Newt Gingrich is making a come back. Hard to believe--he's pompous, nasty, and the gold standard in hypocrisy. I'm speaking from the left, of course, but it's difficult to believe that the religious right would vote for a candidate now in his third marriage. The first ended while he was having an affair with his second wife. The story is, he presented his first wife with divorce papers while she was recovering from surgery for ovarian cancer. He ended his second marriage shortly after his wife was diagnosed with MS, and while he was having an affair with his third, a congressional aid. And this affair was progressing at the same time that Newt was calling for Clinton's impeachment because of his affair with Monica. Wow!
As an aside, how is it possible that the Catholic church could sanction the marriage of Newt, twice divorced. I remember my theology (I attended Catholic grammar school and high school). A previous marriage with another baptized Christian, even if the person was baptized in another church, is valid and can't be dissolved by divorce. Apparently, if you know someone high enough up in the Catholic church the rules don't apply. The Kennedy's hold the world's record for annulments.
But in other ways Gingrich's come back is easy to understand. Republicans are desperate.
- Herman Cain was never in serious consideration and with the harassment charges (more coming I read), he'd never go down with women; recent polling indicates that women on the right are leaving him much faster than men.
- Perry has had so many bad debates that it's hard to imagine him coming back. If he can't remember the three governmental agencies he's planning to get rid of as president (the essence of his platform), how would he survive in debates against Obama.
- Bachmann has two things against her--she's a flake and a woman. (Please note that her flakiness has nothing to do with her gender.)
- Santorum is just not likable and doesn't have the organization or money to make it to the end of the primaries.
- Ron Paul is too far out there, even for Republicans. Imagine a Republican that doesn't want us involved in foreign wars.
- And then there's Romney. He has the best organization, the most money, strong political experience, and he can hold his own in a debate. He's just not likable. But that aside, his Achilles heel is his lack of consistency (the exception, as he reminded us on Wednesday, his 42 year marriage to the same woman). He's never meet a principle he wasn't willing to forego to get elected. He was for abortion before he was against, for government-run health care before he was against, and on and on and on. Obama, I should note, has similar problems in this department so in a general election Romney's lack of principle might not be held against him.
Also on the downside:
I heard from someone familiar with Occupy Wall St. that the homeless have been encouraged to live in Zuccotti Park by the mayor and others in power. If true, the reasons are obvious. Many homeless in New York City have mental and addiction issues, and they're likely to act out in ways that will permit Bloomberg to crack down on the occupancy. This is a Catch 22 for the occupiers. If they get rid of the homeless they become hypocrites--the homeless are the other 1%. It's a conundrum! Any ideas on what the occupiers can do, please post them.
On the upside:
Billy Crystal has agreed to host this year's Academy Awards. I wish they'd make Crystal the permanent host. It's the only award show I watch every year, and I can't think of a single host who's been any good aside from Crystal. He's always funny. Speaking of the Awards, what chance they'll drop the dances, the songs, and all the other lame entertainment that we sit through every year and just focus on the awards and the dresses. For me, it's all about the dresses.
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