Posts Tagged ‘2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION’
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary on September 9, 2025 at 12:17 am
On July 10, Texas politics got a jolt: State Senator Angela Paxton announced that she had filed for divorce from her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:
“Today, after 38 years of marriage, I filed for divorce on biblical grounds,” she wrote on X. “I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.”
By “recent discoveries,” she was referring to her husband’s adultery—as she had listed it as the “grounds for divorce” in her divorce filing.
“I move forward with complete confidence that God is always working everything together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose,” she concluded.
Angela Paxton
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
She and her husband had stopped living together since “on or about June 1, 2024.”
On X, Ken Paxton had a different take on the matter:
“After facing the pressures of countless political attacks and public scrutiny, Angela and I have decided to start a new chapter in our lives.”
Thus, he blamed his unfaithfulness on those he had antagonized and those—elected officials and the press—who had held him up to “public scrutiny.”
And it was Angela, not him, who decided to start “a new chapter” in their lives—by divorcing him.
“I could not be any more proud or grateful for the incredible family that God has blessed us with, and I remain committed to supporting our amazing children and grandchildren. I ask for your prayers and privacy at this time.”’
Apparently his gratitude for his “incredible family” didn’t prevent him from violating his marital oath.
As for his request for privacy: Paxton has declared all-out war on women seeking the right to abortion—not only denying them that right in Texas but seeking to deny them the right to obtain such freedom outside the state.
Ken Paxton
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Angela stood by him during his 2023 impeachment trial for corruption, but was not allowed to vote on any issues or participate on deliberations over whether to convict or acquit.
The Republican-dominated Senate voted to acquit him.
Angela Paxton seeks exclusive use and possession of their home in McKinney as well as financial support.
Paxton served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013. In 2013 he entered the Texas Senate and served until 2015. In 2014, he successfully ran for state Attorney General. He was re-elected to a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2022.
Long before Ken Paxton entered the ranks of Republican “family values” hypocrites, there was Newt Gingrich. Gingrich served as a member of the House of Representatives for Georgia’s sixth district, from 1972 to 1999.
Newt Gingrich
After serving as House Minority Whip (1989 – 1995) and leader of the House Republican Conference (1995 – 1999) he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1995 and served until 1999, when he resigned from Congress.
Gingrich rejected bipartisanship and damned Democrats as traitors and subversives. In 1996, he wrote a memo entitled “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control.” In this he urged Republicans to attack Democrats with such words as “corrupt,” “selfish,” “destructive,” “hypocrisy,” “liberal,” “sick,” and “traitors.”
He also encouraged the news media to disseminate such accusations.
Gingrich railed against President Bill Clinton for his adulterous tryst with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. But Gingrich had a secret: He was involved in an extramarital affair of his own.
He had cheated on his first wife, Jackie Battley, whom he had married in 1962 and divorced in 1981. He remarried his romantic partner, Marianne Ginther, in 1981. That union lasted until he met Callista Bisek, a House staffer more than 20 years younger. They married in 2000.
When his adulterous relationships became exposed, Gingrich had a ready explanation: “I did it for my country.”
Specifically, in a March 9, 2011 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, he said: “There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”
But for Gingrich—as for Paxton–there was an out: “I found that I felt compelled to seek God’s forgiveness. Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness.”
Not change his adulterous behavior. Just ask forgiveness from an imaginary Sky Daddy.
But while Gingrich relished employing “the politics of personal destruction,” he quickly took offense when others raised questions about his immoral behavior.
In 2012, now a candidate for President, he attended the Republican debate in North Charleston, South Carolina. A CNN reporter asked him about the charge by his ex-wife, Marianne, that he had sought an open marriage.
Gingrich exploded: “I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office and I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that!”
Gingrich’s self-righteousness didn’t win him the Presidency. On May 2, 2012, with $4 million in campaign debt, he officially withdrew from the presidential campaign.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on July 16, 2025 at 8:44 pm
On November 6, 2012, Ann Coulter, the Right-wing activist and propagandist, was devastated by the re-election of President Barack Obama.
“People are suffering. The country is in disarray,” she whined during an interview. “If Mitt Romney [the Republican Presidential nominee] cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. We have more takers than makers and it’s over. There is no hope.”
Mitt Romney
But by 2016, Coulter no longer felt dismayed. She felt rejuvenated—for she had found her perfect Presidential candidate: Donald Trump.
Appearing on the Right-wing radio program, “The Eric Metaxes Show,” she said: “What is the point of talking about abortion or anything else unless you get Donald Trump in to build the wall, deport illegals, end this ‘anchor baby’ nonsense, stop importing 100,000 Muslims a year, in addition to two million Third Worlders per year. It’s madness what this country has been doing.”
