Gingrich, Huckabee, sexual insanity, and stuff.

"Palling around with terrorists"? (God--the terrorist? Radical stuff.)

I know this is a few days in circulation on the blogs, but I finally rolled my tongue back up off the floor. See, I became an ACLU-card-carrying liberal just after Robertson & Falwell stated that it was the ACLU (not religiously-deluded crazy people) who are responsible for 9/11. I've heard rhetoric like this before, but seeing Mr-making-himself-viable-for-2012 Newt Gingrich there with that little piece of hate was a little surprising (in the way seeing Mike Huckabee was not. And I hear Ollie North was there. He doesn't even need to be associated with Christianist business to weird me out, does Ollie.)

But listen to these Christian mujahidin talking about making themselves shaheed . Listen to this Engel yahoo talking about "sexual insanity". And then ask yourself why a sober-sided individual like Newt Gingrich, is associating himself with this movement--

Because yes, he is.

Oh wait, yeah--because that's where the base is. And they are kind of fringy right now.

And as for Huckabee?

You know, he was the only Republican candidate to talk about poverty and compassion in the 2008 GOP primaries. If he wanted to run in 2012 against Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, he would completely have my blessing. (I speak both as a political enthusiast and a person with a fair grasp of statistics.) But really, only if Mitt Romney is in the mix again. (Check this guy out for his take--very worthwhile. Me--I say you have Palin, Gingrich, and Huckabee splitting the "Bible" vote, you'll have better odds on Sanford & Romney, but Romney simply has better name-recognition. And I agree with this guy about Jeb Bush--too much stigma on the "Bush" name.)

So anyway--uh, Gingrich, right, I was talking about him....

How long before the Christian right realizes he's an opportunist? And at three-times divorced, maybe not necessarily one of them? And a Catholic. Tsk. And how long before pragmatic Republicans realize he's kind of a panderer? To get back into the best graces of a party that ran his trifling behind out on a rail in favor of Tom DeLay in 1999?

Time will tell. In the meantime, if the GOP was thinking about losing the elephant as their logo, and going with a bitter has-been?



They could do worse.