Toon: "Fundamentals are moving in my direction!"

[n2doc]

Friday rant: Here comes the dumb edition

By Tom Toles
Rick Perry’s favorite Beatles’ song is “Here Comes the Sun,” and this summer he got his wish with record heat, drought and fire in Texas. He pretends to doubt climate science because he has calculated that his short-term interests benefit from that calculation. He brags about being dumb because he recognizes that there is a big demand for that. I don’t know how you can both brag about being dumb AND expect people to think you understand climate science, but this isn’t a troubling paradox at all, if you don’t bother to think about what a troubling paradox might be.

The rich in this country are in a bit of pickle, although when you’re rich, pickles are just one of life’s many garnishes. They have all the money, but they don’t have many votes among themselves. They have engineered a Supreme Court that has redefined “money” as “speech,” but until they go all the way and declare money to be “votes,” they will have to work through middlemen. (One of their current schemes is to have their store-bought officials enact every manner of state law to decrease the number of voters they don’t like, as votes they don’t like have been redefined as “fraud.”) All is going well, but their pickle is that Rick Perry may be too much too soon and might turn off “sensible voters in the middle.”

Personally I don’t see what they have to worry about. I don’t see much sensible anywhere anymore. The bad economy is poised to bring down Obama, just as it raised him up. His enemies will not rest until he and all his acts are “repealed on my first day in office” by whomever and whenever. His friends flee as even the Democrats in Congress won’t get behind his jobs plan. The “sensible center” says in polls that it supports Obama’s positions and blames the GOP for gridlock, but then turns around and votes for more Republicans in special elections. If we are just too tired to think anymore, and falling SAT scores suggest we are, here is the simple answer: Dismantle the government, and hope the markets don’t crush so many people that we get social instability of a very different sort. Smart? We’ll find out!

[gratuitous]

1. Rick Perry: Putting the dumb in Fun-dumb-mental

Note to Perry campaign: You may use this slogan without charge or attribution. Especially attribution.

[FSogol]

2. K & R. n/t

[gratuitous]

3. I am thankful, though

Perry is simply the Flavor of the Month. Look for his star to wane some time around Columbus Day. It might take a little longer, as he has lots of bucks behind him, but he'll almost for sure be done by Thanksgiving. He will follow such worthies as T Rump, Crazy Eyes Bachmann and Quitterella.*

*Will she or won't she, and does anyone even care at this point? Survey says, "Uh uh."