Donald Trump
And Coulter sang Trump’s praises in a 2016 book: In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!
According to its dust jacket: “He’s putting America first in our trade deals and alliances, rather than pandering to our allies and enemies.
“He’s abandoned the GOP’s decades-long commitment to a bellicose foreign policy, at a time when the entire country is sick of unnecessary wars.”
But by May, 2017, four months after Trump had taken office as President, Coulter was ready to abandon him. Her chief complaint: He hadn’t built the wall along the United States-Mexican border he had promised to erect.
“I guess we have to try to push him to keep his promises. But this isn’t North Korea, and if he doesn’t keep his promises I’m out,” she told the Right-wing website, The Daily Caller.
“This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque, it was the issues.”
And, on March 28, 2018, she had more choice words for him: “I knew he was a shallow, lazy ignoramus, and I didn’t care.”
On April, 1, she—by her account—had a shouting match with Trump in the Oval Office.
Ann Coulter (Gage Skidmore photo)
On the Right-wing “Howie Carr Show,” she claimed to have told him: “You’re not doing what you promised to do. Where’s the end of NAFTA? Where’s the wall? Where are the deportations? What are you doing talking about the DREAMers?”
“He’s failing right now,” Coulter told Carr. “The presidency isn’t over yet, he can still come back and do it. But people who voted for him shouldn’t be cheering for him every time he betrays them and this is a total betrayal for him to sign that [government appropriations] bill. It’s a total betrayal for him not to build the wall. And to pretend like it isn’t—yeah he can come back.”
But Trump didn’t build that wall. And Coulter was still furious with him.
In an April 4, 2023 column, she wrote: “The left’s sole objective is to make Trump the Republicans’ 2024 presidential nominee. He’s already lost three election cycles for the GOP—why not make it four?”
In short: She backed a monster to wreak destruction on those she hated. And then she became furious at him because he didn’t act monstrously enough.
Coulter backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—who polled significantly better than Trump among crucial independent voters—for President in 2024.
But DeSantis didn’t even come close to getting the Republican nomination. And Trump not only got the nomination but won the election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Since being reelected in 2024, Trump has launched an all-out war on illegal immigrants. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): During Trump’s first 100 days, ICE arrested over 65,000 illegal aliens.
Asked what that time would be remembered for, Coulter said: “The 100 most wonderful days in U.S. history. I can’t believe how great Trump is.”
But in April 2025, she raised concerns about the legality of deporting people who hadn’t committed a crime, possibly violating First Amendment rights.
And Trump’s intervening in the conflict between Israel and Iran definitely violated her stated desire to end “the GOP’s decades-long commitment to a bellicose foreign policy.”
On June 12, Israel opened hostilities, with airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program and leadership. But Israel lacked the 30,000-pound “bunker-busting” bombs that can penetrate the Fordo nuclear site, hidden deep underground in a mountain.
Only the United States has the bombs—and the aircraft that can deliver them. So Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaned on Trump to provide both.
And on June 14, he did—sending B-2 bombers to attack three Iranian nuclear sites.
This has split the MAGA base. Some support the United States’ traditional policy of supporting Israel. Others—like Coulter—want to keep the country out of “unnecessary wars.”
Trump claimed he would wait two weeks to see if Iran wants to “negotiate”—that is, agree to abandon its nuclear ambitions. For Trump, “negotiation” means: “Do as I say or I’ll destroy you.”
But more than a month has passed, and Iran has not responded to Trump’s demand. There is currently no way to tell what his next move—if any—on this issue will be.
The odds are overwhelming that Coulter will be disappointed once again.
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In History, Politics, Social commentary on October 23, 2024 at 12:59 am
On November 13, 2012, Dave, a conservative friend of mine who reads my blog, sent this email to a friend:
Warren,
This is the propaganda blog editor friend of mine in San Francisco that I talked about during my presentation last Thursday evening at the Opera House.
As you can see, he is a typical unbiased uournalist…. As I said, I love the guy dearly and truly have the utmost respect for his ability and intellect (although it’s sometimes pointed). Nonetheless, I thought you and others would get a kick out of this blog.I would suggest that you log onto his site and read some of his other postings. You will then see why I am such an admirer….
* * * * *
Thus, here is my philosophy as a blogger for those of you who read my blog.
Many years ago I worked as an investigative reporter, covering local police and courts for a small Utah newspaper
As a reporter, I adhered strictly to a policy of objectivity: Reporting only what I knew to be true. And in crime-related stories, reporting only what I knew I could legally prove to be true.
