In the first Morning Jolt of the week, a look at Herman Cain’s recent controversial comments about local limits on practicing Islam, Sharon Stone’s donation to the Obama campaign, and certain big Texas hat, perhaps ready to be tossed in the ring:

Rick Perry Hears a Call; I Don’t Think It Was From Stevie Wonder
The Des Moines Register indicates we’ll be hearing a decision from Rick Perry soon: “The Texan with the slight Southern drawl who has called dozens of top Iowa Republican activists in the past few weeks sounds more and more like he’s about to run for president. ‘I’m not ready to tell you that I’m ready to announce that I’m in,’ Gov. Rick Perry told The Des Moines Register. ‘But I’m getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I’ve been called to do. This is what America needs.’ Another big-name potential Republican presidential candidate who is still on the sidelines, Sarah Palin, told Fox News in May that she has ‘that fire in the belly’ to run. It remains a question whether Perry does. ‘I’ll be real honest with you, I don’t wake up in the morning — never did and still don’t today — and say, “Gee, I want to be president of the United States,”’ Perry, 61, said by phone last week. But his wife, Anita, and hundreds of people nationwide say they want him to run, he said. He said he would likely decide in two or three weeks.”
At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey likes the tone of slight hesitation: “The ‘fire in the belly’ remark tends to make me think Perry is actually closer to announcing than people might assume. Distrust of those who actively seek power is an enduring theme in American politics, one that goes back to the founding of our nation, when presidential candidates tried very hard not to look like they were campaigning for office. Politicians would much rather be ‘called’ into action, which in this age we also call getting ‘drafted’ into the race. Rather than appearing power-hungry, most candidates like to frame their entry into the race as a duty to which they have reluctantly responded because of the times and issues at play.”