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Gingrich Criticizes Obama for Mentioning Grandmother in Speech

One of the most emotional and powerful passages of Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech was the anecdote about his white grandmother who occasionally "uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes."

I can no more disown [former Trinity United Church of Christ pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright] than I can my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

That passage—and the Obama's perceived disrespect to his own grandmother—is being attacked by the left and the right. FOX News—the same network that has been broadcasting snippets of Rev. Wright's sermons for the past year—quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Media Matters reports serial adulterer and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) appeared on Fox News' Your World and blasted the speech on race and politics as "intellectually, fundamentally dishonest. ...  To reduce a 20-year relationship with a public figure to his grandmother is just wrong. It's emotionally powerful, but it's just wrong."

By invoking the image of a well-meaning and loving  "white grandmother" who occasionally uttered racial sterotypes in front of her biracial grandson, Obama perfectly crystallized the inherent and latent racism that is intertwined in our social and cultural DNA.  Maybe Gingrich listened to a different speech and tuned out the part on family and integrity. Wouldn't be the first time—this is the same guy who divorced one wife when she was recovering from cancer and his second wife when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Talk about being "emotionally powerful" and "just wrong."

From Rod 2.0 reader Andy in Seattle: "Surely it must be a different Newt Gingrich, as the person portrayed above is hardly someone I'd go to for lessons on sensitivity about anything, much less on the delicacies of race relations in the United States."

Gingrich, Hume Criticize Obama [Media Matters]

More OBAMA
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News: Deval Patrick Marches with the Gays, NRA, Russell Simmons

· Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick received "an enthusiastic greeting" at Boston's gay pride, "becoming the first sitting governor to ever participate in the parade—which has been around for three and half decades, parade officials said." More Deval Patrick, parade festivities and go-go boys here.

· Also for the first time, Boston pride's prayer service is held at a predominately-black church.

· WaPo provides details on a major compromise between Democratic congressional leaders and the National Rifle Association on "what could be the federal first gun-control legislation since 1994, a measure to significantly strengthen the national system that checks the backgrounds of gun buyers. 

· Russell Simmons: "I'm still not gay. But if I were ..."

· Nashville’s Kroger supermarkets pull free copies of gay monthly Out and About "and pressure to reconsider is building."

· Sen. Ted Kennedy on the anti-gay and ex-gay writings of surgeon-general nominee Dr. James Holsinger: "I am disappointed that the Administration looked past the many talented physicians who have a record of bringing people together and instead chose an individual whose record appears to guarantee a polarizing and divisive nomination process."

· Newt Gingrich: "GOP will lose the White House and Congress in 2008" unless they distance themselves from Bush.

Gingrich on Bush Administration: "It’s Gotten Steadily Worse"

President Bush's approval ratings sink faster than the Titanic, with the latest Harris poll describing his 28 percent as an all-time low. One longtime Washington insider has a bleak assessment: "Let me be clear: twenty-eight-per-cent approval of the President, losing every closely contested Senate seat except one, every one that involved an incumbent—that’s a collapse."

Bill Clinton? Nancy Pelosi? Hardly. Try Newt Gingrich.

In the latest issue of the New Yorker, the former House Speaker says "the Bush Administration has become a Republican version of the Jimmy Carter Presidency" and complains "it’s just gotten steadily worse." Gingrich blames "the collapse of the Republican Party" on “not only Iraq and Hurricane Katrina but also Karl Rove’s ‘maniacally dumb’ strategy in 2004."

These are even harsher words than Newt's recent advice to Republicans that they should avoid questions on Iraq and Katrina while campaigning. If Newt Gingrich isn't running for the White House in 2008, he is certainly running away from it.

Letter from Washington [New Yorker]
Bush's Lowest Ratings Worst than Nixon, Carter [WSJ]

Some Background ....

Newt Gingrich Threatens '08 Run [R20]
Hypocritical Gingrich Admits Affair [R20]
Falwell "Praises" Gingrich [R20]

Newt Gingrich Threatens '08 Run

Former serial adulterer and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) appeared on Good Morning America and casually suggested there is a "great possibility" that he will be the great savior of the Republican Party. Transcript and video at ABC News:

DIANE SAWYER: You said you'll make a decision at the end of the September. More likely, less likely this morning?

GINGRICH:  I think right now, it is a great possibility. But we're focused.

SAWYER: A great possibility you'll run?

GINGRICH: We're focused on a workshop of Sept. 27. I don't want to get into all this stuff. I want to focus on what we have to do to make America successful.

If you've been listening to Newt's recent faux campaign speeches (read: interviews), apparently making "America successful" means distancing yourself from the Bush Administration's disastrous legacy. He minced no words last week on Face the Nation. Transcript and video at Think Progress:

“President Bush is not the future. He’s not a solution. He doesn’t solve Social Security. He doesn’t solve Medicare. He doesn’t solve the economy. He doesn’t solve the environment. He doesn’t solve education. He’s a current fact.”

Gingrich suggested that Republicans have to avoid Bush's greatest hits disasters and "say, this is not what we want to debate. It’s not in Baghdad, it’s not in Katrina, it’s not at Walter Reed, it’s not with the U.S. attorneys."

