Newt and the Bomb

The Conspiracy Theory of History. . . .

Which would be worse: Newt Gingrich becoming president of the United States or Iran getting the Bomb?

Of course, U.S. presidential history is replete with examples of scare tactics being used by political opponents.  In the 1964 election, Lyndon B. Johnson's operatives famously employed the TV commercial showing the girl counting from one to ten as she pulled the petals off the daisy followed by an image of a hydrogen bomb exploding, intended to discredit Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and to imply that a Goldwater presidency would put the nation in peril.  Similar fears were expressed by the Left about Ronald Reagan, who did go on to beat Jimmy Carter for the presidency in 1980.

“Daisy ad” made for Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 presidential campaign.  It was broadcast on September 7, 1964.

At the NBC debate last night, Mitt Romney tried to discredit former House Speaker Newt Gingrich implying that he is erratic and unstable and that he himself would be the clear choice for GOP voters and the country -- the "stable" and "safe" candidate.

What was amazing about the debate last night was that you had two candidates pretending to be what they are not.  Romney insisted that Gingrich served for years as a "K Street lobbyist" while Gingrich kept saying that he acted as a "historian" for housing finance agencies Fannie May and Freddie Mac, which were complicit in the 2008 housing crisis and subsequent financial collapse.  Gingrich released a copy of one year of his contract with Freddie Mac prior to the debate which clearly shows that he was a "consultant" and that he earned $300,000 in that period.  Many might argue that consultant equals lobbyist.  Similarly, Romney is running away from his record as CEO of Bain Capital which was responsible for people losing their jobs let alone pretending that he is a staunch conservative when in reality he was the moderate governor of Massachusetts, and enacted a version of health care that is virtually identical to and was used as a model for the national health care bill passed by Barack Obama.

Clearly many Republicans are afraid that Gingrich will get the nomination and wish that his rise be stopped.  The trouble is that the bumbling Romney may not be capable of stopping him.  Attempts to do so, as shown in South Carolina, may only fire up the Republican base more.  Perhaps with the rise of the Tea Party the age of smoke-filled rooms has passed.  Maybe.

Meanwhile, as reported by NBC, at a rally, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was faced by a woman who said that Obama is a "practicing Muslim", a charge that Santorum refused to deny, which does him discredit.  At least in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, GOP presidential candidate Arizona Senator John McCain had the good grace to deny a claim by a supporter that Obama was a "terrorist."

The Florida primary is coming up in a week's time.  Will Gingrich continue his surge or will Romney have damaged him enough to win?

What would Gingrich be like as a president?  My fellow football (soccer) fans might appreciate this analogy.  What if Mario Balotelli became president of Italy?  Think about it.

Forget
the candidate's
past: he's someone else now
-- a new person. . . not the same old
devil.

Christopher T. George

The Rebel State Speaks Its Mind

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston harbor, April 12, 1861 (Currier and Ives print).

The state of South Carolina prides itself of having chosen every the Republican presidential candidate since 1980.  South Carolina is also of course where the Civil War began 150 years ago this April, when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, igniting a bloody four-year-long Civil War.  Yesterday in South Carolina, Republicans chose former House Speaker Newt Gingrich from neighboring Georgia as the winner of the state's GOP primary. 

Was this a seismic event or just a blip in the inevitable route march of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to the nomination?  Romney was beaten by a landslide, 40% to 27.9%, with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum lagging behind.  No doubt Gingrich's victory was made larger by the good debate performance he showed in the CNN debate in Charleston on Thursday night, right from the get-go with the opening question when he was able to blast CNN moderator John King for the inaptness of asking the candidate about the charge by his second wife that he had asked for an "open marriage" and Gingrich was able to take a sizeable hit at the media, which fired up the conservative audience.  The canny former House leader thanked King for a great debate at the end of the event.  "Thank you, CNN, you sleazy, slimy media you!"

Meanwhile, at the same debate, Romney fumbled an answer about when he will release his tax returns, giving the impression that he has something to hide, although on Fox this morning he did say he will release his 2010 tax return and a partial 2011 return... well, that's just only one full year and fails to include all the years that he ran Bain Capital that some observers think he should be releasing to satisfy his critics.

The "Republican establishment" (whatever might be) is said to be worried about the rise of Gingrich, feeling that he would be unelectable in the Fall. Commentators on the Sunday morning political talk shows puzzled over what exactly that establishment is.  It is true though that many of the Republicans who served in Congress with Gingrich in the 1990's have expressed doubts about him, saying that even though he engineered the Republican takeover of Congress during the Clinton administration, he proved to be a poor and unpredictable leader.  From my point of view, it looks to me as if Gingrich at least stands for something, although conservative values that I as a liberal Democratic voter do not hold, whereas it's hard to know what exactly Romney stands for.  Because Romney has chosen not to run on his record as governor of Massachusetts, he has left himself open to criticism that he is a hard-hearted capitalist and a man who does not hold the conservative values that Republican voters today say they admire.

See the following video, where Romney backer New Jersey governor Chris Christie pushes back hard about what he claims to be Gingrich's character flaws and lack of executive experience:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/22/christie-on-gingrichs-past-newt-gingrich-has-embarrassed-the-party-video/

Spitballs.... Great Political Theater!

