Via TPM, Texas Governor Rick “Goodhair” Perry is attempting to raise his national profile by scamming other Republicans into publicly supporting his Day of Praaayer. He has already drawn some response, albeit perhaps not quite what he had in mind, per the Des Moines Register:
Contrary to earlier reports, Gov. Terry Branstad has not signed a letter urging Iowans to pray and fast on Aug. 6….
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Branstad received a request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a possible presidential candidate, asking the Iowa governor to encourage Iowans to take Aug. 6 as a prayer day, and inviting Branstad to come to Houston for a prayer event there…
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Perry issued a proclamation declaring a “day of prayer and fasting for our nation’s challenges” on Aug. 6 – which happens to be one week from Iowa’s straw poll – and urged other governors to do the same. Perry is inviting all 49 governors to join him in Houston on that date to pray and “call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles,” he says on the website for the event, called “The Response.”
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“The Response” is being organized by both Perry and the American Family Association, which is the Tupelo, Mississippi-based Christian group that helped fund Iowa conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats’ successful efforts to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices last year…
Now, I understand from my reading that the god Jesus upon whom Governor Perry so smarmily calls (“… ..A historic crisis facing our nation and threatening our future demands a historic response from the church. We must, as a people, return to the faith and hope of our fathers. The ancient paths of great men were blazed in prayer – the humility of the truly great men of history was revealed in their recognition of the power and might of Jesus to save all who call on His great name.”) was not, historically, a big fan of those who would use His worship for their personal profit. Would it be too much to entreat the Lord of True Heartland Americans(tm) to smite Governor Perry’s gathering, as a demonstration of His mighty wrath?
I’m not asking for transforming Perry into a pillar of salt, or anything outside the realm of heretical modern physics — just a well-placed thunderbolt or six, some mild electrical shocks, a local-newscast-worthy podium fire, maybe a myocardial ‘incident’ when one of the Pharisees realizes he’s been called out?
After all, I’m told Texas could really, really use a good old-fashioned three-day rainstorm…
dmsilev
Well, one could argue that inviting a bunch of Republican governors to join you is functionally equivalent to requesting a plague of locusts…
SFAW
You can NOT petition the Lord with Prayer!
MAJeff
A day of not eating and talking to himself would be the most productive and least destructive day of Perry’s career.
jl
Is Perry running for President of the US, or President of Texas?
If the GOP nomination is going to be a clown car show, then you need a lot of clowns.
SFAW
a/k/a Republican Jesus? (Thank FSM for General J.C. Christian.)
Martin
Oh, to be in the room when Jerry Brown got that invitation.
Just Some Fuckhead
Nothing moves the Lord like a big showy prayerfest.
Cliff in NH
I need more batteries, My UPS isn’t lasting nearly long enough to finish watching the maddow show =(
Redshift
There is precedent. Remember how they prayed for rain on Obama’s outdoor acceptance speech in 2008, and the Republican convention got hit with a hurricane. That’s probably the most plausible smiting I’ve seen in my lifetime.
lamh34
this is kinda O/T, but since Mittens is “good-hair” runner-up, then anyone have any idea why Mitt Romney is skipping the Iowa Straw Poll? On Rachel Richard Wolfe, is saying that the Straw Poll is a corrupt over-covered mess anyway, so it’s a not a big deal.
But my question is, isn’t it a big deal in Iowa, and won’t Iowans be insulted, especially since Mittens won during the last election cycle?
joeyess
Jeebus-H-Christ-On-A-Griilled-Cheese. If even half of the invited governors show up to this Chautauqua Tent freak show I’ll be terrified that this country has gone insane.
SFAW
Fixed.
Viva la reconquista! (One of the (Rethug) voices in my head is saying “Vern, why are those Messcans doing recon on my kiester?”)
sukabi
Anne, Texas is on the tail end of Tornado Alley… so maybe a well placed twister isn’t out of the question…
Redshift
@lamh34: I think it means he’s sure he would lose, and it’s better PR to piss off Iowans than for the whole country to see him compete and lose in the first contest.
jl
@Redshift:
Let us hope that Perry prays on the street corner, where people may see him, so that he will have his reward.
