In a new ad to start running today, Perry expresses his willingness to speak hard truths to Washington, which he dubs “the capital of political correctness.” Ray Sullivan, Perry’s communication director, told Politico that the ad, which will air in Iowa and on national cable channels, attempts to highlight Perry’s status as “the only non-Washington, non-establishment candidate left in the race.

In the 31-second ad, Perry, who traded in his farm jacket for a sport coat, rails against the “polically correct” ballet of Washington. “You can’t say that congressmen becoming lobbyists is a form of legal corruption . . . you and I know it’s true,” Perry said, before scolding the federal government for giving foreign aid to “countries that oppose America.” Curiously, Perry also slams Washington insiders for “bankrupting Social Security,” a program he famously dubbed a Ponzi scheme. 

The legal corruption line in particular stuck in Jason Embry‘s craw: “The practice of members of the Texas Legislature becoming lobbyists after leaving office is rampant. It happens all the time and has certainly continued during Perry’s 11 years as governor.” And, as Embry points out, top members of Perry’s staff, including Mike Toomey, Ray Sullivan, and Dan Shelley, have been known to swiftly make the transition from staffer to lobbyist, and vice versa. 

But while Rick Perry is trying to resuscitate his flailing campaign, he keeps stepping on his own feet. On Saturday in Iowa, Rick Perry slipped up, referring to bankrupt solar panel producer Solyndra as “the country Solynda,” Talking Points Memo reported. Perry, who was accusing the Obama administration of misallocating funds, said, “I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solynda.”

Rick Perry has blamed previous gaffes on lack of sleep, but Kaili Joy Gray of Daily Kos doesn’t find that to be a compelling excuse. “Are we supposed to believe that President Perry would have plenty of time to get in all the sleep he needs to as to not accidentally bomb the country of Solynda or eliminate the wrong branch of government? Good thing president of the United States isn’t a round-the-clock gig, right?”

Over at the Awl, Simon Dumenco joked that the latest Perry Gaffe has set back U.S.-Solynda relations fifty years, but Christy Hoppe of the Dallas Morning News took a more serious tack.

While some on the Internet are chortling over the slip – and Perry has become a serial slipper – the greater guffaw in the statement is that the governor has spent well over $500 million of taxpayers money and given it to corporations for economic development in Texas.