reinterpreted by some Christian groups to be a prophecy referring to the “end time” or Apocalypse. The “response” Perry is talking about is the one Joel 2 calls for when God’s people are confronted by an Apocalyptic crisis. In part a call for fasting and prayer, it is also a description of a powerful army of God.

Read More: Examiner

There’s a lot not to like about these goons and right now I’m still taking it all in, but what sticks in my memory is Rick “I Don’t Have A Prayer” Santorum attacking Ron Paul in the previous debate for underestimating the “threat” from Iran. Personally, I think that might be the only thing Ron Paul has gotten right, and seeing this one bit of sanity being attacked should worry us all.

In the aftermath of the debates, the question is: Who came out on top? This article offers some insight, but what does the Disinfo community think? Who’s in the lead, who will we see fall first, who will make the funniest mistake in the race? I’m putting my money on Newt Gingrich accidentally distending his jaw and swallowing a screaming minority child whole, unaware that the cameras are rolling.

The biggest positive response at last night’s Republican presidential debate may have occurred when moderator Brian Williams, addressing Rick Perry, began, “Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times,” at which point he was interrupted as the crowd spontaneously broke into rapturous applause.

The Death Penalty Information Center lists nine people executed by Texas in recent years who were likely innocent.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has leapfrogged to the top tier of Republican presidential candidates largely on the strength of one compelling fact: During more than a decade as governor, his state created more than 1 million jobs, while the nation as a whole lost 1.4 million jobs.

Perry says the “Texas miracle” rests on conservative pillars that he would bring to the White House: minimal regulation and government, low taxes and a determination to limit the reach of Uncle Sam.

What he does not say is that much of that job growth has come because of government, not in spite of it.

With a young and fast-growing population, a large and expanding military presence and an influx of federal stimulus money, the number of government jobs in Texas has grown at more than double the rate of private-sector employment during Perry’s tenure.

The disparity has grown sharper since the national recession hit. Between December 2007 and last June, private-sector employment in Texas declined by 0.6 percent while public-sector jobs increased by 6.4 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, government employees account for about one-sixth of the workforce in Texas.

The significant role of government in Texas’s relative prosperity stands in stark contrast to the “go-it-alone” image cultivated by Perry, who credits a lack of government interference for fostering a business-friendly environment in Texas.

Read more here.

Rick Perry. Photo: Gage Skidmore (CC)

That and more revelations from Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry via Rolling Stone:

No politician who aspires to the Oval Office has shown any courage when it comes to talking frankly about climate change – President Obama won’t even say the words. But Perry’s view that the consequences of a changing climate – such as the hot, dry weather that has devastated farmers and ranchers in Texas and driven wildfires that have burned up millions of acres – is best handled by praying to God for relief puts him in a category of his own. Craven political move or sign of a return of the Dark Ages? Either way, it’s safe to say that a man who believes he can solve drought with prayer is not going to be big on pushing any kind of government action to reduce carbon pollution. “If Perry was President, one of the things I’d not worry about is a carbon tax,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “I’d worry about big spiders eating New Jersey first.”…

[read the rest at Rolling Stone]

After months of speculation and prodding by Republicans, Texas Governor Rick Perry has officially entered the 2012 race. His spokesman, Mark Miner confirmed that Perry is running for president.

Perry will deliver a speech at the RedState.com Gathering in Charleston, S.C. Saturday. The speech was originally billed as an address that would make clear his intentions regarding a run for the presidency, but now it has turned official.

The Texas Governor will swing through three key early states – South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa – this weekend. Following his speech in Charleston, he will meet with S.C. Republican officials before heading to a house party in Greenland, New Hampshire where he will meet with Granite State voters.

Sunday, he will speak at the Black Hawk GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner Fundraiser in Waterloo, Iowa. Earlier today, Michele Bachmann, who was born in Waterloo, announced she will also speak at the dinner. Perry, the longest serving governor in the country, has never lost a race during his nearly three decades in public office.

Read More: ABC News

Photo: eschipul (CC)

The Washington Independent reports:

Billed as an “alternative” to Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer and fast event “The Response,” the ACLU of Texas and Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced today they will be hosting a gathering of their own the evening before Perry’s, to promote the diversity they say is missing from the Christian-based prayer event.

“Gov. Perry’s decision to sponsor a ‘Christians-only’ prayer rally is bad enough. That he turned to an array of intolerant religious extremists to put it on for him is even worse,” Americans United for Separation of Church and State director Barry Lynn said in a statement. “This event unites us in our conviction that government should have no favorite theology and that it must always strive to ensure that all citizens — Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and others — are full and equal partners in the public square.”

Called “Faith, Family and Freedom,” the Aug. 5 event is scheduled to feature religious and non-religious leaders from the Houston community and is intended to celebrate “diversity, inclusion, and unity” — qualities the civil liberties and watchdog groups say are lacking from the prayer rally.

Continues at Washington Independent]

It’s dubbed The Response, and involves Texans simultaneously praying on August 6 so as to “make a sound that will be heard in the heavens,” with a football stadium in Houston as the focal point. Also, it’s kind of a response to New York’s legalization of gay marriage, and other governors are invited:

Governor Rick Perry’s response? He has commanded residents to pray for rain. No, not in a passing remark in a speech, but with an official decree designating “Days of Prayer for Rain” on which Texans will “offer prayers on that day for the healing of our land and the restoration of our normal way of life” and “to humbly seek an end to these dangerous wildfires.” No further comment needed.