SteveinSC
“After all, I’m told Texas could really, really use a good old-fashioned three-day rainstorm…” Well, Sonny Purdue had a get-together on the steps of the Georgia State House to pray for rain. The worthy Devines prayed and the Glossolalia Quartet sang, but no rain. Maybe it would work better in Texas. Hope they get there before Texas secedes.
JPL
@jl: I’d hate to see Perry struck by lightening.
Keith G
@sukabi: I live near the center of the city so I will thank you not to wish for my harm.
Martin
@lamh34: The straw poll is bullshit. McCain didn’t participate last time and Mittens did – that should tell you how useful it is. But Mitt paid almost $5M to win last time. Yeah, you ‘win’ by giving money. There’s only about 15,000 votes cast. I suspect Mitt figured out there were better places to spend $5M.
Suffern ACE
Actually, since he is a Christian, I wouldn’t be at all upset of Obama flew to Texas that day to join in the fastivities. Perry is not the archbishop of the US.
SteveinSC
@JPL: Well, if he’s such a good xtian, he ought to be wearing a lightning rod and standing out in a corn field hoping to be taken by Jesus.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Suffern ACE:
I think that would violate the do-nothing policy of the Obama administration.
jl
Sorry, forgot to answer AL’s question.
Yes, it would be wrong to pray for injuries, strictly speaking. Unless you want to declare an ‘Old Testament exception’ for this one.
Not sure whether you can do that if you not are the very model of a modern pious Xtianist, but you can give it a try, maybe no one will call you on it.
Jennifer
@sukabi: My personal preference is for hail.
Hail the size of canned hams.
Suffern ACE
@Martin: Honestly, I think Iowa and its arcane electoral traditions needs to be retired. Each state should rotate into the “first” position. I know NH and Iowa would grouse, but it’s not our fault they made the primary process into Mardi Gras.
jl
@Jennifer: With a lot of water added, I guess.
I don’t like that kind of ham.
KG
So, let me get this straight… Perry’s solution to a sustained economic downturn is to encourage people to set aside a day where they do not buy food, goods, or services? Really?
Also, off topic, but argued my first case before the Ninth Circuit today. TILA case, think the good guys might actually win one
KG
@Suffern ACE: There’s something to having small states where politicians can engage in retail politics. If California or New York were first, you’d lose that very quickly. And I’m no so sure it’s the people of Iowa or New Hampshire that turned it into a fiasco as much as it was a 24/7 media with nothing else to talk about
Southern Beale
Remember when one of James Dobson’s cronies wondered if it would be wrong to pray “for a deluge to drown out Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention”?
Yeah it was wrong. It’s still wrong.
But you know, during Geogia’s epic drought Gov. Sonny Perdue had a day of prayer for rain and it didn’t work. The drought got worse.
RoonieRoo
Umm…I would take a three day light rain but I would prefer not to have a three day gully washer. My veggie garden is pretty parched here outside Austin.
If you could maybe direct God on the storm placement for best odds on the lightening bolt hitting the appropriate location, we would appreciate the drought relief.
Martin
@Suffern ACE: Not sure I want 10% of the race to be over after Texas weighs in first. Pretty sure folks in the south would feel the same way if CA got first dibs.
How about this: Toss the states. Every week for 10 weeks, 43 congressional districts are picked randomly to hold primary contests. States can still do all-or-nothing or proportionate allocation of delegates, but that’d test the candidates ability to organize and deliver broad platforms to all voters. At the district level, the horse race aspect of this changes significantly. Start after Memorial Day, done by Sept 1. Cut the whole campaign season in half.
Martin
@KG: Hey, congrats. When can we expect the Senate to block your appointment to the bench?
Warren Terra
Your post doesn’t seem to mention it, but I assume you know that Perry has confronted his state’s incredible, destructive drought by announcing at least one statewide prayer for rain?
