Newt to Piers Morgan on CNN: Say, you guys kinda sound like Obama surrogates, huh?

Video and partial transcript at Newsbusters.  It’s brief, so check it out.  Takeaway line, though:

Now, nobody in the media seems to want to come to grips with the fact that the Obama economic policy is a disaster for the poor. Look at the unemployment rate for black teenagers. Look at the unemployment rate for Latino teenagers. At what point do we hold the president accountable for a policy which is crippling the poor in America by crushing the economy under big government?

Ryan and Romney represent a different approach. And I think there’s this mantra you guys almost sound like you’re an extension of the Obama campaign. The Ryan/Romney plan empowers middle class Americans to get a job. When they get a job, their income goes up. They pay more taxes. They are independent. They’re able to live their own lives.

As for CNN: Nope…no liberal media bias!

Newt spanks David Gregory over MSM’s obsession with Rush – contraception thingy

Dang it, why does this guy have to have so much baggage?

Florida primary tomorrow. The highly coveted Crush Liberalism endorsement goes to…

…(drum roll)…Mitt Romney.

Admittedly, this is a lukewarm endorsement.  I wish there was a candidate that had the “Wow!” factor that W gave me in 2000 and that ObaMao gave the left four years ago.  But there isn’t.  There are candidates I would have liked to have seen jump in or, in the case of Tim Pawlenty, stick around.

But here’s the thing: This country may not survive another Barack The Terrible reign of economic and freedom terror.  And I’m afraid that Romney is the only guy in the race capable of ending it.  I do believe he has enough appeal to the independents, and that the conservatives won’t sit at home like they did when Juan McAmnesty ran in 2008 on account of recognition of how high the stakes are, that Romney can pull it off.

Do I have concerns about Romney?  Sure.  The same flip-flopping we skewered Kerry over in 2004 is, I think, fair game this time around.  The ignorant masses probably won’t recognize that Bain Capital has a good, not bad, role.  That said, though, I think that people who may not have strong leanings one way or the other will be less put off by Romney than by Newt, Santorum, or Paul.

I recognize the need for a solid conservative.  But I think that Romney is more conservative than he’s given credit for.  However, it’s beyond dispute that he’d govern far more conservatively than Chairman Zero.  You factor in a Republican House and a soon-to-be-Republican Senate, and I think he’ll probably rubber stamp any conservative legislation that lands on his desk.

Newt’s a brilliant speaker and a phenomenal debater.  But people just don’t like him.  And as sad as it is to say, our elections are largely a popularity contest, whether we like it or not.  It is for these reasons that I’m voting for Romney tomorrow in the Florida primary.  Your mileage may vary.

Newt takes down Juan Williams’ racebaiting question

Then again, Newt Gingrich calling Juan Williams by his first name is racist, or something.  So sayeth Tingles.

I’m not a big Newt fan, but dude, this one almost gave me a Matthews-like leg tingle.  As Rush points out, you would think that Williams, having been fired from NPR over saying something interpreted by NPR brass as politically incorrect and bigoted, would be loathe to whip out the race card himself.  Then again, you would think…and Williams clearly does not.

Where Newt and Perry are really screwing up the “Bain Capital” attacks on Romney

Rush does a better job explaining this than I would, slamming Newt Gingrich over this.  He hits Perry, too.

In short: any “conservative” citing a NYT article that blasts a capitalist and in a factually dishonest way sounds more like a liberal (and Rush has the audio of Obama proving the point) can forget my support.

Newt dishes red meat, disses Obama, gives yours truly a thrill up the leg

I might have been exaggerating about the leg thrill…but not by much!  Here’s a brief clip of Newt dressing down Oba-Mao.  Dude!

Newt to Occupiers: “Get a bath, get a job!” MSNBC host: How DARE you, Newt!

