Rick Perry’s Execrable Ad

My friend and blogosphere colleage, Cory Heidelberger, drew my attention back to an ad run by Rick Perry.  While Cory is guilty of a lot of silliness, I agree altogether with the substance of his post. 

Rick Perry very probably took himself out of contention for the Republican nomination when he demonstrated in the debates that he can barely construct a sentence or remember his own positions on any issue. However, following the old rule that it is not enough to be thought a fool when one can remove all doubt, he has produced this campaign ad:

That is a piece of work. It manages to be both execrable and stupid in almost equal measures. Let's start with the stupid. When a President has offered as many easy targets as Barack Obama, the worst thing a Republican can do is make a new accusation that almost no one will take seriously and one which the President can easily refute.

Whatever President Obama has doing over the last four years, he hasn't been waging a war against religion. If anything, he has been far too solicitous of religious sentiment in his foreign policy, going so far as to support the criminalization of blasphemy in other countries. Even if you think that Obama is a closet Muslim or Marxist, his opinions on religion just aren't what the voters are interested in or should be interested in right now. This kind of attack leaves the President stronger rather than weaker and Republicans can thank their lucky stars that Perry is too far below the radar screen for this to attract a lot of notice.

As for the execrable, let's return to the text:

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.

A reasonable person can conclude that allowing openly homosexual persons to serve in the military is bad policy. I disagree and I have said so on this blog, but I know such reasonable persons. Stating a policy position is not what Perry is doing in the above quote.

He is setting "our kids" against those "gays." He is appealing, he hopes, to a widely shared, visceral animosity towards homosexual persons. That is inexcusable. Rick Perry ought to be ashamed that he is a Christian if he is going to talk like that. I have read all of the New Testament pretty closely. There are certainly grounds there for believing that homosexuality is a sin. As for drawing a circle around a group of people for the purpose of despising them, that is as contrary to the Gospel as anything can be.

Perry's statement is unchristian and un-American. Whatever one thinks about gays in the military or gay marriage, demonizing a group of citizens for what they are is not what America is about.

This ad was a stupid and execrable piece of work. If Republicans are tempted to look for an alternative to Gingrich and Romney, they must look elsewhere than Perry.

Comments

[caheidelberger]

Even as I wallow in silliness, I can see the merits of your clear and concise explanation of the rude stupidity of Perry's text. Thank you for the commentary.

[Bill Fleming]

Hey wait. Is that a Brokeback Mountain jacket Perry's got on or what?
Next thing you know, he'll be snugglin' up to Newt.

http://www.availableimages.com/celebs/g/jake-gyllenhaal/pictures-brokeback-mountain_pph_0.html

[Donald Pay]

Let's turn Perry's ad into an attack against one of the person who leads the Republican race right now. I suspect everyone who sits in pew on Sunday believes that serial philandering is a sin.

Perry could have said, "I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when a serial philanderer can run openly for public office but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."

Perry doesn't do this. Why? Cheating on a husband or wife is a much more common sin than anything Perry imagines regarding gays.

When you start picking out people for supposed sinfulness you will never end the hypocritical demonization of any group of people or any person, and you try to absolve yourself of your sins.

Perry started out his campaign making a show of his religious beliefs. That, according to the Bible is a sin. So, he could have said in an ad against his own candidacy:

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when a politician uses God for his own purposes."

Perry will never be President, and he had better start thinking about whether he really is a Christian.

[larry kurtz]

Jesus responds to Rick Perry ad:

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/6coz

[Ken Blanchard]

Donald: your passion gets the better of you. An analogy between adultery and homosexual love would not represent progress for gay rights. Perry probably thinks that they are analogous, and if he does he is being perfectly consistent. As far as I know, a member of the armed forces can be subject to Court Martial for adultery.

[Ken Blanchard]

Oh, and thanks, Cory. It's kinda fun to agree once and awhile.

[Jimi]

Rick Perry is an embarrassment! He will not be the President, and rightfully so!

I will not vote for any Yellow Dog Democrat that used to cozy up to Al Gore, and then all of a sudden found religon and became a Progressive Republican.

For those of you worried that Rick Perry could become President, there is no need! He never had a chance from the beginning.

[Andrew]

It's hard to fathom many individuals give him the time of day when he publishes ads like this. Whether you are Christian or not, Rick Perry shuns the New Testament when he disagrees that gays can serve openly in the military.

Beyond that, being a product of a public school system, I've never heard anyone being scolded for saying "Merry Christmas" to a friend. Perry's claims seem way off base, and, as Donald said, may need to look at what it really means to be a Christian, and what it means to share "Christ's Love" in the world.

[robert]

Y'all are very stupid. Add a christian NATION, IT IS INEXCUSABLE THAT WE LET FAGS EVEN BE HERE. GOOD HIMSELF DESTROYED SODOM AND GAMORRAH BECAUSE IT WAS FULL OF FAGS. PERRY ITS AWESOME