For example: You might feel absolutely certain that So-and-So committed a crime. But to avoid libel suits, you had better have the proof in legal documents. And if you can find sources who are willing to back up those legal documents, so much the better.
Another thing: As a straight journalist, you have no right to inject your opinion into anything you write.
So if you write a story about a mayor or councilman you know is corrupt, you don’t have the right to add: “This guy needs to be tossed out of office and indicted.”
If a prosecutor says that, quote him. But your opinion doesn’t matter.
As a blogger I editorialize by pointing out what these facts mean (at least to me) and offering, when possible, a proposed solution to problems.
Take my column about Right-wing columnist Ann Coulter.
On November 13, 2012, I posted a column entitled, “Tears for the Miss America Nazi.”
Coulter had been outraged that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had not deprived Barack Obama of a second term as President.
First, I laid out her recent, public weeping over the re-election of President Obama. Then I quoted comedian Bill Maher and political commentator Chris Matthews on their reactions to Coulter’s comment that “There is no hope.”
Ann Coulter
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
So far, I had adhered to journalistic principles of fairness and objectivity—the who, what, when, where, how and why of journalism.
Only in the last six paragraphs of my column did I venture an opinion.
First, I laid out the historical precedent for what I intended to recommend. When her Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, committed suicide, Magda Goebbels murdered her six children. Then she and her husband, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, killed themselves.
Magda and Joseph Goebbels and their children
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1978-086-03 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
Then I offered the depressed Coulter an option she might not have considered: She could follow the example of Magda (minus the husband and children that Magda had and Coulter lacked).
Not that I expected her to do so.
Frankly, I didn’t consider Ann Coulter a legitimate journalist. She and Rush Limbaugh were the ultimate propaganda icons for the Republican party. They made a career out of attacking the integrity and patriotism of anyone who dared to disagree with them.
For example: Take Coulter’s book Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.
One of her heroes is Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, who unleashed a wave of hysteria across America with his slanderous accusations of massive Communist infiltration of the Federal Government.
Joseph McCarthy
Coulter maintains that McCarthy was a true patriot, and that he—not his victims—was the true victim of history.
This is on a par with rewriting history as the son of Laventi Beria, Joseph Stalin’s infamous secret police chief, has attempted. He insists that his father was a good man who was forced by Stalin to do bad things.
Jesus was right: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” I hugely admire those who seek out the truth and speak it forcefully, without fear or favor.
And I despise those who ride to fame, power or wealth on a carpet of lies and evasions. Although I have written heavily about the infamies of the Right, I realize there is plenty of stupidity, arrogance and criminality on the Left.
I don’t believe that any person, agency, political party or corporation has a monopoly on virtue, intelligence or judgment. On the contrary: Members of agencies, political parties and corporations should be held to the highest level of scrutiny. This is especially true when those institutions hold vast power over the lives of ordinary citizens.
Throughout the last half-century Republicans have dominated American politics—and the lives of Americans. Thus I have written far more about their all-consuming lust for absolute power than I have on the usually secondary role played by Democrats.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Social commentary on September 20, 2023 at 12:23 am
On November 6, 2012, Ann Coulter, the Right-wing activist and propagandist, was devastated by the re-election of President Barack Obama.
In lamenting the defeat of Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, she unintentionally explained why Republicans would soon engage in voter suppression and even violence to secure and/or maintain absolute power:
“Mitt Romney was the president we needed right now, and I think it is so sad that we are going to be deprived of his brain power, of his skills in turning companies around, turning the Olympics around, his idea and his kindness for being able to push very conservative ideas on a country that no longer is interested in conservative ideas. It is interested in handouts.”
Mitt Romney
In short: America was now “a country that no longer is interested in conservative ideas.”
When you can’t win with better ideas, you try to win with deceit and violence.
Donald Trump was another Republican who unintentionally previewed the methods he would employ eight years later on losing the 2020 Presidential election.
In 2012, he was a real estate mogul and host of the “reality show” The Apprentice.
Donald Trump
When it became clear that Romney was not going to be America’s 45th President, Trump went ballistic on Twitter. Among his tweets:
- More votes equals a loss…revolution!
- Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.
- We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
- The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!
- He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!
To put Trump’s rants into real-world perspective:
- According to Trump, the electoral process works when a Republican wins the Presidency.
- It only doesn’t work when a Democrat wins.
- “We should march on Washington” conjures up images of another Fascist—Benito Mussolini—marching on Rome at the head of his Blackshirts to seize power. Which, in a democracy, is treason.
- “The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!”
Ironically, the 2012 Republican Platform had fully embraced preserving the Electoral College: “We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College.
“We recognize that an unconstitutional effort to impose ‘national popular vote’ would be a mortal threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption as every ballot box in every state would become a chance to steal the presidency.”