Both viewers of Mike Brzertdvasewdsmsdwrfsfsfnski (or whatever the heck her name is) couldn’t agree more.  From Newsbusters (video clip at link):

Shades of “Special Comment”!  In a rant worthy of Keith Olbermann at the  height of his Miss  Precious Perfect histrionics, Mika Brezinski began today’s Morning Joe by  tearing into Newt Gingrich for his recent suggestion that Occupy protestors  should “get a job, right after you take a bath.”

It wasn’t merely Mika’s  words: “arrogant, disgusting, sickened.”  So strongly ran Brzezinski’s rage  that more than once her voice quavered and she seemed on some sort of emotional  brink.  Video after the jump.

Yeah, where does Newt get the crazy idea that these are a bunch of filthy, lice-ridden, flea-ridden, street-crapping losers?  Oh, wait…

Gratuitous hippie bashing from Mr. Gingrich warms my heart.  I just may vote for this guy yet! 😆

Newt explains to MSM the difference between Tea Party and Occupiers

Short version: Occupiers want to destroy our country, and Tea Party wants to restore our country.  Occupiers are violent and destructive, and Tea Partiers are non-violent and constructive.  Amen!

Video (about 1:36 long): Newt tells biased media the big difference between Tea Party and Occupiers

Newt humiliates CBS News “moderator” at debate

OK, Newt, you’re making it harder for me to stay mad at you.  Especially after a rich exchange like this with Scott Pelley:

Nicely done, sir.  Pelley: “That’s not the rule of law!” (said through smug grin).  Newt: Um, yeah…it is the rule of law, chump.  You might wanna Google rules of law before you start asserting that something is the rule of law when it is, in fact, NOT the rule of law.  I think a former Speaker (not named Pelosi) might know a thing or two about the rule of law.

Newt: Sitting on the couch with Pelosi and cutting that junk science commercial was horrendously stupid

Yeah, it was.  Nice to see you coming around to our view on that, sir.  Details:

In 2008 former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appeared in a TV ad created by Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to urge action on anthropogenic climate change. Many conservatives were disappointed.

However, on Tuesday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Gingrich — now a candidate for the Republican nomination for president — admitted it was a mistake for him to appear in the ad during the show’s “Center Seat” segment.

“First of all, that is probably the dumbest single thing I’ve done in years,” Gingrich said. “It is inexplicable that somebody used to say, ‘You know, there aren’t enough hay wagons to stand on to get people to understand that.’ You just need to relax and go, that was dumb.”

Panelist Charles Krauthammer asked Gingrich if he was being held hostage when the ad was filmed. Gingrich responded that he just made a mistake.

“No, that was dumb,” Gingrich said. “I was trying to do something I failed to do. I do think it’s important for conservative to be in the middle of the debate over the environment.”

For me, that’s one of the bigger hangups I had with the guy.  There are others, chronicled here before.  But that was a biggie.

Newt: Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have filmed that global “warming” commercial on the couch with Pelosi, huh?

Ya think?  From The Hill:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Tuesday that he regrets making a commercial with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the need to address climate change.

Gingrich, who partnered with Pelosi while she was Speaker for the 2008 ad, said the spot was “misconstrued,” and for that reason, he wouldn’t do it again.

“I was trying to make a point that we shouldn’t be afraid to debate the left, even on the environment,” Gingrich said on WGIR radio of the 30-second television commercial. “Obviously it was misconstrued, and it’s probably one of those things I wouldn’t do again.”
…
Gingrich said in January that he “meant exactly what [he] said in that commercial,” which was produced by the Alliance for Climate Protection, a nonprofit organization founded by former Vice President Al Gore (D). In the ad, Gingrich makes no endorsement of any policy solution, but says the “country must take action to address climate change.”

Still spinning: I don’t regret anything I said, only that you people were too stupid to see the nuance of my appearance.

By the way, this line is crap: “we shouldn’t be afraid to debate the left”.  Dude, you weren’t “debating” the left on that junk science fad…you were agreeing with the left!  Agreeing with San Fran Nan while sitting on a couch with the Botox queen during the filming of a commercial produced by a Gore charity isn’t going to get you far in a primary, pal.

