Rick Perry had a good week -- or not

In Love's Labours Lost, Shakespeare wrote: "Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye." So is politics, so to speak. Behold the latest exhibits:

Conservative Marc A. Thiessen says Rick Perry had a very good week. His message is "resonating." His "straight talk" has catapulted him to second place in New Hampshire after "just a few days in the race," too. Move over Michele Bachmann, there's a new sheriff in town. The secret to Perry’s success? Thiessen says one word: jobs. "Perry is off to a strong start." As far as he is concerned, his man Perry is well on his way to the White House.

Liberal Richard Cohen says Rick Perry has already put his presidential candidacy at risk. "The Republican Texas governor clings to an ice floe of diminishing credibility, emerging in just about a week’s time as intellectually unqualified to be president. He engaged in a brief dialogue with a child about evolution and came out the loser. Perry said there are some gaps in the theory. If so, he is one. Perry has given us a glimpse of what happens when his ideology collides with reality. Ideology wins.

Thiessen sees Halli Berry. Cohen sees Rosie O'Donnell. But both are actually gazing at Whistler's Mother. Swell. I'm no Ayn Rand fan, but she was probably right when she observed: "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong."