Perry Made 'Rookie Mistake' With Bernanke Comments

Rick Perry's comments about Ben Bernanke and treason continue to dominate the political chatter. A few takes:

• John Podhoretz, Commentary: "What Perry did was make a thoughtless blunder, an unforced error; we’re now going to spend a couple of days discussing whether he was summoning violence on Ben Bernanke’s head or not, which is of absolutely no use to Perry. ... This was a serious rookie mistake on the national stage."
• Mark Hemingway, Weekly Standard: "You may disagree with Perry substantively and his comments may not have been the most artful, but beyond that he seems guilty of little other than hyperbole, which last I checked, isn't exactly a crime in politics."

• Paul Krugman, New York Times: "Yes, he’s showing ignorance of the basics of monetary policy; yes, he appears to have implicitly threatened violence against my former department head." But the real sin: suggesting that Bernanke is OK with "playing politics" to help Obama get re-elected. "That’s a hell of an accusation to make—especially when you bear in mind that Bernanke was a Bush appointee."
• Ed Morrissey, Hot Air: "Perry needs to learn a lesson from this experience. It’s good to offer red meat to the base, but it’s bad to let yourself get caught up in the feeding frenzy."