Newt is rising in the polls--What does that mean?

What’s new today

Our # 1 and #2 stories lay out why the Democrats are scared of Newt Gingrich.  They and the MSM had pretty much neutered him in the 1990s, but it’s been over 10 years and with all the problems, seeing someone he looks as if he not only knows what he’s talking about but has some new ideas, he represents a huge threat beyond Obama losing the Presidency.  Meanwhile back in Washington (story #3), the Republicans on the Super committee have offered a $300 billion increase in revenues. Not only have the Democrats not accepted it, they walked out on talks according to Senator Rand Paul.   #4 has Evan Bayh calling the EPA a job killer.  #5 is a quiz.  I give you a quote and you see if you can identify who said it.  #6 talks about a new gas project that will export NG abroad.  #7 shows how we can end up with a tyrant if things keep going like they are going now (this is according to Aristotle).  Finally #8 tells us how a frustrated Occupy group claims that Mitt Romney is a coward sneaking in the front door in their city. 

1.  Newt Gingrich:  Why the Democrats Are Scared Of Him Part 1

Newt Gingrich's rise in the polls—from near zero to the third slot in several polls—should come as no surprise to people who have been watching the Republican debates, now drawing television viewers as never before. THE FORMER SPEAKER HAS STOOD OUT AT THESE FORUMS, the debater whose audiences seem to hang on his words and on a flow of thought rich in substance, a world apart from the usual that the political season brings.

"Substance" is too cold a word, perhaps, for the intense feeling that candidate Gingrich delivers so coolly in debates. Too cold too, no doubt, to describe the reactions of his listeners, visible on the faces of the crowds attending these forums—IN THEIR EXPRESSIONS, CAUGHT ON C-SPAN'S CAMERAS, IN THE SPEED WITH WHICH THEIR DESULTORY POLITENESS DISAPPEARS ONCE A GINGRICH TALK BEGINS. THEIR DISENGAGEMENT—THE TENDENCY TO LOOK AROUND THE ROOM, CHAT WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS—VANISHES. THE ROOM IS ON HIGH ALERT…

….He began with the declaration that AMERICANS WERE CONFRONTING THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION CHOICE SINCE 1860. America would have the chance in 2012, Mr. Gingrich said, to REPUDIATE DECISIVELY DECADES OF LEFTWARD DRIFT IN OUR UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES, OUR NEWSROOMS, OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND BUREAUCRACIES.

He would go on to detail the key policies he would put in place if elected, something other Republican candidates have done regularly to little effect. THE GINGRICH LIST WAS INTERRUPTED BY THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE AT EVERY TURN. THE DIFFERENCE WAS, AS ALWAYS, IN THE DETAILS—in the informed, scathing descriptions of the Obama policies to be dispatched and replaced, the convincing tone that suggested such a transformation was likely—even imminent.

Mr. Gingrich predicted, too, that late on Election Night—AFTER IT WAS CLEAR THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAD BEEN DEFEATED ALONG WITH THE DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE—THE RECOVERY WOULD BEGIN, AT ONCE. His audience roared with pleasure. NO OTHER REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE COULD HAVE MADE THE PROMISE SO PERSUASIVE….

…When it came time to answer questions from a panel of journalists, he was asked first about energy, one of those vital subjects that don't tend to yield lively commentary. How would Mr. Gingrich's policies differ from those of the current administration?

Mr. Gingrich launched into a lethal thumbnail description of the Obama administration's energy policy. THE PRESIDENT, HE SAID, HAD GONE TO BRAZIL AND TOLD THE BRAZILIANS HE WAS REALLY GLAD THEY WERE DRILLING OFFSHORE AND THAT HE WOULD LIKE AMERICA TO BE THEIR BEST CUSTOMER. "The job of the American president," Mr. Gingrich told the panel, "IS NOT TO BE A PURCHASING AGENT FOR A FOREIGN COUNTRY—IT'S TO BE A SALESMAN FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." …

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204190704577026041280212400.html

I believe Obama is toast no matter who the Republican candidate is, but Newt would destroy any sense that Obama had any idea of what to do about the problems plaguing America.  Other candidates would focus on the results of Obama’s presidency.  Newt would teach us and Obama why Obama’s results are so catastrophically bad.

