Salon's Justin Elliott has some hawt new/old dirt on prancing Texas dingbat Rick Perry's cozy ties with neoconfederate Rebel Flag types. The question with such revelations is, "Do they hurt Perry or help him?" Because in almost every case over the past forty years or so, a Republican presidential hopeful's ties to fringe right and racist groups has helped, not hurt, in the primaries:

In 2008, Perry was featured in the pages of the Confederate Veteran, the magazine of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is pictured presenting a state flag that had flown over the capitol building to Billy Ford, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans camp in Corsicana, Texas. That group's mission statement says it exists "to preserve the memory of the Confederate soldier, and to help to spread the truth of the cause for which he fought." (Click the image for full size.)

[Salon]