Gingrich Rising. Awesome.
The GOP’s electoral strategy requires Ron Popeil, not Abraham Lincoln. Now that I think about it, the GOP may have found exactly the man they are looking for.
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From the very earliest stages of the race, Herman Cain showed no partiuclar aptitude for campaigning, nor any real mastery of the issues. In fact, in true “we don’t need no fancy book-learnin” GOP style, his breezy and arrogant incompetance was part of his appeal as a candidate. You see, only left-wing liberal elites know things. Real leadership is from the gut. Or something.
It wasn’t Herman Cain’s total lack of policy understanding that lead to the implosion of his candidacy. The blame for the Great Cain Collapse belongs to a torrent of embarrassing scandals involving a handful of borderline criminal sexual assualts and a 13-year extramarital affair.
Remember, this was at its core a vanity candidacy. An elaborite publicity stunt. It was never supposed to go this well. I don’t believe that Herman Cain ever really thought he’d be the nominee. Remember, Hermain Cain knew he had these skeletons in his closet. They weren’t even very well hidden skeletons. He just never thought he’d be successful enough for anyone to bother with trying to find them.
Cain simply underestimated the hatred many in the Republican Party have for Mitt Romney. With Rick Perry’s political acumen being awful to the point of self satire, someone had to fill the role of the Anti-Romney. Really, it was a timing thing. Hermain Cain had put in a few better than expected performances at the debates, and his absurd 999 thing was just catchy enough to make him seem plausable. After that things sort of spiraled out of control.
But that’s all over now.
Those too conservative to support Romney have abandoned Cain, and have instead placed their hopes in a new hero. This is the age of Newt, who has enthusiastically claimed the mantle of the Anti-Romney.
Gingrich Rising. Awesome.
This is where my head starts to hurt. I mean, I understand that intellectual consistency isn’t exactly highly valued within the GOP, but throwing your support behind Newt Gingrich because Herman Cain has a problem with fidelity is especially perplexing.
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Far from protecting marriage, Newt Gingrich is a serial offender. Marriage should get a restraining order against Newt Gingrich. That Newt has spent even ten seconds at the top of the national polls demonstrates that the GOP has no interest in actually protecting marriage. They just want someone who can talk a good game.
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Despite the fact that Newt Gingrich claims the well worn story about him serving his wife with divorce papers after her cancer surgery is largely untrue, Newt Gingrich is still a world class philanderer. He admits this himself.
There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.â€
Newt Gingrich was only making sweet, sweet love to America.
I might be ill. Let’s move on.
Newt said this back in March. This isn’t recent news. Newt Gingrich sexing up the American Flag is a long established fact. Republican voters are fully aware of this, and obviously do not care. Why then is it OK for Newt Gingrich to cheat on countless wives with scores of nubile young Reaganites, while at the same time rejecting Herman Cain for exactly the same sort of behavior? And how can either of these men be taken seriously as advocates for the sort of strict moral absolutism used to deny LGBT people their civil rights?
Because it doesn’t matter. None of this bogus “Family Values†crusading has any substance, and the fickle candidate shopping going on in the Republican primary battle proves it. Republican voters only seem interested in strict adherence to the Christian ethic when it can be used as a bludgeon with which to attack their enemies. When it comes to evaluating their own candidates, rampant infidelity and sexual indiscretion fit snugly into a blind spot just large enough to shield themselves from judgement. The only time they appear to care about these issues is when you happen to be gay, or are a Democrat, or are a Republican currently involved in some embarrassing scandal too big to spin.
I have always believed that the true measure of a person, or a movement, is to observe their actions rather than their words. Republicans can say whatever they want, but their views regarding the “sanctity of marriage†are only as relevant as the degree to which they apply those standards to themselves.
Republicans are fully aware of Newt Gingrich and his propensity for screwing his staffers. If any of them cared to open the Bibles that they are so fond of using to beat down LBGT people, then they would know where the source of their moral superiority stands on the issue of adultery. There is an entire commandment explicitly addressing it. (Hint: God appears to be decidedly opposed.) Far from protecting marriage, Newt Gingrich is a serial offender. Marriage should get a restraining order against Newt Gingrich. That Newt has spent even ten seconds at the top of the national polls demonstrates that the GOP has no interest in actually protecting marriage. They just want someone who can talk a good game. All they require is an vaguely appealing spokesperson who can competently recite the established Conservative talking points without choking on their own bile, or setting their podiums on fire in the process. What they want is someone who can fit in well with their brand marketing. No substance required.
The Republicans have crafted a platform designed to target specific segments of easy to manipulate voters. Moral Crusaders. Anti-Abortion activists. Foreign Policy Absolutists. The Bigoted. The Xenophobes. The Tax Zealots. The Paranoid.
Say the right things to these people, and they will vote for you. No questions asked. It’s not even very hard to do. Want to capture the Xenophobe vote? Talk about immigration. Need the Moral Crusaders on your side? Hate on the gays for awhile. Do this in the right combinations, and you can get enough votes to win an election. Simple. This is what the world is made of in the Fox News era. Play the right song, and all the snakes will follow you right out of town.
