Rick Perry simply has no idea what's happening at any point anymore, or of where he is, or what he's running for. This is the only explanation for why he's challenged Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, to a debate.

Perry, who, beyond some vague notions of extracting more resources from the ground and flattening the tax code, has no policy ideas, wants to debate Pelosi over the latest dumb stunt his political consultants came up with in desperation: Turning Congress into a "Citizen's Congress," by cutting its pay in half and making its members' jobs part-time. How this would help Congress, which has already slashed it schedule this year, manage the complex issues of the day any better is beyond me. All it does is paint this cutesy, wholly impractical Jeffersonian image of amateur legislators riding their carriages to Washington for a few days each year and then returning to tend their family farms, shoot animals, and worship the Lord.

Mostly, though, Perry wants to portray himself as the direct enemy of Nancy Pelosi in order to score cheap political points. But here's Pelosi's response to the challenge this morning:

"He did ask if I could debate here in Washington on Monday, it is my understanding that such a letter has come in. Monday, I'm going to be in Portland in the morning, visiting some of our labs in California in the afternoon, that's two…. I can't remember what the third thing is," she said at her Thursday morning press conference to laughter.

Sigh. And to think that it was such a good joke at one time!

[Images via AP]