Do We Have to Talk About Newt?

Everyone is piling on poor Newt Gingrich now that’s he’s shot to the head of the polls. I find it difficult to write about Newt for the simple reason that his flaws are so out-sized and his record is so ridiculous that it seems almost petty to mention any single issue, as if by mentioning it you don’t give justice to the rest of his opus. My instinct is to basically ignore him and to always refer to him as the “disgraced” former Speaker. I also have a hidden motive. I actually want Newt Gingrich to do well in the primaries. Why use all our ammunition now? If ever a situation called for keeping our powder dry, this is it. Let Newt coast along piling up delegates and then bring the hammer down. Alas, even the corporate media senses their obligation to inform the public, once again, that Gingrich is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with American politics. Yet, for my money, he’s also the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. I am not shocked that he’s taken the lead in the race for the GOP’s presidential nomination. I predicted it. That he is tolerated and supported by a large segment of the Republican base is indicative of a kind of collective amnesia and selective memory. Yes, he’s little more than a stand-in for the Not Mitt Romney sentiment of conservative America, but he’s actually guilty of nearly every sin Mitt Romney is known for, and dozens more besides. Pick any issue you want, whether it be the environment, immigration, pork barrel spending, corporate welfare, lobbying for Freddie Mac, rank hypocrisy, unseemly adultery, taking both sides of an issue, being reprimanded for unethical behavior…Newt Gingrich has been on the wrong side of the conservative movement countless times. But all of that is temporarily shrugged off. Newt Gingrich should be an object of disdain and ridicule whether you are a liberal, a conservative, or an independent. The press understands this and will now try to convey that message to the Republican voters. Most likely, they’ll actually listen this time, because Gingrich’s record is indefensible regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum.