Day -38: Man Who Couldn’t Remember Name of Department He Wanted to Eliminate Tapped to Lead Said Department
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry during a Republican primary debate five years ago had this to say about his plans for the federal government if he was to be elected president:
The third department he couldn’t remember? The Department of Energy.
It should come as no surprise that numerous reports say that Perry has now been tapped by Donald Trump to lead — wait for it — the Department of Energy.
What is far more offensive than the blunder is the message itself coupled with what we know today: Perry will lead a department that he doesn’t believe should exist at all.
In the broadest strokes, the Department of Energy is responsible for both setting U.S. energy policy, and overseeing the nuclear weapons program. Where the former governor believes those responsibilities should go is unclear, but he’ll be in charge of both soon.
In a since-removed essay on his website entitled “Defending Conservatism Against the Cancer of Trumpism,” Perry wrote of Trump in July 2015:
“He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued. Let no one be mistaken — Donald Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.”
Oh how things have changed in a year and a half. Perry will now occupy a spot in Trump’s nonsensical carnival act, as opposed to helping surgically remove the clown.
The current head of the energy department is a nuclear physicist. The next head is someone who couldn’t remember the name of the department, earned a degree in animal science, seemingly will do anything for a little power and has the signature of a six-year old signing a birthday card for his mommy.
-38 days in, 1499 to go
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