Perry flubs name, number of Supreme Court justices
DES MOINES, Iowa — Presidential contender Rick Perry said there are eight Supreme Court justices, not nine, and flubbed Justice Sonia Sotomayor's (SOHN'-ya soh-toh-my-YOR') name in an editorial board meeting at The Des Moines Register.
Perry met with the board Friday. He struggled for six seconds to come up with Sotomayor's name, then initially called the justice "Montemayor." A member of the newspaper's editorial board helped him out with the correct name.
He went on to criticize "eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges." Nine justices sit on the Supreme Court. They are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/perry-flubs-name-number-of-supreme-court-justices-2023130.html
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Enrique
(27,461 posts)just saying...
http://usgovinfo.about.com/blinstst.htm
54. How many Supreme Court justice are there?
LonePirate
(14,367 posts)I am quite certain a majority of teabaggers and other rank and file Republicans would fail it as well.
66 dmhlt
(1,941 posts)
krispos42
(49,445 posts)
backtomn
(482 posts)When you are responding live to questions regularly in a campaign, you will make mistakes. It didn't hurt Obama, it won't hurt Perry. What will hurt Perry is that he doesn't appear to really be in the campaign.....and is probably in 4th or 5th right now. There will be plenty of time to address his failings, IF he ever reaches the top again.
Skinner
(63,645 posts)The GOP is a joke.
bleever
(20,618 posts)it's pretty much the same joke, over, and over, and over again.
Botany
(77,324 posts)Rick Perry, "I don't know how 8 came out of my mouth." Honest to God Quote.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/12/11/387102/rick-perry-i-dont-have-memorized-the-names-of-all-9-supreme-court-justices/
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)Was it the alcohol?
I think he's another GOP drunk. Some cry a lot.... some can't eat pretzels.... some shoot their friends in the face....
Ilsa
(64,371 posts)Either he's a drunk or he's self-medicating. Either way, he shouldn't be making the big decisions.
teddy51
(3,491 posts)may be on substance as well, but he's not very bright.
yellowcanine
(36,792 posts)
stevedeshazer
(21,653 posts)The stupid burns.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Which is funny ... he wants to kill the SC, and send Congress home ... thus giving the President more power.
Yet he clearly hasn't thought through what that would mean if it happened tomorrow morning, and all that power went directly to Obama.
Rick isn't a smart man.
yellowcanine
(36,792 posts)The SCOTUS happens to be a branch of the gubmint so getting rid or them is not a legal option.
struggle4progress
(126,157 posts)And yall ain't larnin nuthin from me
I ain't spend no time readin or writin
I like blowin hard and bein me
I are proudly be an guvnor from Texas
A place some halfwits can still win
Yadda yadda forgot the words yadda
And then I'll wave Old Glory once agin
We cain't make no party out of smart folk
We prefers the voters sniffin glue
We ain't let our heads get all edumicated
Like them damn yankee carpetbaggers do
I yadda be an yadda from Texas
Yadda forgot the words yadda yadda
Yadda yadda forgot the words yadda
And then I'll yadda yadda once agin
Fearless
(18,458 posts)
Lone_Star_Dem
(28,158 posts)However, he is providing lots of new material for Aggie jokes. 
Fearless
(18,458 posts)
REP
(21,691 posts)
sad sally
(2,627 posts)Just a few of the people who should be required to pass a piss/drug test before they can become a politician, lawyer, cop or judge - instead of testing garbage collectors.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)Maybe if he got stuck after naming three of them that would make his idiocy less appealing to his base.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)He must be staying in for matching funds? Why else? Ego?
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)still better, how he knows which female staff members are menstruating so he can shun them. He does do that right? because if not, he might as well have the gay.
Rex
(65,616 posts)we NEED...nay...MUST move away from electing idiots into office, just because they can grab their crotch and spit at the same time. 'Manly' leaders are turning out to be 'stupid' leaders that cause all kinds of economic damage to the nation/state they lead.
Just say NO to electing stupid people to office.