But hey, that’s not all they’ve done to address the situation. Why, a month or so ago in Midland, where it hadn’t rained for most of a year, they announced that people would only be allowed to water their fncking lawns three days a week (a voluntary restriction, as there were no penalties included). Football fields got four days a week; mustn’t interfere with the civic religion.
MikeJ
@KG:
Congrats! When you say the good guys might win, I assume that means you weren’t working for a bank?
Suffern ACE
@KG: Oh I understand why it’s done. But there are lots of states like Iowa and few like Texas and California. Delaware, Nebraska, Kentucky…there’s tradition, and then there’s paying $5 million to win a straw poll in August. Paid $5 million to whom for what?
jl
Let the GOP faithful divide their candidates by lots, with Urim and Thummim, until the righteous are separated from the unrighteous.
That sounds like a good idea to me. It is very Biblical.
Anyone know how I can get it adopted?
Booda
We could use some rain here in Dallas – so, yeah a well-timed hurricane down in Houston would bring us a few showers. I’ll pray to bob wills (the real god of Texas) for that to happen. My only prayers to Jesus go something like this: Jesus Rick perry is an asshat! OR Jesus people, really? You voted for that jackass again?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Martin: That’s insane. Break it down by television market, scale it from smallest/cheapest to most expensive. That way, anyone can run for President relatively inexpensively.
geg6
If I believed that prayer was anything other than a joke, I’d not only pray for injuries, but I’d pray for the Texas wildfires to burn every one of those mother fuckers to a cinder. But since prayer is nothing but a joke, I’ll settle for pointing and laughing.
Gawd, I’m so sick of fucking Christianists and religionists of all stripes that I wish god would prove me wrong and just end the fucking world and be done with it and all these stupid assholes and their fucking “prayers” and “religion” and the whole goddam mess.
Drinking wine and staying away from the toobz for several days just makes me even more intolerant of this shit and it purveyors. I had hoped for the opposite.
+6
lahru
I’m thinkin Perry feels alot like Pres Johnson feels alot like Pres Johnson felt about Vietnam.
“How the F&*ck did I get here”
Anne Laurie
@Keith G:
Yeah, I don’t wish ill upon you poor not-Perry-voting Texans, I just wish the smarmy fvck and his grifting teammates might actually experience some of the Mighty Wrath they’re always wishing upon the rest of us. You still need the rain, right?
Martin
@Just Some Fuckhead: No, you have it backward. The money is going to be there cheap or not – might as well diffuse it as much as possible. You really think starting the primary season in Alaska and Guam is going to produce a low-budget frontrunner? Never going to happen so long as the high-priced markets are carrying all the votes. By breaking things down by district, every race carries equal weight, whether it’s just Harlem or all of Alaska. There’s no skipping out on the unimportant ones, and I’d bet you can campaign effectively in Harlem (a very expensive media market) a hell of a lot more cheaply than you can in Alaska (the cheapest one).
The two problems with the current scheme is that big states will always trump small ones because of the EV issue, and early states will always trump late ones because of the frontrunner advantage. My plan solves both problems, and it’s designed to be expensive. Nobody can buy an army in 43 different races simultaneously. Real grassroots campaigns have a huge advantage here.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
Interesting he didn’t bother to throw in a Judeo-Christian* or two.
*Translation: Hey you Jewy Jewish Jews, we really don’t hate you all that much.
Mr Stagger Lee
I think it is time to break out the old gods like Molech or Baal, go down to Austin and sacrifice Bevo! And if there is a call for human sacrifice, Jerry Jones would do.
Anne Laurie
@jl:
I’m a devout Animist, and a Cynic of the classical sort. “May Perry be justly rewarded by the rules of the God he so publicly professes” is within the rules for me!
Calouste
A day of prayer and fasting eh?
I fear Haley Barbour and Chris Christie will unfortunately have other commitments that day.
Martin
@Anne Laurie: My superhero dream is to build a group of spaceships, wait for the next Rapture prediction, beam up 10,000 of the most obnoxious of the lot in a nice public spectacle, and wait for the entertainment to start. We could repeat it each year, it’d be a hoot.
