Last night Governor of Texas Rick Perry, who I once compared to Elmer Gantry and feared would be the Republican running against President Obama next November, essentially doomed his campaign by failing to remember the third of three federal agencies that he would cut as president:
It is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the — what’s the third one there? Let’s see. Commerce and, let’s see. I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.
Credit to Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish for finding a relevant Tom Stoppard passage (from his play Travesties) for the moment:
Henry Carr: “I learned three things in Zurich during the war. I wrote them down. Firstly, you’re either a revolutionary or you’re not, and if you’re not you might as well be an artist as anything else. Secondly, if you can’t be an artist, you might as well be a revolutionary. . . . I forget the third thing.”
One Comment
I read about this but chose not to watch the online video as I do not enjoy watching people make fools of themselves. It just makes me uneasy and occasionally very angry and embarrassed. What does that say about me? Oh well, I don’t take joy in watching others squirm. Let’s leave it at that.
But I don’t mind reading about it. All I can say is, I knew Perry was a doofus before this goof and now I have the proof.
Luckily this should put paid to his attempts to get the most important job in the world. Can you imagine?
Mitt Romney is another of the GOP plastic automatons who seem to be in the running this cycle. I can only hope he implodes at some point as well. Then they’ll be left with Gingrich, that Tea Party woman from Wisconsin or wherever, and Caine.
What on earth does this say about our country?