What If Davey Crockett Skipped The Alamo?

Rick Perry may not be up to all this debatin' and articulatin':

A spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, whose candidacy has faltered after several poor debate appearances, said on Wednesday that he might not participate in some of the coming face-offs.

“We will look at each debate individually and then make a decision,” Mark Miner, the spokesman, told The Times’s Richard A. Oppel Jr.

I think if he skips the debates he may as well skip the rest of the nominating process, and that's not just me:

It’s not clear whether Mr. Perry could skip the debates without a steep political cost. By refusing to appear on a national stage now — after being criticized for his previous performances — he might open himself to charges that he is afraid to debate.

However...

When running for governor last year, Mr. Perry managed to avoid debating his Democratic rival, Bill White, by linking his participation to the issue of Mr. White’s release of financial disclosure information. Mr. Perry refused to debate until Mr. White, the former mayor of Houston, released more information. Mr. White accused Mr. Perry of being afraid to debate.

I think an incumbent who is known to the voters is in a much better spot to work that ploy than one of many contenders for the Republican throne.

Comments

[centralcal]

Here is a photo link. Doesn't look to elegant or fun - no other diners, all clear out by the SS I suppose. Obama's body language pretty closed off - he doesn't look too comfortable, probably just wants to get it over with. I wouldn't be surprised if he left before any food was even served.

[Boatbuilder]

"Someone came along and decided if you could make enough people think they were part of some larger group, then that group could be used for political gain."

I believe the Southern Democrats used the same strategy for "white anglo-saxon protestants" until roughly 1970. Decent people objected. Apparently such objections are no longer in vogue.

[centralcal]

My gawd my typing was awful and I sure as hell can't blame an iPad. lol

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

A Credentialed Assertion Monkey Asserts!

Thanks, nice to meet you too.

@@@@@@@@@@@OFL.

[centralcal]

So right, BB. I used to joke with my Italian, Portugese, Basque friends that I was a WASP. No one anymore knows what the heck I am talking about, even when I spell it out as you did.

[Boatbuilder]

Nice pic of Obama and the big winners in the restaurant. I can hear the poor bastard in the yellow shirt saying "Jeesus, can we get some wine here already!" under his breath.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"I didn't have my glasses on and I accidentally read the sitepest's post."

God forbid you should actually ingest something beside your daily fare of beans and their aftermath.

"I was at an event on the Upper East Side last Friday night when I got to talking with a salesman in the media business. The subject turned to Zucotti Park and Occupy Wall Street, and he was chuckling about something he'd heard on the news.

"I hear [Occupy Wall Street] has a CFO," he said. "I think that's funny."

"Okay, I'll bite," I said. "Why is that funny?"

"Well, I heard they're trying to decide what bank to put their money in," he said, munching on hors d'oeuvres. "It's just kind of ironic."

Oh, Christ, I thought. He’s saying the protesters are hypocrites because they’re using banks. I sighed.

"Listen," I said, "where else are you going to put three hundred thousand dollars? A shopping bag?"

"Well," he said, "it's just, they're protests are all about... You know..."

"Dude," I said. "These people aren't protesting money. They're not protesting banking. They're protesting corruption on Wall Street."

"Whatever," he said, shrugging."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/owss-beef-wall-street-isnt-winning-its-cheating-20111025#ixzz1c1rVHsPk

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Washington Post: We’re Going to Fire Garbage at Marco Rubio Until Something Sticks

Ugh!

[Clarice]

Jane. Bless you. Drink some vodka.Take a warm bath and here's a big SMOOOOOCH for all you do.

[Boatbuilder]

Just think how benighted we'd be without BF to tell us how benighted we are. Thank you, BF.

[LouP]

Putting aside Perry's decision to participate or not in future debates, frankly I'm surprised at the importance JOMers are assigning the "debates" in assessing the candidates. I, myself, am hungary for information that will give me some feel for the substance of the candidates. 30-second sound-bite answers, and glib, snappy come-backs just don't do it for me. That's how the country elected the current President.

I don't know what will work better, but I do know I will not make my decision based on "debate performance."

[Captain Hate]

And I did have the best sign!

Sweet! Glad to help. Did you get any comments?

[Jane]

JIB,

Now if I can only get all of you to follow suit. I'm telling you, you will love the people and be very happy you too got off the couch. I promise.

[narciso]

Yes, like Russell Simmon's credit services
'keeping it real,' I'm sure;

http://bigpeace.com/abostom/2011/10/27/a-2006-taqiyya-warning-about-tunisias-leading-candidate-for-prime-minister/

[JM Hanes]

Sara:

"They just showed a shot of the Occupy Wall Street crowd and not a single protester anywhere, just lots of tarps and tents...."

Sounds like a perfect time to start hauling off abandoned property. No tear gas, no firecrackers, no problem.