And the loser didn’t win: He lost.
Obama got 60,652,238 votes. Romney got 57,810,407.
Fast forward to November 9, 2016, with returns clearly projecting a win for Trump over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Although Clinton got almost 2.9 million more popular votes, he swamped her in the Electoral College—-304 votes to Clinton’s 227.
Suddenly, for Trump, the Electoral College wasn’t “phoney.”
Similarly, Coulter no longer felt dismayed. She felt rejuvenated—for she had found her perfect Presidential candidate.
Appearing on the Right-wing radio program, “The Eric Metaxes Show,” she had said: “What is the point of talking about abortion or anything else unless you get Donald Trump in to build the wall, deport illegals, end this ‘anchor baby’ nonsense, stop importing 100,000 Muslims a year, in addition to two million Third Worlders per year. It’s madness what this country has been doing.”
Ann Coulter
Four years later, on November 4, 2020, Trump found himself facing defeat at the hands of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden. Suddenly he reverted to the sore loser of 2012:
“Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people and we won’t stand for it, we will not stand for it.”
“We were getting ready for a big celebration, we were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off. The results tonight have been phenomenal…I mean literally we were just all set to get outside and just celebrate something that was so beautiful, so good, such a vote such a success.”
Immediately after the election, Trump ordered his attorneys to file lawsuits to overturn the election results, charging electoral fraud.
From November 3 to December 14, Trump and his allies lost 59 times in court, either withdrawing cases or having them dismissed by Federal and state judges.
After running out of legal options to remain as “President-for-Life,” Trump played his final card: On January 6, 2021, he incited a violent attack on the Capitol Building to stop the counting of Electoral College votes.
But by May, 2017, four months after Trump had taken office as President, Ann Coulter had abandoned him. Her chief complaint: He hadn’t built the wall along the United States-Mexican border he had promised to erect.
“We want the ruthless businessman we were promised,” she told the conservative website, The Daily Caller.
“This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque, it was the issues.”
In short: She had backed a monster to wreak destruction on those she hated—and he failed her.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on May 19, 2023 at 12:16 am
On November 6, 2012, Ann Coulter, the Right-wing activist and propagandist, was devastated by the re-election of President Barack Obama.
“People are suffering. The country is in disarray,” she whined during an interview. “If Mitt Romney [the Republican Presidential nominee] cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. We have more takers than makers and it’s over. There is no hope.”
Mitt Romney
So, naturally, Coulter and her fellow Rightists felt dejected.
But by 2016, Coulter no longer felt dismayed. She felt rejuvenated—for she had found her perfect Presidential candidate: Donald Trump.
Appearing on the Right-wing radio program, “The Eric Metaxes Show,” she said: “It is like the fall of Rome but, thank God, and I am not using the Lord’s name in vain, I mean that absolutely literally, thank God for raising up Donald Trump and giving us a chance to save the country.
“What is the point of talking about abortion or anything else unless you get Donald Trump in to build the wall, deport illegals, end this ‘anchor baby’ nonsense, stop importing 100,000 Muslims a year, in addition to two million Third Worlders per year. It’s madness what this country has been doing.”
Donald Trump
Coulter not only spoke on Trump’s behalf—she sang his praises in a 2016 book: In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!
According to its dust jacket: “[Ann Coulter] argues that a bull in the china shop is exactly what we need to make America great again.
“In this powerful book, Coulter explains why conservatives, moderates, and even disgruntled Democrats should set aside their doubts and embrace Trump:
“He’s putting America first in our trade deals and alliances, rather than pandering to our allies and enemies.
“He’s abandoned the GOP’s decades-long commitment to a bellicose foreign policy, at a time when the entire country is sick of unnecessary wars.”
To Coulter’s delight, Trump defeated Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on November 9, 2016.
But by May, 2017, four months after Trump had taken office as President, Ann Coulter was ready to abandon him. Her chief complaint: He hadn’t built the wall along the United States-Mexican border he had promised to erect.
“We want the ruthless businessman we were promised,” she told the Right-wing website, The Daily Caller.
“I guess we have to try to push him to keep his promises. But this isn’t North Korea, and if he doesn’t keep his promises I’m out.
“This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque, it was the issues.”
And, on March 28, 2018, she had more choice words for him: “I knew he was a shallow, lazy ignoramus, and I didn’t care.
“I’d been waiting 30 years for someone to say all these things,” she added, referring to his promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
On April, 1, she—by her own account—had a shouting match with Trump in the Oval Office.
