Sarah Palin removed any lingering doubts that she is a serious political force or deep thinker this week by pandering to the Newt Gingrich camp. She’s not stupid. Hell no. But she is like Newt Gingrich–no principle but making money. Now understand, I don’t begrudge her taking her moments of fame as McCain’s eye-candy VP to cash in. But if you are going to do that cut the political act that you are some kind of Mama Grizzly pursuing a pure conservative political dream.

I was one who defended Palin back in the day. I thought she got a bum rap and was not properly served by the McCain team. But then she bails on her term as Governor of Alaska. Why? To run as President? Hell no. She did her bus tour, however, as a shrewd move to drum up publicity for herself.

Leave it to the so-called ultimate outsider to play a tough inside game and become a multi-millionaire in the process. Read the rest

Fox News Network is revealing its first exit findings right now – 6:01 p.m.

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In the real world, there never is the “right” candidate. Why? Because they don’t exist.

I think I came to this realization only recently. What can I say? And since I have a lot of years on my tires, it apparently takes a long time to figure out that all of my crushes (asexual) on presidential candidates were just that. Crushes, in which objectivity and rationality don’t have a role. Some of my candidate crushes that I am proud of: Robert F. Kennedy, George McGovern, George H. W. Bush (never the son), Bill Bradley and then reluctantly Al Gore, Howard Dean, and HILLARY CLINTON but then proudly John McCain. Then there are embarrassing candidate crushes: Richard Nixon (only against JFK – hey, I couldn’t even vote and the only adults I knew were Republicans!), Jimmy Carter, Ross Perot (wasted vote), John Kerry. Now, having lost Jon Huntsman, I am coming ’round to Mitt Romney, with honest enthusiasm and respect for his many skills and work ethic — uh, he’s had a real job 40+ hours per week — hell, probably some 100-hour weeks! — unlike some people.

I just saw a poll on MSNBC that showed Newt Gingrich with 51% Unfavorability and Mitt Romney with 49% Unfavorability. Newt’s 51% I can see because he is a low-class bum with a poison tongue. But Mitt’s 49%? Well, I believe that’s Toxic Newt’s doing too. Newt is consumed with destroying Mitt, calling him ugly names, especially “Liar.” Newt adopted the anti-Republican, far left’s anti-wealth spiel (even though Mitt earned it all with work and brains). I pray that Mitt can lower those unfavorabilities, and soon. But that’ll require silencing Gingrich. Where are Don Corleone and Tony Soprano when we need them? Read the rest

Women have come a ways in the last century, but the media can’t take any credit—usually quite the contrary. And look what Lego is doing to address the aspirations of women—Going backwards.
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Who knew that CNN’s Don Lemon had it in him. Lemon, the anchorman’s anchorman, invariably appropriate, nary a hair or word out of place, and therefore, to this viewer, usually a boring snooze.

Damn, Don Lemon. Was that really you?

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I was just surfing the newsy websites, looking to see what’s going through the heads of the pundits and bloggers, when I can across an interesting headline: “Newt Gingrich Campaign Leaking Hot Air Ahead Of Florida Primary, GOP Insiders Say.” OK, looks interesting, I thought as I mindlessly clicked the link without noticing where it was taking me. Then I saw the domain name: Huffingtonpost.com!

Oh, well, might as well read on.  I haven’t read anything on this blog in a long time, so I may as well see what Obots have to say.  It didn’t take me long to see that this was no longer the blog I knew from 2008 or even 2010.  Something had changed!

Starting with the main article, here is part of what I read:

WASHINGTON — What happened to Newt Gingrich? Less than a week after Gingrich’s stunning triumph in South Carolina, air is leaking from his momentarily front-running campaign faster than a parade balloon’s after Thanksgiving.

Besides the obvious fact that the new combat-enabled, armored-up Mitt Romney clobbered Gingrich last night, are there other reasons? Yes, based on conversations with Republican and campaign insiders here and in Florida: Read the rest

Ah, poor little Newt. That mean man Mitt Romney is clubbing Newt like a baby seal chased by a crew of hungry Japanese fishermen. Here is Newt today on Jake Tapper’s ABC program:

So Newt wants to make this campaign an issue of character. REALLY? When it comes to truthfulness and honesty, what planet is Gingrich living on? Gingrich running on character is like Bill Clinton running on sexual abstinence. Read the rest

For the young pups scurrying to set up a floating SEAL base in the Persian Gulf to counter potential Iranian moves to close the Straits of Hormuz they might want to take some time to read up on Operation Prime Chance, which was the Top Secret portion of what the public knew as Operation Earnest Will. Washington Post broke the story yesterday and the National Post picked it up:

The Pentagon is rushing a “mothership” to the Middle East to be used by commando teams as unrest in the region heightens, reports The Washington Post.

The U.S. Navy is planning to refit the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport docking ship, which was about to be retired and decommissioned.

The Post reports that it will now be modified into an “Afloat Forward Staging Base” and used to support mine-clearance ships, smaller patrol ships and aircraft in the Middle East.

This is a bullshit leak and should have been kept quiet. This one is on the Obama team. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Read the rest

Kudos to Joe Scarborough for a devastating firsthand account of why Newt Gingrich is unworthy of the Presidency. I encourage you to read the full piece, The Newt I Know. Scarborough recounts an incredible episode–the confrontation between eleven conservative Republican members of the House and Newt. Here’s the excerpt from the article:

In 1997, ten of my fellow classmates had led a coup attempt against Gingrich, shutting down the House over the speaker’s efforts to violate the Contract with America by swelling the number of committee staff members. . . .

