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News & ArtsSaturday, August 6, 2011
2012 Nobody Wants To Pray with Rick Perry
Posted by Paul Constant on Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 10:50 AM
I think we can safely call Rick Perry's big prayer rally a dud:
At about 9 a.m., an hour before the program was scheduled to start, the stadium, with a seating capacity of 71,500, had tens of thousands of empty seats, particularly in the upper decks. By 10 a.m, organizers estimated that about 20,000 people were in attendance.
If the organizers are saying they could only fill less than a third of the stadium, I wonder what the real numbers were? This certainly can't be the spontaneous grassroots outpouring of support that the Perry campaign people were hoping for.
1
More importantly, how many people did they have to beg and plead with, or pay off, at the last minute to get that number up to 20,000 from the 7,000 it was just a few days ago?
I'd like to see more focus on who these people were. They are not just "Christians" or right-wingers; they're the kook of the crop -- the "gays caused Katrina" guy is there, the "gays caused 9/11" guy is there, the "gay marriage is like 9/11" guy is there, the "DADT caused dead birds to fall from the sky" guy is there, the "Hitler was gay, and all the Brownshirts were gay too" guy is there, the "gay rights is run by the Illuminati" guy is there, the "feds are planting microchips in your brain" guy is there. The "Statue of Liberty is a demonic idol" guy is there!
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/what…
I'd like to see more focus on who these people were. They are not just "Christians" or right-wingers; they're the kook of the crop -- the "gays caused Katrina" guy is there, the "gays caused 9/11" guy is there, the "gay marriage is like 9/11" guy is there, the "DADT caused dead birds to fall from the sky" guy is there, the "Hitler was gay, and all the Brownshirts were gay too" guy is there, the "gay rights is run by the Illuminati" guy is there, the "feds are planting microchips in your brain" guy is there. The "Statue of Liberty is a demonic idol" guy is there!
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/what…
2
He has tons of support, but only the most committed would want to hassle going to an arena in 100+ weather for anything.
3
Yeah, but if you gather the people around tightly, have them scream fanatically, and make sure the shots are tight, and get a couple of overhead stadium shots from a football game, then you can claim that there were a hundred thousand there.
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@2, nonsense. Reliant Stadium has 12,000 tons of air conditioning, which they're kind of famous for setting to arctic temps.
6
@5: True, but the hassle of getting there - traffic, walking from the parking lots, is inhibiting. In that kind of heat, you hunker down and cancel going out to events.
7
What? For the new Republican messiah his faithful following wouldn't go from their air-conditioned cars to the air-conditioned stadium, because they might hit some hot air in between?
Uh huh.
Yeah, Perry has tons of support.
Uh huh.
Yeah, Perry has tons of support.
10
@7: I take it you haven't lived in Texas. I'm saying its a factor. What part of "Only the most committed..." didn't you understand?
But I'll ammend tons of support to just "support".
But I'll ammend tons of support to just "support".
12
Well I heard somewhere that about 30,000 people canceled last minute because it was over 100 degrees, which is completely unprecedented in Dallas this time of year. This campaign is really going places, you guys.
13
raindrop, don't be silly. Houstonians go in droves to anything that interests them, no matter the weather. Not just to Reliant, where the Texans have sold out the last 90 consecutive games in all weather, but to outdoor events in blazing heat too.
Here, from June 13, the story of crowds at the incredibly hot outdoor Houston Beerfest at Hermann Square. Jam packed, crowds braving heat exhaustion, the works.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/201…
Here, from June 13, the story of crowds at the incredibly hot outdoor Houston Beerfest at Hermann Square. Jam packed, crowds braving heat exhaustion, the works.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/201…
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Ah, how soon they forget. Raindrop clearly can't even remember two and a half years ago, when people were so fucking sick of Bush they elected a black man, for God's sake. I can't imagine what they'd do after a term or two of Perry.
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If they'd had a wet t-shirt contest at their prayer rally, I'm sure it would've brought their numbers up. Know your audience, people!
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@6: So what you're saying is that Perry has plenty of supporters, but they're all huge pussies? Duly noted.
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And the truth about conservatism is they never run out of excuses to pick the pockets of the middle class.
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I was thinking people were being mean to Raindrop until I read his/her idiotic quip about liberals spending other people's money. Conservatives bankrupted your country with a couple dumb wars and deregulation there, pal. Liberals aren't your problem. Conservatives are.
And I'm so glad this political event-slash-old-thymey religious revival is poorly attended. It's an obscenity that brings shame to Texas.
And I'm so glad this political event-slash-old-thymey religious revival is poorly attended. It's an obscenity that brings shame to Texas.
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Stupid, stupid Raindrop...
There was a link here the other day to a piece on which states are using which other states' money. It turns out, your fucking red states only survive by greedily sucking on the teat of our liberal blue states. If we hadn't fought the Civil War to retain you, you'd be just another impoverished Third World country by now. Fool.
There was a link here the other day to a piece on which states are using which other states' money. It turns out, your fucking red states only survive by greedily sucking on the teat of our liberal blue states. If we hadn't fought the Civil War to retain you, you'd be just another impoverished Third World country by now. Fool.
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I love that at the bottom of the linked NYT post the first "Related Articles / From Around the Web" is:
SLOG: Why Nobody Wants to Pray with Rick Perry
SLOG: Why Nobody Wants to Pray with Rick Perry
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Maybe he should have invited the regular Mariners fans...would have added 11,000....12,000 easily
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@6, et al.... this is for JESUS, goddamit. If you're a true believer, you don't worry about outdoor temps, or air condishionin', or long lines, or parkin'. YOU FUCKIN' JUST GO AND TESTIFY, BITCH. Don't you know nothin'? Obviously, you don't.
25
You might be interested to know that Jubilation T. Cornball was once a prolific and humorous commenter on Slog, until one day, while bending over to suck the limp dick of a toothless old alcoholic in the men's room of a tacky gay bar, he slipped in a pool of santorum and hit his head on the toilet, resulting in a large amount of blood loss. He disappeared from Slog for a while, and then recently came back, apparently brain damaged, obsessed with Fnarf, and incapable of making anything other than repetitive, tedious and definitively un-humorous comments. We miss you, Jubie.
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There wasn't any air conditioning for Christ on the cross, you'd think his True Believers could walk across a toasty tarmac.
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I think Obama should have a rally there ASAP so people know what the place looks like with people in it.
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OH THANK YOU TEXAS. i am so proud they are not as dumb as i expected because well... i've lost a lot of hope in americans as of late and... phew.
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Since we spend so much time making war given any possibility that religious fanatics might get hold of nuclear weapons, why on earth would we elect a religious fanatic to use ours? I hope the poor showing will keep Perry away from running.
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30,000 people showed up and prayed for what exactly? How will they know when God has answered their prayers?
Is this what RP is going to do when he's president -- hold prayer rallies whenever he runs into problems?
Is this what RP is going to do when he's president -- hold prayer rallies whenever he runs into problems?
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