Ann Coulter (Gage Skidmore photo)
On the Right-wing “Howie Carr Show,” she claimed to have told him: “You’re not doing what you promised to do. Where’s the end of NAFTA? Where’s the wall? Where are the deportations? What are you doing talking about the DREAMers?”
Coulter (doing a Trump impersonation) claimed that Trump said: “I appointed Gorsuch.”
“And I said that doesn’t count. Jeb, exclamation point, would have done that. Rubio would have done that. How is your Presidency different than from Rubio would have done?”
“He’s failing right now,” Coulter told Carr. “The presidency isn’t over yet, he can still come back and do it. But people who voted for him shouldn’t be cheering for him every time he betrays them and this is a total betrayal for him to sign that [government appropriations] bill. It’s a total betrayal for him not to build the wall. And to pretend like it isn’t—yeah he can come back.
“And as I told The New York Times, if he does I’ll start a committee to put him on Mount Rushmore, if he builds that wall. But, right now, if you want to make a bet I don’t think we’re getting the wall.”
But Trump didn’t build that wall. And Coulter is still furious with him.
In an April 4, 2023 column, she wrote: “The left’s sole objective is to make Trump the Republicans’ 2024 presidential nominee. He’s already lost three election cycles for the GOP—why not make it four?”
Polls show Trump’s popularity surged following a series of lawsuits—both civil and criminal—that were filed against him.
Coulter is backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—who has polled significantly better than Trump among crucial independent voters—for President in 2024.
“Against DeSantis’ smarts and energy, the Democrats would be running President Senile Dementia [Joe Biden] and a vice president whose sole credentials are that she is black and a woman,” Coulter wrote.
“They [Democrats] had only one hope: Get Trump the nomination.”
In short: She backed a monster to wreak destruction on those she hated. And now she’s upset with him because he didn’t act monstrously enough.
She’s hoping her next pick will live up to her monstrous fantasies.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Social commentary on May 6, 2022 at 12:10 am
On November 6, 2012, Ann Coulter, the Right-wing activist and propagandist, was devastated by the re-election of President Barack Obama.
“People are suffering. The country is in disarray,” she whined during an interview. “If Mitt Romney [the Republican Presidential nominee] cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. We have more takers than makers and it’s over. There is no hope.
“Mitt Romney was the president we needed right now, and I think it is so sad that we are going to be deprived of his brain power, of his skills in turning companies around, turning the Olympics around, his idea and his kindness for being able to push very conservative ideas on a country that no longer is interested in conservative ideas. It is interested in handouts.”
Mitt Romney
Note the chief reason for her regret: Romney would have been “able to push very conservative ideas on a country that no longer is interested in conservative ideas.”
Unfortunately for Coulter, a majority of Americans rejected this mentality—and the repressive measures that would have accompanied it.
So, naturally, Coulter and her fellow Rightists felt dejected.
One of these was Donald Trump, then a real estate mogul and host of the “reality show” The Apprentice.
Donald Trump
When it became clear that Romney was not going to be America’s 45th President, Trump went ballistic on Twitter. Among his tweets:
- More votes equals a loss…revolution!
- Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.
- We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
- The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!
- He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!
To put Trump’s rants into real-world perspective:
- According to Trump, the electoral process works when a Republican wins the Presidency. It only doesn’t work when a Democrat wins.
- “We should march on Washington” conjures up images of another Fascist–Benito Mussolini—marching on Rome at the head of his Blackshirts to seize power. Which, in a democracy, is treason.
- “The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!”
Ironically, the 2012 Republican Platform had fully embraced preserving the Electoral College: “We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College.
“We recognize that an unconstitutional effort to impose ‘national popular vote’ would be a mortal threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption as every ballot box in every state would become a chance to steal the presidency.”
And the loser didn’t win: He lost.
Obama got 60,652,238 votes. Romney got 57,810,407.
But by 2016, Coulter no longer felt dismayed. She felt rejuvenated—for she had found her perfect Presidential candidate: Donald Trump.
Appearing on the Right-wing radio program, “The Eric Metaxes Show,” she said: “It is like the fall of Rome but, thank God, and I am not using the Lord’s name in vain, I mean that absolutely literally, thank God for raising up Donald Trump and giving us a chance to save the country.
“What is the point of talking about abortion or anything else unless you get Donald Trump in to build the wall, deport illegals, end this ‘anchor baby’ nonsense, stop importing 100,000 Muslims a year, in addition to two million Third Worlders per year. It’s madness what this country has been doing.”
Coulter not only spoke on Trump’s behalf—she sang his praises in a 2016 book: In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!
Ann Coulter
According to its dust jacket: “[Ann Coulter] argues that a bull in the china shop is exactly what we need to make America great again.