2.  Newt Gingrich:  Why the Democrats Are Scared Of Him Part 2

GINGRICH: Now see, this is what I find fascinating, okay. I've been involved with politics since 1958, I helped grow the modern Republican Party of Georgia, I helped create a national majority, and YOU'RE EXPLAINING TO ME THE REALITY OF POLITICS. THE REALITY OF POLITICS IS IF YOU HAVE A GOOD ENOUGH LEADER WHO IS POSITIVE ENOUGH, THEY CAN IGNORE THE OTHER CANDIDATES, THEY CAN CREATE A POSITIVE MAJORITY AROUND A POSITIVE SET OF SOLUTIONS, and let the other candidate worry about me.

MORGAN: Yeah, but actually, isn’t it? Look, I don't mean to teach you.

GINGRICH: I’M NOT GOING TO TRY TO DEFEAT MITT ROMNEY.

MORGAN: I’m not going to teach you how to suck eggs. You've been involved in politics as long as I've been alive, Mr. Speaker. I wouldn't be so impertinent. However, however…

GINGRICH: [Laughs] However, you’ll now be impertinent. Go ahead.

MORGAN: No.

GINGRICH: No, that’s alright. You're the host. Go for it.

MORGAN: No, not impertinent, but certainly a little bit more provocative about it. We’re on the same team. Look, you are a smart cookie and you realize that you're in a race here. AND IN A RACE, YES, YOU CAN BE POSITIVE, POSITIVE, POSITIVE, BUT YOU'RE ALSO GOING TO HAVE TO OFFER A DIFFERENTIAL TO OTHER CANDIDATES.

GINGRICH: NO, YOU DON'T.

Wasn't the look on Morgan's face when he realized he was being made a fool of delicious?

And this is exactly why the White House and their media minions are scared to death of Gingrich.

They all know full well that one on one, THE FORMER SPEAKER WOULD TEAR OBAMA TO SHREDS IN A DEBATE ON ANY SUBJECT, and the man they herald as the smartest president ever would be exposed as just another smooth talking community organizer with a law degree.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/11/08/newt-gingrich-scolds-piers-morgan-trying-explain-reality-politics-him#ixzz1dDpWrmkR

Gingrich is very smart and very tactical.  He keeps calling for a Lincoln Douglas style debate and has even offered to let Obama bring his teleprompter.   This is the equivalent of a kid “double dog daring” someone.  This is brilliant on Gingrich’s part. 

3.  Republicans offer increased Revenues:  Democrats reject it

Congressional Republicans have for the first time retreated from their hard-line stance against new taxes, OFFERING TO RAISE FEDERAL TAX COLLECTIONS BY NEARLY $300 BILLION OVER THE NEXT DECADE as part of a plan to tame the national debt.

But Democrats rejected the offer Tuesday — along with the notion that Republicans had made a significant concession that could end the long-standing political impasse — leaving a special debt-reduction committee far from compromise with less than two weeks until its Thanksgiving deadline….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/republicans-offer-tax-deal-to-break-impasse-over-debt-democratic-aides-call-it-non-starter/2011/11/08/gIQAJ6Xa1M_story.html?hpid=z4

It’s not enough that it brings in more revenue, it must be punitive to be approved by the Democrats. 

4.  Former Democratic Senator Evan Bayh calls EPA regulations Job Killers

….With Indiana's unemployment rate well above its historic average, WE NEED TO AVOID THE REGULATORY UNCERTAINTY THAT HAS SLOWED INVESTMENT AND JOB CREATION OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS. Measures that threaten the balance of supply and demand, and the cost, of our electricity do just that. The administration should take these significant concerns into consideration before going forward with the rule by the end of the year. EPA should ensure that, at minimum, the rule is revised to provide adequate time for cost-effective compliance in ways that do not threaten the reliability of Hoosiers' electricity. Indiana workers, businesses and families will be well served if they do.



http://www.indystar.com/article/20111108/OPINION01/111080310/Evan-Bayh-Another-regulation-means-fewer-jobs-less-reliability?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cp

The line I notice the most was bolded.  It highlights the last three years.  Hmmm, not what happened three years ago? 

