The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation at Texas A&M has announced that the former president will host an “Economic Leadership Forum” next week that includes a panel of “distinguished leaders and recognized experts” — one of which is CNBC blowhard and former derivatives trader Rick Santelli:

President George Bush will host an Economic Leadership Forum featuring Maria Bartiromo, Richard Kovacevich, Lawrence Lindsey, and Rick Santelli. [...] The Twanna M. Powell Lecture Series is an endowed program designed to bring distinguished leaders and recognized experts on current issues of international and domestic interest to the campus of Texas A&M University.

Lindsey, who served as President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council director, once predicted that “the negative effect” of the war in Iraq “will be quite small relative to the economic benefits.”

It is unclear what “recognized” expertise former President Bush’s library foundation finds in Santelli. Last February during an on-air rant, Santelli famously called for a Chicago tea party to protest President Obama’s housing rescue plan. The right wing immediately latched onto Santelli’s rant, with some inviting him on their talk radio shows to promote it. In fact, on G. Gordon Liddy’s show, Santelli claimed — without any basis — that the White House was threatening him and that his kids “are nervous to go to school,” an assertion he was later forced to back away from.

Santelli’s February rant also inspired many of the tax day “tea party” protests across the country. “Santelli hit a lot of things that I believe — that the government needs to stop getting involved in everything,” one local New York organizer said. Indeed, Santelli solidified his right-wing bona fides yesterday saying that he’s “pretty proud” that the gatherings took place, adding, “I think that this tea party phenomenon is steeped in American culture.”

Now, Santeilli’s recent work has sparked a backlash within his own network. The New York Post reports today that GE and NBC executives are worried that “CNBC has become too conservative and is beating up on Obama too much.” Former President Bush apparently has no such concerns.

The Alaska Legislature rejected Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) pick for state attorney general, Wayne Anthony Ross, by a vote of 35-23 today. Ross’s nomination caused a firestorm because of his radical right-wing views. He had called gay people “degenerates” and allegedly defended men who rape their wives. He also praised a student for creating a large statue of a Ku Klux Klan member, saying the “project gets ‘A’ for courage.” Introducing Ross last month, Palin said he “brings years of good service, in more ways than one.” “He will make an excellent attorney general,” she said.

Yesterday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) raised the specter of his state seceding from the Union “if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people.” Today on MSNBC, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay offered a staunch defense of Perry’s statement, saying the Texas governor was “standing up for [Texas's] sovereignty.” DeLay elaborately explained how Texas could secede:

Q: You can’t secede from the Union!

DeLAY: Texas was a republic. It joined the Union by treaty. There’s a process in the treaty by which Texas could divide into five states. If we invoke that, and the last time it was voted on was 1985, the United States Senate would kick us out and nullify the treaty because they’re not going to allow 10 new Texas senators into the Senate. That’s how you secede.

“So we would kick them out of the Union? That’s nutty!” asked Matthews. “Yeah…it’s not nutty!” DeLay responded. Watch it: