re: #77 Amory Blaine

Scott Walker is not very bright. Then again, the entire conservative movement is full of superstitious dim bulbs.

I would be scared. He is a dangerous ideologue.

Speaking of dim bulbs:

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry drew inspiration from one of the nation’s founding fathers during a speech at a recent fundraising dinner for the Republican Party of Virginia.

“Thomas Paine wrote that ‘the duty of a patriot is to protect his country from his government,’” Perry said, drawing applause from the crowd during his Feb. 24 event at the Richmond Marriott.

[…]

But many quotes have been mistakenly attributed to Paine, and the association also notes on its website what its hero did not write. Among them is a virtually identical phrase the former Texas governor attributed to Paine: “The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.”

Gary Berton, secretary of the association, told us, “I’ve read every word of Paine’s several times. It’s definitely not Paine.”

Berton, who has studied Paine’s writings for decades, said the phrase doesn’t even sound like a thought the founding father would convey. Paine was certainly critical of Britiain’s rule of the colonies and hoped society would one day become so advanced that it wouldn’t need government, Berton said.

“But in the meantime, he was for a strong central government with redistribution of wealth,” added Berton, who is also the coordinator of the Institute of Thomas Paine Studies at Iona College in New Rochelle.

politifact.com