HowHeThinks
(92 posts)They wear their ignorance like a badge of honor. It's "who would I most like to have a beer with" all the way for them. All that fancy book 'larnin doesn't appeal to them. If you can't keep it simple and, most of all, absolute, there's no reason to bother them with it. It's in their religion, politics, social situations........everything. Simple and absolute. They take that biblical stuff about "not eating from the tree of knowledge" to the extreme.
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)A I right? Did I win someing?
dixiegrrrrl
(60,161 posts)
NJCher
(43,165 posts)I think this guy has made more errors than bush did in the first six months of his "presidency." And that's a lot!!
Cher
p.s. oh please, please, please let this moment be taped and posted at youtube.
defendandprotect
(65,605 posts)the corporate political barrels --
We have a bankrupt Treasury and a bankrupt political system --
Americans all know that -- OWS knows that --
DeathToTheOil
(1,124 posts)
Ilsa
(64,371 posts)is unbelievably juvenile. Honestly, I don't care that he can't remember her name. But to not know the number of justices, why we have that number, and why they are not elected by the general population shows a poor grasp of history and reality.
Charlemagne
(576 posts)The courts uphold the constitution in the face of discrimination. It was the courts that ended the so-loved Jim Crow laws. It was the courts that forced integration. It is the courts that stop the cultural imperialism of the republicans.
Therefore, the court must be destroyed. They make sure people have freedoms. The conservatives don't want that. They want hegemony.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)
Politicub
(12,328 posts)because every time Perry opens his mouth, he ends up looking like an even bigger idiot.
Remember Me
(1,532 posts)Maybe I oughtn't put it that way -- but his memory is really not functioning properly, and at the very least he should try a big big bunch of antioxidants and memory herbs. Seriously. He's a little young for Alzheimer's and I'm not sure what he's shown is all that Alzheimer-like, but for a man as young as he, the memory issues are NOT normal.
Control-Z
(15,686 posts)memory issues as much as learning issues. He is suddenly required to know things...
He reminds me of Palin, learning on the fly, or rather, not learning. So stupid.
zbdent
(35,392 posts)three hours later ...
"Alito!"
shireen
(8,340 posts)WTF is wrong with Texas?!!!
ThomThom
(1,486 posts)Texas has not improved
CTyankee
(68,202 posts)Why is he even still there?
24601
(4,142 posts)there are 50 states. Not every candidate or office holder passed this part.
gtar100
(4,192 posts)Roberts, Scalito, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy. The rest are just 'libruls' (not really, but when does the truth ever matter to a republican).
Skittles
(171,716 posts)I've lived in Texas 35 years and I tell you Rick Perry may even be dumber than Dubya
Control-Z
(15,686 posts)Being referred to as Bush's stupid cousin kind of told me all I needed to know.
George Carlin who remarked that in the Bush family, the smart one was called "Jeb?"
ScottLand
(2,485 posts)Maybe he should consider moving to the country of Solyndra.
Botany
(77,324 posts)Rick Perry, "I don't know how 8 came out of my mouth." Honest to God Quote.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/12/11/387102/rick-perry-i-dont-have-memorized-the-names-of-all-9-supreme-court-justices/
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)If Perry exercised any amount of reasoning he would come to understand that 8 is an even number. For the court that is to be the ultimate arbiter of issues, an even number means you can have a tie and, unlike in the Senate where the V.P. casts the deciding vote, there is no such provision on the Supreme Court.
The Court could have 8 members but it doesn't. It has 9 members.
Further, the court is accountable although that accountability is difficult to manifest. Justices are subject to impeachment and removal. But the Founding Fathers made that process cumbersome and difficult, for a reason.
The concept of an independent judiciary, whose job it is to interpret the law, is a cornerstone of our democracy. I don't always agree with the decisions of the Court and think they often get it wrong, e.g. proclaiming there is an individual, personal right to bear arms and Citizen's United (among others) but I prefer an independent juridiary.
