On Saturday, The Washington Post published a seven page hit piece on Texas Gov. Rick Perry alleging that a rock on a ranch his father leased for hunting once had a racial slur carved into it. The Post does not allege that Perry named the ranch, or that he carved the slur into the rock. Only that the name of the ranch was well known to locals and that Perry did nothing about the rock. Perry spokesman communications director Ray Sullivan responded:
Upon reading the story, liberal exploiters of racial issues promised to profit from the article. The Rev. Al Sharpton told Politico he plans to be “all over” the story on his MSNBC show Monday: “At worst, he either thought it was something he could identify with and even have some bit of irony. At best, he’s insensitive. How can someone who would seek the highest office in the land be so insensitive to the implications of that name?”
Sharpton’s response is entirely foreseeable and expected. Unfortunately some Republican candidates have chosen to mimic Sharpton’s attacks. Asked about the story on Fox News Sunday, Herman Cain told Chris Wallace: “[There] isn’t a more vile, negative word than the N-word and for him to leave it there as long as he did before, I hear, that they finally painted over it, is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country.”
Calling a fellow candidate racist in any primary is a serious charge that should not be made until one is sure of all the facts. By his own statement, it is obvious that Cain was not 100% sure about the story (hence the “I hear” qualifier). Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., collapsed in the polls after she echoed a liberal-trial-lawyer created attack on Perry over the vaccine Gardisal. After a good stretch, this attack more backfire on Cain too.
Around the Bigs
The Hill, Hill Poll delivers mixed message for Obama: A Hill poll of likely voters finds that 43 percent oppose President Obama’s American Jobs Act while just 41 support it. Also, nearly half, 48 percent, of those polled said they hoped the Supreme Court would find Obamacare unconstitutional. Only 39 percent said such a decision would be bad.
The Wall Street Journal, China Bullet Trains Trip on Technology: Contrary to the official party line, China did not build all the components of its high-speed rail system by itself, and local engineers do not fully understand how some of the signaling system parts work. Faulty signaling is likely to blame for killing 40 people in a train collision.
The Wall Street Journal, Disputed Trade Pacts Advance: Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has reportedly agreed to pass a scaled down Trade Adjustment Assistance program along with the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea trade deals.
The New York Times, A U.S.-Backed Geothermal Plant in Nevada Struggles: A geothermal plant funded by the same Energy Department program that funded Solyndra, and also has close financial ties to the Obama administration, is now close to bankruptcy.
The New York Times, New State Rules Raising Hurdles at Voting Booth: The Times uncritically trumpets the findings of anew Brennan Center for Justice “study” purporting to show that voter-ID laws “could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.”
Gallup, In U.S., Local and State Governments Retain Positive Ratings: According to Gallup, 68 percent of Americans have confidence in their local governments to handle local problems, and 57 percent feel the same way about their state government. By contrast, only 31 percent of Americans have confidence in the federal government.
Righty Playbook
At The Corner, Robert VerBruggen reviews the latest documents released in the ATF gun walking scandal: “Obviously, around the time of these e-mails, Newell’s office was engaged in some pretty questionable behavior. But these e-mails present the image of a law enforcer genuinely trying to stop gun trafficking, and I see nothing in them that should have tipped the White House off that anything was wrong.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan reviews Jeffrey Sachs “The Price of Civilization,” in The Wall Street Journal.
University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds identifies some amendments he’s like to see made to the U.S. Constitution.
Lefty Playbook
The Washington Post‘s EJ Dionne hopes the Van Jones-led “American Dream Movement” can become the Tea Party of the left.
The New York Times editorial board editorializes, again, against the Keystone XL pipeline because “the extraction and production of tar sands oil still causes far more emissions than conventional crude.”
Murshed Zaheed of Crooks and Liars hopes progressive groups stop seeing Occupy Wall Street as a side show, and start seeing it as an opportunity.
