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Subscribe to RSSDuring Wednesday's debate, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry is unable to remember one of the three government agencies he would eliminate if he were elected to the White House.
No matter your political views, you probably couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Gov. Rick Perry’s memory hiccup during Wednesday night’s CNBC Republican presidential debate. Sorry and perhaps a little empathetic.
For the life of him, Perry couldn’t remember the name of the third federal agency he’d abolish as president. Commerce, Education, and, and, and. Nothing. Someone suggested “EPA,” and Perry briefly appeared to consider that possibility. By the time reporter John Hardwood asked him what that third agency was, Perry seemed to have forgotten even Commerce.
We might call such incidents “senior moments,” but they happen to people of all ages, says Gayatri Devi, director of the New York Memory and Healthy Aging Services. It’s just that few people experience them on live TV.
“I don’t think we can make too much of it,” says Devi, a board-certified neurologist and psychiatrist. “This is a very human error. I don’t think it’s portentous of any memory problems.”
Perry, who’s 61, probably had several factors working against him, Devi speculates.
Story: Perry's debate brain freeze looms large
For one, she says, the guy is running for president and has tons of stuff to remember. Just because he blanked on the name of that third agency (Department of Energy, by the way) doesn’t mean he’s unfamiliar with the details of his own platform, Devi says. “Haven’t you ever forgotten your home telephone number?” (My hand is up.)
Plus, the stress of everything going on in his life right now probably doesn’t help. While a little stress can keep you on your game, Devi says, too much can hinder your performance.
Perry’s lapse does probably mean that he didn’t rehearse enough, she says. As anyone who’s ever given a talk knows, practice, practice, practice helps get you closer to perfect.
On top of that, you have to figure that Perry, a governor running for the presidential nomination, probably isn’t getting enough zzz’s. As Devi says, “the most important thing for remembering is a good night’s sleep.”
Catnaps probably aren’t enough, she says, because it’s “slow-wave”-- or deep sleep—that’s needed to help make memories stick. “What your grandmother said is true: Get a good night’s sleep. Especially before a presidential debate.”
Readers, let's sympathize with the guy for a second. When's the last time you had a brain freeze? Leave a comment telling us about it -- if we like your story, we may use it in an upcoming Body Odd post!
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Leave a Comment:
I think it may be a lack of brain cells that is causing Perry so many problems.
I'm pretty sure Perry's lapse had more to do with Ambien and scotch.
Maybe, he is just a Teapublican idiot.
He hopelessly tries to memorize wingnut platforms and rhetoric to get elected.
He is not smart enough to even know what the three departments he wants to eliminate even do.
I was gonna comment....but I forgot what I was gonna say.....
I would speculate one of two things happened here:
1) Given how slow Perry speaks (this is not a slam, just stating reality) it's probable that he skipped a head in thought and in the process, lost his train of thought.
OR
2) He probably got distracted by something pretty or shiny in the audience, and completely lost his train of thought...
Commerce, Energy and Education - who needs those things to move us forward? no, the big issues...thats corp and rich people taxes being too high, gay people wanting to get married...and women thinking foolishly they own their bodies and what grows in them. those are the real plagues on america that need to be fixed asap, and then VOILA everyone will have jobs...jobs as far as the eye can see!
@never - enough of the silly, made-up nicknames. People only call others names if they aren't able to make a real argument. Do you have a point, or are you simply hurling insults and trying to belittle those who disagree with you?
Being a member or officer of a few different clubs and committees I occasionally have to address a group. I do fine as long as I am able to stick to what I rehearsed in my head. On numerous occasions, I have had these type lapses when someone asks a question I didn't have a prepared answer for or if had to ad lib something. Put a microphone in front of me and it gets even worse; it sometimes turns into almost incomprehensable babble.
Not a Perry supporter but in all honesty why do we still have the department of energy and education?
Neither of these departments have done what they were supposed to accomplish.
We got the department of energy so that the US would be less dependent on foreign oil: FAIL
The department of education was created to make US Public school children more competitive with the rest of the world: FAIL
It's amazing to me that so many people can support huge government programs that we have spent hundreds of billions if not a few trillion on when they have never accomplished their intended purpose.
None of these memory issues are relevant re: Perry. He avoids debates for one significant treason. He's not terribly bright. He's another Texas leader who gets led around by his corporate sponsors, and others with influence. He's never had a need to think. He's not going to become smart overnight. You want a moron for President? He's your man. You want someone who is so deep into graft, payoffs, and looking for Quid Pro Quo for every contract, he's your man.
As for these federal offices? Conservatives would prefer none of them continue so that the decisions concerning health, commerce and energy get tossed around and decided in an atmosphere of chaos . . . where corporate interests will prevail. That would benefit the rich, again, and the American public will soon be breathing fumes, suffering from lapses in judgement and at the mercy of greedy pigs. The completely delusional right will then scream about how we are cursed by God because we allow gays to marry, or kids to get vaccines, or some other such nonsense. How wonderful to be completely, insanely, ignorant. The America of the right is a disaster with all of the ready-made excuses in place.
