Stuff you can catch standing outside the rail: While Gov. Rick Perry was visiting House Speaker Joe Straus and others up on the dais this morning, Rep. Edmund Kuempel of Seguin took a moment to relieve a painful arch and slip off his loafer.
As he stood there with his shoe in his hand, about 40 feet from the guv, a grin came across his face and he asked colleague Gary Elkins of Houston, “You think I can hit Perry from here?”
Unclear as of press time: Whether Texas has penalties similar to Iraq’s for throwing shoes at a chief executive officeholder, or if there is a legislative exemption from punishment.
Also unclear: Whether, if Kuempel had gone through with it, Perry’s hair would have been mussed up in the least.
Further unclear: Whether, given Perry’s current approval ratings, anyone would have cared or bothered to prosecute.
This article appears in March 13 • 2009.