Leading Off (10/10/11)

This Week’s Perry Controversy: You have to question the judgment of any politician who willingly stands within 200 yards of the ever-controversial Dallas First Baptist pastor (and our neighbor!) Robert Jeffress. Last Friday, Jeffress introduced Perry at a “Values Voter Summit,” and then proceeded to dismiss Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Mormonism as “false religions” (which, I suppose, means they don’t have “values?”). Never mind that GOP front-runner Mitt Romney is Mormon. Oh wait, yes, mind it a lot, as the rest of the GOP pool spent the weekend tangled in  Jeffress’ comments. Perry? No comment, but his campaign did say that the Texas governor doesn’t think Mormonism is cult. Well, that’s nice of him.

What’s The Most Important Thing to Happen to the Texas Economy: Economist Ray Perryman runs down the top ten things that impacted the growth of Texas’ economy, including some obvious factors, like DFW Airport and the high tech industry, and some not as much, such as the oil embargo and air conditioning.

Rangers Rained Out, First Pitch Today at 3:19 p.m.: Game two of the American League Championship Series was postponed yesterday due to rain, even though Arlington didn’t actually see a drop Sunday night, prompting some to question whether or not The X-Factor had anything to do with the dubious decision to push off the game. The postponement screws Rangers fans who can’t skip work today to catch the game, which was a boon to quick-actors on the secondary ticket market, but those wild deals seem to have dried up. As for today’s weather? Looks like a 10 percent chance, but better yet, Rangers baseball can stand up ratings-wise to the double feature of Judge Joe Brown and Judge Judy, the shows which normally occupy the Monday afternoon slot.