-Pundette asks a very pertinent question [tip of the fedora to Memeorandum]:

…He can act and talk like a conservative when he wants to, or he can do the opposite. He’s full of himself and his multi-step "solutions." And in the debates, he alternates between the poles of the statesman who’s above it all and the attack dog going for the jugular. It may be fun to watch for a while. But the drama can also be draining. How long before Newt fatigue sets in?

People like it when a person ‘cuts through the BS’, as they see it, and ‘tells the truth’, but I think, if it’s not leavened with a likeable personality, then they will grow tired of that person fairly quickly. This is Newton Leroy’s problem: he’s not a very likeable Human Being. In fact, he comes off as an arrogant jerk a lot of the time.

However, he may retain his popularity for a longer stretch of time than is normal because so many people are so angry at our situation.

-Quin Hillyer has Newton pegged:

…Gingrich’s temper is often out of control, AND it tends to manifest itself AGAINST conservatives more often than against moderates. When he disagrees with moderate Republicans, he tries cajolery. When he disagrees with conservatives, he either insults us or he goes ballistic, or both.

So true, but there is one exception regarding the RINOS: when he’s running against one, he certainly has the tendency to go ape.

-I think it rather clear that I do not support Mr. Gingrich ['He didn't turn me into a Newt...I didn't have to get better'], but honor demands that I commend to you Byron York’s demolishing of the accusations against him regarding the ethics probe of him in the 1990′s. You may find it here and I urge you to read it.

Jeff Goldstein beat me to the punch with his comments on this matter:

…the Romney champions seem to believe it in their interest to repeat the smears as if they’re facts — which explains why so many in the establishment sat idly by while many TEA Party types were being savaged in the press as racists and worse: they approve of the methods, and in the end, power is all that matters to these people. I’ve said it many times but let me repeat it here once again: party doesn’t make much difference anymore. What we have is a ruling elite vs. the rest of us. And until such time as we recognize that and work to break up that monopoly on power, we will remain slaves who stupidly believe themselves in control of their masters.

Dead solid perfect.

-Fred Thompson [who I supported in 2008] has endorsed Newton Leroy.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen asleep.

-Richard McEnroe certainly hasn’t and he’s turned his snarky wit on the Newtster.

-It’s interesting that, when it comes to debating skills, some people compare Newt to Winston Churchill.

Newt is a very good debater if you think the standard is being able to put on a good performance regardless of whether what you say is true.

WSC was a very good debater if you think the standard is being able to put on a good performance and tell the truth.

Also, Newt’s humor is sarcastic, whereas Winston, even with his most cutting remarks [ex: 'boneless wonder'] was witty.

-Many of us on the Right understand the truth in this statement: ‘If you want to know what the Left is doing, just look at what they’re accusing the Right of doing’. A variation on this is occurring in the GOP Race, as Philip Klein remarks in a devastating article over at The Washington Examiner:

When he claimed victory in South Carolina on Saturday, Newt Gingrich declared that, "The centerpiece of this campaign, I believe, is American exceptionalism versus the radicalism of Saul Alinsky." But if any candidate is using Saul Alinsky’s playbook in this campaign, it’s Gingrich himself.

In his seminal 1971 work, "Rules for Radicals," left-wing community organizer Alinsky laid out his method for instigating change. Many of the tactics he spoke about — such as exploiting resentment and pitting oneself against the establishment — have become a central part of Gingrich’s strategy for securing the Republican presidential nomination.

He then goes on to cite several examples of Newt working out of the Alinsky playbook.

Mr. Klein concludes:

It may be odd for somebody claiming to be a conservative to employ the tactics of the left, but Alinsky wrote an entire chapter on the arbitrary ethics of when the ends justify the means, noting that, "generally success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics."

GOP nomination fights are often described as battles between Rockefeller Republicans and Goldwater Republicans. In 2012, Gingrich has brought us the Alinsky Republican.

Indeed.