There is no global “warming”, or if you prefer, “global climate change” going on.  Period.  And if a purportedly intelligent man like Gingrich can’t see that, then he doesn’t merit my vote or yours.

Mutiny! Newt’s team jumping ship en masse…heading to Rick Perry?

This is a fluid situation, but it looks like Newt’s campaign team is abandoning ship by the droves.  Apparently, taking the Missus on a trip to the Greek Isles while everyone back in the states is busting their hump trying to rehabilitate your image goes over about as well as a fart in church.

Newt’s main adviser, David Carney, is best buds with TX governor Rick Perry, who was said to have waved off any ideas of running in 2012 because Carney was previously engaged in a campaign.  Not any more, Governor!  😆

Sources are now saying that Perry is taking a seriously hard look at 2012.  Folks, I could be WAY off (and Lord knows it wouldn’t be the first time), but this may be the break the GOP needs to knock ObaMao out of OUR house next year!

Newt: As if my presidential aspirations weren’t dead yet, I propose a new kind of amnesty program for illegal aliens

Sitting on the couch with Pe-loser to talk about a junk science fad?  Check.  Pushing for a RINO-turned-Dem supporter in NY-23?  Check.  Tossing Paul Ryan’s popular fiscal plan under the bus and allowing Dems to use his words in their campaign material?  Check.

If Gingrich’s campaign were on life support before, this just might pull the plug:

Newt Gingrich, whose campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination has gotten off to a rocky start, risked fresh controversy on Thursday by suggesting that some illegal immigrants living in the United States “may have earned the right to become legal.”…

Gingrich recounted how World War Two-era U.S. draft boards chose who would serve in the military, saying a similar system might help deal with the millions of immigrants living in the United States illegally.

“Because I think we are going to want to find some way to deal with the people who are here to distinguish between those who have no ties to the United States, and therefore you can deport them at minimum human cost, and those who, in fact, may have earned the right to become legal, but not citizens,” Gingrich said.

Brilliant, Newt.  The base was already pretty inflamed, so it only makes sense on “Apocalypse Eve” to poke them in the eye on the way to Eternity, right?

David Gregory to Newt: Say, isn’t it racist to note that food stamp use has skyrocketed under Obama?

While I have been piling on Newt recently, and rightly so, this is one instance where I have to defend the big goof.  From Meet the Press, hosted by hostile-to-conservatives (yet untouchably “objective”) David Gregory:

DAVID GREGORY, HOST: What, what about jobs? Jobless rate now at 9 percent. You gave a speech on Friday in Georgia, and you said the following about this president:

(Videotape)

NEWT GINGRICH: You want to be a country that creates food stamps, in which case frankly Obama’s is an enormous success. The most successful food stamp president in American history. Or do you want to be a country that creates paychecks?

(End videotape)

GREGORY: First of all, you gave a speech in Georgia with language a lot of people think could be coded racially-tinged language, calling the president, the first black president, a food stamp president.

Gingrich wasn’t having it:

GINGRICH: Oh, come on, David.

GREGORY: What did you mean? What was the point?

REP. GINGRICH: That’s, that’s bizarre. That–this kind of automatic reference to racism, this is the president of the United States. The president of the United States has to be held accountable. Now, the idea that–and what I said is factually true. Forty-seven million Americans are on food stamps. One out of every six Americans is on food stamps. And to hide behind the charge of racism? I have–I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist.

Numbers are racist.  So are stats.  And statistical numbers.  And numerical statistics.  Racist, all of them.  And if you look at numbers, you’re a racist, too.

This has been the m.o. of the left and the MSM (pardon the redundancy) since the man-child announced he was running in 2007: any criticism of his policies or the havoc they have wreaked upon this country will automatically and reflexively be chalked up to racism.

