Oops--Rick Perry drops out

Before I could pick a drink in honor of Rick Perry for Paul Wartenberg's GOP Debate Drinking Game for 2016 But For the September 2015 Foofaraw In Particular to join the list in Drinks and drinking games for Donald Trump and the GOP debates, Proof of drinking game concept on Kasich, Drinks for the candidates in tonight's debate, and Debate drinking game rules for Carly Fiorina, Governor Goodhair dropped out of the contest.  Wochit has the report in Rick Perry to End 2016 Bid.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday he is suspending his presidential campaign, making him the first Republican candidate to end his 2016 White House bid.

"I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States," Perry is expected to say, according to prepared remarks announcing the end of his campaign. He said in a statement: "We have a tremendous field - the best in a generation - so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, and as long as we listen to the grassroots, the cause of conservatism will be too."

"I share this news with no regrets. It has been a privilege and an honor to travel this country, to speak with the American people about their hopes and dreams, to see a sense of optimism prevalent despite a season of cynical politics."

That wasn't all.  Follow over the jump for Perry's parting shots at Trump, who stands to benefit from Perry's exit, and the effects on the debate.

The first year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News: Part 7 of several

It's been three months since the previous installment of this series, The first year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News: Part 6 of several.

As for what I'll write about next, there are the two other posts I wrote especially for Kunstler's readers that were built around New York Times articles. Both of them discuss Detroit as a tourist destination, a topic I return to occasionally. There's also a post about Dominionism and what they really believe. Finally, there are posts that were in the top ten between January 1st and March 21st, but which fell out by the time I compiled the list. That should take care of the series.

That post about Dominionism was really about the behavior of the audience at the GOP debates, as I mentioned in Ron Paul rides off into the sunset.

The most popular of them was Tell me now, which deity do the Dominionists really worship?, which ended up being the seventh most popular post of the first year of this blog, with 310 page views and two comments as of March 31st.** That was the one in which I quoted AmericaBlog's description of a Think Progress video of a GOP debate, which read:

The largest audience cheers in the Republican presidential debate came when Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul whether he wanted an uninsured 30 year old with a treatable disease to die because he didn't have health insurance. You can hear the crowd shout, "let him die."

... **It now has 315 page views and four comments. That reminds me, it's time to do that article's retrospective, but not in this post.

It's time to continue, especially since it turns out it's on topic for today, the day of the last debate between major party candidates.

Doonesbury on Perry's opinion of evolution

Original here.
Hat/Tip to PZ Myers of Pharyngula.  His comment was "Brilliant! This will balance the budget…and leave me unemployed."  Same here.

The Republican base is becoming an issue

Something to watch from Next Media Animation while I'm preparing Silly Sustainability Saturday.

The GOP primary debates give the candidates a chance to become known to the public. The forums have revealed much about the Republican base as well.

For the GOP's extreme, it seems there is no room for nuance between policy and principle. Will the audience outbursts alienate the rest of America?

In a way, the insensitive and intolerant audience outbursts are just an amplification of the insensitive and intolerant positions of the candidates.

Yet at least one GOP candidate has held his ground. His positions might not be popular with the base, but they are sure to look good with a wider constituency.

Yet one wonders: is there any limit to what the GOP primary debate audience will cheer or boo?

The GOP hope to take America forward. But as the candidates pander to their base, they risk making the Republicans look like a party of the past.

This video shows that it's not just me seeing this. Speaking of which, here are the previous posts on this subject.

Both Chris Matthews and one of his guests talk about Dominionism

Found the perfect cartoon for "Which deity do Dominionists worship?"

Tell me now, which deity do the Dominionists really worship?

Meta on Rick Perry's Dominionism

Kunstler thinks the Left is ignoring Dominionism; I tell him we're not

Both Chris Matthews and one of his guests talk about Dominionism

Both of these clips are mostly about something else, but Dominionism as an important strain in contemporary right-wing U.S. politics make cameo appearances near their ends.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Defining Obama's relationship to Israel.

Although this segment is primarily about the issues President Obama has with Jewish voters and donors and attempts by Republicans such as Rick Perry to exploit any potential rift between the President and a significant portion of the Democratic voter base, it turns into something else near the end. Starting about 7:30, Chris Matthews starts talking about Perry, Bachmann, and Palin as being part of a movement to establish a "Christian theocracy." He then mentions Dominionism about 8:00. He returns to the idea of Christians "taking dominion" just before 9:00.

I was stunned.  While I might expect to hear something like this out of Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, I never expected to hear words like these pass the lips of someone who is as much a media insider as Chris Matthews. Apparently, when Matthews read "The Rogue" by his next guest, he encountered these concepts. You can tell that had an effect on him.

Speaking of his next guest, here's the clip featuring Joe McGinnis.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Latest Palin book sparks controversy.

Matthews again brings up "Christians having dominion" and "theocracy" about the 4:50 mark. In response, Joe McGinnis talks about the importance of religion in Sarah Palin's political views, which is Dominionist Christianity and how neither she nor the religious movement she belongs to believe in separation of Church and State.

I'm glad someone in the mainstream media is paying attention to Dominionism.

For earlier posts of mine on Dominionism, read the following.

Found the perfect cartoon for "Which deity do Dominionists worship?"

Tell me now, which deity do the Dominionists really worship?

Meta on Rick Perry's Dominionism

Kunstler thinks the Left is ignoring Dominionism; I tell him we're not

Looks it's time to add a Dominionism label.

Kunstler thinks the Left is ignoring Dominionism; I tell him we're not

Full-sized original by Nonnie9999 at Hysterical Raisins as Theocrazy

Yesterday, James Howard Kunstler dropped the following paragraph in the middle of his weekly missive of impending doom.

Given the situation, it's not unthinkable that self-styled Texas secessionist Rick Perry could be the next president. On top of that, the guy is a Christian Dominionist nut. This outfit wants to capture all politics, culture, and media in what is now the USA and turn them into a sci-fi nightmare of correct thinking. You have no idea how dangerous and determined this group is. The Left ignores them at the peril of everyone. They are the corn-pone Nazis I've been warning you about.

I couldn't resist responding to him, by telling him he was wrong--not about Perry, but about what passes for the Left in the United States--in the most encouraging way possible.

I'm glad to see Jim call out Perry and the Dominionists for what they are--corn-pone fascists who have appeared in America exactly as Upton Sinclair predicted, carrying a cross and wrapped in the flag. In fact, I'm glad that he used the word Dominionist at all. It turns out that it's only the second time he has in this blog, the first being more than four years ago. [You can find that first time here; scroll down to The Big Chill, the entry for February 19, 2007] I bet a lot of you weren't reading him back then. I know I wasn't...

A good chunk of the Left is taking the Dominionists seriously. People on Daily Kos have been writing about them for at least five years. In fact, two of the most read diaries yesterday were about Dominionists and the long-term threat they pose to democracy. That fear is one of the reasons that a lot of people on the Left are scared out of their wits by Perry (and Bachmann and Palin). Now, if only the Democratic Party leadership would listen to the DFHs. The hippies have been right before.

It ended up being three of the most read diaries on Daily Kos for the past two days.