No No Newt

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I didn’t watch last night’s GOP debate, but the consensus this morning is that Newtie did not impress anyone. “He sounded bad, he looked bad, and generally came across like a weasel who had finally been cornered by Animal Control,” said Ed Kilgore.

I agree with Steve M that Newt needs someone to bash, or he doesn’t know what to do with himself. And after South Carolina, the questioners have been careful not to throw him a cudgel.

Timothy Egan has an unusually frank (for the New York Times) portrait of Newt:

Gingrich, as he showed in a gasping effort in Thursday night’s debate in Florida, is a demagogue distilled, like a French sauce, to the purest essence of the word’s meaning. He has no shame. He thinks the rules do not apply to him. And he turns questions about his odious personal behavior into mock outrage over the audacity of the questioner.

Nate Silver has Mittens pulling ahead of Newt in his Florida projections. But Newt’s SuperPAC is expected to blitz the state with television ads over the weekend, so it’s possible the race will tighten again.

22 thoughts on “No No Newt”

  1. Newt gonna happen!

    YAY!!!

    His only skill in in projecting his own issues and weaknesses onto his opponents:
    Clinton’s BJ – while schtupping through the women on his staff like a Borgia Pope.
    Accusing the Democratically controlled House with corruption – all the while being the Republican trend setter.
    Accusing Romney of doing anything for money – when the only thing he himself hasn’t done for money is give hummers to sailors at Greyhound Stations. And look for him there if his campaign money starts to run out. Newt’s a man of the people! Callista will, of course, be going down on the rich people for money. She can suck the rust off a 57 Chevy. And I bet she could do two Kochs at once.

  2. Newtie wants to go to the moon, although he seems to want to go to Iran first.

    This week my work partner, (who describes himself as a Christian conservative), and I got into a slightly heated conversation.

    He said Obama rammed “Obamacare” through, but blocked the Keystone pipeline project.
    I said, first of all, it’s not “Obamacare”, the name is the affordable healthcare act; and it wasn’t exactly rammed through.
    I said we now have certain enhancements to healthcare, like no nore lifetime cap, your adult children can go on our plans, and pre exsisting conditions will soon not be a factor.

    His wife has been very ill for several years, and he is trying to get her on disability, and is taking steps to file bankrupsy due to his wife’s horrific medical bills. He has hired lawyers to do these , and is at his wit’s end.
    He doesn’t understand how “Obamacare” will help him, or why congress would pass it without reading it. This explains the effective propaganda machine called FOX News.
    He doesn’t understand why the pipeline project was delayed when it could create jobs, and that “treehuggers” stopped it.
    My work partner likes to hunt and fish, so I told him about the enviroment the pipeline was to be built in, how it’s only responsible stewardship to conduct a study prior to building it.
    This is a classic example.

    I read something at “Bartcop” this morn that kinda explains this type of thinking; A CEO, a TeaParty guy and a union man sat down for milk and cookies.
    12 cookies and three glasses of milk were brought out. The CEO immediately grabbed 11 cookies, then turned to the TeaParty guy and said “that damned union man wants half of your cookie!”

  4. Gulag – sounds like an awesome drag show!

    Erinyes – you could explain to your coworker that it is not true about the Keystone XL pipeline creating jobs. Construction would provide only temporary employment, and maintenance would provide very few permanent jobs. The pipeline would transport Canadian oil to the Gulf to be shipped to other countries. Furthermore, the pipeline isn’t stopped, just rerouted, so if your coworker’s that worried about the welfare of Canadian oil companies, he can rest easy. It’s funny: even though Nebraska’s Republican governor and members of Congress eventually opposed the original route, thanks to massive constituent protests, the minute Obama stopped that route they experienced Obama Derangement Syndrome and began screaming about the terrible, horrible, bad bad bad decision. Oh yeah, and socialism! So it’s impossible to make these people happy; but good on you for trying!

  5. I just watched Rick Santorum on our local station; He’s bat shit crazy.(either that or one hell of an actor)

  6. joan,
    I’m going to see if Rudy Giuliani can play the part of Newtette.

    It’ll be a NY serial philanderer playing a Southern serial philanderer, dressed as Marilyn Monroe singing Broadway show tunes.
    I smell an Emmy nomination for Rudy.
    Well, something stinks…

  8. I watched both debates – what I could stand – and the SOTU address. One thing occurred to me in last nights debate which relates to both. My blood pressure went up as the candidates stuck to the ficticious narrative about the housing crisis – how Fannie and Freddie combined with Community Reinvestment Act forced responsible bankers to do bad things. So the gub’mint did it. No one, so far as I know, noticed or challenged Mitt’s statement that Fannie and Freddie “continue to make these bad loans.” (AS best I can recall the quote) The problem being – Fannie and Freddie don’t MAKE loans or issue mortgages. They BUY mortgages from banks, package them as securities and sell them.

    To digress momentarily, F & F are not blameless, but the toxic mortgages, liar loans, and the mortgage insurance scam (derivatives) that consumed AIG were the invention of Wall Street. THAT was the cause of the Great Recession. F & F empowered Wall Street by purchasing the crap the banksters designed & produced. Wall Street committed the rape – Fannie and Freddie did not stop it – and they benefited from the crime. But they are accessories AFTER the fact.