That sort of electoral strategy requires Ron Popeil, not Abraham Lincoln. They need not a leader, but a salesmen. With that sort of job description you really can’t do better than Newt Gingrich. Now that I think about it, the GOP may have found exactly the man they are looking for.
(Image, top, by  boris.rasin)
Benjamin Phillips is a Humor Writer, Web Developer, Civics Nerd, and all around crank that spends entirely too much time shouting with deep exasperation at the television, especially whenever cable news is on. He lives in St. Louis, MO and spends most of his time staring at various LCD screens, occasionally taking walks in the park whenever his boyfriend becomes sufficiently convinced that Benjamin is becoming a reclusive hermit person. He is available for children’s parties, provided that those children are entertained by hearing a complete windbag talk for two hours about the importance of science education, or worse yet, poorly researched anecdotes PROVING that James Buchanan was totally gay. If civilization were to collapse due to zombie hoards or nuclear holocaust, Benjamin would be among the first to die as he has no useful skills of any kind. The post-apocalyptic hellscape has no real need for homosexual computer programmers who can name all the presidents in order, as well as the actors who have played all eleven incarnations of Doctor Who.
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A federal judge aimed sharp criticism at the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its de facto leader, Elon Musk, as he ruled on Tuesday afternoon that its shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang’s ruling, however, Politico reported, “appears to permit the Trump administration to ratify and maintain the draconian cuts — as long as they are ordered by USAID’s official leadership, rather than by Musk or his allies at DOGE.”
Judge Chuang blocked DOGE “from further cuts to the agency,” the Associated Press reported. He also ordered that “email and computer access” be restored “to all employees of USAID, including those who were placed on administrative leave.”
In his damning 68-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang wrote that “the ‘Department of
Government Efficiency,’ or ‘DOGE,’ has sent teams of personnel to numerous federal departments and agencies, taken control of their computer systems, and in many instances, taken the lead in terminating numerous contracts and employees.”
READ MORE: Chief Justice Smacks Down Trump
He charged that “DOGE and its leader, Elon Musk,” have “played a leading role in actions taken to shut down and dismantle” USAID, “which have included permanently closing its headquarters, taking down its website, and engaging in mass terminations of contracts, grants, and personnel.”
Noting that President Trump himself “has identified” Elon Musk as “the leader of DOGE,” Judge Chuang wrote that DOGE “has taken numerous actions without any apparent advanced approval by agency leadership.”
Judge Chuang ruled that Elon Musk’s and DOGE’s “actions taken to shut down USAID on an accelerated basis, including its apparent decision to permanently close USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly appointed USAID Officer, likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways, and that these actions harmed not only Plaintiffs, but also the public interest, because they deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress.”
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) blasted Judge Chuang.
“This is more of your Trump derangement syndrome. This is more of these activist judges,” Senator Blackburn declared. “So here you have a judge who is standing up for wasting taxpayer money. It is not the judge’s money, it is not the court’s money. This is money that hardworking taxpayers have earned and sent to Washington, DC.”
“And if they’re going to decide, they don’t want to pay for Sesame Street in Iraq, or DEI education in another country, or trans surgeries in another country,” she claimed.
READ MORE: Trump Border Czar ‘Doesn’t Care’ About Judges — One Might Make Administration Think Twice
On Saturday, The New York Times in an extensive, interactive report revealed, “An estimated 1,650,000 people could die within a year without American foreign aid for H.I.V. prevention and treatment.”
“An estimated 500,000 people could die within a year without American funding for vaccines,” the report added. ” An estimated 550,000 people could die within a year without American funding for food aid.”
Also, nearly 300,00 could die from Malaria, 310,000 from tuberculosis, the Times reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO has estimated that the USAID shutdown, as THEM reported, “could cause as many as 10 million additional HIV cases and three million HIV-related deaths.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Marsha Blackburn attacks a judge who just ruled that Trump’s dismantling of USAID is likely unconstitutional: “This is more of your Trump derangement syndrome … here you have a judge who is standing up for wasting taxpayer money.” pic.twitter.com/iaY6aaxlWy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 18, 2025
READ MORE: ‘Welcome to Autocracy’: Trump Declaring Biden’s Pardons ‘Void’ Debunked and Denounced
Image via Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has issued a rare, and terse, 31-word statement, seemingly in response to President Donald Trump’s rant calling call for the impeachment of Senior U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who on Saturday ordered two deportation flights to be turned around under a contested law.
The Trump administration, declaring the planes were over international waters, decided the judge’s order was not lawful, and did not order the planes to return home.
Trump lashed out Tuesday, at 9:05 AM, in an unhinged rant, calling Judge Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic,” “a troublemaker and agitator,” who “was not elected President” — before calling for his impeachment.
Chief Justice Roberts, who was appointed by President George W. Bush almost 20 years ago, issued a stern rebuke.
