Sticks and stones can break my bones . . .

And words can do a fair amount of damage, too. As we all know by now, Rick Perry’s presidential bid is in trouble because of a word painted on a rock outside his family’s hunting camp in Texas.

According to stories in The Washington Post and The New York Times, the name of the camp, which goes back many years, includes the N word. Perry’s people say the rock was painted over years ago. Others say they saw the offensive word as recently as three years ago.

For my money, Perry is done. Whether the writing was erased three years ago or 10, the implied complicity in the use of this racial slur is a deal breaker. Governor Perry may play well in the Lone Star State, with his outsized strutting and tough-talking ways, but he lacks the moral integrity to lead “we the people.”

Eight years ago I went hiking in Moab, Utah, and was given a map of nearby paths, one of which had the N word as part of the name of the canyon. I asked the owner of our B&B about it, and she said no one thought much about it. I doubted that was true for the African-American couple staying at the inn. And it wasn’t true for me.

Words matter. Some things that are said cannot ever be unsaid. Every one of us remembers a slur or insult or verbal attack that etched itself in our memory, even though apologies were proffered and accepted. Earl Wilson once said, “If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, then don’t say it.”