Presented without comment.

Governor of Texas Rick Perry is about to take the stage in South Carolina to announce his candidacy for the presidency. And the scrutiny will increase, as it always does. And we might finally get the answer to a most important question:

Frankly, we’re disinclined to believe the “gay” rumors about Perry at this point – if for no other reason than the fact that he is clearly moving towards a presidential bid. He’s also moving toward an announcement with his wife’s support – while ramping up his rhetoric against homosexuality.

Two words: John Edwards.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwYTibTbYHQ

We don’t do formal meditation well — too much, um, formality — but should you need an escape from today’s incessant coverage of the Iowa Straw Poll, Talibunny, and Deranger Rick (we’re working on it), you could do worse than stare at a five-minute video on manufacturing pencils, each and every one of which is more intelligent than any candidate you’ll hear from.

[via Wired]

Hooray! Today, in answer to our prayers we have the first sex scandal of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Email rendezvous entangles state Rep. Phillip Hinkle

He’s a Republican so we can take as given: he’s married with children; is staunchly pro-family; has introduced at least one resolution to have In God We Trust put on license plates, cigarette packets, kitchen rolls, etc; is vehemently opposed to any gay rights proposal and likes to troll craigslist for young men in need of a ‘suggah daddy’.

You may have heard that Sarah Palin is back on the road, and by an amazing coincidence has turned up in Iowa, where, we’re learning, all the citizens are equipped with video cameras and boom mics.

Clever people are using this as evidence that she’s really running for President, and is just being too coy to announce yet, while other clever people are using this as evidence that she’s rushing to sell a few more books before her clock runs out.

We have a third theory: Something like this is a lot more fun than dealing with her daughter-in-law’s miraculous three-month pregnancy.

[via @daveweigel]

One candidate was conspicuously absent from Thursday night’s Republican debate. A candidate beloved by the base, feared by opponents, who could really blow this race wide open.

We’re speaking, of course, about Thaddeus McCotter.

[via Political Correction]

Our guest columnist is National Review’s Frank Miniter, who is totally not gay.

With London succumbing to looters and muggers, it’s time to ask what happened to the once-manly English people. The August 9 issue of the Daily Mail, for example, includes a photo of a young man taking off his pants on the street as an impatient looter waits with the emasculated Briton’s sneakers and shirt already in his hands. Luckily the feeble Englishman chooses boxers over briefs, but I can’t help wondering if men such as T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, or Lord Acton could have stomached the state of manliness in this generation of Englishmen.

England Used to Be a Country of Men [NRO]