I find it interesting that in most states, judges and justices are elected. If their interpretation of law, although accurate and informed, grinds against public opinion, they can and will be replaced. It stretches the imagination to consider such a system as manifesting an "independent" judiciary.
Response to Lone_Star_Dem (Original post)
hughee99 This message was self-deleted by its author.
L. Coyote
(51,134 posts)Making Bush look smart
Lone_Star_Dem
(28,158 posts)He is damn good at it.
PRETZEL
(3,245 posts)ask any Republican and after Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito they draw a blank.
Nice guess Ricky, wrong but better luck next time.
groundloop
(13,849 posts)Now that he's been exposed for the idiot he is, it'll be interesting to see if he can be reelected. I've lived in Texas, and while a large part of the state is very conservative they also really really hate being embarrassed - and Rick Perry is now an embarrassment to Texas.
russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)
ellisonz
(27,776 posts)Ilsa
(64,371 posts)"Montemayor" is pretty close. I do think Perry is an idiot for not knowing that there are nine justices. He should understand more about how the third branch of government works and its history, including how it ended up being nine justices. That's important for a president to understand, IMO.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)...idiot.
yellowcanine
(36,792 posts)Well no, they are not elected and thank GAWD for that. Maybe someone should give Ricky a copy of the Constitution he purports to revere.
yellowcanine
(36,792 posts)As with Bush, he gets by in Texas without actually having to break a sweat when it comes to governing. Running for President is the most strenuous thing he has done ever intellectually and it shows.
yellowcanine
(36,792 posts)No voters are not looking for a robot, Rick, just an individual who actually knows something about being President and knowing who the members of the SCOTUS are and their judicial philosophy is PART of being President, particularly since you might have to nominate someone to replace one or two of them. And how is that Herman Cain defense thing working out for you, Ricky?
Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)You just can't make this shit up.
SaintPete
(533 posts)Has a solar powered brain and it's cloudy out.
Is not the brightest crayon in the box
Is not the sharpest tool in the shed
Is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Is a few clowns short of a circus.
Is a few fries short of a Happy Meal
Is a few Bud Lights short of a six-pack.
Is a few peas short of a casserole.
his wheel is spinning, but the hamster's dead.
Is one taco short of a combination plate.
Is a few feathers short of a whole duck.
Is all foam, no beer.
His cheese slid off his cracker.
Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel.
Fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
An intellect rivaled only by garden tools.
His light's on, but nobody's home
Is as smart as bait.
His chimney's clogged.
Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
Forgot to pay his brain bill.
His sewing machine's out of thread.
His belt doesn't go through all the loops.
No grain in the silo.
Proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.
In the pinball game of life, his flippers were a little further apart than most.
Is an experiment in artificial stupidity
Is dumber than a box of hair
Doesn't have all his Cornflakes in one box
Is as dumb as a brick.
Is as dumb as a box of rocks.
Is a brick short of a load.
Dumber than a sack of hammers
His elevator doesn't go all the way to the top.
Is one bat short in the belfry
Doesn't have both oars in the water
Is six bricks short of a load
Isn't playing with a full deck
Lights flashing, bells ringing, the gates are down .. but the train isn't coming
More confused then a hungry baby at a topless bar
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)There are like you know like nine of them, and he only missed it by one.
myshadow1
(9 posts)I think he got it in his haid that Elena Kagan was recusing herself in the Health Care decision making the Court 8.
Also nixon referred to Rhenquist as 'renchberg' and thought he was is a 'jew'.
Dumb comes in many packages.
perry's has thinner paper.
lib2DaBone
(8,124 posts)You have to remember.. a large part of America is focused on American Idol and Dancing With The Stars.
Most Americans can't find Iran on a map... yet they will vote for war and millions of dollars to be spent on more useless war in the mideast.
Iraq had NOTHING to do with 911.. yet George Bush was successful in pushing thru a Trillion Dollar War and putting it on the Chinese Credit Card.
Now today.. they want to eliminate Social Security and Medicare to pay for this mistake... and Obama is HELPING them!