Me? Babbling idiot? Nah. I'm just sleepy. (Jeff Haynes/Reuters)
Oh, Rick. Rick, Rick, Rick. You really aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer,
are you?
While criticizing President Barack Obama for picking winners and losers in the energy industry, he bungled the name of the most famous energy company to go under despite government assistance.
"No greater example of it than this administration sending millions of dollars into the solar industry, and we lost that money," Perry began. "I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solynda."
And by the way:
Solyndra, a company which manufactured high-tech solar energy panels, went bankrupt this year after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees.
Also, Solynda Solyndra is not a country.
But Rick Perry wants us to know he's not a stone cold moron; he's just really tired from that back surgery he had six months ago. As he told the Des Moines Register:
Q: You struggled in the early debates. Do you regret not getting out to Iowa earlier to get your feet wet?
A: Looking back and trying to “would have, could have, should have” is an interesting question to ask, but the facts are the facts. I didn’t even make the decision to run until very late June, and I had surgery on my back in very late July.
Q: How is your back?
A: My back is great. I’m back running again for the last six weeks. I think part of the reason you have seen a somewhat different candidate on the debates is my health, and (I’m) both physically and mentally just back in the game. You have fusion on your back, and it takes you a while to get back on your game.
Q: So were you not feeling good in those early debates?
A: I would suggest to you that I was pretty fatigued. No excuses. It was error. It’s what it is. Look, if anybody is looking for the perfect candidate, I’m not it.
This isn't the first time Perry's campaign has blamed his astonishing stupidity on sleep deprivation. In October, when Perry's debate performance was merely embarrassing but not yet epically humiliating (see, for example, oops), the New York Times reported:
And as he prepares for two more debates in the next nine days, along with his first major policy address, his advisers have devised another way to help: requiring Mr. Perry to get more sleep.
Apparently, Perry has yet to catch up on his sleep.
Perhaps the saddest part of this "I just need more sleep" excuse is that Perry isn't even the only Republican with presidential delusions of grandeur to invoke this excuse. Before Herman Cain had to drop out of the race to spend more time sleeping on the couch, his campaign also blamed his ignorance on lack of sleep. More than once, in fact.
Are we really supposed to find this lack-of-sleep excuse persuasive? Are we supposed to believe that President Perry would have plenty of time to get in all the sleep he needs to as to not accidentally bomb the country of Solynda or eliminate the wrong branch of government?
Good thing president of the United States isn't a round-the-clock gig, right?