Any more Perry gaffes, and they'll have to start listing them in tabular form... On extra sheets of paper...
According to the Houston Chronicle Blog
Rick Perry mistakenly called Solyndra, the failed California solar-panel maker, a country during a campaign speech in Iowa, according to the Huffington Post.
Perry took direct aim at President Barack Obama’s handling of government spending during a campaign stop in Ames, Iowa this weekend. He – like many other Republicans have in recent months – took a shot at Solyndra’s failure, but he forgot a few important details.
“No greater example of it than this administration sending millions of dollars into the solar industry, and we lost that money,” Perry said. “I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solyndra.”
So... Where is Solyndra? Well, let's see... gotta be someplace sunny, so ya can test out the panels, right?. Cheap labor force... lax regulations... Check! Good ports and shipping capabilities... Check. Hey! That sounds a lot like Texas! Maybe we should check into moving their operations here to the good ol' US of A instead of dealing with sleazy foreigners.
Of course, by now, dozens of people are aware that:
Solyndra was the first renewable-energy company to receive federal loan guarantees under the 2009 stimulus law. The Obama administration touted the company, which received $535 million from taxpayers, as a model for it clean energy program. The company filed for bankruptcy in Sept. 6 and laid off more than 1,100 workers.
Well, I guess that rules out Texas. We never have layoffs here, no sir!. We're job creators, y'all! Come on down!
Meanwhile, Perry faced some unpleasantness in Iowa, according to Another Houston Chronicle Blog
Gov. Rick Perry made a hasty exit out the back door of an Ames coffee house after a meet-and-greet ended with some angry shouts over his ad decrying the policy allowing gay people to serve openly in the military.
Where to begin? Folks in Texas will smile at the irony of Perry's newly adopted anti-gay faux outrage. Still, regardless of his vapid viewpoint-du-jour, is it too much to ask that he stick around and at least defend it, rather than beating a hasty retreat? Sounds like he and l'il Squeeky Bachmann are taking the same paranoia-inducing meds that make them run, shrieking, if any non-heterosexual folks approach them and try to engage them in a conversation.
Other highlights from this brief appearance/disappearance in Iowa are captured in a video that you can find at the link above.
This video from the Des Moines Register captures the moment – with a cameo by spokesman Mark Miner striding by the dumpster plus an exceedingly cute, T-shirt-bearing kid braving security and saying, “My mom says she wants this signed.”
Mom got her T-shirt, but people who wanted photographs were disappointed as Perry declared that he had to head “back to the land” as he hurried into his vehicle on his way back to Texas for a couple of days.
"Back to the land"? Maybe this presages some sort of return to his agrarian roots in West Texas. We can only hope.
Still, you have to wonder: if Perry's going to hit the road the instant that he encounters someone who wants to speak with him (and not about offering him a six-figure donation), how would he deal with Ahmedinejad... or the Prime Minister of Soyndra? Secondly... why is it that the adorable t-shirt-bearing kid has so much more moxie than a presidential candidate?
Oh, and stand by for a whiny rebuttal from Anita Perry in three... two... one...