“In this powerful book, Coulter explains why conservatives, moderates, and even disgruntled Democrats should set aside their doubts and embrace Trump:
“He’s putting America first in our trade deals and alliances, rather than pandering to our allies and enemies.
“He’s abandoned the GOP’s decades-long commitment to a bellicose foreign policy, at a time when the entire country is sick of unnecessary wars.”
To Coulter’s delight, Trump defeated Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on November 9, 2016.
Although Clinton got almost 2.9 million more popular votes, he swamped her in the Electoral College—304 votes to Clinton’s 227.
Suddenly, for Trump, the Electoral College wasn’t “phoney.”
But by May, 2017, four months after Trump had taken office as President, Ann Coulter was ready to abandon him. Her chief complaint: He hadn’t built the wall along the United States-Mexican border he had promised to erect.
“We want the ruthless businessman we were promised,” she told the conservative website, The Daily Caller.
“I guess we have to try to push him to keep his promises. But this isn’t North Korea, and if he doesn’t keep his promises I’m out.
“This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque, it was the issues.”
In short: She backed a monster to wreak destruction on those she hated.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Social commentary on April 5, 2021 at 12:37 pm
t’s natural for a losing political party to look for scapegoats.
And after Democratic President Barack Obama defeated Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney for a second term in the White House, Republicans did exactly that.
As political columnist Mark Shields said on the PBS Newshour on January 25, 2013:
“As far as the Republicans are concerned, they are simply going through the terrible stages that every defeated party does.”
And one side says we lost because we didn’t stick enough to our principles. And the other side we lost because we were too dogmatic and didn’t reach out to the undecided.
“And so the first inclination is always to blame your own candidate. You blame Al Gore if you are a Democrat in 2000, or John Kerry in 2004. You blame John McCain.”
“The Republicans want to blame Mitt Romney. That’s fine. But Mitt Romney is more popular than the Republican Party. I mean, he got 47 percent. The Republicans are dead in the water right now.”
Consider the reaction of Ann Coulter, the Republican version of the Miss America Nazi. Speaking on the November 6 defeat of Mitt Romney, Coulter whined:
“People are suffering. The country is in disarray. If Mitt Romney cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. We have more takers than makers and it’s over. There is no hope.”
And what did she hope to see Romney do as President?
“Mitt Romney was the president we needed right now, and I think it is so sad that we are going to be deprived of his brain power, of his skills in turning companies around, turning the Olympics around, his idea and his kindness for being able to push very conservative ideas on a country that no longer is interested in conservative ideas. It is interested in handouts.”
Note the chief reason for her regret: Romney would have been “able to push very conservative ideas on a country that no longer is interested in conservative ideas.”
Or, as the Original Nazis would have put it: “You vill love it—or else!”
Unfortunately for Coulter, a majority of Americans rejected this mentality–and the repressive measures that would have accompanied it.
So, naturally, Coulter and her fellow Rightists feel dejected.
Comedian Bill Maher, appearing on the November 7, 2012 edition of “Hardball With Chris Matthews,” offered his own explanation for the Romney defeat: The Republicans fell victims to their own lies.
Bill Maher
Angela George, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
MAHER: But, you know, I think it gets to a bigger point, Chris, which is that Republicans have to start getting their information from a better source than FOX News. I’m not kidding about this….They believed it right up until the end. They were shocked by this election.
They have to somehow fix the way they get information, because they only talk to each other. And they don’t know what’s going on in the real world. And they were rudely awakened last night.
MATTHEWS: What do you think it was like to be in that bubble with Mitt Romney in that time after it really–I called it the knockout, like the sixth round?
MAHER: I mean, I think they were still saying, “Yes, Mein Fuehrer, you have 12 divisions on the Eastern front.”
MATTHEWS: Anyway, Donald Trump took to Twitter last night, trashing the election returns. Here’s what he said. On Twitter, in real time, to use your phrase. “He lost the popular vote by a lot.
“He’s talking about the president and won the election. “We should have a revolution this country.”
“This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy.”
“We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided.”
MAHER: I mean, it doesn’t deserve thoughts because these aren’t thoughts….This guy only two years ago was like apolitical, right? I don’t even know what party he was.
I don’t know if he knew what party he was. Now he wants to march on Washington? This is democracy–so it’s not democracy when your candidate loses?
* * * * *
Almost seventy-six years ago, another fanatical, right-wing woman concluded: “There is no hope.”
She was Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph Goebbels—Propaganda Minister for the rapidly-collapsing Third Reich.
Magda and Joseph Goebbels, with their six children and a uniformed friend
“I do not wish to live in a world without National Socialism,” she said.