-Offered for your comments…

= Romney: Rockefeller Republican
= Gingrich: Alinsky Republican
= Paul: Rothbard Republican
= Santorum: Reagan Republican

ROMNEY DELENDA EST!:

-Speaking of Saul Alinksy: Over at BuzzFeed, Andrew Kaczynski has pictures of when George Romney met with Alinsky and offers this quote:

"I think you ought to listen to Alinsky," Romney told his white allies, according to T. George Harris’s 1968 book, "Romney’s Way."

Like father, like son? In this case, let us hope not.

-Pundette again, commenting on Romney’s statement in the debate last night that government-run health care is ‘not worth getting angry about’:

…It’s clear that Romney really doesn’t have a problem with a government takeover of health care. He’s a technocrat who believes government is the solution, not the problem. That’s why its expansion into health care isn’t "worth getting angry about." In one little sentence, he revealed himself as a patronizing, tone-deaf, establishment RINO devoid of core conservative values. He’s everything the Tea Party opposes….

Dead solid perfect, Jill.

-John Hawkins has issued a Call-To-Arms [tip of the fedora to Quin Hillyer]:

…Mitt Romney is the least conservative candidate remaining in the field and isn’t particularly electable either. If you don’t want to spend the better part of the next year trying to drag this sad sack of Mitt across the finish line so he can disappoint us for the next four years, then stand up, speak out, and stop letting the mainstream media and a bunch of Beltway conservatives tell you that the race has to be over with just 1.8% of the delegates needed for a victory awarded. The Tea Party didn’t rise up, fight Barack Obama, and help the GOP have its best year in half a century just to see the Republican Party ideologically slide all the way back to the pre-Reagan years as a reward. If the establishment manages to grease the wheels for Mitt to such a degree that it turns out he’s unstoppable, then it’s still better to go down brawling instead of supporting a candidate you know is a mediocrity because you think he’s "probably going to win the nomination." Given the type of man he is, whether Mitt wins or loses, you’re unlikely to look back at fighting like hell to get another nominee with anything other than pride.

Note: While I don’t agree with every argument Mr. Hawkins makes in the post linked above, I do agree whole-heartedly with the statement I just quoted.

-Regarding Bob Dole’s statement denouncing Newton Leroy and endorsing Willard: I have decide to refrain from giving it the royal Fisking it deserves out of respect for the man’s heroic service in World War II and out of a suspicion that his mental facilities are fading. However, regarding the Romney Campaign’s decision to release the statement, I agree one hundred percent with Mark Steyn’s observation:

…When the rap on your campaign is that you’re the guy whose turn it is, the establishment candidate of no fixed beliefs whom the base doesn’t trust, a fellow waging an empty, passionless campaign and whom the media are already palpably longing to hail for the graceful dignity of your concession speech, what better way to kill that damning caricature than to trumpet your support from …Bob Dole.

As Stacy McCain has said many times: Willard will make a concession speech for the ages.

-Speaking of American’s Favorite Gonzo Reporter: Stacy’s report on last night’s debate can be found here.

A POX HINC DOMOS VESTRAS!:

-Richard McEnroe on Willard and Newton:

There’s progressive and there’s progressive. I have NO faith in Romney shrinking government effectively. Big Gov MA style is all he’s ever known. Likewise no repeal of ORomneycare. In this he’s a lot like Obama. He has no experience of alternatives and when presented with the options he’s rejected them.

With Newt it’s arrogance. Newt will look at Big Government and think I can make this work! Hey, it’s me! So he’s unlikely to cut government departments or subsidiary agencies, but instead to try and micromanage them, e.g, Let’s take all the DOE solar money and put it into cold fusion research! In this he’s a lot like Obama. He’s an academic who’s not as smart as he thinks he but thinks he can bluster and fake it. Remember this was a guy lobbying for permanent L5 orbital colonies at a time when we could barely get a Shuttle launched.

QUI PUTAT SE POSSE PRAEDICERE EVENTU CERTAMINE, INSIPIENS EST!

…"I laid out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last, that has a firm foundation. Where we’re making stuff and selling stuff and moving it around and UPS drivers are dropping things off everywhere."

Go get stuffed, Barry.

-His first report from Florida from late this afternoon is here.

