Rick Perry raised more than eyebrows–presumably a few tea party blood pressures, too–with his insidious, thinly veiled, and completely irresponsible attempt to stoke mob rage or violence against Paul Bernanke, our Federal Reserve Chief that, I'll add, was a Bush appointee.
From the AP:
"If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa -- but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas," Perry told supporters. (emphasis mine)
Worse, when pressed for further comment, here's what Perry's press secretary had to say:
"The governor was expressing his frustration with the current economic situation and the out-of-control spending that persists in Washington."
So now it's okay for a presidential candidate to call for or threaten physical violence against an appointed official, or anyone for that matter, out of "frustration" with the economy? No, cowboy, it is not.
This is as ugly and violence-mongering a thing to say as any Republican candidate has thus far, and since messaging is everything, if we're going to stop the Republicans from burning our country to the ground, Perry's comments should not go undistributed and unchallenged. Let's pound the pavement with the message that we don't need another fearmongering cowboy in charge–we need responsible adults capable compromising to tackle complex problems while in office.
If Obama was pilloried by the teabaggers and the right for his poorly worded but true "cling to guns and religion" and his harmlessly metaphorical "lipstick on a pig" comments...then surely we can and should unite to push back on Rick Perry and hold him accountable for FLAGRANT BULLY RHETORIC.
Remember Christina-Taylor Green? Let's live up to her expectations. WE CAN BE BETTER.
Click here to tweet Say NO to violent bully rhetoric. Say NO to cowboy politics. Say NO to @GovernorPerry for President. #unpresidential