5.   Who said this?

"If you look at the troubles which happened in European countries, this is purely because of the accumulated troubles of THE WORN OUT WELFARE SOCIETY. I THINK THE LABOUR LAWS ARE OUTDATED. THE LABOUR LAWS INDUCE SLOTH, INDOLENCE, RATHER THAN HARDWORKING. THE INCENTIVE SYSTEM, IS TOTALLY OUT OF WHACK.

"Why should, for instance, within [the] eurozone some member's people have to work to 65, even longer, whereas in some other countries they are happily retiring at 55, languishing on the beach? This is unfair. The welfare system is good for any society to reduce the gap, to help those who happen to have disadvantages, to enjoy a good life, but a welfare society should not induce people not to work hard."

He went on to say that UNLESS EUROPE CHANGES ITS LABOUR LAWS AND ADJUSTS ITS WELFARE SYSTEM, HE DOES NOT CONSIDER IT TO BE A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2011/11/2011114434664695.html

You might think it was Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich or even Sarah Palin.  It obviously has to be a Conservative Neanderthal who fails to realize that the Eurozone Welfare state is what we need to aim for. 

But you would be wrong.  It was said by Jin Liqun, the supervising chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund.  Even the Communists are better capitalists than Europe and the Obama Administration are. 

6.   Drill, Baby, Drill!  It’s Time to Unleash our Energy Sector

U.S. President Barack Obama may continue to believe that the United States ‘can’t drill its way’ out of its energy crisis, but American energy developers are already proving him wrong.

News that Britain’s BG GROUP HAS BECOME THE FIRST COMPANY TO EXPORT LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS FROM THE UNITED STATES, INKING A LANDMARK US$8-BILLION DEAL WITH CHENIERE ENERGY, shows how the American North Eastern shale gas revolution could not only allow the U.S. to meet much of its energy needs domestically, but also turn into a strong natural gas exporting powerhouse….

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/10/26/can-the-u-s-drill-its-way-out-of-its-energy-crisis-yes-it-can/

This is the key to bringing the USA out of this recession and bringing opportunity back to Americans.  We have more fossil fuel energy than any country on the planet and we should develop it. The time is now.

7.   OWS: Plato Bets on Tyranny

IT MIGHT BE WORTH EVERYONE'S WHILE IN THESE TROUBLED TIMES TO SET ASIDE AN EVENING IN ORDER TO CAREFULLY READ BOOK VIII OF PLATO'S Republic. The dialogue is nothing less than chilling in its illustration of WHAT HAPPENS IN A POPULAR GOVERNMENT WHEN CORRUPT POLITICIANS INFLAME THE VICES OF UNDISCIPLINED CITIZENS IN ORDER TO DESTROY THE BUSINESS CLASS and establish a tyranny.

Plato's objective is to show how highly self-disciplined regimes gradually devolve into more inferior and immoderate governments. Socrates begins the discussion showing how Aristocracies (rule of the wisest) devolve into Timocracies (rule of the military) which then descend into Oligarchies (rule of the wealthy). Oligarchies descend into Democracies (rule of the people) which in turn become Tyrannies.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE FINAL SECTION: HOW A DEMOCRACY BECOMES A TYRANNY. The process starts back when the rulers are Oligarchs. A kind of Government/Business nexus (think Fannie Mae) figures out that certain undisciplined borrowers will be unable to pay back their loans. The lenders acquire the property and recoup their losses with some kind of bailout. SOCRATES SAYS NONE OF THIS CRAZY LENDING WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THE LENDERS HAD HAD TO RISK THEIR OWN FUNDS…

….Politicians find it prudent to play the underdog and join with the people in their condemnation of those whose success is a product of frugality and self-discipline. Certain "wicked-wine bearers" promise the voters "the unmixed wine of liberty far beyond due measure" and begin attacking the business class. BUSINESSMEN ARE IN TURN ACCUSED OF PLOTTING AGAINST THE PEOPLE.

