It's kind of embarrassing watching Eric Bolling talk about Rick Perry. Of all the Fox News figures who have gushed over the Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate, Bolling must stand out as the one with the most obvious infatuation. He has swooned over Perry's looks and admitted: “I really find the guy compelling.” Bolling has also defended Perry's “treasonous” comment, saying of the governor: “The guy is passionate. He said stop printing money.” Bolling added: “Nothing wrong with that.”

On Thursday's edition of The Five, Bolling continued his cheerleading of Perry. During a discussion of Perry's candidacy, Bob Beckel asserted that Perry “has not shown himself to be the best under exposure early on” and pointed to Perry's comment that it would be “almost ... treasonous in my opinion” if Fed chairman Ben Bernanke “print[s] more money to play politics.” Bolling, arguing that Perry is “the real deal,” quickly objected, saying, “Maybe he meant to say treacherous and then he said treasonous -- whatever.” Bolling added: “But he's the real deal. ... He's the conservative choice is what it is.”

But, according to Think Progress, here is what Perry said on that August 15th day in Iowa:

PERRY: If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous -- or treasonous in my opinion.

Perry first stated that he would view the action as “almost treacherous” before correcting himself to say it might be “treasonous.”

In any case, it doesn't much matter. As explained by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “treason” means “the betrayal of a trust: treachery.” Whether Perry meant to accuse Bernanke of treachery or treason, the meaning presumably would have been the same, so it's not clear why using “treacherous” alone, as Bolling contended, would have been any better. Treason, however, is an impeachable offense under the U.S. Constitution, while treachery is not.