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Just Attack the Media and We're At Your Feet
· Tuesday, January 24, 2012
So the message South Carolina voters sent was -- "Anything goes so long as you attack the media."
Whatever you think about Mitt Romney's shortcomings as a candidate -- and I agree with Mark Steyn, who said of his stump speech, "The finely calibrated inoffensiveness is kind of offensive" -- embracing Gingrich is like bashing yourself in the face to relieve the pain in your foot.
Certainly it's possible that the voters have done all of us a favor. If Gingrich's success there scares Romney into becoming a better candidate, then it may work out well in the general election.
But really South Carolina -- a whooping ovation for Gingrich's denunciation of John King? King asked a perfectly legitimate question. It was Marianne Gingrich, not "the liberal media" who made this a story. Gingrich knows this perfectly well, but he can turn a hangnail into a conspiracy by the media. And so he crafted his reply to leave the second Mrs. Gingrich's agency out of it entirely. "To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary, a significant question in a presidential campaign, is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine."
"Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things," Gingrich added, as if he were the wounded party.
Sorry, but it's impossible to sit still for that kind of cynical manipulation of an audience. Gingrich is not just someone who has "gone through painful things." Instead, he has inflicted pain quite promiscuously to those nearest him and justified it because he was destined for greater things. He cheated on his first wife, Jackie, and then divorced her while she was fighting cancer, telling a friend that she was neither "young nor pretty enough" to be the wife of a president. Jackie was obliged to petition the court to enforce child support and alimony orders. Gingrich later peddled the story that it was she who had wanted the divorce. "He can say that we'd been talking about it for 10 years," she told the Washington Post in 1985, "but it came as a complete surprise."
Gingrich himself contradicted the "Jackie wanted a divorce" account. Attempting to negate the story that he was insensitive about discussing divorce during a hospital visit, Gingrich explained, "All I can say is when you've been talking about divorce for 11 years . . . and the other person doesn't want a divorce, I'm not sure there is any sensitive way to handle it."
Gingrich cheated on his first wife, or in his own words, " . . . I did a lot of things . . . that reflect(ed) how much pain I was in." But he "asked for God's forgiveness" and married Marianne. After finding God, he seems to have misplaced Him, because after cheating on Marianne, divorcing her and marrying Callista, he found Him again, adding piously that "I think most people, deep down in their hearts, hope there's a forgiving God." A bewildered Marianne asked him how he could deliver speeches on family values while stepping out on her. He explained, "It doesn't matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There's no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn't matter what I live." During the affair with Callista, Gingrich managed to participate in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. And while it's true that Clinton lied under oath, which Gingrich is not accused of, the hypocrisy would have inhibited a man of ordinary decency.
Newt Gingrich is not your average flimflam artist. He is profoundly, fundamentally, transformationally different. With equal passion, and within 36 hours, he can condemn the media for impugning free enterprise and then (in a huge gift to the Obama campaign) slam private equity and venture capital as "rich people figuring out clever legal ways to loot a company." There is no concern for intellectual consistency, party loyalty, or the advancement of an agenda. He will condemn Paul Ryan one day and film a global warming commercial with Nancy Pelosi the next -- more a loose popgun than a loose cannon.
This fierce antagonist of liberalism -- the roaring lion who tells John King and Juan Williams where to get off -- confessed that in meetings with Bill Clinton "I melt when I'm around him. After I get out, I need two hours to detoxify. My people are nervous about me going in there because of the way I deal with this."
"His people" ought to be even more nervous now. I know I am.
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wjmccrindle
This type of hit piece just goes to the Democrats Victory propoganda. I wish the Romney supporters of his milktoast moderate inane campaign would grow a pair and do what Gingritch does, and attack Obama and the press because they are liars and propogandists and are killing America. How can this author defend the press for trotting out a woman in a fashion that torpedoed Herman Cain? It IS despicable. Gingritch won because he attacked. Ron Paul has supporters because he attacks the fraudulent fiscal policy of Obama and the Democrats. Rick Santorum speaks his mind truthfully. America, if it is to survive needs a nominee that is not afraid to expose the crimes of the current administration, and hammer them hard. We don't wand or need another Mr Nice Guy!
