it just seems to be the weird little -- here's rick perry, by the way, in his own defense in an interview with the st. pete times where he tried to clean up, i guess, his birther comments. let's see if we can follow his thought process, such as it is. let's listen. >> jeb bush the other day said candidates running for president should categorically reject the notion that president obama wasn't born in america. this came after you expressed doubts. >> i want expressing doubts. i was having fun with donald trump. you know, lighten up a little bit. >> you have no doubt that he's an american citizen? >> i have no doubt about it. but here's the more interesting thing. let's lay out our income taxes, let's lay out our college transcripts. mine has been on the front page of the paper. >> so let's all call each other illegal immigrants and have a yuk about it. mr. brown, mayor? what do you make of that defense which was all just in fun? >> well, that's typical of rick perry. rick perry is not ready for primetime, chris.