And to make certain her six children didn’t, either, she gave each of them a powerful sleeping tablet. Then she crushed a cyanide capsule between their jaws.
Finally, she and her husband died by their own hands–he shot her, and then himself.
Fortunately, Ann Coulter has no children. Nor even a husband who would willingly shoot her.
So if she truly believed she cannot live in a world where fascists don’t rule absolutely over America, she’s had ample time to let history to repeat itself.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Social commentary on November 5, 2020 at 12:14 am
For the first time in its history, a President of the United States demanded a halt to the counting of votes while the outcome of an election hung in doubt.
Speaking from the White House in the early hours of November 4, President Donald Trump sounded like a petulant child whose planned outing has been suddenly called off.
“Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people and we won’t stand for it, we will not stand for it.”
For a man who had tried—often successfully—to deprive millions of their right to vote, Trump made it clear that he didn’t know what disenfranchisement means.
“We were getting ready for a big celebration, we were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off. The results tonight have been phenomenal…I mean literally we were just all set to get outside and just celebrate something that was so beautiful, so good, such a vote such a success.”
It was Trump-–not his challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden—who was demanding that the electoral process be halted. And that those votes that had not yet been counted be, in effect, flushed down the toilet.
“The citizens of this country have come out in record numbers, this a record, there’s never been anything like it to support our incredible movement….Most importantly, we’re winning Pennsylvania by a tremendous amount of votes. We’re up 690,000 votes.”
Donald Trump
Owing to the Coronavirus pandemic—which Trump had refused to aggressively address from its outset in January—millions of Americans had voted by mail. The idea of standing in Coronavirus-infected lines had not appealed to them. And they believed they could perform their civic duty in a far less dangerous way via the Postal Service.
“These aren’t even close, this is not like, Oh, it’s close. With 64% of the vote in, it’s going to be almost impossible and we’re coming into good Pennsylvania areas where they happen to like your president. We’re winning Michigan…I said ‘Wow, that’s a lot’…
“And we’re winning Wisconsin…so when you take those three states in particular and you take all of the others…and all of a sudden it’s not like we’re up 12 votes and we have 60% left, we won states and all of a sudden, I said, ‘What happened to the election? It’s off.’ And we have all these announcers saying, ‘What’s happened’ and then they said, ‘Ohhh.’”
Many Americans were outraged at this brazen attempt to subvert democracy. But it was hardly surprising, considering Trump’s reaction to the defeat of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by President Barack Obama in 2012.
Mitt Romney
On April 17, 2011, toying with the idea of entering the Presidential race himself, Trump said of Romney:
“He’d buy companies. He’d close companies. He’d get rid of jobs. I’ve built a great company. I’m a much bigger businessman and have a much, much bigger net worth. I mean my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney.
“Mitt Romney is a basically small-business guy, if you really think about it. He was a hedge fund. He was a funds guy. He walked away with some money from a very good company that he didn’t create. He worked there. He didn’t create it.”
But by February 2, 2012, Trump had changed his mind: “It’s my honor, real honor, and privilege to endorse Mitt Romney” for President.
“Mitt is tough, he’s smart, he’s sharp, he’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love. So, Governor Romney, go out and get ‘em. You can do it.”
But Mitt couldn’t do it. On November 6, 2012, Obama defeated Romney.
Barack Obama
Trump was outraged—and immediately took to Twitter:
- More votes equals a loss…revolution! [For Trump, allowing all Americans the right to vote is a travesty—especially when they vote for a candidate he dislikes.]
- Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us. [Overwhelmingly, the world welcomed Obama’s re-election.]
- We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. [This is essentially advocating violent overthrow of the government—treason.]
- The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. [The 2012 Republican Platform had spoken lovingly about the need for preserving the Electoral College: “We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College.”]
- The loser one! He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. [The loser didn’t win: He lost. Obama got 65,915,795 votes; Romney got 60,933,504.]
- We should have a revolution in this country! [In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote (50,999,897) to George W. Bush’s 50,456,002. But Bush trounced Gore in the Electoral College (271 to 266). It was only when Obama won the Electoral College count by 332 to 206 that this was—according to Trump—a “travesty.”]
This was the man 63 million ignorant, hate-filled, Right-wing Americans elected in 2016. And the man millions have tried to re-elect in 2020.
This does not bode well for democracy.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on October 25, 2019 at 12:07 am
On February 18, 2012, GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum warned about the “phony theology” of President Barack Obama.
“It’s not about you,” Santorum told supporters of the Right-wing Tea Party in Columbus, Ohio. “It’s not about your quality of life.
“It’s not about your jobs. It’s about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology.”
Rick Santorum
Which raises an interesting question: What would a Bible-based agenda mean for the country?