KG
@MikeJ: You are correct, representing borrowers in this one.
@Martin: I don’t have the right pedigree to get a job as a judge (wrong school, wrong grades, wrong work history). Not sure I’d want to be a judge anyway, the other branches intrigue me more… If I were to consider politics
cbear
@Just Some Fuckhead: That’s crazy. Give the candidates 2 minutes each at the end of American Idol, vote a couple off each week, and change election day to coincide with the finale.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Martin: Yer not thinking clearly. Why in the world should you have to advertise over and over in the same television market for the various congressional districts that comprise a DMA, but at different times? Yer just opening up the system to even more money abuse.
KG
@Just Some Fuckhead: How about we all agree to ignore presidential election news until 12 months before the presidential general election?
Corner Stone
@cbear:
I wanna see some softshoe.
Martin
@Just Some Fuckhead: How can there be more money abuse? SCOTUS has determined that’s a lost cause. The money is going to show up, and starting with cheap markets means that the folks with money will simply buy up all the ad time.
Instead, they should change to a system where money simply isn’t as effective as actual organizing. You can’t get rid of the money.
Corner Stone
@KG:
Sorry to hear that dog.
Warren Terra
@Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen:
I’ve always translated “Judeo-Christian” as meaning “I don’t have any Jewish friends”.
I wonder: in Utah, do people prate about “Christeo-Mormon” ideals? In Egypt, do people wanting to condescend to the Copts rhapsodize about “Christeo-Islamic” values?
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
same old same old, consumer grade boomer garbage. the republican field merely reflects the tastes, and preferences of the current crop of most likely voters. if you paid attention to popular culture the last 45 years or so, you could totally see this coming.
Villago Delenda Est
“Judeo-Christian” was invented as a term after WWII and the Holocaust, to throw the Jews a bone.
Before that, it did not exist.
Davis X. Machina
None of this would be even a problem if Obama hadn’t punted on single prayer.
Hey, wait a minute….
Davis X. Machina
@Corner Stone:
I wanna see “Lip-synch for Your Life!”
Just Some Fuckhead
@Martin: If yer making the system even more dependent on money, what exactly are you fixing?
That’s just ridiculous.
hamletta
@joeyess: I’ll thank you not to disparage the fine Chautauqua movement. It was a really cool thing, actually.
I think this is truly shameful. In my church, we pray to God to grant our government actors the wisdom to govern well. They still have to do the work.
Gov. GoodHair is abandoning his responsibilities for a showy display of unctuous piety when there are plenty of actions he and his fellow elected officials could take that would help our country.
That they choose not to take those actions and instead choose others that make the problem worse is on them. It is the height of arrogance to drag God into it.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen:
judeo-christian, is old testament envy, they love the vengeful, spiteful, angry god, but back in the day you couldn’t win with that formula, at least not without pissing off the powers that be, so they invented the kinder lighter christian version, which goes well with power in the political and economic sense, and the rest is history.
jl
@Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen: For Xtianists, Jews are props in the wished for Endtime.
As I understand it, after the rapture, Jews get a second chance at redemption, and few will accept. The vast majority will go to H with the rest of us, in a catastrophe, and maybe as a sacrifice, completely consumed by fire.
I don’t want to G’win anyone, but I do see some unsavory parallels in their vision
mr. whipple
Not in the NBA finals. Fuck Miami.
kdaug
That’s what Genghis Khan said.
Martin
@Just Some Fuckhead: Well, obviously not fixing the money problem, because the courts have essentially declared that it’s unfixable.
I’m fixing the ability of campaigns to tailor messages to specific groups while ignoring the larger population and shoving the majority of candidates out of the race before anyone from a state with a port, a border crossing, or a meaningful nonwhite population have a chance of weighing in. Why should Iowa and NH get to wipe out the bottom 2/3 of the candidates? (Iowa is a pretty fucking cheap media market, btw, so clearly that plan isn’t working.) Why shouldn’t your district at least get a shot at it? Or mine?