A "SPECIAL LEADER" ARISES WHO PROMISES EVEN MORE: cancelling all debts and redistributing the land. The special leader "stirs up faction against the propertied class" but PROTECTS HIMSELF WITH A SPECIAL BODYGUARD. HE STARTS UNNECESSARY WARS TO DIVERT ATTENTION, BECOMES UNPOPULAR, AND THEN ALIGNS HIMSELF MORE CLOSELY WITH FOREIGNERS. TO PROTECT HIMSELF EVEN FURTHER HE TAKES AWAY THE PEOPLE'S WEAPONS. THE SPECIAL LEADER IS NOW A TYRANT.

Plato's Republic is about 2,400 years old but Plato's profound observation of human nature still stands: those who cannot master themselves will cry out for someone to master them. Eric Hoffer offered a similar conclusion much more recently:

"PEOPLE WHO BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS THEM USUALLY LICK THE BOOT THAT KICKS THEM."


http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/11/ows_plato_bets_on_tyranny.html#ixzz1dDxZaleL

The last line is a classic and is something we seem to be seeing in the Occupy movement. 

8.   Darn that Mitt Romney.  He Snuck in the Front Door

I can’t resist posting this #occupyfail. Occupy Philly protestors show up to chant in Mitt Romney’s face, and he outfoxes them by . . . walking straight in the front door. Great quotes: “HE SNUCK IN THE FRONT, BECAUSE HE’S A COWARD.” AND MY FAVORITE: “BUT IT WAS GREAT! WE CHANTED THE WHOLE TIME!”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/282721/darn-mitt-romney-sneaking-front-door-david-french

What is truly unbelievable is that is exactly what one of the protesters said.  I swear the Colleges that educated these protesters should give them a refund. 

Newt, the Real Story

What’s new today

Our # 1 tells the story of the coming default of Greece.  It appears it will need to leave the Euro zone.  #2 tells of the charade that is going on with the so called Super Committee.  #3 relates at least one aspect of the OWS crowd.  Some of them are just there for the free food.  #4 shows how the former governor of New Jersey lead his company into bankruptcy.  #5 is a hit piece on Debbie Wasserman Shultz.  #6 is about Herman Cain but it isn’t about the sexual harassment question.  Rather it is about why the left seems so intent on discrediting him.  #7 counters the stories you’ve heard about Newt Gingrich leaving his wife when she was sick in the hospital.  #8 looks at the future and the “Arab Spring” may not end up being good for the world.

1.   Goodbye, Greece

How does one say “Goodnight, Irene” in Greek? Or “Show Me the Way to Go Home”? Or, if neither of those classic festivity-enders does the trick, “Hit the Road, Jack”? In any case, the message needs to be sent: THE PARTY IS OVER, AND IT IS TIME FOR GREECE TO BE SHOWN THE DOOR, IF THE GREEKS CANNOT FIND IT THEMSELVES, AND EXIT THE EUROZONE.

A Greek default appears to be imminent. THE QUESTION IS WHETHER IT IS TO BE AN ORDERLY DEFAULT OR A CHAOTIC ONE. At the moment, the odds are about even between those two possibilities.

Prime Minister George Papandreou has called a parliamentary vote of confidence and a national referendum on the European bailout conditions to be imposed on Greece. Those conditions include bondholders’ taking a 50 percent haircut on Greek liabilities while the Greek government promises to enforce austerity measures to reduce spending and return the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to a more manageable level (though getting Greek debt down to the level legally required by the Treaty of Maastricht is not in the works, a fact that should put the European project in perspective). ATHENS HAS MADE SUCH PROMISES BEFORE. GREEK UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS HIGH, ITS ECONOMY A SHAMBLES. The recent recession has made things worse than they otherwise would have been.

