Rick is Out

In the great tradition of pull quotes, here’s some fun ones from Rick Perry’s withdrawal speech:

As I have traveled across this great country: from New Hampshire to California, from Iowa to Florida, and to numerous states in between, I have discovered a tremendous purpose and resiliency in our people.

Reinterpretation: “I’ve never been outside Texas so damn was I surprised that there’s people with opinions out there.”

As a former Air Force pilot, I know we can’t lose track of the ultimate objective in carrying out our mission, and that objective is not only to defeat President Obama, but to replace him with a conservative leader who will bring about real change.

You better damn-straight be concentrating on the mission rather than some nebulous overall objective when you’re flying your C-130 full of people or equipment into an airfield.

We need bold, conservative leadership that will take on the entrenched interests and give the American People their country back.

That one just made me laugh.

As I have contemplated the future of this campaign, I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path to victory for my candidacy in 2012.

I was in that mindset on day -10 of your candidacy. Thankfully you’ve proved me right.

I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country.

Newt is a conservative visionary. It’s his biggest weakness because he can’t turn it off and get to the practical.

The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God and I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my own Christian faith.

Yes, and another part of that tenet is that you don’t necessarily receive it until you’re dead.

I’m proud of the policies we put forward to the American people … cutting spending and eliminating unnecessary federal agencies and cutting taxes to a flat, fair 20 percent.

Fascinating. By my math, that means any single person earning (adjusted) income of $83,000 or less will see their taxes go up. And any married-filing-jointly household earning less than $140,000 will also see their taxes go up.

It’s amazing to me how we expose people’s actual or willful ignorance of the graduated tax bracket system. Guess what! My family is in the 28% tax bracket but our effective actual tax rate is somewhere down around 20%. That’s math, people. So, if Rick’s Republicans got his way, I’d be just fine, thanks very much, but if either I or Jenn stopped working, my effective tax rate would rise. The lower your current income, the more your effective tax rate would rise. Thanks for that cogent analysis (“Fair”), Rick.

I felt led into this arena to fight for the future of this country.

That was probably gas from the steak the night before.