[JM Hanes]

"Obama and the big winners in the restaurant"

Talk about a cheap date. But then, I suppose it's hard to find a decent restaurant, when the winners were only willing to pony up $10, no $5.00, no $3.50 apiece.

[narciso]

Mayore Splunge, 'now she's not being indecisive'

http://weaselzippers.us/2011/10/27/breaking-oakland-mayor-allows-occupiers-to-re-take-city/

[Clarice]

It looks like the cheapest place in the entire area after Ben's Chili Bowl.

No Waygu for these guys.

[Benjamin Franklin]

Shed a tear for Rubio. He's thinner skinned than Warren. Maybe it's a deficit of testosterone. Tragic end especially for a' Cubano'..

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/10/27/more_hits_from_the_anti_warren_whopper_factory.html

"I'll hand it to the Massachusetts GOP: They're copying the playbook that Democrats used against some Tea Party candidates in 2010, and they're using it to make Elizabeth Warren seem crazy. It's almost too bad that the strategy runs on hilariously unconvincing lies."

[pagar]

"Obama's body language pretty closed off - he doesn't look too comfortable,"

Hard to imagine a guy who has never even ran a lemonade stand being comfortable around people like a "small business owner"

[Boatbuilder]

Looks like they cleared away the Heinz Ketchup and Tabasco sauce bottles for the big event.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"hard to imagine a guy who has never even ran a lemonade stand being comfortable around people like a "small business owner""

And, it's hard to imagine a guy who has never held political office. being comfortable around people who know what is involved.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/herman-cain-outlier/

If all you had to go on was the polls, you might think that Mr. Cain was the favorite to win the Republican nomination.

But then there are the nonpolling factors, some of which can be objectively measured and some of which cannot, but which would generally point toward Mr. Cain as being a second- or third-tier candidate. Mr. Cain has no endorsements from Republican members of Congress or Republican governors, and very few from officials in key early voting states. He has raised very little money. He has not hired well-known names for his campaign staff. He does not have traditional credentials. He has run for elected office just once before. He has begun to get a fair amount of media coverage, but the tenor of it has been fairly skeptical. His campaign commercials have been … interesting.

[Ignatz]

Now Jerry Brown's after the public goldbrick unions and he's meaner about it than Kasich and Walker combined.
Watch out for those SEIU long knives Jerry. That bolus of commie laws you just signed aint gonna buy any union prophylaxis for ya.

[Captain Hate]

make Elizabeth Warren seem crazy.

No degree of difficulty

[Benjamin Franklin]

"Now Jerry Brown's after the public goldbrick unions "

Including the CPGU?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2004/05/26/359/29521

[Jane]

Did you get any comments?

It was a busy intersection, getting dark, in sleet, hail and snow. We got some honking horns and some thumbs up and perhaps caused a car accident. However a reporter did show up and take a pix of my sign from across the street. I'll let you know if it gets published.

[Stephanie]

Cain has been bringing in a mill a week for the last several weeks and not having a retread GOP credentialed handler/campaign manager is a bonus. Now if he could get zombie Atwater...

[Jane]

I'm surprised all the winners are so old. What did they have to do to win?

[Danube of Thought]

Meanwhile Brown has appointed the crazy-radical Godwin Liu to the CA Supreme Court.

This state is finished. And has so often been said in other contexts, it is a harbinger of what is to come for the rest of the country.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"Cain has been bringing in a mill a week for the last several weeks"

I pray that money produces actual fruit of the vine.

[Jane]

Did you guys know that OBama's loan program only applies to loans after 2008. It will of course be revoked in 2012. For some reason I see this as utterly reflective of his narcissism.

[DebinNC]

ABC answers the question of why Obama is the only one smiling:

"The opportunity also to have dinner with Vice President Joe Biden was originally part of the contest, but Biden was unable to make it tonight. He is in Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic mission."

[Janet]

Liberty Tavern is super close to where I live. 2 or 3 blocks down the road is where the NOVA Tea Party gathering was the other night. Hah!

[DrJ]

Is it any good, Janet?

[narciso]

So the Rangers are tied 2-2.

[Janet]

We've only been once...overpriced & just okay...like a lot of places in the DC area.

[Captain Hate]

Biden was unable to make it tonight. He is in Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic mission.

Double aught 7 (license to ill) about to wow the House of Saud with some SMART DIPLOMACY. What could go wrong; smart money is on an offhanded gaffe about the recently deceased.

[narciso]

Well they sent McCain and General Petraeus, along to minimize the damage,

[centralcal]

What did they have to do to win?

Not much, make a minimum on-line donation of at least $3.50. The supposedly "randomly" selected. snort. After Obama cronies searched through all their records looking for "true believers."

[Melinda Romanoff]

JMH-

Just for you.

Who was John Crockett and where did he decide to settle?

