Rick Perry shows the depth of his knowledge

Rick Perry seemed to be conservative Republicans' great white hope. (As contrasted with Dr. Cain, the pizza king...obviously.) Until last night.

Last night, the putative president revealed that his knowledge of the US federal government is extremely shallow, as well as sadly slippery. Mr. Perry says that during last night's televised GOP debate, he “stepped in it.” Now he’s slipped right to the bottom of the heap. Have a look.



The Texas governor said that, as a cost-cutting measure, he would eliminate three federal agencies. But when asked to name them, he came up, errr, one short. “Commerce, Education and the... What’s the third one there? Let’s see,” said Mr. Perry.

He looks helplessly towards Ron Paul -- who actually knows something about economics and finance -- and Dr. Paul helpfully suggests “The EPA?”
Mr. Perry replies: “EPA, there you go.”

But that wasn’t it. And when pressed, the no-longer-likely candidate draws another blank. “Seriously?” asks moderator John Harwood. “You can’t name the third one?”
“The third agency of government I would do away with — the Education, the Commerce. And let’s see. I can’t. The third one, I can’t,” Perry said. “Oops.”

According to AP, Twitterers immediately went into overdrive. "Perry response will be on highlight reels for years to come," tweeted business legend Jack Welch.

From his personal account, Tim Albrecht, top spokesthingy for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, wrote, "Rick Perry just lost the debate. And the entire election. You only had to name three."

Republican strategist Mike Murphy added, "Off screen, Dr. [Ron] Paul is sadly administering the last rites to Rick Perry. Dr. Paul filling out paperwork as they haul Perry away. He’s ruling it a suicide."