We’ve been starting in some of the cheapest media markets for decades and it hasn’t done fuck to get money out or shoestring candidates in. That’s a lost cause. Pick the next problem on the list.
West of the Cascades
Yeah, praying for injuries isn’t right. No matter what the christianists say, Jesus really wasn’t much about smiting.
Praying for 49 “thanks, but no thanks” letters and a little humility and wisdom for Gov Perry, on the other hand, might be just the ticket. Of course, I’ve prayed for things like this before and not had those prayers answered … Jesus said shit about “love your enemies, and pray for those who oppress you.” Dude obviously was crazy.
Also, I agree with mr. whipple that there is an exception allowing prayer for injuries to the Miami Heat (and Dallas Cowboys). Probably somewhere in Leviticus.
Martin
@West of the Cascades: And the Yankees. Though I think mass explosive diarrhea at the end of the first inning for anyone entering Yankee Stadium would suffice. Not only does it solve the Yankees problem, but a big chunk of the Wall Street problem as well.
sukabi
@Keith G: not wishing harm on you, just maybe a “swept away in the rapture” moment for Perry and his band of fellow travelers.
Mark S.
Ross Douthat is questioning supply-side economics:
Geez, if even Douthat thinks Zombie Reaganomics is bullshit, doesn’t that mean it really is bullshit?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Martin: Money is the only problem. Yer not fixing the problem with yer system, yer just moving it around periodically.
Martin
@Just Some Fuckhead: Ok, so how do you fix the money problem?
KG
@Mark S.: There’s a little bit of this going around. Bruce Bartlett and Sullivan have led the way with pointing out that things didn’t work this time like the did in 1982. I doubt you’ll see any of them talking about going back to pre-Reagan rates (not that anyone in political office would go for that).
MikeJ
@Martin: Kerry didn’t win Iowa with money, he won with organization. He had people who not only mouthed off on the internet like Dean’s, his people actually voted.
Not that it did us any good.
jl
@Mark S.:
I didn’t want to go off topic, given the momentous issues of religion and piety being discussed (namely the GOP presidential primary, there has also been some aimless chit chat about the ethics of Christian prayer).
But Krugman’s column tomorrow is on the ‘rentier class’ theory of contemporary macroeconomic policy.
Rule by Rentiers
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Ny Times
Published: June 9, 2011
The latest economic data have dashed any hope of a quick end to America’s job drought, which has already gone on so long that the average unemployed American has been out of work for almost 40 weeks. Yet there is no political will to do anything about the situation. Far from being ready to spend more on job creation, both parties agree that it’s time to slash spending — destroying jobs in the process — with the only difference being one of degree.
Nor is the Federal Reserve riding to the rescue. On Tuesday, Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, acknowledged the grimness of the economic picture but indicated that he will do nothing about it.
And debt relief for homeowners — which could have done a lot to promote overall economic recovery — has simply dropped off the agenda. The existing program for mortgage relief has been a bust, spending only a tiny fraction of the funds allocated, but there seems to be no interest in revamping and restarting the effort.
The situation is similar in Europe, but arguably even worse. In particular, the European Central Bank’s hard-money, anti-debt-relief rhetoric makes Mr. Bernanke sound like William Jennings Bryan.
What lies behind this trans-Atlantic policy paralysis? I’m increasingly convinced that it’s a response to interest-group pressure. Consciously or not, policy makers are catering almost exclusively to the interests of rentiers — those who derive lots of income from assets, who lent large sums of money in the past, often unwisely, but are now being protected from loss at everyone else’s expense.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/opinion/10krugman.html?pagewanted=all
(Edit: I added the emphasis, to highlight the part that I predict will give very serious people the vapors)
I should have patented that theory and sold it to the GOP, so that no one could have used it, and I would be so dang rich, I would not have to care anymore.
Interesting to see what kind of outer darkness Krugman will cast into after he brings up the unspeakable issue of c l * s s w * r f * r *.