-Hit His Damn Tip Jar!

Bob's Muse

-I’ve been reading a lot of commentary in The Ether about Barack Hussein Obama’s State Of The Union Address the other night [I didn't watch or listen to it.  You see, I was given two choices: lance boils on the butts of homeless guys named Ratzo who had The Runs or watch the SOTU, so I did the least painful — getting the scabies was worth it.].  The best commentary came from the Right-side of Le Blogosphere.  It’s so damn frustrating to read the Republican and conservative pundits because most of them still think we’re living in the age of congeniality with the Left.  It’s bad enough we fell for it at the time, but anyone who still doesn’t understand that there is no point in dealing with the Left — we don’t speak the same language, as it were — is, I hate to say it because I have a fondness for some of them, pathetic.

-Out of the dozens of posts I’ve read, I must say that William Teach, Admiral of The Pirate’s Cove, deserves the award for best blog post title, which sums up nicely Obama’s main message:

Obama SOTU 2012:
An America Built To Last Like A Chevy Volt

And there’ll be some smoke on the water, a fire in the sky.

-Having had multiple root canals and with the possibility of another in my immediate future, this story hit close to home:

A former dentist in Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud for using paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals.

There but for the grace of my Dentist Stu, go I.

-From ’The Death Of Shame’ file, we have this item by Jenn Pelly of Pitchfork [tip of the fedora to Wombat-Socho's Live At Five]:

Disney is now selling a Mickey Mouse T-shirt on its webstore inspired by…Joy Division.

The listing on the Disney Store website reads: “Inspired by the iconic sleeve of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album, this Waves Mickey Mouse Tee incorporates Mickey’s image within the graphic of the pulse of a star. That’s appropriate given few stars have made bigger waves than Mickey!” The shirt is “created especially for Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort.” We are not making this up.

Uhhhhhhhhh…. Does Disney know that the singer of this band hanged himself?! Do they know where the name “Joy Division” comes from?!…

She’s got more here and a picture of the offensive t-shirt.

For those of you who don’t know the origin of the term  ’Joy Division’: they ‘were allegedly groups of Jewish women in the concentration camps during World War II who were kept for the sexual pleasure of Nazi soldiers’.

Wombat and I had the following exchange on this story over at The Other McCain:

BOB: In a world with no shame on the road to Lefttopia, I am not surprised at all.

WOMBAT: Next thing you know, they’ll be putting up Kraft durch Freude signs at the entrance to Disney World. Dumbasses.

BOB: Well, hey, Disney is controlled by Limousine Lefties, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were put there or Pfeifen, während Sie arbeiten / Arbeit macht frei [Whistle While You Work / Work Will Set You Free].

WOMBAT: Or something less well known from the GULag with the same message, yeah.

In a world turned upside down, I guess it’s no surprise that Disney has become a negative image of it’s original self.

-For his entry for this week’s Monday Movie, Paco has posted one of the key scenes from The Fountainhead, where Ellsworth Toohey, as Paco puts it, outlines ‘the liberal fascist game plan’.  After listening to Toohey expound his strategy and tactics, I dare you to tell me Obama and his Leftist pals aren’t seeking to do the same.  From the same scene, this time from the novel:

TOOHEY: Now if you were a little more intelligent, you’d ask: What of us, the rulers ? What of me, Ellsworth Monkton Toohey ? And I’d say, Yes, you’re right. I’ll achieve no more than you will. I’ll have no purpose save to keep you contended. To lie, to flatter you, to praise you, to inflate your vanity. To make speeches about the people and the common good. Peter, my poor old friend, I’m the most selfless man you’ve ever known. I have less independence than you, whom I just forced to sell your soul. You’ve used people at least for the sake of what you could get from them for yourself. I want nothing for myself. I use people for the sake of what I can do to them. It’s my only function and satisfaction. I have no private purpose. I want power. I want my world of the future. Let all live for all. Let all sacrifice and none profit. Let all suffer and none enjoy. Let progress stop. Let all stagnate. There’s equality in stagnation. All subjugated to the will of all. Universal slavery – without even the dignity of a master. Slavery to slavery. A great circle – and a total equality. The world of the future.

