Month: December 2011

Massive Split in Conservative Community And Republican Congressional Members Over Newt Gingrich Presidential Candidacy!

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Conservative commentators and talk show hosts are bitterly divided over the Presidential candidacy of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Among those supportive of him are Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly.

A much longer list against him include Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, Peggy Noonan, George Will, David Brooks, Glenn Beck, Charles Krauthammer, and the prestigious conservative periodical, The National Review.

Who would have thought there would be such a bitter split among conservatives, along with so much venom against Gingrich by his own Congressional colleagues, including Susan Molinari, Peter King, Tom Coburn, Dan Quayle, Dick Armey, and Tom DeLay?

It is clear that the Republican Party and the conservative community are deeply split, and this can only help Barack Obama!

It is also clear that were Newt Gingrich by some miracle to become the nominee, the party would be badly split, similar to 1964, which could mean a major progressive step forward in Congress, as well as a massive victory for Barack Obama, even in bad economic times!

Newt Gingrich: Lover Of Chaos, Tumult, Turmoil, Divisiveness. And Rhetorical Bomb Thrower!

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The ABC debate in Iowa on Saturday night demonstrated clearly that Newt Gingrich has not changed, and has no desire to change!

He is reveling in being a “bad boy’, and it seems as if the Republican base is eager for such a candidate.

Gingrich revels in promoting chaos, tumult, turmoil, and divisiveness, and is a constant rhetorical bomb thrower!

Mitt Romney is a “nice guy” and even says that Barack Obama, while judged a failure by Romney, is also a “nice guy”, and that he will not attack the personality or character of the President, just his policies. Romney also says that attacking in a vicious way is no way to win the election, and that it will not succeed.

Romney is more than ever becoming the Nelson Rockefeller of this election against a combination of Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy in Newt Gingrich!

But even Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon were never as outrageous in their rhetoric as Gingrich is, so Gingrich is more like Joseph McCarthy, who had no limits to his willingness to DESTROY the opposition! Like McCarthy, he has no scruples at all in his lust for power!

So Newt Gingrich is displaying himself as a real danger to the American nation, and can be seen as more dangerous than any previous candidate for President, as he would destroy any sense of civility in his search for power!

And more than ever, the thought of a President Gingrich is terrifying, and guaranteed to lead to corruption and scandals and a country in much greater trouble in all respects than it is now, or has ever been, at least since the Great Depression and the Civil War!

Gingrich must be stopped at all costs for the survival of America as a country of freedom and justice, and to avoid warfare all over the globe!

The “Last Stand” Of Jon Huntsman: New Hampshire Primary

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Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, seen by many political experts as easily the best candidate the Republican Party has to offer for President, has been languishing all along in the polls since his announcement in June of this year, usually with no more than three percent.

It is clear that he has little hope of doing well in Iowa or South Carolina, and is unlikely at this point to do well in Florida, but that reality COULD change IF Huntsman can follow through and win the New Hampshire primary on January 10, one month from now.

However, at present, in the latest polls from CNN, Huntsman scores only eight percent in New Hampshire, behind front runner Mitt Romney having 35 percent, Newt Gingrich having 26 percent, and Ron Paul 17 percent, meaning 78 percent of the voters are locked up at this point by Huntsman’s opponents.

It looks highly unlikely that Huntsman can recover, but if he does, it could affect Florida. If neither happens, Huntsman may as well look ahead to 2016, with him being the only candidate in the present race who could be seen as legitimate in 2016.

“The “New” Nixon Vs. The “New” Gingrich

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In the 1960s, we had the “resurrection of Richard Nixon”! Now in 2011, we have the “resurrection of Newt Gingrich”!

The difference is that with all of the negatives we can conjure up about Richard Nixon in 1967-1968, the negatives were nowhere near the number that Newt Gingrich faces in 2011-2012.

The statement in 1967 and 1968 was that Richard Nixon had “changed”, and that he could be trusted to lead our nation, despite earlier character issues in his 14 years as a Congressman, Senator, and Vice President.

As it turned out, there was no NEW Richard Nixon, and while he certainly had some virtues in office, his “evil” side showed up, and he faced impeachment and resigned in disgrace in 1974!

As it WILL turn out, IF Newt Gingrich ends up winning the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012, all of his warts, his weaknesses, his character issues, both politically and personally, will be revived, and to believe that Newt Gingrich is a changed man is unrealistic.

The Republican Party will implode around Gingrich, as he will NOT unite the party, and has no capability of uniting the country, so the stalemate and gridlock that is present today will become ever worse if he is, by some miracle, elected President!

The Growing Role Of Political Satire And Comedy In Influencing Public Opinion

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This 2012 political campaign has demonstrated a growing role of political satire and comedy in shaping public opinion, and has emerged as a real challenge to conservative talk radio and Fox News Channel.

Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert have become major players in the media, and the Capitol Steps series conducted every weekend at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC, and in numerous venues all over the nation throughout the year, has also had an effect on how people perceive politics.

Only in a democracy such as ours could this occur, and it is to be applauded, as in the midst of crisis and turmoil, it is good to reflect on personalities and events, and laugh, rather than always be angry!

So we should salute the impact of political satire and comedy as good for public health!

Ron Paul: The Wild Card Against Newt Gingrich

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Texas Congressman Ron Paul was very effective in last night’s Iowa ABC debate, going on the attack against Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House.

Paul was more effective than Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor, who for the first time seemed on the defensive as his poll numbers decline, and Gingrich surges in polls in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida.