Newt did not take the rebellion lying down. He immediately summoned the sergeant of arms to drag the 11 rebels down to a Republican caucus meeting in the bowels of the Capitol basement, where Newt lined us up in front of a packed room of seething House members who were now missing the first day of their Easter recess because of our insurgency. Gingrich then began screaming and demanded that the 11 of us account for our behavior.

He then taught me a political lesson I will always remember: Never willingly hand the microphone over to your enemies. Especially when the first rebel to speak was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and one of People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Men Alive. Read the rest

Here’s a number from CNN’s Erin Burnett on OutFront: Super Pacs have spent $35 million already in just four primary states.

It is especially fascinating for those of us in the other 49 states (i.e., not in Florida) to see these ads. Would you like a quickie lesson in how Super Pacs — as well as all other forms of campaign fundraising — work? AND (!) do you want to find out how two opposing candidates have forged an anti-Pac pact to make their contest by and for the people, devoid of any big-bucks, slick, devastating ads. Well, here you go: Read the rest

What happened to almost six million Americans? There is a kool-aid drinking Obot, who writes under the name of PA, who is typical of the delusional that support Obama. He posted this challenge on my piece about Gingrich earlier today and I quote:

Obama has done a heck of a job, particularly given the shit sandwich handed to him by Bush.

Just economically the numbers tell a story of a significant turnaround since Obama took over. You cannot dispute the facts, but I guess you can stick your head in the sand or try and change the definition of the facts, as you do.

> from 4Q08 -6.2% GDP to +2.8% GDP growth in 4Q11.

this is a pretty impressive turnaround chart:

http://www.taintedalpha.com/wp…

> Job growth went from losing close to 800,000 a month to gaining 200,000 a month. That is a net swing in jobs of 1 million jobs amonth. 22 straight months of private sector job growth.

this is another impressive turnaround chart:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/s…

Can’t dispute the facts? You are a complete and total moron. You asked for it PA, so here is a big can of whoop ass. Read the rest

Are you a “conservative?” If so, help us out here and explain just what that is. Newt Gingrich is furiously trying to make the case that he is a Washington outsider and a true blue conservative. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney, who has never served in Washington is being portrayed by Gingrich supporters as the consummate Washington Insider. That is the pathetic state of what passes for conservatism these days. Let’s be clear about one thing–Gingrich has grown rich based on his Washington experience and ties. If he had not been Speaker of the House he would not have the clout he has.

Then there are the repeated “grandiose” comments by Newt that raise real questions about his support of so-called conservatives. He did harshly criticize Ronald Reagan and his policies in the 1980s. The quotes are what the quotes are. Newt sat with Nancy Pelosi and pressed the need to do something about global warming aka climate change. Newt trashed Paul Ryan’s visionary plan to get entitlement spending under control.

My point? For conservatives to bitch that Mitt Romney is a pretender and that Newt is the real deal is just delusional and crazy. How about a little intellectual consistency? Read the rest

Update: Ever notice that Mitt Romney is the only candidate who sings the national anthem, along with the performers? And — get this — Callista Gingrich, a music major who sings these days in her Washington, D.C. Catholic church, stood silent with a stern look, as if she was bored by the ritualistic singing of the anthem, which is cherished by Americans, no matter their political views.

8pm ET on CNN – Live Stream
Location: University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL
Sponsor: CNN, CNN en Español, The Hispanic Leadership Network (“a center-right advocacy group” – CNN) and The Republican Party of Florida
Participants: Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Paul
Moderator: Wolf Blitzer

What’s the date of the Florida primary? January 31st. Next Tuesday. That’s just five days from now, depending on how you count days. Read the rest

I love Monkey Bread!

Do you know what Monkey Bread is?  I’d never heard of it until last year, then my wife brought home a box of Monkey Bread that you can pop into the microwave and four minutes later enjoy a little taste of Heaven!  Mmmmm… Monkey Bread!

It’s just a big pull-apart cinnamon roll, comprised of little balls of cinnamon bread stuck together in a ring with a gooey cinnamon-sugar glaze over the top.  I smother the glaze with crushed pecans before I break off a piece for my wife, while I devour the rest.  Oink!

And herein lies my point.  She couldn’t eat half of it, and I could eat it all, and on a couple of occasions I’ve done just that!  Given that the “loaf” is made of balls of bread about the size of a mouthful, I can’t just break off an exact fraction of the whole.  But when I break off a chunk for her share, it’s often very difficult to find that line between half and two-thirds.  One or two bread balls can make all the difference.

“How is this relevant on a political blog?” you are asking yourself. Read the rest

He’s melting. The avalanche has started. Newt Gingrich is setting himself on fire. The list is long and will grow in the coming days.

Remember Newt’s indignant put down of John King for having the audacity to ask about his 2nd ex-wife’s charge that Newt wanted an open marriage. Well, King ain’t letting him get away with his false claim that his campaign offered up bunches of people to rebut poor Marianne:

Gingrich wrong? Gee, how could that be.

Then there is Newt’s crazy effort to dress himself up as a “Reagan Conservative.” Gingrich, channeling his inner Al Gore, takes credit for helping Ronald Reagan bring down the Soviet Union. Seriously, Newt? The Soviets tanked in 1990. You didn’t become Speaker until 1994. But, as I will show below, Newt trashed Reagan for the very policies that helped bring the Soviets down. Here’s a dandy clip of Newt advising George H.W. Bush to steer clear of being a Reagan Republican: Read the rest