Look, every candidate makes mistakes now and again. It’s simply impossible, during the course of a months long campaign in which the media is watching your every move, not to make mistakes. That’s how you end up with Hillary Clinton saying that former Presidents shouldn’t have to disclose their criminal history. That’s how you get Jeb Bush saying that he just flat out doesn’t know whether we should try to force regime change in Iran. That’s (presumably) how Ben Carson did not know the difference between the deficit and the debt limit. And of course, even an accomplished governor of one of the largest states in the country can have this happen to him:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uvmKnFY4uk[/youtube]

But not all mistakes and gaffes are created equal. Some just indicate that the candidate was tired or got confused, which happens to everyone. Sometimes a gaffe indicates that a candidate is not terribly familiar with a subject matter, or was perhaps asked a question that was unfairly esoteric given their background. Voters will have to make their own decision about how much weight they will give to these gaffes, especially as opposing candidates try to make hay out of them on the stump and in commercials.

But sometimes, a gaffe is so serious, so fundamentally horrible, that it indicates that a candidate must be rejected out of hand, at least for now. And [mc_name name=’Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’R000595′ ] just committed such a gaffe.

It is perhaps not surprising, in Rubio’s case. As a first term Senator, he simply rose too far, too fast. He counted on the fact that his talent could make up for his lack of experience, but it turns out that he was wrong. He needs to go back and spend some time studying the issues and gaining some real life experience before any of us can even seriously consider supporting him as our nominee.

What did Rubio say? You’re not even going to believe it:

In the same breath, Rubio also revealed that he had a toy version of the Death Star, the fictional base for the movie’s darker forces, and re-told a key moment in the series’ plot.

“I think I had the Death Star, but it kept breaking just like it did in part two — in ‘Empire Strikes Back’ when it blew up cause that guy got that rocket to go into that hole,” Rubio said. “Remember that?”

Whoa. I just can’t… where to even begin? Look, there were three Star Wars movies (THERE WERE ONLY THREE STAR WARS MOVIES, OKAY?) In two out of the three Star Wars movies EVER MADE, a Death Star gets blown up. Only one of them featured an explosion exactly like the one described, but in 67% of all Star Wars movies, you could say that a Death Star “broke up,” after a fashion. The only Star Wars movie where that DID NOT happen was, of course, Empire Strikes Back.

How in the world can [mc_name name=’Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’R000595′ ] claim to represent or lead this great country if he is ignorant of such basic facts about our culture and heritage. I have to tell you that I was pretty optimistic about Rubio’s candidacy and his ability to lead this country up until this point, but now it’s clear he needs to go back and get some more seasoning in the minor leagues. Until then, I guess I am going with [mc_name name=’Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’C001098′ ], depending on his views with respect to the destruction of Alderaan.