[sbw]

"if he loses we will face an era of self-reliance"

Clarice, remember "Life of Brian"?

Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for your selves! You're ALL individuals!
The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!

Think for yourselves!

Think for ourselves! Think for ourselves!

[sbw]

"if he loses we will face an era of self-reliance"

Clarice, today's journ-O-lists think they are smart enough -- read "empowered" -- to come to conclusions for the readers.

That's not journalism. Readers should be allowed to rely on their own judgment.

[Clarice]

Thanks, sbw.

Now, more than ever news consumers must give up the notion that this is a passive activity which does not require work on heir part.

[Ignatz]

--Including the CPGU?--

No, IIRC he cut a deal with them at the get go.

--This state is finished.--

Oh how I wish we could jettison every county touching the Pacific (with the possible exception of the northern and southernmost) to form their own people's republic and leave the rest of us alone.

[Janet]

Here is the link to Project Veritas -
To Catch a Journalist Part 1

and Part 2

[narciso]

I'm surprised it took them this long, to figure out how selfdestructive her tirade had become;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JWDJA-OSyzg

[Clarice]

Perhaps they're going to get Biden to model the latest gulf state purdah garb--under the veil is a leather mask which covers everything but the eyes.
Jane, wait till the debtors find out about that..and the fact the well-hooplaed effort will save them only about $10 a month.

It's like promising kids a daisy bb gun for Christmas and giving them the pink rabbit pajamas instead.

[hit and run]

I can't remember if I said it here,or if it was in an email to somebody else recently,but here I go again regardless.

Despite all my misgivings about Romney -- I've tried,I've really tried to warm to ol' Mitt but never have been able -- the one thing that keeps me from being actually against him is the respect Dean Barnett had for him.

Today is the third anniversary of Dean's passing.

Bill Kristol writes a nice post remembering Dean here,including the bit about how Dean respected Romney -- and that the feeling was mutual.

Damn I miss him.

I yield to no man in my respect for Dean Barnett.

[DebinNC]

This state is finished. And has so often been said in other contexts, it is a harbinger of what is to come for the rest of the country.

I've only lived in two states, GA with 4% union workers and more recently NC with 3.2% union workers (lowest in the nation). You can check your state on this BLS chart. Texas is 5.4% union workers, NY is 24%, FL is 5.6%, and CA is 17.5% but their salary/benefit pkgs. are sky high. I can't relate to states like OH and others where union culture prevails to the extent that the majority won't vote overwhelmingly for an "Issue 2" to curb union excesses.

[Janet]

Two abortion clinic employees plead guilty to murder.

"...both worked for Dr. Kermit Gosnell at what prosecutors have described as a decrepit and unsanitary clinic known as Women's Medical Society in West Philadelphia."

[centralcal]

Oh, Hit! Thank you for that. I just loved Dean Barnett - his humor (enormous) and his political wisdom.

Were he still here and still (which I doubt) a big Romney fan, I would love to be able to argue with him (alas, via email, since WS doesn't have comments do they?).

Next to PUK and bad, his was another death I took very, very hard.

[centralcal]

oops, I didn't mean he still wouldn't admire and like his friend, Mitt - I think he might also like some of the "not Mitt" candidates too.

[centralcal]

I notice Sue isn't around tonight. Big game night! How are the Rangers doing? Ed Henry on Twitter says the Cards are making lots of mistakes. Go Rangers! Go Sue!

[Clarice]

hit is so tender hearted. It's why he's my really truly favorite.

[narciso]

Ranger, 3-2, we're coming up on the 2nd anniversary of Peter's passing, at least when we were made aware of it.

[hit and run]

Rangers up 3-2 -- but Cards have first two on in the bottom of the 4th after an infield error and a walk...

Now a tailor made double play ball,but the rangers only get one.

First and third, one out.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

From the photo-op of the lucky winners, it looks like El Jefe has just told them he forgot his wallet and was asking to pick up the tab.

What do you expect for $10.00 no $5.00 no $3.50? After all their flight and lodgings were paid for (and taxable). El Jefe is just giving them the opportunity to get a tax deduction.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

asking them to pick up the tab. And I can't blame IPad.

[Jack is Back!]

Jane,

I am more off the couch than you know. i move in stealth formations.

What a WS. Baseball is our national pastime for a reason. We love drama, the underdog, the competitor, the unlikely hero. Its very much anti-OWS and very much pro-entrepreneur and pro-free market. No one is telling us how to do it or they will do it for us. You're on your own, baby.

Great show so far. 3-3 as I write. Who knows. My bet is the Rangers. Tonight. But I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express tonight.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

If I won a dinner with Odummy with free air fare to DC that I had to declare as income, I'd shine the dinner and wangle an invite from a cook with cred, Clarice.

