All over Facebook people are posting about how this is "the end" of Perry's campaign. Can someone explain to me how this could have inspired such a proclamation:
And not THIS:
I couldn't care less that a presidential candidate forgets a talking point on the spot (I suppose I might care some if it's a habit). I care a great deal that one equates fairly cautious and conservative monetary policy with treason.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
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Daniel Kuehn, I agree that Rick Perry's remarks about the Federal Reserve System are more disturbing than his supposed forgetfulness on camera.
ReplyDeleteBut since politics and economics are inherently interconnected, I might point out that Edward Fullbrook on the Institute for New Economic Thinking has singled out N. Gregory Mankiw as a producer of toxic textbooks.
I would also like to point out that Fullbrook cites leading econophysicist Jean-Phillippe Bouchaud in this post on the INET. It appears that the econophysicists are cooperating with the INET for more reasons than just one...
http://ineteconomics.org/blog/inet/edward-fullbrook-toxic-textbooks
Because they're considering it within the context of the Republican primary; context matters more than most things. Furthermore, it was somewhat of a coup de grace statement after a whole host of flubs he has made (and which were easily put to video in a soundbite sort of way). It is a complicated, thick description sort of issue.
ReplyDeleteThat was so embarrassing I literally couldn't watch the whole thing. I dunno Daniel, I am usually pretty lenient on this type of thing too--I've defended Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin--but this looked pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteBoth instances were obvious attempts to try to gain traction among Ron Paul supporters. "I don't want to just end the Fed. I want to try him for treason. Paul isn't the only one who wants to make changes around here, I want to end some departments too."
ReplyDeleteThe reason the more recent gaffe is probably fatal is that it exposes him as an unprepared lightweight. Making informal, inflammatory accusations of treason that nobody will take seriously is one thing, but calling attention to yourself in a nationally televised debate to do something as unusual as ending 3 federal departments, and then falling flat on your face is really tough.
It was just so obvious that he wanted to wrangle some of the popular tea party small govt sentiment by making vague promises about ending departments, but realized partway through that he hadn't actually come up with any sort of plan, and he completely wilted. I truly felt bad for him as I watched it.
An obscure youtube video of Perry going after the antagonist of a relatively esoteric populist movement isn't going get the same level of attention as his proposal to shutdown three cabinet departments and end up looking clueless for nearly a minute on national television. The former is a reflection of Perry's aggressive and macho Texan image. The latter makes him look senile.
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