The Hightower Report

One thing you can say about Rick Perry is that he sticks to his guns. If one of his policy proposals turns out to be dumb – by gollies, he doubles down on dumb.

For example, in his current re-run for the GOP presidential nomination, the "Oops" governor has rebranded himself as an expert on border security. As such, he milked a lot of political PR out of this summer's surge of migrant children crossing our southern border illegally. Never mind that they were desperate to escape the abject poverty, rape, murder, and gang cultures that confronted them every day in their Central American homelands, Perry used their plight as a political opportunity to foment fear and become the "Lock 'Em Out" candidate.

But, darn it, the surge of young migrants soon came to an end ... and so did Perry's dumb rationale for slamming and locking our nation's southwest door. No problem for Rick, though – he simply reached for dumber. Instead of children, his latest bugaboo is – believe it or not – Islamic terrorists.

In August, Perry warned that murderous militants from ISIS "could be" penetrating into the US from Mexico. Could be? Well, he conceded, there's "no clear evidence" of it – but BE VERY AFRAID! The "expert" said that people "from countries with terrorist ties" are crossing. Really? Yes, he said, citing "three individuals from Ukraine" who were caught. Uh, Rick ... Ukraine is not a country "with terrorist ties."

Never mind facts, he went on to scold Obama for failure to put more border agents in place and use drones to bolster security there. Apparently no one told the newly minted border expert that Obama proposed just that last year, but Perry's fellow Republicans killed the bill.

Perry is scary. Next, he'll warn that Islamic terrorists are sneaking across the border – carrying weapons of mass destruction!

For more information on Jim Hightower's work – and to subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, "The Hightower Lowdown" – visit www.jimhightower.com. You can hear his radio commentaries on KOOP Radio 91.7FM, weekdays at 10:58am and 12:58pm.