While Michele Bachmann made strong attacks against Gingrich as well, it seems inevitable that Ron Paul, with his libertarian support and many young people behind him, is the “wild card” in Iowa, and could actually win that state, complicating Gingrich’s surge toward the nomination.

And there is always the thought that even if Gingrich is the party nominee, Ron Paul could run as a third party candidate, and effectively, re-elect Barack Obama.

One other thought: It was disappointing that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman did not participate, because he is not competing in the Iowa caucuses and hedging his bets on the New Hampshire primary, where he is spending most of his time and money, hoping to stage an upset victory over Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich might just destroy that possibility, plus Ron Paul’s followers! The exposure to the voters might have been preferable to staying away from the debate.

Des Moines, Iowa, Republican Presidential Debate On ABC Most Crucial Debate Yet!

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Saturday night, there will be another in a long line of Republican Presidential debates, sponsored by ABC News, taking place in Des Moines, Iowa.

This is the most crucial debate yet, as it comes three weeks before the Iowa Caucuses, and at a time when the Republican Party is demonstrating its internal conflicts more than ever.

Former Speaker of The House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, surging in the polls, is receiving lots of opposition from “Establishment” Republicans and former House colleagues, and many conservative journalists, such as Peggy Noonan, see him as a horror for the party and the nation,

But there is no love lost for Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, in many ways reminding those old enough to remember, what the feeling was for Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1964, when the right wing was able to control the Republican convention, and nominate Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for President, but leading to a total electoral disaster in the Presidential Election of 1964.

In many ways, the Gingrich-Romney battle is a replay of that election, except that Romney is trying to make himself LOOK more conservative than he really is, while Rockefeller made no attempt to declare himself a conservative.

The only person who still, if he does well in New Hampshire, might have a shot at the nomination, is former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who in many ways reminds us of Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, seen as an alternative to Rockefeller and Goldwater in 1964, but unable to overcome Goldwater.

The result was a total disaster for the Republican Party, and the promotion of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs. Hopefully, the country will be so disgusted with the Republican move to the far right, and the obstructionism of the House Republicans, and the anti labor Republican Governors and legislatures, and give Barack Obama the re-election victory he deserves in 2012!

Mitt Romney Calls Barack Obama An “Appeaser”! What Planet Is Romney On?

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has leveled a charge of “appeasement” upon President Barack Obama in the area of foreign policy!

What a preposterous accusation on the part of Romney! What planet is he on, to attack Obama in his STRONGEST area of policy, defense and foreign policy?

Obama not only has been able to gain the death of Osama Bin Laden, but also 22 other top operatives in Al Qaeda. He has been able to gain the overthrow of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi without one American troop on the ground and no combat losses.

No one around the world in any nation believes that Barack Obama is a “pushover”!

To attack Obama on the economy, one can make some points, but on national security and defense, it is a lame attack with NO merit!

Florida Governor Rick Scott Pitting Educational Funding Against Medicaid!

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Florida Governor Rick Scott, a favorite of the Tea Party crowd, has made a bad name for himself among many Floridians who wish they could remove him from office, but so far an attempt at a recall vote has gone nowhere, unlike what Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is facing.

After gutting educational funding in the first year of his term, now he is calling for $1 billion increase in support for the educational system under the college level, but still would leave Florida behind its all time high funding, and leave Florida one of the worst states in education support and educational results.

But what he is also doing is pitting education, the future of the young, versus Medicaid, the health care system that comes to the support of the poor, the chronically ill, disabled, and elderly.

So he is showing no conscience about the most vulnerable among us, while suddenly trying to make himself look good on education.

It is immoral and unethical for Governor Scott to be calling for drastic cuts in Medicaid spending ($2 billion), while creating the image that he cares about education!

Hopefully, the Republican controlled legislature will NOT agree to such drastic cuts in Medicaid spending, as to attack the most vulnerable among us is totally unacceptable!

Newt Gingrich, If Elected, Would Be A Disaster For America In More Ways Than One!

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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, soaring in the public opinion polls, has demonstrated in the past his super confidence, his narcissism, his cockiness, his egotism, his instability, his mercurial nature, his reckless statements and behavior, his lack of ethics, his ability to antagonize fellow Republicans, his total lack of “family values”, and his hypocrisy to the extreme!

Many Republicans see him as a total disaster in the White House, were he by some magic to reach the Oval Office. They are terrified at how he would act autocratically with Congress and the media, and get involved in ethical scandals, and with his bluster and his cowboy attitude, might get us involved in new foreign adventures. He would be, very likely, worse than either Richard Nixon or George W. Bush, or both of them combined!

And also, the lingering thought must be present among many people opposed to Newt Gingrich, that were he to occupy the Oval Office, he would be certain to become involved in a sex scandal, just like Bill Clinton wasted a year of our time, and undermined his own Presidency’s effectiveness in its last three years, due to his dalliances!

After all, Gingrich has been married THREE times, and only Ronald Reagan was married TWICE, and no one ever accused Reagan of sexual hijinks!

With Gingrich having power, there would be the great temptation for Newt to cheat on Callista, his third wife, because he cheated on the first wife with the future second, and on the second wife with Callista. Why, with his ego infused with power, would he not pursue the same actions, and in so doing, embarrass himself and the nation, and possibly endanger the security of the nation, because of his inability to control his own sexual appetite?

An impeachment possibility would arise from abuse of power and sexual hijinks, and it would add to the tragedy of the Presidency, that we were stupid enough to select a man who has no concept of how to unify and unite a nation desperate for common ground and compromise!