Besides from that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Gingrich Says 'Great Possibility' He Will Run [ABC News]
Gingrich: Don’t Talk About Iraq, Katrina Or Bush [TP]

Some Background ....

Hypocritical Gingrich Admits Affair [R20]
Falwell "Praises" Gingrich [R20]

Falwell "Praises" Gingrich, Invites Him to Commencement

Newt Gingrich's admission that he committed adultery (again) while pursuing President Bill Clinton's  Clinton's impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky affair "has won praise from another conservative Christian leader: The Rev. Jerry Falwell."

"He has admitted his moral shortcomings to me, as well, in private conversations," Falwell wrote in a weekly newsletter sent Friday to members of the Moral Majority Coalition and The Liberty Alliance. "And he has also told me that he has, in recent years, come to grips with his personal failures and sought God's forgiveness."

BTW: The former Georgia Republican congressman will be the commencement speaker at Falwell's Liberty University.

Newt's "family values":

• Forced his first wife to have an abortion;
• Divorced when she was recovering from cancer;
• Refused to pay child support;
• Married the mistress six months after the divorce;
• Hooked up with a congressional intern while he impeached Clinton for fooling around with an intern;
• Divorced the second wife after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis;
• Married the intern who is now the third wife.
• ________ ?

Meanwhile, Dobson and Falwell's fellow evangelicals are trashing Rudy Giuliani for having three wives and two messy divorces. Explain the difference. Besides the fact that Giuliani didn't leave his wives when they were hospitalized in the ICU, Giuliani is pro-choice, pro-gay rights and pro-gun control. Jerry Falwell's message: "Forgive" those who agree with your politics, vilify everyone else."

Falwell and his Bible-thumpers really don't stand for anything—except for themselves.

Falwell Invites Gingrich to Give Address [Hou Chron]

The (Wandering) Eye of Newt [Media Matters]

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Falwell Warns Christians: Global Warming "Myth" [R20]

Hypocritical Newt Gingrich Admits Affair During Clinton Impeachment [R20]

Wingnuts Want to Cleanse the Gay "Gene" [R20]

McCain: Not "Catering" to Far Right Christians [R20]

Dobson Doesn't Have Time to "Cure" Haggard [R20]

Dobson on GOP Defeat [R20]

"Christians" Opposed to Obama [R20]

Far-Right Not Interested in Disease [R20]

Far-Right Not Interested in Disease Pt 2 [R20]

"Family Values" Costs Lives in Africa [R20]

Troubled for the Holidays [R20]

Hypocritical Newt Gingrich Admits Affair During Clinton Impeachment

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) has admitted to a prominent conservative evangelical group that he conducted an extramarital affair during the very months he led the charge to impeach President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson—well-known for his anti-gay crusades—that will be aired later today. "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."

Despite this latest admission of adultery, Gingrich, who is reportedly considered a White House bid in 2008, says he is not a hypocrite. "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."

Gingrich's sister, Candace Gingrich, is lesbian and a well-known LGBT youth activist.

Gingrich Tells Christian Group of Affair [AP]

You Want to Read ...

Dobson Doesn't Have Time to "Cure" Haggard [R20]

Dobson on GOP Defeat [R20]

"Christians" Opposed to Obama [R20]

Far-Right Not Interested in Disease [R20]

Far-Right Not Interested in Disease Pt 2 [R20]

"Family Values" Costs Lives in Africa [R20]

Troubled for the Holidays [R20]

Foleygate: Repubs Wanted to Avoid "Gay Bashing", White House Defends Child Sex Predator

There is a very good reason why House Republican leaders did not aggressively investigate the behavior of former Congressman Mark Foley. They did not want to be accused of "gay bashing." On Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace—the scene of last weekend's fireworks—former Speaker Newt Gingrich rationalizes the cover-up: "Well, you could have second thoughts about it, but I think had they overly aggressively reacted, they would have also been accused of gay bashing." Totally ridiculous to accuse the party of Bush, the Federal Marriage Amendment, Falwell, Focus on the Family and Ann Coulter of "gay bashing."

· "Only on Fox" Part 2. On Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume compared Foley’s predatory behavior towards underage pages to President Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Hume's faux logic: While Foley is now “in total disgrace in his party,” Clinton’s “inappropriate behavior toward a subordinate [didn’t] even cost Bill Clinton his standing in his party.” There is no comparison. Foley made unwanted advances towards underage boys. One page described these as “sick” and reported to authorities, who covered it up for months. President Clinton had a consensual relationship with an adult. The extramarital affair was roundly condemned by members of both parties.

· Washington Post editorial calls for an independent investigation—because currently there is no House investigation into this matter—but White House counselor Dan Bartlett praised the House leadership as "very aggressive in pursuing this investigation" and said the White House opposes an independent counsel.

· Video of the White House defending a child sex predator, via spokesman Tony Snow: "There have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty emails."

· Talking Points and Think Progress timeline scandal.

Josh Marshall at TPM has led the way in reporting this scandal with round-the-clock coverage: "The simple fact is that Foley's downfall has pretty nearly decapitated the leadership of the House GOP with just five weeks to go before election day. And that's devastating."