Hope We Can Say The Same To You Next Year, Gov. Goodhair

I first heard about Texas governor Rick Perry's little "mofo" gaffe on the Chris Bell blog, and found this account by the reporter himself via Google News:

Our questions were not recorded on tape, but in saying goodbye I told the governor, "Try as I may, Governor, I guess I can't win this one."

Eleven seconds after he said goodbye, the camera crew was getting ready for the next interview with another station. That's when Gov. Perry repeated what he thought I'd said, and added a few words of his own with his microphone on and tape still rolling.

"Try as I may, Governor, I'm not going to wait that long," Gov. Perry said. "Adios, Mofo."

Those last words aren't exactly part of the seven dirty words, but it isn't something you want to say to your mother or use in good company. Tuesday morning, Governor Perry called me personally. He apologized and said his comment wasn't directed at us.

He agreed it was just one of those times a politician is caught by an open mike saying something embarrassing. He tells us he was just trying to get a reaction from the camera crew and it wasn't said with any malice or intent.

Like George Bush's infamous "one-finger victory salute", this doesn't makes me mad so much as it makes me laugh. Sure it's juvenile, and inappropriate to let it be caught on tape, but hey, a juvenile and inappropriate sense of humor is better than none at all. (Of course a swarm of rabidly righteous and indignant right-wingers would descend upon and rip the flesh off any Democrat who made a similar harmless mistake, rather than just blowing it off - but that's because they're animals, and I'm an enlightened dude. Also please note that they're trained attack animals who would never bite the hand that feeds them or say boo to Rick Perry in this situation.)

Anyway, my enlightenment notwithstanding, Amanda at Pandagon makes an excellent point: the problem isn't how awful "mofo" is, it's how weak it is.

Here's an example of how to be properly straight about your feelings on these issues:

"Fuck your kids and their education, motherfucker."

See? Leaves no doubt in the audience's mind who you're looking out for. And that's the kind of foul-mouthed eloquence that Texans deserve to be known for, not this weak "mofo" shit. We elected you! The least you can do is represent us, motherfucker.