So I guess we should get rid of the White House.
Yeah, it's not memory lapses that is plaguing Rick Perry, it's having a deficient cerebral unit.
This guy should do us all a favor and quit before the rest of the world realizes how dumb we are to elect someone like this guy after 8 years of GW Bush.
No Party Affiliations
I don't know what the big deal is about the Perry moment. I was appalled
when Cain referred to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as "Princess"
which showed blatant disrespect of her as a white woman, and he showed
his true colors; black and white. No class like NBC's Lester Holt who is
presidential in his manner. Just saying, I am not sticking it to the black
man.
I can definitely understand how this might happen to Mr. Perry. I am certain he is under far more pressure than any of us could imagine running for president. Many people use instances like this to try and discredit someone, however, may we please remember the human factor. None of us are exempt from mistakes and a president is not someone who needs to be perfect, but rather someone who understands the flaws of humanity because he acknowledges his own and will help work to make not only himself but our nation a better place. I think Perry is certainly the man for that position. As a God fearing man who seeks and desires prayer and morals to be brought back to this nation, he will have my vote.
Never stop asking, at least he's somewhat got a clue, you are probably an Occupy something movement guy who don't even know why you're protesting.
Well I do believe....The Department of energy has control over our Nukes.
What was this article about again?
Usually happens when you are BSing like Perry was. He'd just said, "when I get in, the following agencies are gone..." Oopsie. Perry is not going to "get in" and he knows it, so his premise is false, second, some Republican plans are so incredibly ignorant and baseless that it is a good idea if they are immediately forgotten. Seriously!
Yea Bob some comments are so incredibly ignorant and baseless its unbelievable. Seriously
I just turned 65 and find myself with more Perry moments as I get older. I haven't left the car keys in the freezer yet, but I find myself forgetting names more frequently. I just say "what's his name" a lot.
Scott-- I am over 75 and I find I am more and more believing in the HEREAFTER. I go into my bedroom and wonder "What am I here after?".
I'm in my 20's and this has happened to me on several occasions! Not only is it embarrassing but instead of trying to remember what I was thinking of, I just immediately think about how embarrassed I am that I forgot a word/name/etc. Then it's just awkward.
and a couple of weeks ago when he got on the podium drunk as a skunk, what was that? yes it was caught on tape too.
Oh My! I forgot why I came into the bathroom.
You can have surgery to fix a crooked nose.
You can wear a wig if you are going bald.
You can exercise to lose weight.
But you can't fix stupid.
Actually, a good education can fix stupid.
I really wish that was true. I would not trust most of the extremely educated people I know to do the most basic of tasks. My father is a engineer and one of the smartest people I know but you could not pay me enough to let him under the hood of my car to change a spark plug. Point being the book smarts do not always equal usefullness in the real world.
He has that Texas Presidential look about him, Duuuuuuuuu
I think he looks like Count Dracula but talks like Dubya. bad combo. we all know how smart dubya was.
...yes, except GWB did have higher grades in college than John Kerry or Obama.....
Uuuum. What courses did GWB take? Wasn't he "drafted" in to college by family connections? Grades aren't the the only indicator of intelligence, however I do agree a good education is, whether it is self taught or from an ivy league university.
Bush had a "C" average in college. His grandfather got him in, since he was an alumnus.
Bush was also a cheerleader. Must have made his grandfather proud.
RealChris::: I wonder what he looked like in one of those cute skimpy cheerleader outfits.
Well, guys ,since you're bashing Bush, tell me of your guys finer qualities.
nycguy,
I don't believe you can be the editor of "The Law Review" if you have a C average like............W did.
Forget the memory lapse, does this idiot really understand that the Departments he wants to eliminate actually perform critical services for us such as the U.S. Patent Office, the U.S. Census and oh that's right . . . . . .our NUCLEAR WEAPON DESIGN AND MAINTENACE PROGRAM. What a moron!
Alcohol causes memory lapses as well. He DID get up drunk on the podium a couple of weeks ago and that footage is out there, well documented. go texans huh? lol
When I was 16 I forgot the name of a new boyfriend as I was introducing him to my father. I have also been known to forget my daughter's name on occasion.
I know how you feel. I forgot my fiance's name once as I was showing off my engagement ring and he was standing right there. He still married me and we laugh about it now.
My Mother and her sisters are famous for saying at least two other peoples name as they are trying to get someones attention. You always knew that if they called your name first you were off the hook.
Someone asked my phone number once and I drew a blank and I said, "Hey, I forget ... I never call it." :)
I agree with Rita Rubin. In grade school, I froze on stage. As an adult, I've given many a PowerPoint presentation in the corporate world, and have on occasion had a brain freeze. It's normal. Everyone does it. And for anyone who says it hasn't happened to them, well . . . you must has just forgot.
I'll try again: Forget about a simple memory lapse, he really has a major logic lapse. After all I guess he thinks we can do without things like a Patent Office, U.S. Census, and the Department that DESIGNS AND MAINTAINS OUR NUCLEAR WEAPONS! What a moron.
