No Surprise

He may have a new "intellectual" look, but don't let appearances deceive you. Rick Perry may look a little different these days. But behind the "cool glasses", he still has that mouth... And that foot that always finds its way into that mouth.

When the soon-to-be-ex-Governor of Texas (and a "good friend" Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval would rather forget he still has?) appeared on ABC News' "This Week" to talk about the Central American immigrant children, host Martha Raddatz had to correct Perry when he tried to blame President Obama for their arrival.



Already, President Obama has announced his administration's plans to deport many of these children. Border Patrol has already begun an ad campaign urging Central American families not to send their children to the US Border. And President Obama has asked Congress to amend the laws passed by Congress and signed by then President George W. Bush that codified current procedure for dealing with migrant children from nations that don't touch the US Border.

Yet, we must keep this in mind. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has already declared this a humanitarian crisis and stated that about 60% of these children qualify for some sort of humanitarian aid. And the Vera Institute of Justice suggested that at least 40% of these immigrant children qualify for legal protection... Back in 2012, using 2010 data. This was before the recent surge in Central American refugees...

And this was before last week's shocking display of 21st Century Know Nothing hate in Murrieta, California.



In a move reminiscent of Cliven Bundy's "Range War", anti-immigrant extremists rushed to Murrieta to turn away buses with migrant children. And it comes as no surprise to us that many of the same "Patriot Movement" figures who rushed to aid Cliven Bundy in his "Range War" are now celebrating the Murrieta bus blockade and the flagrant disregard for federal law. It also comes as no surprise to us that these same "(anti-)Patriots" are now cheering House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Courvoisier) plan to impeach sue President Obama.



It really comes as no surprise to us that G-O-TEA politicians are now scraping the bottom of the barrel like this. We're wondering if Speaker Boehner and other G-O-TEA "leaders" were ever actually serious about passing comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Every chance they've had to simply do what the Senate already did, House Republican "leaders" instead devised some cockamamey excuse and tried to deflect blame onto President Obama.

Rep. Joe Heck (R-Baloney) had pulled this stunt numerous times... Until he decided to just call the police on immigrant rights activists last month and rudely ignore activists in Boulder City last Friday. In reality, he's just following G-O-TEA marching orders. They feigned interest in CIR when they considered that politically expedient. But now that their G-O-TEA Culture Warrior base have made it clear they want no CIR ever, they're pandering to the lowest common denominator simply following Rick Perry's lead.

Not too long ago, Republican Party "leaders" boasted of their "successful Republican rebranding campaign". Perhaps they've been trying new looks. But just as Rick Perry can't hide the idiocy behind those "cool glasses", the G-O-TEA can't hide unbridled hatred and bigotry behind lofty rhetoric. Sadly, it comes as no surprise to us that the reality behind the "rebranding" has finally surfaced in such a brutally ugly way.