Wishy Washy...Thy Name is Newt

As I sat in glorious silence after the kids went to bed last night, I turned on Hannity and caught his interview with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. I'll say that I used to respect Newt. Notice I said "used to."

The interview with Newt focused on Tuesday's beotch slap of the Democratic party in Virginia and New Jersey. Newt gave his thoughts on exactly what this all means for the upcoming elections to be held in 2010. Nothing earth-shattering in what he had to say about all of that.

What struck me as interesting was his spin when Hannity brought up the issue of Newt's endorsement of Dede Scozzafava in New York's 23rd District. Sean asked Newt for his opinion on what he (Newt) was thinking when he threw his support behind the RINO (Scozzafava). What I heard from the former Speaker made me throw up in my mouth a little.

Gingrich, instead of admitting HE was wrong, said that it was wrong for the GOP to give the people such a candidate as Dede. Huh? Yeah, the GOP made a HUGE mistake in that regard, but since when was Newt obligated to endorse her? Can't the man think for himself? If the GOP had brought forward BHO as a candidate, would Newt endorse him merely out of party loyalty instead of a loyalty to ideology?

Newt said that he endorsed Doug Hoffman because he was the candidate most likely to win. Omitted from that statement was the fact that Gingrich didn't endorse Hoffman until after Scozzafava dropped out. At any point before that, he was free to endorse anyone of his choosing, and he chose to endorse the RINO.

Since leaving Congress, Newt has become one of the faces that has characterized what has gone wrong within the GOP. His spine has all but vanished when standing on conservative principle. As speaker, I actually liked the guy. But he has become so moderate in recent years, I really don't trust anything he says. Fool me once...

Newt Gingrich is still free to exercise his First Amendment right and give his opinion, but I will most likely be trying to decipher the hidden message in his words from now on. Or at least until he learns to think for himself instead of trying to spin his way out of a sticky situation.

Palin Snubbed for Newt

Well, doesn't this just smack of Washington politics? Politico.com is reporting that Sarah Palin, who had twice been invited to speak at the GOP fundraising dinner Monday night, was told yesterday that she was no longer going to be a speaker. So much for what the base wants to hear.

The reason, according to Palin's aides, is that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions didn't want Sarah to upstage former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Gingrich is slated to be the keynote speaker tomorrow night.

The call to inform Sarah that she was not going to speak was fielded by Meg Stapleton, a Palin aide, Saturday night. Stapleton said she told the NRSC staffer: “Why, at a time when we’re trying to build the party, would you pull a move like that on somebody who earlier in the day just attracted 20,000 people?”

While Newt was instrumental in drafting the 1994 Contract with America, he seems to have moved somewhat more towards the center, a place where the base is not. And for Jeff Sessions to pull a move like this speaks volumes. It's who you know.

Should Palin be invited once again to speak after all this, my opinion is that she should turn it down outright. There are plenty of us base conservatives who would rather hear her speak than Newt.