I’ve been up since three-thirty this morning and I have yet to find one explanation that makes it clear why this is exchange between Rick Perry and a moderator is so much more boneheaded than anything Perry has previously said that it’ll knock him out of the race:

And I will tell ya, it’s three agencies o’ government when I get there that are gone: Commerce, Education, and the, ah, what’s the third one there, let’s see, ah, oh, five, okay, Commerce, Education, and the, ah, E.P.A., there you go, okay.

Seriously? Is E.P.A. the one you were talking about?

No, sir, no, sir, we were talking about the, ah, agencies of government – E.P.A. needs to be rebuilt, no doubt about that.

But you can’t name the third one?

The third agency of government that I would do away with, Education, the, ah, Commerce, and, let’s see, I can’t, the third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.

I mean, Michelle Bachman is right there on the stage with Perry and she’s said things thousands of times more blindingly stupid than that! Your head would have to literally explode on camera for you to be counted out in this race!