How will I explain this column to the children?
Kyle
As smarmy as this event is, most Repuke governors look like they could use a day or two or ten (hello, New Jersey) of fasting. Followed by walking home from Austin.
Though I doubt they’re capable of introspection or humility. More likely it would be a repulsive Jesus-off at twenty paces, each trying to out-do the other in showboating sanctimony.
Caz
Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself. I’m sure Gabrielle Giffords really thinks that’s funny, you calling for the governor of Texas to die.
Do you have any idea how inappropriate and hypocritical that is? I guess you’ve forgotten how you lambasted Sarah Palin for putting crosshairs on that map, but you can post a “funny” blog about hoping a governor dies.
Why don’t you do the honorable thing and take this post down? You probably won’t, though, because you don’t have the balls to act like an adult or have any respect for people. Didn’t you get the memo that it’s not funny to wish death on someone.
I’m sure your excuse is that it’s just a joke, ha ha. If you feel good about this post, then you have some real problems you need to deal with.
Being a hypocrite is the least of your problems.
Do the decent thing and at least remove that last part of this post, or quit complaining about how evil you think everyone else is, because wishing for the death of a governor, even joking about it, is not funny or appropriate these days. Have some respect for Giffords at least and try to do the right thing.
I wonder if you have it in you to do the decent thing.
Suffern ACE
@MikeJ: How did Kerry get a free organization while Romney spent so much for his? Do Democrats in Iowa actually know people will pay $300 per straw poll voter?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Martin: Didn’t we just go over that?
grandpajohn
@Martin: Or they could do it like it was when I was growing up and before the age of primaries, back then the party leaders met in smoke filled rooms to decide.
If there was dissent and someone wanted to challenge it was done at the convention. that was back in the days when convention watching could sometimes be entertaining and worth watching.
This was before the
conventions became nothing but excuses for week long partying ,along with leaving the missus at home and getting a little strange on the side. Of course that can also work both ways.
sukabi
@Kyle: If Christie were to attend he’d be praying for his next meal to come FASTER… and thus he would be fulfilling both of the meeting’s goals.
MikeJ
@Suffern ACE: The Democratic straw poll isn’t the same as the republican straw poll. Straw polls are run by the party.
I don’t know how Kerry did in any straw polls. He won the caucuses.
Martin
@MikeJ: I know that. Obama won Iowa the same way – beat Hillary who was much better funded. JSF, who thinks I just spout conventional bullshit, is the one who thinks that money is the sole problem. Clearly money isn’t buying people Iowa. Clearly money isn’t the sole problem.
My problem is that Iowa isn’t a proxy for America. Nor is NH. Nor is any state. So, take the benefits of Super Tuesday, that requires competing in multiple places and not just concentrating everything on 250,000 voters and replicate that. The downside to Super Tuesday is that everyone ignores the small states because they don’t carry the weight of CA and the other powerhouses, and so the small states get ignored, so solve that problem.
Since congressional districts are roughly proportionate in population, break it down to that level. 43 each week. You’ve got to get a message out to every demographic in the nation simultaneously. Every race is as important as every other race. Candidates will still pick and choose to their strengths, but with so many races in play, there’s going to areas that go largely ignored that the weaker candidates can focus on. Instead of trying to slug it out in Iowa with someone with a $100M warchest, go into Harlem or into Alaska or New Mexico, or Miami or wherever things are quiet and make your case. Candidates can flood Iowa with money and make up at least some of an organizational disadvantage. They can’t dominate 43 different markets each week. They’ve got to have support on the ground. By diversifying the primaries and packing them all back to back, rapid fire, the money guys have to spend even more and spend it more evenly to stay competitive. The guys that have ground games actually come out ahead because they already have their operations where the voters are. In a state with a lot of districts, they can bring in folks from neighboring districts to concentrate on a race.
Anyone with unions and similarly organized ground games makes out like gangbusters. Anyone depending on flooding the airwaves now needs a shitload more money just to get the same outcome.
