Difficult Challenges for Newt

Newt Gingrich on James Dobson's radio show acknowledged his extramarital affair that took place during the during the Clinton/Lewinsky era:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept … perjury in your highest officials."

Michelle Malkin opines, "We are all, as I said earlier today, fallible people. And conservatives are willing to forgive. Whether they'll buy into Gingrich as the best standard-bearer for the party and most deserving candidate for commander-in-chief--as opposed to anything more than the quick-thinking debater, cable TV guest, and lecturer that he now is--is another matter."

Adam's Blog gives Gingrich credit for taking responsibility.

Race 4 2008 posts the latest Gallup poll of presidential candidates, and Gingrich has a 49% unfavorable rating, which is much higher than any other candidate.

RedState's Erick Erickson adds, Newt "is super smart enough to know that unless he goes through some Oprahesque journey of healing and reconciliation, his super high negatives are going to stay that way. Reaching out to groups like Focus on the Family and other social conservative groups to repent and admit past sins is not only the right thing to do, but the calculatedly smart thing to do too."

Defending Matt Sanchez

David Horowitz opines, "I find it appalling that people who actually call themselves Progressives would attack an Hispanic American and accuse him of being an exploited minority because he chose to serve his country. I find it appalling that gay leftists – who otherwise think Bush is destroying the constitution by tapping the phones of our terrorist enemies – would open an American citizen’s buried past and make it public in an attempt to destroy him. But I’m not surprised. That’s what the Left does. All day and every day. It’s for the cause."

Right Wing News' John Hawkins adds, "The mistakes Sanchez made years ago aren't that important compared to the fact that he's doing the right thing today and standing up to, "anti-war thugs on campus" at Columbia University. He deserved his award and even though he doesn't have a perfect past, conservatives should be proud to have a guy like Matt Sanchez attending CPAC." and "One of the most fascinating things about the left is that they often accuse conservatives of hating gays in one breath and then display rampant homophobia in the next."

Gay Patriot's B. Daniel Blatt explains why all of this is simply an effort by the left to discredit conservative ideas: "Matt Sanchez is a part of all that he has met. His past figures into the man he has become. But, people do have a right to their own private lives, to deal with their past mistakes — or merely just past experiences which no longer represent their present actions — in their own way. Once again, it seems that all too many are all too interested in the apparent hypocrisy of conservatives, more interested in defining us so that they may more readily dismiss our ideas. Without even considering what we have to say."

Cpl. Matt Sanchez explains himself and condemns porn on his blog: "I don’t like porn, it reduces the mind, flattens the soul. That’s not hypocrisy talking, that’s experience. If I started off with liberal leanings, being on a gay porn set should have been heaven. In porn, everything taboo is trivialized and everything trivial is projected."

Delusional Chucky Hagel

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a staunch member of the "white flag caucus", has announced he will run for President.

Captain's Quarters' Ed Morrissey can't stop laughing, "Bwa-ha-ha! Stop it, you're killing me!" and "The big question isn't whether Hagel can raise $100 million for a credible campaign. The question is whether Hagel can beat Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo for last place."

Power Line's Scott Johnson believes their is no market for a Hagel candidacy, nor is there any scenario in which he could become a plausible candidate.

Capitalism for Campesinos

The Corner's Michael Novak eloquently defends President Bush's comments directed at Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez:

In an extremely important speech the other day, President Bush threw down the gauntlet to M. Chavez. You want to talk about "social justice"? We'll show you the way to social justice. You want to talk about the poor? We'll show you the only really successful way to liberate the poor from poverty ever discovered during the long history of the human race.

The President called it "capitalism for the campesino" — capitalism that begins at the bottom up. What Guy Sorman, the French writer, called "barefoot capitalism" just a few years back. How? By such methods as Hernando de Soto talks about, first, in changing laws to make possible — and far more frequent — the formation of new small businesses by the poor (almost all of whom are entrepreneurs, as de Soto found); and, second, in recognizing, protecting, and monetizing property rights in homes, so that the capital represented in them can be unleashed through mortgages.

Against the swampy tide of yet another socialism rising from the deep in South America, the President offered the light and sun of the rule of law, transparency, and universal inclusion of the campesinos in the dynamism of the market system.

Why not? The same forces, unleashed in China and India since 1980, have raised more than a half-billion persons out of poverty — the fastest exodus from poverty of any poverty program in the past.

Group of MA Republicans Oppose Romney

From the Boston Herald:

A Web-based “truth” squad is poised to chase Mitt Romney in an effort to trip him up on the presidential campaign trail - and its members are Republicans from his very own Bay State.

Founded by GOP consultants Holly Robichaud and Ron Vining, the Mass Republicans for Truth plans to launch a nationwide attack on the former governor’s record - including radio and TV ads.

“He’s running for the highest office in the nation and voters need to know the entire record,” said Robichaud. “We can’t elect an unknown quantity to president of the United States.”

The group will post “The Romney Report” on its website on Monday, vowing to expose his flip-flops on a host of key issues, from abortion to taxes to gay rights.

Eye on 08 met the group's leader at CPAC: "I met Robichaud at the RNC Winter Meeting and again at CPAC. At the RNC Winter Meeting, she was verbally assaulted by Romney staffers. And Romney himself became extremely uncomfortable when she was in the room. The Romney team is quite nervous about MA Republicans standing up and criticizing him."

Lefty Kooks vs. Fox News

John Edwards has announced that he will not take part in a debate sponsored by the Nevada Democrats because they are in partnership with Fox News.

Townhall.com's Mary Katharine Ham opines, " Sure, not all the folks watching Fox are Reagan Democrats or moderates or conservative Democrats. Some of them are dedicated Republicans, who won't be convinced to go the other way, but a lot of them are the kind of voters who would be happy to listen to Democrats. A lot of them are the kind of voters who are fed up with business as usual and are willing to listen to any person hawking "a change," which is what all the Democrats want to do. Why pass up the opportunity to bring that message to those people?"

Hotair.com's Ian has the video of Rodger Ailes slamming liberals for trying to boycott Fox News:



Editor's Note

Make sure to check out the Citizens Against Government Waste's 2007 Pig Book, which details pork spending in Congress. It is fascinating to read about some of the bizarre and extravagant projects our tax dollars are spent on. Also, Robert Bluey reports that the Heritage Foundation's will soon release their 2007 Federal Budget Chart Book from the Heritage Foundation, which will show some interesting trends of earmarks during the past two decades.

Have a link to an interesting story I missed? Please email me at matthewnaugle@gmail.com.