By long standing tradition, the judging of the Theocrat of the Week competition at FrederickClarkson.com is shrouded in mystery. (Usually reliable sources have informed us however, that sometimes last-minute Googling may be involved.) Nevertheless, we dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists are pleased to announce our Theocrat of the Week: Texas Governor Rick Perry.
Perry recently made a splash by staging the signing of a piece of legislation at a church. Plans to film the event for his reelection campaign commercials were called off after the news of Perry’s plans generated controversy.
“There are lots of reasons to go to church on Sunday,” Rev. Robin Lovin, a Methodist minister and a professor of ethics at Southern Methodist University told The New York Times , “but making laws isn’t one of them.”
“‘Signing a bill into law in a church,’ he added, ‘is a pretty clear symbol that the church is at the service of the state or the state is at the service of the church and either way we’ve crossed an important line that has a long history in both politics and theology.'”
However, this bit of grandstanding was by itself, insufficient to earn Perry the coveted title of Theocrat of the Week.
Our judges were impressed with the governor’s response to a rather adversarial interview with KTRK-TV reporter Ted Oberg. Upon the conclusion of the interview, Perry said, “Adios, Mo-Fo.” We hasten to assure readers that this shockingly vulgar outburst was definitely not the reason for our judges’ recognition of Governor Perry. What put Governor Perry over the top, was that he later telephoned Mr. Oberg to say that he spoke “without malice.”
In this one bold stroke, Governor Perry rescued the expression “Mo-Fo” from the arsenal of profanity. Leading theocrats, such as James Dobson, Alan Keyes, and Albert Mohler have greeted the governor’s remarks with the sanctification of silence — thus we may be assured that Mo-Fo may now be used by all without fear of anyone taking offense.
In that spirit we at FrederickClarkson.com are also pleased to report that among the ripple effects of Governor Perry’s inspired Christian leadership has been the stimulation of the free market in the Lone Star State.
“Adios, Mo-Fo” tees and such must-have, malice-free products as Adios, Mo-Fo thongs, trucker hats, and coffee mugs by Austin political blogger pinkdome.com — are reportedly selling briskly.
[Crossposted from, of course, FrederickClarkson.com]