by Yvette Carnell
Generally, I steer clear of rhetorical right wing set-ups such as the one Perry staged against Cain during the Republican debate in Nevada on Tuesday night. But in this case, someone needs to say what Cain, obviously, can’t.
If you weren’t watching, you missed Perry call Cain “brother” twice in an exchange over Cain’s 999 plan. I usually avoid commenting on such perceived slights because intention is nearly impossible to pin down, whereas alternate rationales are easy to cook up.
Case and point, Perry’s spokesman defended his boss by saying of Perry, “he is a friendly fellow. He uses that kind of language. And he views all those folks on stage as colleagues, as fellow Republicans, and he speaks accordingly.” Since intentions are fairly nebulous, and internal, it’s easy for a person whose intentions are being called into to question to just insinuate that the assailer just misunderstood.