Mike Kay (True Grit)
Poor Mittens.
He can’t catch a break.
Now Perry steals his goodhair mantle.
Villago Delenda Est
@Caz:
I invite you to go die in a fire, Jeebofascist shit.
Origuy
I suspect a lot of governors will have pressing business at home the day of Perry’s revival meeting, especially since the event is sponsored by the American Family Association.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Martin: From CNN, January 1, 2008:
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois far outpaces any other candidate when it comes to ad spending in Iowa, having spent more than $9 million on close to 11,000 spots. That’s about $2 million more than Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York has spent ($7.2 million)..
isildur
Reading that the American Family Association is based in Tupelo made me think of Nick Cave:
“Distant thunder rumble. Rumble hungry like the Beast.
The Beast it cometh, cometh down.
Tupelo bound.”
Songs about Elvis and the end of the world.
Scamp Dog
It’s probably wrong to pray for injuries, so how about an avenging angel to hand out dope-slaps? “Governor Perry, I have a message from the almighty…” [slap] “…a foretaste of the smiting you truly deserve. Repent!”
Suffern ACE
@Just Some Fuckhead:
One of the advantages of holding the first one in New York or California is at least there is a chance to see an ad for Jello Pudding or Dr. Pepper at some point in December.
Violet
Anyone who schedules anything in Houston in August is a nutjob. Case closed. I already knew that about Perry, but if any of those other governors show up, they’re as crazy as he is. August in Houston is brutal.
Ruckus
@Southern Beale:
You know that sometimes the answer is no don’t you?
/snark
Of course it worked. The voice in the sky was laughing that such a hypocrite would ask for anything. So you get this answer. No rain.
once again /snark
hamletta
@MikeJ: You are so very right. I worked on the Dean campaign, and was horrified at their Iowa “strategy.”
Kerry had sent an old hand to lock up all the old hands in Iowa, precinct by precinct.
Joe Trippi had done the same for Mondale 20 years before. I don’t get why he put college kids in charge of the precincts and sent hordes of assholes in orange hats to knock on doors. He knew better.
And yes, AL, it is wrong to pray for injuries.
amk
It would be fun if obama and biden gatecrashed that party.
“Hi, guyz, we thought we’ll join you in your prayer & fast. Can we get some hotdogs around here?”
karen marie
@Martin: You fix the money problem with a Constitutional amendment declaring only human beings can be people
Hahahahaha. Yeah, that’s never going to happen.
The Republic of Stupidity
I’d be satisfied if an enraged weasel managed to find its way into Perry’s pants…
arguingwithsignposts
Clearly, Perry hates the other 49 governors to invite them to fucking Houston between May and September.
ETA: see Violet beat me to this observation.
Steeplejack
@Warren Terra:
I think “Crackro-American” covers all the bases. (h/t Roy Blount Jr.)
Hey, cool interactive Google logo in honor of Les Paul’s 96th birthday. Check it out.
Steeplejack
@Davis X. Machina:
I like RuPaul’s Drag Race. Some really funny stuff on there. And he keeps it real. Favorite name this season: Manila Luzon.
futzinfarb
AFA. AFA? AFA. hmmmm. Ah, yes, that AFA. GTFOOTMYS.
ruemara
@KG:
Grats! That’s about all I can say since I have no idea what case this is.
Chuck Butcher
@Martin:
How about the fact that the Primaries are the business of their Party and the STATE has no say – it is called freedom of association.
I’ll be real clear, I’m an OR Democrat and I don’t want and don’t have to tolerate you fingerprints on MY fucking election. You could take your idea up with your State Party and see how far they’d let you get in YOUR state.
Let me explain to you how a State Party views the sort of thing you’re going on about. When the OR State Legislature tried to interfere the DPO told them that if they played with the Democratic Primary that we’d simply move to the Caucus System and they could go hang their “law” where the sun don’t shine. Your idea is an illegal imposition of outside control over a PRIVATE ENTITY. We are subject to the finacial control of both the FED and OR STATE rules but the operation of our Primary is our business.
