The end of Rick Perry

Oh my, this is painful (the inevitable keyboard cat included):



Timothy Noah – at least in comparison to some of the other chatter about the above clip – is feeling kind:

My first thought when Rick Perry couldn't name the third government agency he'd eliminate was that he was having a transient ischemic attack. My second thought was, "Oh, he's just having a senior moment. I've been having those since I was 15." My third thought was that his forgetting the name of the third federal agency he wants to eliminate does make you wonder whether he actually wants to eliminate it or whether this is something a campaign consultant told him to say. My fourth thought was that of the three on the list, the Energy department is the one that might really warrant elimination.

It is a dreadful thing to watch, though, isn't it? I mean, really. If his poor performance in previous debates hadn't already disqualified him from the race altogether, this should just about do it.