That’s one of the many things I’ve always loathed about modern liberalism: for an ideology that fancies itself to be intellectually nuanced, its adherents sure are a bunch of emotional twits devoid of any real rational thought or critical thinking skills.  Just like my blog’s subtitle says about liberalism: Why think when you can feel?

As for NBC and Gregory: nope…no liberal media bias!

Following Ron Paul’s lead, Newt decides to kill his own presidential campaign in its infancy

I blogged already about the case against Newt Gingrich as president.  Add this to my case:

“I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,” he said when asked about Ryan’s plan to transition to a “premium support” model for Medicare. “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.”

Yeah, because trying to prevent the country from falling into insolvency is radical…but leaving spending on everything, including entitlements, is much more rational.  Right?  Continuing:

In another surprising move, Gingrich also reiterated his previous support for a “variation of the individual mandate” for health care. “I  believe all of us — and this is going to be a big debate — I believe all of us have a responsibility to help pay for health care,” he said, insisting there is “a way to do it that make most libertarians relatively happy.”  (Yeah, libertarians get all warm and fuzzy at the thought of government-mandated purchases. – CL)

“It’s a system that allows people to have a range of choices that are designed by the economy,” he said. “I don’t think having a free rider system in [health care] is any more appropriate than having a free rider system in any other part of the economy.”

As far as an alternative, Gingrich trotted out the same appeal employed by Obama/Reid/Pelosi — for a “national conversation” on how to “improve” Medicare, and promised to eliminate ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ etc.

If he’s trotting out Pelosi’s idea, that just confirms my suspicions that her lunacy is actually contagious.  He must have caught it from her on the couch.  Notes Drew M.:

Either way, I’m sure the Democrats appreciate the campaign ad, “The GOP Medicare Plan Is Too Extreme For Newt Gingrich”.

Funny that he seems to oppose Paul Ryan’s plan for fiscal sanity now.  He seemed to embrace it just two short weeks ago.  John Kerry just e-mailed to say “Dude, you need to be more subtle than that.”

Exit question: What in the blue h3ll is this guy thinking?  He does realize he’s running in a GOP primary where the conservative base is highly motivated, right?

Quote of the day, “Gingrich explains his infidelities” edition

He secured himself a couple of mistresses for America, mind you.  Oh, yes…he went there.

There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn’t trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them. I found that I felt compelled to seek God’s forgiveness. Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness. I do believe in a forgiving God. And I think most people, deep down in their hearts hope there’s a forgiving God.

How selfless of him, doing it for us, the common folk.

Yes, Newt, there is a forgiving God.  May He forgive you for trying such a crazy line of thinking out on us as this pap.

Exit question:  By logical extension, doesn’t this mean that Bill Clinton really, really “loved his country”?  😆

Newt running for president? I hope not.

He’s formed an exploratory committee.  So read into that what you will.

Look, I’m going to get to the point here: I pray that Newt does NOT run, and if he does, that he is soundly defeated in the primary.  Allow me to lay out the case against Newt Gingrich.

1.  He’s an “Old Guard” Republican, an establishment guy.  We don’t need establishment Republicans in DC.  We need dyed-in-the-wool conservatives.

2.  The guy has a ton of baggage that will not play well to social conservatives.  Being on his third wife (divorcing the first two for mistresses) and having handed divorce papers to one soon-to-be-ex-wife who was dying of cancer doesn’t appeal to my Christian sensibilities very well.  (NOTE: The strikethrough portion was based on my understanding of an event that has since been discovered to be an urban legend.  Details here.)

3.  The man sat on a couch with Nancy Friggin’ Peloco and got all Kumbaya about the junk science fad known as global “warming” (or “climate change” when it’s cold outside).  It’s bad enough he’s been hoodwinked by the global “warming” crowd, but making kissyface with San Fran Nan about it is sickening.

