Can it have been a worse week for ol' coyote killer himself, Gov. Rick Perry?

First up the whole "I shot a coyote while jogging next to my $9,000 a month rental mansion" story imploded, as the press corps asked whether this macho moment was a Texas tall tale. There are still big questions about whether he broke the law or not, but even if he did nothing illegal, there're more holes in his story than there are in the mythical coyote. As Jim Moore pointed out, where were the two beefy security guys that trail Perry at all times?

Yeah, but that's only them big city liberals. He can always count on Republicans, right? Err, not so much. On Friday, Republican Mayor of Grand Prairie Charles England decided he was going to endorse Perry's Democratic challenger Bill White. This isn't necessarily a body blow or too far out of left field, since England's son quit the GOP in 2007. At the time, the younger England said, "After one session in the House, I found that the Republican leadership in Austin had no tolerance for the values and priorities of the folks I represent."

Oh, well, who needs splitters? Perry can always depend on his conservative base, right? Wow. Swing and a miss. When asked about Arizona's "Does he look foreign? That's due cause" law, Perry voiced some mild concerns about "some aspects" of the bill, and suggested it could be a distraction law enforcement from their real work. (Like investigating people firing laser-sighted pistols near houses?) Even though the governor took time to waffle about state's rights, that mild note of concern still enraged Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. He quickly blasted Perry for breaking a promise to get tough on immigrants immigration. Y'see, both Berman and the equally wingnutty Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, have both said they will be filing their own Texas version of the Arizona bill (constitutionality be damned, eh?). So, for once, Perry isn't in lock step with the fringe right of his party.

Fortunately, he was able to wipe this away with some good old-fashioned schmoozing with his base. Thursday he was palling around with Sarah Palin, Friday he was sucking up to the Texas Home School Coalition, then Saturday he flew to DC for the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Wait, what? But we thought DC was like the Wicked Witch of the West's castle?