[Sue]

I'm around. I'm just quiet. At least here. I'm on facebook with family and friends, screaming my head off. Go Rangers.

[hit and run]

After the rumors that something might be bubbling . . . I'm still disappointed that Walter either chose not to -- or was impotent to bring about -- an Occupy the World Series event to disrupt the games in St. Louis.

[Clarice]

Heh Sara, and you'd be welcome, of course.

[hit and run]

I'm watching the game in my bed. There have now been a couple of times I've unsuccessfully stifled a gasp or grunt or guffaw -- and have woken mrs hit and run from her slumber.

It has been nice knowing all of you. I truly mean that.

If I do that one maybe two more times,I'm done for.

[Sue]

Hit,

Did you laugh at Freese?

[hit and run]

Biiiiiggggg guffaw.

It's everything you've been told since you were six years old . . . USE TWO HANDS!

[Sue]

I'm glad he didn't. Go Rangers!

[JM Hanes]

Melinda:

"Who was John Crockett and where did he decide to settle?"

I could take a wild guess, but I'd have to cheat. :-)

[Jane]

Not to be a jerk, but Dean died before Romneycare came into effect. I too corresponded with him, and am not as certain as you that subject to Romneycare he would be as enthusiatic. I sure as hell donT know, but remember he had been sick his entire life.

[Janet]

Jane,
What did your poster say?

[Janet]

Actually, I should ask what was written on your poster?...Hopefully the poster didn't say anything...that would be creepy.

[pagar]

All you need to know about Romneycare.

http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2011/10/27/state-treasurer-of-ma-absolutely-shreds-romneycare-which-has-nearly-bankrupted-the-state-and-is-surviving-solely-because-of-federal-aid/

[Melinda Romanoff]

JMH-

He was Davy's brother and turned towards the New River Valley instead. Ended up in some county that starts with "T" and ends with "L".

And he's up my tree.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Remind me again, how long has Romney been out of office in Massachusetts. And which big spending party has been in charge?

[Melinda Romanoff]

pagar-

That's nothing compared to what the same system did to Maine.

Not even close. Nobody brings that up, for some reason.

[Captain Hate]

Janet, in case Jane is elsewhere my suggestion was: You can't spell 'Election Fraud" without ACLU

[(Another) Barbara]

Not only did our beloved Dean Barnett admire Romney, Herman Cain also endorsed him (in his syndicated column) during the 2008 presidential campaign. I suppose most here knew that, but I didn't see this until today.(LUN)

[jimmyk]

So it's ok for a Republican to start up a new entitlement program predicated on the idea that Democrats will never be in charge again?

[Janet]

Oh yeah, thanks Captain. I had read it & knew it was good...but the threads have been so long I didn't think I could find it again.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Do the Rangers want to win this game? Can't believe they walked in a run and bases still loaded with 1 out. Tied 4-4

[daddy]

Sue,

Just got home and the first thing I see is a bases loaded walk.

Have had it on the headsets and sure sounds like an ugly played game by St Louis.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

But a throw out at 3rd. 2 out.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

Holliday wuz robbed.

[hit and run]

Beltre wasn't robbed.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Marines in Afghanistan told not to spit towards Mecca.

I'm not condoning spitting, but c'mon, they can't swear, they can't spit ... next they'll be forbidden to scratch their crotch and issuing tutus.

[hit and run]

Cruz wasn't robbed.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Rangers up 6-4 on back to back home runs.

[Gmax]

back to back shots including a monster shot by Cruz into the third deck. Go Rangers.

[Captain Hate]

Holy shit are the Rangers mashing

[hit and run]

I still don't get why pitchers think they can come inside on Cruz?

[Gmax]

Maybee perhaps cuz I passed your comment along to Commish Selig, they are pitching to Pujols tonight. Nada.

[daddy]

If St Louis somehow pulls this one out they won't have deserved it.

Texas is displaying enormous guts. No fear or lack of confidence in Sue's boys whatsoever.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

Me neither, hit. He made 'em pay.

[hit and run]

Gmax:
Maybee perhaps cuz I passed your comment along to Commish Selig, they are pitching to Pujols tonight. Nada.

that was maryrose

[hit and run]

Derek Holland's moustache is sexy.

You can't convince me otherwise.

[Gmax]

Hit

this Alzheimer thing is brutal...

[hit and run]

You got the first two letters and the last one correct.

That's better than I would do if I tried to spell Ahlheizmerz.

[Jane]

Jimmy,

You nailed it. I cannot believe people buy that ruse. "Gee who would have guessed a democrat would come after me. Gosh, I'm shocked." That alone should disqualify him from office.

[Gmax]

Doesnt change the fact that Sir Albert of budville is oh fer tonight so far...

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

So it's ok for a Republican to start up a new entitlement program predicated on the idea that Democrats will never be in charge again?

What are you talking about here?