CNN's Southern Republican debate last night in Charleston, South Carolina, began with fireworks as host John King attempted to get former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to address a televised claim by his second wife that he had requested an open marriage, and Gingrich heatedly attacked King for what he described as the despicable act of beginning a Presidential debate with such a scurrilous charge, much to the delight of the audience.  It was great political theater and couldn't have played better into Gingrich's hands, combined with Newt's master stroke of releasing his tax returns. Meanwhile, nominal Republican front runner Mitt Romney has refused to disclose his tax returns and badly fumbled his response to King about when he might do so.  This once more reinforced the idea that Romney is a bumbler.  Mister Vanilla Ice Cream.

Last night's debate performance and the associated political theater will put Gingrich in a good position to win Saturday's South Carolina primary, considering that he was already rising in the polls based on a likewise solid debate performance in last Monday's debate.  Romney's candidacy meanwhile received another blow when it was announced early yesterday that a final count of votes in the Iowa caucus of a couple of weeks ago shows that Rick Santorum and not Romney had won the vote, although by an extremely narrow margin.  Whoops.  Also with Texas governor dropping out yesterday and backing Gingrich, the momentum has seemed to go to Newt.

Romney might still go on to win the Republican nomination but Gingrich will certainly have given him a scare.  Coming as he does from the South, from neighboring Georgia, the ex-House Speaker might have been expected to have an advantage, as almost a favorite son, just as Romney was anticipated to have an advantage in New Hampshire, right next to the state of Massachusetts where he had served as governor and instituted the "Romneycare" so controversial today among the Republicans he will need to win the presidency.  Whether any Gingrich surge and possible win in South Carolina will vault him to the nomination remains to be seen.  There's a long, long way to go, it seems.

MSNBC’s Bill Press has stated, “Newt is a GOP Suicide Bomber.”

See http://AmericaNeedsMitt.com/blog/2012/01/13/msnbcs-bill-press-newt-gop-suicide-bomber/


*******************

In honor of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, I have begun a new blog on the war at http://chrisgeorgewarof1812.blogspot.com/.  There I intend to share news of upcoming events on the War of 1812 including speaking engagements in which I will be featured as well as my views on the conflict.  It is one of the most significant events in the history of the United States but a war that has been woefully overlooked. Hopefully we can remedy that in the next three years.


 
Not a new line-up of Republican candidates but Chris, right, as a presenter at the "Flag Making in the Early Republic: The Fourth Annual Symposium" hosted by the Star Spangled Banner Flag House Association, Inc., March 31, 2001. From left to right: Marilyn Zoidis, Sally Johnston, Stephen W. Hill, Fenella France, Earl P. Williams, and Christopher T. George. Photograph by Richard R. Gideon.

Mitt Romney's Most Genuine Moments

Sign in a New Hampshire restaurant: Oh, yeh?

Unfortunately, Mitt Romney's most genuine moments are when he is caught off guard and speaks unscripted.  As when he said that "Corporations are people" or offered the $10,000 bet to fellow candidate Texas governor Rick Perry.  Or, most recently, on the eve of today's New Hampshire Republican primary, when he said at a breakfast meeting with business leaders, "I enjoy being able to fire people who provide services to me." He was talking about about firing insurance companies but it sounded too much like he received enjoyment from firing employees.  Just the wrong thing to say when Americans are hurting from high unemployment.  It is very revealing that at a moment when he would be expected to feel most comfortable, around businessmen such as he has been for much of his life, he would say such a thing.

All these unprovoked remarks show that Mr. Romney, a multi-millionaire, is realms away from the average American voter.  Not only do many of his own Republicans feel uncomfortable with him but he is proving himself so with a broad swathe of Americans as well.  So the question remains whether a Romney coronation is inevitable as the Republican nominee let alone the Republican who will deny President Barack Obama a second term in the White House.

Another significant moment occurred on Sunday morning during the "Meet the Press" Facebook Republican debate when fellow candidate Jon Huntsman, answered Romney's criticism during the debate of the night before that he had worked for President Obama as U.S. Ambassador.  The former Utah governor made the salient point that he, Huntsman, would always put the nation first and that the type of Romney's criticism shows what is wrong with the country today.  Huntsman followed up his riposte to Romney and the Massachusetts man's gaff about firing insurance companies (read people) -- when he told reporters in Concord, New Hampshire yesterday, "Governor Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs."

It remains to be seen what traction Huntsman can get. Thus far he has seriously lagged in the polls.  Is he too moderate for the voters in Republican caucuses and primaries?  He didn't campaign in Iowa and has put all his efforts into giving a good showing in New Hampshire.  But can he be a valid alternative to Romney when it seems as if many Republicans are looking for a conservative alternative to the former Massachusetts governor?  One thing that could benefit him is that unlike in other states, Democrats and unaligned voters can vote in the Republican primary.  It will be fascinating to see how the Republican candidates do in today's primary.  Stay tuned, playmates.

The first few shots photographs that appear below are not of New Hampshire.  They were taken on a recent evening looking into the window of the Thunder Grill, Union Station, Washington, D.C., one of my favorite watering holes.  Oh, yes, and it is my sixty-fourth birthday. Why, happy birthday, Chris.  Enjoy that Harvey Wallbanger.....













Have another drink, Chris.