READ MORE: Trump Border Czar ‘Doesn’t Care’ About Judges — One Might Make Administration Think Twice
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Roberts said in his statement, as first reported by Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
Politico is calling it “the most intense public conflict between Trump and Roberts since 2018, when the chief justice came to the defense of federal judges who’d ruled against Trump policies.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Cheney had reported that the “invective from Trump against Boasberg also is set against the message from Chief Justice Roberts, who warned against efforts by public officials to intimidate judges — including by the threat of impeachment — which could provoke ‘dangerous reactions.'”
Those remarks came from Roberts’ year-end report, during which he lamented, “Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary, but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others,” as USA Today reported at the time.
“Unfortunately,” the Chief Justice had also said, “not all actors engage in `informed criticism’ or anything remotely resembling it.”
READ MORE: ‘Welcome to Autocracy’: Trump Declaring Biden’s Pardons ‘Void’ Debunked and Denounced
At Trump’s State of the Union earlier this month, political observers were stunned by Trump’s remarks, caught on a hot mic, when he thanked Roberts.
Watch below or at this link:
Trump to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last night after his presidential address to Congress: “Thank you again. Thank you again. Won’t forget it.” pic.twitter.com/EOblPpe6MQ
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) March 5, 2025
Image via Reuters
In a further escalation of his administration’s targeting of the federal judiciary, President Donald Trump posted an unhinged rant Tuesday morning, calling for the impeachment of a U.S. District Court judge—likely James Boasberg—whose orders his legal team had allegedly defied.
Trump did not name him, but Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg had ordered the President’s legal team on Saturday to turn around two planes carrying hundreds of immigrants in the process of being deported under an obscure 1798 wartime-only law.
Politico‘s Kyle Cheney reports that “Trump’s call to impeach Chief Judge Boasberg for a ruling he disagrees with is an escalation of his administration’s increasingly ominous battle with the judiciary.”
The administration’s decision not to follow Judge Boasberg’s order — which Trump officials claim was not valid and therefore, they say, did not constitute defiance — may be leading the country toward a constitutional crisis, according to legal experts.
At 9:05 AM Tuesday, President Trump unleashed his unhinged rant, further stoking the flames of a constitutional crisis.
READ MORE: Trump Border Czar ‘Doesn’t Care’ About Judges — One Might Make Administration Think Twice
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President – He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he did WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, appearing to include a typo.
“I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY,” the President insisted.
Trump continues to claim a “mandate,” but his popular vote win margin ranks about 50th out of 60 presidential elections, and, according to The New York Times, “Trump’s Electoral College Victory Ranks 46th in 58 Elections.”
Trump went on to claim, “I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do.”
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
The New York Times reported on Sunday that legal experts had been trying to determine “how close the Trump administration is to open defiance of the Constitution’s system of checks and balances.”
“Trump administration moved one large step closer to a constitutional showdown with the judicial branch of government when airplane-loads of Venezuelan detainees deplaned in El Salvador even though a federal judge had ordered that the planes reverse course and return the detainees to the United States,” the Times reported.
Two days later, cable news networks like MSNBC are currently describing this as a “legal showdown.”
READ MORE: ‘Welcome to Autocracy’: Trump Declaring Biden’s Pardons ‘Void’ Debunked and Denounced
On Monday night, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) told CNN’s Anderson Cooper (video below) that he believes America is on the brink of a constitutional crisis.
“You know, we’ve been, as you pointed out, throwing that term around pretty sloppily in the last two months or so,” Congressman Himes said, “but the definition of a constitutional crisis, of course, is when you have no way to resolve two branches of government warring with each other. And you know what you see exactly what’s happening here. It’s a very interesting moment because, this is what Donald Trump does in life, right?”
“And you see him exploring the threshold of ignoring a court order, knowing because he said so before and because his people know this, that that is very serious business, that that is a constitutional crisis.”
“So they’re throwing every mad legal theory up against the wall, they’re dissembling, they’re taking their time and everything and I’ll tell you, we’ve seen this movie a hundred times before.”
After the President posted his Truth Social rant, The New York Times’ Peter Baker wrote: “Trump declares that it constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor worthy of impeachment for a federal judge to rule against him.”
Watch the video below or at this link:
“The definition of a constitutional crisis … is when you have no way to resolve two branches of government warring with each other”: Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut) talks about the ongoing showdown between the Trump administration and federal judges. pic.twitter.com/EGMyS6OhbA
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 18, 2025
READ MORE: ‘Sounds Like Putin’: Trump Blasted for Declaring Top News Organizations ‘Illegal’
Image via Reuters
Chief Justice Smacks Down Trump
Trump Pushes to Impeach ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ Judge in Unhinged Morning Rant
‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’: GOP Senator Furious Over Judge’s USAID Ruling
‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’: GOP Senator Furious Over Judge’s USAID Ruling
Chief Justice Smacks Down Trump
Trump Pushes to Impeach ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ Judge in Unhinged Morning Rant
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