Rick Perry shows fans what makes him feel potent

At last, a real man in the presidential race — the God-fearing Texan with the designer cowboy boots and permanent wave who likes to be photographed holding guns to prove he’s virile, I guess because he suspects voters have their doubts.

Gov. Rick Perry is looking to take full advantage of the Bush Supreme Court’s disgraceful Citizens United decision, which allows candidates to accept huge campaign contributions from unnamed sources. Already, so-called “Super PACs” created to generate money for Perry are looking as dirty as the laws that allow for this sort of fundraising:

There are currently seven Super PACs — independent political committees that can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and unions — supporting Perry’s bid. The most recently formed is Make Us Great Again… founded by former Perry chief of staff and longtime associate Mike Toomey. Toomey is so close to the Perry inner circle he even co-owns a private island in New Hampshire with Perry’s campaign manager Dave Carney… The other pro-Perry Super PACs are no better in presenting themselves as independent. Jobs for Vets Fund and Veterans for Rick Perry were started by former Perry legislative director Dan Shelley. Veterans for Rick Perry even made a revealing error on their initial statement of organization by checking a box stating that the committee supported one candidate and listing Rick Perry as that candidate. Super PACs are forbidden from explicitly supporting one candidate… Another committee, Americans for Rick Perry, is run by California political consultant Bob Schuman, a former campaign consultant for former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), Perry’s political mentor.

Super PACs are supposed to operate independent of the candidates they support — a farcical notion, especially in a case like Perry’s, which almost screams for charges of collusion to be brought.

Footnote: Can this swaggering fraud legally run for president, given that he is on record as believing Texas could secede from the United States if it saw fit to do so?