    Here’s my point. The economy is THE issue of the campaign. All the GOP candidates are hanging their candidacy, at least the economic justification, on a lie. (The government did it.) ONLY if you can convince voters that big government crashed the economy, can you advocate for LOWER taxes and deregulation. When my blood pressure peaked, I thought “We HAVE to push back!”

    Then I remembered from the SOTU, “And tonight, I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, …”

    Suppose in 6 months this special unit starts handing down criminal indictments against major Wall Street players with specific information leaked in advance of the trials. A lot of low-information moderate voters wil decide that Wall Street did it in full partnership with republicans. Properly managed, the indictments can affect Congressional races, especially if republicans are stupid enough to line up in support of criminal bankers. And they might.

  9. “Properly managed, the indictments can affect Congressional races, especially if republicans are stupid enough to line up in support of criminal bankers. And they might.”

    Criminal Bankers Properly managed, sounds like a bold new exciting public relations firm. Or a shadowy super-pack ripe for opposite and more than one double entendre. I wish I could make my hair look long gain. I wish it was worth my time to concern myself with modern politics.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy3WkIfgkSQ

  10. I just saw an ad by the Romney team that had a very “historical” flavor. It featured original footage of a young Tom Browkaw anchoring the evening news while announcing that Newt Gingrich had been found GUILTY of ethics violations on several counts. I know that Newt’s ethics violations aren’t any big news now, but when viewed in the original news cast it has the ability to revive ( born again) the original disgust toward Newt and the slime ball character that he is. It was a wonderful attack ad. A pleasant trip down memory lane.

  11. Erinyes, insurance for people with pre-existing conditions now exists in most states. I have it in California.

    Just type in ‘PCIP’ and the name of your state and the chances are good, you can find the program.

  12. Thanks for the tip, Craig.
    Swami; will Newt pass that off as a “youthful indescression”?
    Or perhaps just the deeply passionate love he has for this great nation.
    Doug, last night on “Countdown”,Matt Taibbi explained how the new unit to investigate and prosecute the banksters will work. Obama’s timing on this is amazing.
    Perhaps we’ll see who had “links” and “ties” to the banksters, and who was involved in “insider” trading; we may be down to one Republican candidate when it’s over, and my guess is “Jeb!” will be neutered also.
    The fact that “Jeb!” was a founding father of the evil PNAC MUST be hammered home.

  13. erinyes,
    Newt will say that ‘the evil gubmint’ did that to HIM, recite some bullsh*t history he just made-up, berate some moderator, preferably Juan Williams again, and start KKKlan code-talking to the ignorati for all he’s worth. Ok, not ‘talking.’ F*CKING SCREAMING!!!

    Tuesday in Florida will tell us a lot.
    My best guess?
    Stick a fork in the fat, lying goober – I think he’s just about done.

    And then, they can see if they can salvage MITT 3.0, or need to scrap him for parts, and look around to see if somehow, despite how everyone tells us that they can’t possible do that (and haven’t we all heard that before about Republicans?), find another candidate. I’m not sure if they liked Mitch’s audition the other night. Or, if the taint is off the Bush name enough to have Jeb throw his hat in the ring.

    Well, as the country continues to sink, at least there will be some entertainment.
    Obama’s got a nice singing voice, so if it comes down to an “American Idol” competition he’s got a good chance. And, if it comes down to “Dancing With the Stars,” well, you know, all of THOSE people can dance! So, he’s probably ok, there.
    Man, what I wouldn’t give to be an expatriate, writing this from Salzburg, Austria, or Vienna, or Munich, Germany.
    Maybe even St. Petersburg… Nah! Putin is a Conservative wet-dream, so I’ll stick with the Germanic countries.

  15. I just wish I could go back in time, and re-watch Newt’s high dudgeon that they’re asking personal questions about *his ex-wife* while remembering that his Congress released the grand jury transcripts about Bill Clinton.

    Oh, yeah, how horrible for someone to bring up personal matters for political purposes!

  16. But he’s clever. Ever wonder his strange statement that Palestinians are not a ‘people’ in the true sense of the word. That inane opinion got him a hefty $5 million from that Nevada casino owner who’s even more right-wing than BiBi on all matters Israeli.

    (For too many tiresome months I’ve quietly proposed that a huge banner be erected behind Republican debaters, to read, FOR SALE.)

  18. Felicity…When you find out let me know..Half of my intellectual greatness is out there floating around the cosmos.

  19. And I know if I’ll only be true, to this glorious quest,
    That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
    when I’m laid to my rest …
    And the world will be better for this:
    That Newt Gingrich, scorned and covered with scars,
    Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
    To reach … The Republican nomination …

  20. Swami – haven’t a clue but it popped into place after I said “help.” You might try it. (Love your free verse, by the way.)

  21. Swami,
    Newt’s song:
    “To dream… the… im…..po……..ssi……….ble………………. DREAM!!!”

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