Rick Perry must have really felt pangs of jealousy having lost out to Herman Cain in the past few weeks for the title of “Most Mismanaged Campaign,” because two days ago he released an obnoxious ad that put him back in the running. In a short 30 seconds, Perry takes a swipe at gay soldiers, pretends that he’s being oppressed and maligned for being a Christian, implies that Obama is an atheist (or possibly Muslim) out to destroy religion (by which he clearly means Christianity), and claims that kids are suffering from being barred from praying or celebrating Christmas in school, which is not only false but also bewildering. When I was kid, having the day off to celebrate at home and not school was part of what Christmas so great, after all, and I can’t imagine kids have changed that much.
In about the time it takes to drive from Austin to D.C., this video helped Perry supplant the pepper-spraying cop as the Internet’s least favorite person/favorite dartboard. As I’m writing this, the video has over 230,000 dislikes and fewer than 5,000 likes. A Tumblr has been created for the Internet denizens to put other unpopular opinions, such as “Internet Explorer is the best browser” or “Stephanie Meyer is better than JK Rowling,” into Perry’s mouth. A YouTube parody has already gone up, arguing that “sodomites and infidels” should be given control of the country, since straight male Christians were mainly responsible for the mess this country is currently in. And, in my personal favorite response, George Takei gleefully noted on Twitter that Perry’s jacket in the commercial is the exact same worn by Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.
Mitt Romney must be thanking God every day to be blessed for his enemies. The only drawback for him at this point is that Obama is, too.