Maybe you just don’t understand why some States still use the Caucus in Democratic Primaries while most don’t and why that isn’t anybody’s business other than that State Party’s. Yes, the DNC has some say, but even that is limited. Take note of FL… their State Party was in no way bound by the FL Legislature and the DNC whacked them for it.
Chuck Butcher
@karen marie:
The Democtratic Party is not a human being, it is a free association of humans acting in concert. You have a serious problem.
karen marie
@Chuck Butcher: No, I’m talking about corporations being considered persons with respect to the Constitution and a recent ruling that corporations could donate directly to candidates because the Supreme Court says they’re people.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Steeplejack:
I went there with my touchscreen monitor and played it with my finger. :)
Chuck Butcher
@karen marie:
No they’re considered a free association of individuals. There are reasons for this that you’d not want to do away with. Every one of these ideas is doomed for those very good reasons. If personal responsibility is applied to every member of a corporation – they are done, finished as a business model. You have to understand that each stockholder would have to individually sign every contract, etc.
There are real legislative methods to limit the harm of these fucks being able to throw money, but that’s not going to happen until Dems/Progressives start raising real money and whacking away mercilessly. The beneficiaries will not let it happen.
karen marie
@Chuck Butcher: You got a reading comprehension problem? I never said the Democratic Party, or the Republican Party, is not a “free association of individuals.”
Chuck Butcher
@karen marie:
Corporations are free associations of individuals, some are non-profit, some are strictly political, some are straight ahead business. You’re trying to be able to draw a distinction that simply doesn’t exist. Just damn near every free association raises money one way or another. That is the crux of the damn thing. I hate that the CU decision came down with no redress from Congress and there are valid methods. Trying to undo such a key part of the Constitution brings all kinds of unintended consequences. The SCOTUS decision was a recognition of a legal morass built out of good intentions. A good intention does not mitigate bad outcomes.
Chuck Butcher
@karen marie:
No I do not, check yourself first then point at me.
kdaug
@Violet:
FTFY.
PurpleGirl
A little reminder of what the other side has promoted in the past:
The Obama Prayer bumper sticker:
The text of Psalm 108:8 is
That verse starts a list (some 11 verses long) of things to be done to the enemy.
This prayer campaign started sometime in 2009.
WereBear
I think what they like about the prayer and fasting is that it doesn’t cost anything.
It also promotes a terrible precedent; problems? Prayer will fix that!
Not, you know, doing anything about it. That would be wrong!
NamelessGenXer
@geg6:
This. +666
Cheap Jim
August 6? Fasting? That falls in the middle of Ramadan!
Perry’s a seecrit muslin!
Ghanima Atreides
Meawhile Team Romney quails in Fear of Evangelicals.
WECs make up 60% of caucus voters in Iowa.
Or it could be fear of Perry shutting Mitts out.
AAA Bonds
I’ll call upon Jesus to fucking kill Rick Perry
Felonious Wench
As a Houstonian, I am willing to take on a 3-day deluge, streets under 5 feet of water, whatever. I am willing to be smote. Means I get to stay home and watch this thing fall apart with a bottle of wine and some excellent snark from you guys.
mds
Why, that would be the same Bob Vander Plaats who ran against Branstad for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, then threatened to run as a third-party candidate, then said all would be forgiven if he were picked as lt. gov. for the ticket, then gave up and returned to attacking judges for allowing the subhuman homosexual filth to have legal rights. Yeah, I don’t understand why Branstad’s office didn’t immediately jump at the chance to dance for Vander Plaats’ paymasters. But Branstad is craven and facing tanking popularity, so we’ll see which side scares him more.
@Martin:
Given the use of “call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles,” I’m curious what Delaware Governor Markell’s reaction was, what with the flagrant abandoment of the usual “Judeo-Christian” figleaf.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Jesus told his followers to humbly pray for food and forgiveness and not much else. Large-scale projects are pretty much off the table. Thus endeth Gov. Perry’s biblical lesson for the day.