4.  Speaking of global “warming”, he’s been a staunch defender of ethanol…and federal subsidies for ethanol!  Dude, even the Father of the Internet admits that ethanol is a massive failure and does nothing to address “clean” energy, energy independence, or anything like that.  Thanks to the feds force-feeding ethanol into our fuel tanks, food prices have shot up, since we’re now putting corn into our cars instead of our cows and our cakeholes (pretty clever on the alliteration, huh?  Eat your heart out, Jesse Jackson!  😆 ).

5.  Thanks in no small part to Newt, NY-23 has now been represented by a Democrat for a couple of consecutive election cycles.  That seat hadn’t sent a Dem to DC since before the turn of the century…the LAST century!  Yet the local party up there got behind a RINO in Dede Scuzzybimbo (or whatever the heck her name is), and Newt defended her mightily.  When she discovered she wasn’t going to win, she dropped out and backed the Democrat.  Great move, Newt.

6.  The man isn’t popular with the average American who knows who he is.  He’s polarizing, like Sarah Palin: people either love him or hate him, little in-between.  And as Nate Silver (a liberal blogger, but a pretty objective political science statistician) points out, there are currently no known situations where Newt can win.

7.  Newt can’t win.  Oh wait, I said that in #6, didn’t I?  Well, I’m not gonna pull a Kerry (who is rumored to have served in Vietnam) and flip-flop in this.  Newt…can’t…win.

Look, he articulates conservatism wonderfully, but while I don’t expect perfection or 100% ideological purity from candidates, I do expect some consistency and an absence of glaring character flaws.  I’m not voting for him.  Period.

After dropping out, Scozzafava endorses the Democrat for NY-23

Details here.

Well, well, well.  You know, those “crazy conservatives” may have been onto something when they said she was a RINO, huh?  I wonder if the former Carpetbagger Speaker of the House from GA who told us that “local leaders know better” is eating a plate of crow right now?  Yeah, Newt, those local leaders know so much about their local politics that they picked a candidate who is left of most Democrats and wound up endorsing the Democrat.  But what do we “outsiders” know, right?

By the way, her campaign manager is supporting the conservative, Doug Hoffman.

Conservatives fighting national Republican Party

I am a conservative, NOT a Republican.  Olympia Snowe is a Republican, NOT a conservative.  One is not necessarily the other.

One of the many reasons that the GOP lost control of Congress and the White House was that the GOP alienated its conservative base.  Years of expanding the size of the federal government, Hispandering by way of catering to criminal immigrants, backing an old RINO for president, piling on pork, etc., have kept conservatives at home during the last two election cycles.

Has the national GOP learned a lesson?  Hardly.

One needs look no further than the special House election next Tuesday in NY-23.  The race is to fill a seat vacated by Republican John McHugh, tapped to be the Secretary of the Army.  The Dems picked a guy named Bill Owens.  The local GOP, in a closed-door behind-the-scenes decision, picked Dede Scozzafava over Doug Hoffman.  Hoffman decided to run as a member of the Conservative Party, since he never got a chance to fight in a Republican primary.

There’s a lot to the race, but here’s all you need to know about Scozzafava:

She’s no conservative.  She’s a RINO.  A pro-abortion, pro-ACORN, pro-union, pro-card check, pro-tax (before she was shamed into claiming to be anti-tax), pro-stimulus, pro-“cap-and-trade”, pro-gay marriage “Republican”.

Here’s what is sad, though: Scozzafava has the support (including heavy financial support) of Newt Gingrich and the national Republican Party.

It’s not like the district is a liberal district and you need a RINO to compete in it, a la Maine with Snowe and Collins.  No, the district was represented by a conservative Republican who won in a brutal year for Republicans by a comfortable margin!  It’s a red district that has been so since 1871, so there is NO need to nominate a RINO!

Newt and the national GOP fear that with Hoffman on the ticket, votes will be split and the Democrat Owens will win.  A recent poll (read into it what you will) suggests the race is actually down to two people: Owens and Hoffman, with Scozzafava fading badly.  The votes may indeed be split to where Owens will win.  If that happens, the GOP will have no one to blame but themselves for handing over a district they’ve held for 138 years, and they would be well suited to dump Scozzafava and tap Hoffman to run against Owens next year in the regular election.