The European Union being the European Union, it had been assumed that these conditions simply would be imposed by Brussels, without the Greek people’s having a say. THE VOTE THREATENS TO THROW A MONKEY WRENCH INTO EUROPEAN DESIGNS, AND MARKETS TANKED ON THE NEWS….

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/281926/goodbye-greece-editors

The EU is basically a fascist regime.  It is a big government, top down command structure with leftist views. 

2.   Who do you Trust?

Economic Policy: The MAINSTREAM MEDIA'S CARICATURE OF THE BIPARTISAN BUDGET "SUPERCOMMITTEE" IS THAT ITS DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS HAVE GONE OVERBOARD WITH CONCESSIONS. In fact, Republicans can smell the snake oil.

Whenever Washington sets up a "blue ribbon commission," hold on to your wallet. This time, however, the game may not work, because Republicans in Washington know what happens when they betray their anti-tax principles.

SUPERCOMMITTEE DEMOCRATS RECENTLY OFFERED TO TRIM UP TO $3 TRILLION OVER A DECADE FROM ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS LIKE MEDICARE IF THEIR GOP COUNTERPARTS WOULD AGREE TO $1.3 TRILLION IN TAX HIKES. That includes a rumored capital gains tax rate increase on some investors.

To enact major tax increases — especially on the capital that fuels private jobs — is near insanity at a time of 9%-plus unemployment and global financial distress.

THIS IS JUST ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC PARTY, MEDIA-DRIVEN GAME OF THREE-CARD-MONTE. Back in the 1980s, President Reagan agreed to over $9 billion in tax increases in exchange for the one ironclad budget-cutting mechanism ever enacted: the Gramm-Rudman "sequester."

BY 1990, WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE AUTOMATIC BUDGET CUTS WOULD KICK IN, THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITIES IN BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS SCRAPPED IT. So much for deals….

http://news.investors.com/Article/590190/201111011900/Say-No-To-Supertaxes.htm

This is the pattern with the Democrats.  You make a deal with tax increases immediately and spending cuts sometime in the future.  When the future finally shows up, you scrap the spending cuts.  Like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football, the Republicans have fallen for that over and over again.  However, this time they aren’t.    

3.      A Day in Zuccotti Park

AS REVOLUTIONS GO, THE REPUBLIC SEEMS FAIRLY SAFE.

Last week I found myself in lower Manhattan. With a bit of time to kill, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about the Occupy Wall Street protests (I hesitate to describe what I saw as a movement). So, I wandered over to Zuccotti Park and waded in. First, as an historian with a passion for medieval history, I have often wondered what odors would assail the senses if one was among a large group of individuals who had only a passing acquaintance with concepts of hygiene….

… I was not alone in my disappointment. Spotting a milling crowd in the center of the encampment I wandered closer. A MAN ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE MINI-MOB WAS YELLING AT THE CROWD. I ASSUMED HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO STIR THEM FROM THEIR LETHARGY, possibly preparing them to march on some millionaire’s house. Given the buzz of activity around him I was sure I had found the epicenter of the revolution. It turned out, however, to be the feeding station, where free eggs and what I think was bacon were being given away. Milling around waiting for the free food was the most motley collection of vagrants I have ever witnessed. And the man haranguing them from the sidelines was in actuality condemning them for their lack of commitment. Over and over he shouted, “YOU’RE ONLY HERE FOR THE FREE FOOD — NOT THE REVOLUTION,” ALTERNATING WITH, “THE REVOLUTION IS NOT ABOUT FREE FOOD.” I stood to one side for a while, and it was soon apparent to me that for the majority of those at Zuccotti Park, their revolutionary fervor was very much related to getting a free meal….

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/281881/day-zuccotti-park-jim-lacey

It must be disappointing when you are leading a revolution only to find your “army” camped out for the McNuggets. 

4.  Corzine goes down in flames

IN THE END, JON CORZINE WAS LITTLE MORE THAN AN UNSUPERVISED ROGUE TRADER.

