OK, I know it’s obvious. Perry lied. The Pope is Catholic. Bears do you know what in the woods. In this case, I hate to admit it, but Michelle Bachmann was right about his motivation. However she was completely wrong about the rest of the garbage she spewed on the issue, that the vaccine causes instant mental retardation. That’s just Batsh*t B InsaniTEA.

Rick Perry has taken a lot of heat for signing an executive order in 2007 requiring HPV vaccination for all girls in Texas. Michele Bachmann accused him of doing so because he was lobbied by Merck, the drug company that produced the vaccine.

But at this week’s debate, Perry had a pretty good answer to that accusation. In fact, it was probably his finest moment during an otherwise very unimpressive performance:

"I got lobbied on this issue. I got lobbied by a 31-year-old young lady who had Stage 4 cervical cancer. I spent a lot of time with her. She came by my office, talked to me about the program."

Perry isn’t exactly known for his compassion, but that’s a pretty compelling reason to mandate vaccination…

…Just one problem—it’s not true:

Perry on Feb. 2, 2007, signed the order directing the state Health and Human Services commissioner to mandate human papillomavirus vaccination for all girls before admission to the sixth grade. Perry at the time released a statement saying that the vaccine "provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," which HPV can cause.

Perry met Burcham after Feb. 2, 2007 , campaign spokesman Mark Miner told CNN Friday, but he was not sure of the precise date. Miner said Perry never claimed to have met Burcham before he signed the order.