PETER KEATING: Ellsworth… you’re…

TOOHEY: Insane ? Afraid to say it ? There you sit and the world’s written all over you, your last hope. Insane ? Look around you. Pick up any newspaper and read the headlines. Isn’t it coming ? Isn’t it here ? Every single thing I told you ? Isn’t Europe swallowed already and we’re stumbling on to follow ? Everything I said is contained in a single word – collectivism. And isn’t that the god of our century. To act together. To think – together. To feel – together. To unite, to agree, to obey. To obey, to serve, to sacrifice. Divide and conquer – first. But then, unite and rule. We’ve discovered that one last. Remember the Roman Emperor who said he wished humanity had a single neck so he could cut it ? People have laughed at him for centuries. But we’ll have the last laugh. We’ve accomplished what he couldn’t accomplish. We’ve taught men to unite. This makes one neck ready for one leash. We found the magic word. Collectivism.

Ellsworth Toohey lives in The White House.

When Ayn was wrong, she was horribly, disastrously wrong, but when she was right, Ayn was dead solid perfectly right.

-Dead Pool Update…

= Actor James Farentino has passed away at the age of seventy-three [tip of the fedora to Wombat-Socho's Live At Five].  The several obits I’ve read have all cited his work on the TV series The Bold Ones, Dynasty and [the underrated and largely forgotten] Police Story.  None of them mentioned what I think was his best performance: as Simon Peter in Jesus Of Nazareth.  Like his fellow cast member Ernest Borgnine, Mr. Farentino surprised me with his nuanced portrayal of the man who would become Jesus’s rock and three-times denier.  I was cheered to find out that he had apparently overcome the personal problems which had plagued him in the 1990′s.   Requiescat in pace.

= British actor Nicol Williamson has departed this world, as well.  He was best known for his role as Merlin The Magician in the great film Excalibur.  I remember seeing him in the BBC version of Macbeth, where his portrayal was nervous and annoying — but it’s very hard to hold a bad performance as the regicide against any actor because it is one of the toughest roles and the play seems to be cursed.   Requiescat in pace.

= One of the most interesting characters in the music biz, Johnny Otis, is now headlining that great gig in the sky.  While time does not permit posting examples of why I make that statement, you can read all about him here and here.  I will, however, provide you with this taste:

Born white, the son of Greek immigrant parents, and raised in a predominantly black neighborhood in Northern California in the 1920s, Otis decided as a youth that he’d rather be black.

Requiescat in pace.

= All of the obit links above are to the Los Angeles Times, which has the best obituary section when it comes to famous people of any newspaper in the country.  Whilst perusing it today, I saw this headline:

Elizabeth Brumfiel dies at 66;
feminist archaeologist

WTF?!?  Is there no area safe from The Feminist Menace? 

Guess not.

-Back to the living: It is often said that we Americans forget just how young this country is in terms of history and this is quite true, but, still, this story strikes me as rather amazing [tip of the fedora to Memeorandum]:

Former President John Tyler, born 221 years ago, still has two living grandchildren….

So, how is it possible that a former president who died 150 years ago would still have direct descendents alive today? As it turns out, the Tyler men were known for fathering children late in life. And that math is pretty outstanding when added up….

Please click here to read the rest of Eric Pfeiffer’s report to find out how.

-Live well, my friends…

The most lawless administration in U.S. history is issuing paychecks from taxpayers to 36 Obama aides who haven’t bothered to pay their own personal taxes to the tune of $833,970.00. Obama’s droning rhetoric of ‘fairness’ and ‘fair share’ is deceit and misinformation amidst a bloodying class warfare. Look at who’s running this country – Alinsky-ite tax cheats and demagogues.

If you read Maggie’s post, you’ll not be surprised to find out that the aides are not the only ones in the national government who have broken the law so blatantly.

This is arrogance, pure and simple.

And it is another sign of just how menacingly corrupt the government of The United States Of America is.

Could This Be One Explanation?

Can This Government Be Saved?