HIS DISPROPORTIONATELY RECKLESS $6.3 BILLION BET ON THE CREDIT QUALITY OF A FEW EUROPEAN NATIONS BANKRUPTED MF GLOBAL HOLDINGS LTD. OVER THE COURSE OF THREE DRAMATIC DAYS after the short-term credit markets quickly lost confidence in him and his firm. His gamble will cost MF’s shareholders and creditors billions of dollars and, virtually overnight, put the careers of MF’s almost 3,000 employees in jeopardy.

MF GLOBAL NOW HAS THE DISTINCTION OF BEING ONE OF THE LARGEST BANKRUPTCIES IN AMERICAN CORPORATE HISTORY, with almost $40 billion in liabilities. There is also the matter of the hundreds of millions of dollars of customers’ money that regulators have reported to be missing from the firm’s coffers.

In any case, it’s incredible how little Corzine and his associates learned from the collapses of Bear Stearns Cos., Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group Inc. three years ago. And IT NOW SEEMS VERY HARD TO BELIEVE THAT JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO CORZINE WAS CONSIDERED THE FRONT-RUNNER TO BE THE NEXT U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY. …

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-01/others-pay-price-for-corzine-s-risky-revenge-william-d-cohan.html

Actually, bankrupting MF Global Holdings seems to fit right in with the Obama Administration’s “spend it even if you don’t have it” philosophy.  And he was betting that the EU would bail out the economies of the EU nations in trouble. 

5.  Here’s A Hit Piece on Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2011/11/dnc-chair-debbie-wasserman-schultz.html

This is a bit stronger than I would go, but I do find Ms.Schultz to be basically the equivalent of a bumper sticker when it comes to complexity.  She gets a lot more attention than she should for her vacuous speeches and op ed pieces.  Of course that is pretty much what the Democratic party has become. 

6.  Herman Cain and the Left

Just as Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain predicted, he has become the most recent victim of the race-baiting left's high-tech lynching of prominent, conservative black men. Days before the Cain sexual harassment smear emerged from the sewers of liberal trash journalism, MSNBC'S MARTIN BASHIR HOSTED CONTRIBUTOR KAREN FINNEY WHO PROCLAIMED THAT CONSERVATIVES ONLY LIKED CAIN BECAUSE, "THEY THINK HE'S A BLACK MAN WHO KNOWS HIS PLACE." As Bashir actually thanked her on-air for making such an offensive and ignorant remark (far from being a submissive position, conservatives are supporting Cain in his effort to ascend to the highest office in the land), FINNEY GRANTED, "I KNOW THAT'S HARSH, BUT THAT'S HOW IT SURE SEEMS TO ME."

That's an interesting moment of candor since it now sure seems to any American paying attention that FINNEY AND HER FELLOW LIBERALS DISLIKE CAIN BECAUSE THEY THINK HE'S A BLACK MAN WHO DOESN'T KNOW HIS PLACE. Diversity of thought amongst minorities -- particularly blacks -- is forbidden in the church of liberalism. Having constructed their entire political kingdom on the back of the dollars-for-votes dependency model, SELF-MADE BLACK MEN WHO STRAY FROM THE LIBERAL PLANTATION AND THREATEN TO CARRY THE EMPOWERING MESSAGE OF PERSONAL (NOT GOVERNMENT) RELIANCE TO THRONGS OF MINORITIES CURRENTLY UNDER THE LEFT'S SPELL OF ENTITLEMENT, MUST BE DEALT WITH SEVERELY. Destroying them professionally and personally is a small price to pay to keep the plantation thriving.


http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/four_lily_white_liberals_smear_a_black_man.html#ixzz1cXnMrz33

I think the author here has captured the essence of what is going on.  It appears the left it ready to destroy any black person who doesn’t know their place and what is frightening is how much they seem to enjoy doing it.  Real racism has always been a fundamental part of the Democratic Party. 

