Even if you have not watched many of the Republican presidential debates, you've probably seen the video of Newt Gingrich's feigned outrage at CNN's John King in the debate right before the South Carolina primary. Analysts seem to agree that it was one of the key moments in that debate, and many have claimed that it propelled Gingrich to victory in South Carolina.
Gingrich's tantrums are nothing new, but in this context they provide more evidence of what is becoming a central Republican strategy. Whenever one faces a difficult question - or even an easy question one doesn't want to answer - attack the media. Whenever one is caught lying or confronted with an example of one's own hypocrisy, blame the media.
Conor Friedersdorf recently posted the following question in The Atlantic:
How would you have reacted in 2008 if any Republican ran promising to do the following?
- Codify indefinite detention into law;
- draw up a secret kill list of people, including American citizens, to assassinate without due process;
- proceed with warrantless spying on American citizens;
- prosecute Bush-era whistleblowers for violating state secrets;
- reinterpret the War Powers Resolution such that entering a war of choice without a Congressional declaration is permissible;
- enter and prosecute such a war;
- institutionalize naked scanners and intrusive full body pat-downs in major American airports;
- oversee a planned expansion of TSA so that its agents are already beginning to patrol American highways, train stations, and bus depots;
- wage an undeclared drone war on numerous Muslim countries that delegates to the CIA the final call about some strikes that put civilians in jeopardy;
- invoke the state-secrets privilege to dismiss lawsuits brought by civil-liberties organizations on dubious technicalities rather than litigating them on the merits;
- preside over federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries;
- attempt to negotiate an extension of American troops in Iraq beyond 2011 (an effort that thankfully failed);
- reauthorize the Patriot Act;
- and select an economic team mostly made up of former and future financial executives from Wall Street firms that played major roles in the financial crisis.
Michael Cohen's recent article in The Guardian was a great read. He suggests that 2012 could be the year that we in the U.S. finally have a real debate about income disparity and fairness. I sure hope he's right because this is long overdue.
Cohen suggests that "growing income inequality and its negative effect on the American middle class" could become the central issue of the 2012 election. That would be a positive development indeed.
Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a decision which has been under assault from the beginning and has resulted in some of the worst examples of Christian terrorism we have seen in the United States. To all those who have worked tirelessly to defend reproductive rights and keep abortion legal, I just wanted to say thank you.
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As the media, including the political blogosphere, buzzes with stories about Newt Gingrich surging in the South Carolina polls ahead of today's primary vote, I find myself beginning to tune out. Romney will be the Republican nominee. It is inevitable. The only question is how long it will take.
Gingrich has gained some momentum as the favored non-Romney candidate of the moment, but that will pass. He is not a serious candidate who could compete in the general election, and establishment Republicans know this. A Gingrich win in South Carolina would slow Romney down a bit, but it will not change the fact that he will be the eventual nominee.
Consider the remaining options for Republican voters as we leave South Carolina behind. Despite his many flaws, Romney is the only remotely serious candidate. Subscribe to Red State Progressive
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