However, if Hoffman wins, despite the powerful backing of Newt and the national GOP, the message will be loud and clear to the ol’ boys of the Republican Party: “Know your role, and shut your hole!”

By the way, Hoffman has earned a ton of endorsements from national Republicans who are bucking the party: Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Tim Pawlenty, Jim DeMint, and former NRCC chair Tom Cole.  Rush has endorsed Hoffman, too, and has his own unflattering assessment for the national GOP.  More national endorsements come in for Hoffman every day.  Romney and Huck, two names mentioned for 2012, are silent.

Exit money quote #1 from Newt:

Gingrich called Scozzafava a “liberal Republican” for her support of gay marriage and abortion rights. But he defended those positions as in-step with her district and her predecessor, former Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), who was tapped to be President Barack Obama’s Army Secretary.

Is it too much to ask that before you make such ridiculous comments such as “It takes a liberal to win this district” and “Her views are just like her predecessor’s”, maybe you should know a little something of the electoral history of the district and of McHugh?

I mean, if I said “I endorse Cindy Sheehan for governor of MS, because anti-troop barking moonbats are the only ones who can get elected to statewide office in this cherry red state”, you’d think I fell on my head or something.

Also, McHugh earned a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee (a list that Scozzafava won’t be appearing on anytime soon), and a 0% rating from the pro-infanticide group NARAL.  You’d think Newt might have looked into that before saying that McHugh and Scozzafava were carbon copies of each other.

Exit money quote #2 from Newt:

Gingrich also attacked Hoffman for not having proper knowledge of local issues and living outside the 23rd district.

“So I say to my many conservative friends who suddenly decided whether they’re from Minnesota, or Alaska, or Texas, they know more than the upstate New York Republicans? I don’t think so,” he added.

Good point.  After all, outsiders from AK, TN, SC, TX, MO, MN, etc., certainly don’t know as much about NY-23 as…um…an outsider from GA.

Besides, I don’t think Newt needs to point out anyone’s carpetbagger credentials.  His own are pretty impressive.

In an election cycle where people are absolutely fed up with the Communist in Chief and his Marxist enablers in Congress, leave it to the GOP to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Quote of the day, “Newt vs. MSM edition”

I may have just developed a platonic heterosexual man-crush on Newt Gingrich (“Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”  😆  ) for publicly schooling MSNBC’s Ron Allen!  From the ‘Busters:

Such marvelously occurred Tuesday evening on the convention floor in St. Paul when MSNBC’s Ron Allen said to the former Speaker, “But to be fair, her resume is not something we’re familiar seeing with presidential candidates.”

This didn’t sit well with Gingrich who strongly replied (video embedded right, h/t NB readers Matt Noll and Patrick):

It’s stronger than Barack Obama’s. I don’t know why you guys walk around saying this baloney. She has a stronger resume than Obama. She’s been a real mayor, he hasn’t. She has been a real governor, he hasn’t. She’s been in charge of the Alaskan National Guard, he hasn’t. She was a whistleblower who defeated an incumbent mayor. He has never once shown that kind of courage. She’s a whistleblower who turned in the chairman of her own party and got him fined $12,000. I’ve never seen Obama do one thing like that. She took on the incumbent governor of her own party and beat him, and then she beat a former Democratic governor in the general election. I don’t know of a single thing Obama’s done except talk and write.

Newt then challenged Allen:

I’d like you to tell me one thing Sen. Obama’s done.

With that, Allen retreated, and said:

Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to leave it there. I’m not going to argue the case. Thanks very much.

Hmmm. Imagine that. I guess folks like Allen are only willing to argue the case when there’s nobody playing the part of the defense attorney.

Game, set, match!  Thanks for playing, MSM!  😆