7.   Jackie Gingrich Cushman Sets the Record Straight

… So, to correct the record, here is what happened: MY MOTHER, JACKIE BATTLEY GINGRICH, IS VERY MUCH ALIVE, AND OFTEN SPENDS TIME WITH MY FAMILY. I am lucky to have such a "Miracle Mom," as I titled her in a column this week.

AS FOR MY PARENTS' DIVORCE, I CAN REMEMBER I WAS 13 YEARS OLD, and we were about to leave Fairfax, Va., and drive to Carrollton, Ga., for the summer. MY PARENTS TOLD MY SISTER AND ME THAT THEY WERE GETTING A DIVORCE AS OUR FAMILY OF FOUR SAT AROUND THE KITCHEN TABLE OF OUR RANCH HOME.

Soon afterward, my mom, sister and I got into our light-blue Chevrolet Impala and drove back to Carrollton.

LATER THAT SUMMER, MOM WENT TO EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN ATLANTA FOR SURGERY TO REMOVE A TUMOR. While she was there, Dad took my sister and me to see her.

It is THIS VISIT THAT HAS TURNED INTO THE INFAMOUS HOSPITAL VISIT ABOUT WHICH MANY UNTRUTHS HAVE BEEN TOLD. I won't repeat them. You can look them up online if you are interested in untruths. But here's what happened:

MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE ALREADY IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING A DIVORCE, which she requested.

Dad took my sister and me to the hospital to see our mother.

She had undergone surgery the day before to remove a tumor.

THE TUMOR WAS BENIGN.

As with many divorces, it was hard and painful for all involved, but life continued…

http://www.creators.com/conservative/jackie-gingrich-cushman/setting-the-record-straight.html

This is significant.  The fact that it is coming out now, makes me think Newt sees the hope of getting the nomination.  Just another story that has been politicized to try to discredit an political opponent.

8.  Will the Arab Spring Allow Democracy to Flourish?

…The Magna Carta served as inspiration for other instruments of personal liberty, such as habeas corpus and bills of rights, and five centuries later served as inspiration for the U.S. Constitution. THE IDEAS OF LIBERTY AND LIMITED GOVERNMENT WERE CULTIVATED BY GREAT BRITISH PHILOSOPHERS — SUCH AS FRANCIS BACON, JOHN LOCKE, THOMAS HOBBES AND DAVID HUME — AND ON THE CONTINENT BY THE LIKES OF BARON DE MONTESQUIEU, VOLTAIRE AND JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU. Through the works of Western philosophers and the politicians influenced by them, including the founders of our nation, THE IDEA EMERGED THAT POLITICAL LEADERS COULDN’T RUN ROUGHSHOD OVER THE COMMON MAN.

The key point to recognize is that Western transition from barbarism to civility didn’t take place overnight; IT TOOK CENTURIES. More importantly, for the most part Western civility and its institutions were not transplanted; they emerged from within Western civilization. Where they were successfully transplanted, it was done through Western colonialism, such as in the cases of the U.S., Canada and Australia.

In Libya and most other countries IN THE ARAB WORLD, WHAT WE KNOW AS PERSONAL LIBERTY IS NONEXISTENT. According to Freedom House’s 2011 “Freedom in the World” survey, as well as Amnesty International’s annual report for 2011, most North African and Middle Eastern countries are ranked either “repressive” or “not free.” Moreover, I believe that there’s little prospect for Arabs ever being free and that WESTERN ENCOURAGEMENT AND HOPES FOR DEMOCRACY ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE AND DISAPPOINTMENT. Most nations in the Middle East do not share the philosophical foundations of the West. It’s not likely liberty-oriented values will ever emerge in cultures that have disdain for the rule of law and private property rights and that sanction barbaric practices such as the stoning of women for adultery, the severing of hands or beheading as a form of punishment, and imprisonment for criticizing or speaking ill of the government…

http://rightwingnews.com/column-2/democracy-is-impossible/

What has happened in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya is not hopeful.  Most likely we will see a regression for women rights and status and renewed hostility toward Israel.  Conceivably the Arab Spring could end in a Nuclear Winter.