....and you forgot that you already posted
I'm 73 and almost every day I have this experience. I've looked for my glasses and they were on my face, looked for a pencil and it was in my hands.. Get real, life after all it's woes and disasters, and medications that cause memory lapses, causes one to act like that. As for Perry, he's human, give him a break. He's not going to win anyway, so what!
Mr Perry suffers from " gross idiocy" like all Republican politicians. They all need to go away in order for America to recover from that greatest all American tragedies, George W. Bush .
I agree that this is a hard thing to criticize, but come on; if he really felt strongly that the Department of Energy should be axed, then he should be able to remember by working backwards from the problems the department creates; but since he is just a politician who just repeats what he thinks people want to hear... it is harder to remember
In a way; I think that it shows that Perry is a genuine guy; but the majority of Americans do not agree with what he really thinks, and he is having a hard time faking his stands
I'm 40 and I've had plenty of these episodes. I'm not a big Perry supporter, but I think his embarrassment is punishment enough for all of us. Wait, what was the question?
Clearly, he's afflicted with TIDS, otherwise known as Texas Intellectual Deficiency Syndrome.
Ripcity::: No, he is AIT-- Alzheimer's In Training. But his main trouble is that he's an Aggie.
EVERYONE has brain-pharts now and then -
but when it comes to Perry - Stupid is as stupid does.
He's DONE.
Next
It is really hard to forget things that make sense and that you have worked hard on to understand and make a decision. I suspect Perry is just grasping at issues without much thought and it shows.
For a first time - maybe not big issue but his track record at debates is terrible.
....funny, no one on the debate panel claimed they had been to 57 states in the U.S.A.........so I doubt it will mean much in the long run.....
Thank you! You took the words out of my mouth nycguy. What hypocrisy!
or forgot the oath of office for the President (John Roberts) or couldn't remember how to speak at all (Jan Brewer) or of course the multiple issues GW had with speaking....everyone has these moments and you are being just as big a hypocrite by bringing up Obama's moment as you accuse others. EVERYONE has moments like that. It was funny...not going to change my opinion about Rick Perry, he seems like a nice enough man but I do NOT want another Texas Republican beholding to oil and other corporate interests in the role of President. The rest of this is side show entertainment. I am ever amazed at the audacity the Republicans show in acting like 2 year olds. "If the government is doing something for you, it's called social progress, if the government is doing something for someone else (particularly someone you don't like or understand) then it is socialism."
How many articles and comments were there about Obama's blunders? Pretty much none and now that a Republican messed up I have seen it on every news channel around me. That is hypocrisy. People still make fun of Bush for nuclear, but I don't hear anyone speak of the 57 states. As soon as the media is as unbiased as possible with their reporting, I will stop calling the hypocrites out.
Decades ago, when I was 14, I was attempting to remember the name of a professional basketball player. It was the middle of the season and I could have easily looked it up but I was determined to come up with his name on my own. He was quite famous, an All-Star, but I just couldn't drag his name up from my memory, try as I might. After 3 days of struggling, I finally admitted defeat, walked into my father's home office and said, "Dad, what is Artis Gilmore's name?". Needless to say, he looked at me as if I was nuts. I just said "Never mind." The brain is a miraculous and mysterious thing.
Now that was funny! Thanks for my laugh for the day.
I empathize. Being 63, you tend to notice it and have to laugh because what else is there to do. I think laughing at yourself is just fine for this. I recently had this problem with my debit card number... it was truly inconvenient and the bank manager was not able to laugh with me, the sour puss. And I do think stress has a lot to do with it. And sometimes the lapse is because your brain's filing system has someone you are trying to recall filed elsewise... with sound alikes rather than with how words are spelled or what letter they begin with. Louis Black has a great skit about this snafu.
Of course you 'forget' when you do not really know what you are talking about and are just spewing points fed to you by someone else. If you are passionate and informed, you are not going to forget.
What causes memory lapses? It's called stupidity. Wouldn't you like to see a debate between bush and perry? They could start off with some fairly easy questions like what is your favorite book? Is it my pet goat or my pet turtle and go on from there. The entire debate if you want to call it that shouldn't last over 15 minutes but then again they would get stumped very quickly so it could go on for hours. And if one of them had to withdraw they could always subsitute palin or bachman or cain. REPUGNICANS you are one lucky party to have these idiots in your midst! These clowns make the three stooges look real good!
What cures memory lapses. It's called a teleprompter. Obama never leaves home without it. At least we know he can read.......a little bit.
what's with all the bs about teleprompters? Most public speakers who have the option of a telepromter use one. News anchors, radio hosts, emcees...anyone who speaks in public has a script or notes or a teleprompter. You are being extremely ignorant or at the minimum hypocritical to respond in this way. Kinda goes along with the entire anti-intellectual attitude so many on the right profess to have. Personally, I want someone smarter than me in the office of President.
How would you know if Obooboo is smart, he never allowed his college transcripts to be made public, I think he is a moron and will continue to think so until he releases his school records like GWB did......