Posted January 24, 2012 at 9:54:09 AM
Dave MT
Washington DC pundits just don't get it. It's not an audience cynically manipulated by Newt. It's an audience that reflects the true disgust that the infantile, juvenile, gotcha media stirs in a huge portion of the public. We long for anyway we can show our disapproval of a national media that has abandoned the sacred duty of a free press to report news in a non biased responsible manner to instead become a cheering section for one party or one president.
Posted January 24, 2012 at 11:22:42 AM
RamonaG
He's a rabid dog and should be put down. Too bad we have to select the worst in order to beat the worst. America is in severe decine...
Posted January 24, 2012 at 11:45:12 AM
Catskills
It's a good thing the Patriot Post puts that disclaimer at the bottom of the page,I was having a hard time believing You actually work for them.
King and Williams are a couple of flaming liberals who are,with the rest of the mass media,participating shamelessly in the morally bankrupt process of shielding bambam's treachery
and subversion.Newt finally exposed this for all who were willing to listen,and in My opinion those few minutes were some of the most productive,EVER.
We've taken the first step in recognizing the flagrant bias in an institution which is eagerly participating in the Destruction of the American Constitution.
Posted January 24, 2012 at 12:29:23 PM
CaseAce
An article about the media and not a mention of their hypocrisy...?
Posted January 24, 2012 at 12:39:37 PM
Richard Ryan
Ms Charen apparently forgets, or does not know that Jesus said that whoever commits adultry in their minds has quite literally already done so. Ms Charen is guilty of adultry since she is already in bed with Romney. If we run Romney for president, we might as well be running old what-his-name who ran against Harry Truman. Running Romney will be committing suicide for ourselves, and homicide for our country.
Get a life Ms Charen.
Richard Ryan
Lamar,Missouri - Birthplace of Harry S Truman
Posted January 24, 2012 at 1:17:35 PM
Matt
You just don't get it... we're pissed off... we want a FIGHTER, not MILQUETOAST!
Posted January 24, 2012 at 6:09:24 PM
PDK
I believe conservatives will never experience happiness with our election process because the true conservatives are always culled out by the liberal MSM. This is especially painfull to conservatives when said conservatives are forced to watch liberals wallow in happiness because they always get the most liberal candidate.
But we republicans are in part to blame. Michelle Backmann was the most conservative and we failed to vote for her.
Because the liberal MSM is the boss of the media world, conservatives should pay no attention to the MSM. We should handle our debates with our people not theirs. Why should we let them be our coxswain.
Given the choice of Newt or Mit, I lean a little more towards Romney because he actually worked in the real world. That said I will vote for the rebulican candidate even if the republican candidate is Bozo the clown.
Santorum would be fine with me but I expect the same hatchet job will be done on him as was done on Michele should he start winning.
Nobama 2012, vote republican. Thank you.
Posted January 24, 2012 at 8:16:24 PM
Tex Horn
This article was a woman's piece for women. I have been through a divorce, and I suspect many other reader's have. And I would bet money that their exes went around spewing all kinds of filth against them, deserved or not, just like Newt's ex-wife did. Frankly, I salute Newt for finding someone he can be happy with.
As for Juan and King, they deserved the lashing they got, for bringing up stuff about Newt that nobody really cares about...do they? Divorce and adultery are so common in this country that lashing at someone for those "sins" is silly. I ask, what can Newt do for our country? How can he put policies in place that help create jobs, jobs, jobs? I could care less about his marriages, failed or not.
So, Mona, go hide yourself in your liberal closet and cry a little tear.
Posted January 25, 2012 at 1:08:50 PM
Dave S
After reading this column, (and several other by this writer), i have reached the regrettable conclusion that she is just part of the MSM. There is finally a candidate who is willing to stand up and "tell it like it is" and, like the MSM, all Ms. Charen can do is bad mouth him for his marital indiscretions. Do I agree with his past pecadilloes? Absolutely not but, I'm not voting for him because of what he did 10, 20, or 30 years ago, I'm voting for him for what he will be doing approximately 1 year from now. Get ajopb with NBC Ms, Charen.
Posted January 25, 2012 at 1:09:24 PM