The death penalty would be vastly expanded to cover such “crimes” as:
- Sabbath-breaking: Because the Lord considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. (Exodus 31:12-15)
- Adultery: If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)
- Fornication: A priest’s daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9)
A Biblical-era stoning
- Nonbelievers: They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13)
- Homosexuality: If a man also lies with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20-13)
- Taking the Lord’s name in vain: Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. (Leviticus 24:16)
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution—which forbids slavery—would be repealed. The Bible not only permits slavery but lays out rules for its practice—such as:
Almost all scientific progress would be discarded, since most of its findings conflict with the Bible:
- One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth abides forever. (Ecclesiastes 1:4). This claim is totally contradicted by what astronomers now know about the eventual fate of the Earth: In about 7.6 billion years, the sun will exhaust its nuclear fuels. This will vastly increase its heat and gravitational pull, and at least Mercury, Venus and Earth will be vaporized.
- The Bible speaks of a world where physical laws are often violated by the will of God. Thus, Jesus turns water into wine and raises Lazarus from the dead; Jonah lives inside a fish for three days; Noah dies at 950 years; and demons are exorcised.
- In Biblical times, mental illness was seen as a manifestation of demonic possession. Today we know that mental illness has nothing to do with evil spirits.
Laws guaranteeing equal rights for women would be repealed:
- I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. (1 Timothy 12:10)
- Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22)
- A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. (1 Timothy 2:11)
- But if…evidence of the girl’s virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her father’s house and there her townsman shall stone her to death. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)
Military conflicts would be fought without regard to the Geneva Convention—as the Israelites did:
- “You are my battle-ax and sword,” says the Lord. “With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms….With you I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and maidens. With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and rulers.” (Jeremiah 51:20-23)
Depiction of the taking of Jericho by the Israelites
- Samuel said to Saul, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” (1 Samuel 15, 1-3)
Yes, a nation governed by “a theology based on the Bible” would be one far different from the United States we know today.
Since a number of Old Testament practices might lend themselves to easy abuse, this is not a matter to be taken lightly.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on April 23, 2018 at 12:17 am
On November 6, 2012, Ann Coulter, the Right-wing activist and propagandist, was devastated by the re-election of President Barack Obama.
“People are suffering. The country is in disarray,” she whined during an interview. “If Mitt Romney [the Republican Presidential nominee] cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. We have more takers than makers and it’s over. There is no hope.”
Mitt Romney
So, naturally, Coulter and her fellow Rightists felt dejected.
But by 2016, Coulter no longer felt dismayed. She felt rejuvenated—for she had found her perfect Presidential candidate: Donald Trump.
Appearing on the Right-wing radio program, “The Eric Metaxes Show,” she said: “It is like the fall of Rome but, thank God, and I am not using the Lord’s name in vain, I mean that absolutely literally, thank God for raising up Donald Trump and giving us a chance to save the country.
Donald Trump
“What is the point of talking about abortion or anything else unless you get Donald Trump in to build the wall, deport illegals, end this ‘anchor baby’ nonsense, stop importing 100,000 Muslims a year, in addition to two million Third Worlders per year. It’s madness what this country has been doing.”
Coulter not only spoke on Trump’s behalf–she sang his praises in a 2016 book: In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!
Ann Coulter (Gage Skidmore photo)
According to its dust jacket: “[Ann Coulter] argues that a bull in the china shop is exactly what we need to make America great again.
“In this powerful book, Coulter explains why conservatives, moderates, and even disgruntled Democrats should set aside their doubts and embrace Trump:
“He’s putting America first in our trade deals and alliances, rather than pandering to our allies and enemies.
“He’s abandoned the GOP’s decades-long commitment to a bellicose foreign policy, at a time when the entire country is sick of unnecessary wars.”
To Coulter’s delight, Trump defeated Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on November 9, 2016.
Although Clinton got almost 2.9 million more popular votes, he swamped her in the Electoral College–304 votes to Clinton’s 227.
Suddenly, for Trump, the Electoral College wasn’t “phoney.”
But by May, 2017, four months after Trump had taken office as President, Ann Coulter was ready to abandon him. Her chief complaint: He hadn’t built the wall along the United States-Mexican border he had promised to erect.
“We want the ruthless businessman we were promised,” she told the Right-wing website, The Daily Caller.
“I guess we have to try to push him to keep his promises. But this isn’t North Korea, and if he doesn’t keep his promises I’m out.
“This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque, it was the issues.”
And, on March 28, 2018, she had more choice words for him: “I knew he was a shallow, lazy ignoramus, and I didn’t care. “
“I’d been waiting 30 years for someone to say all these things,” she added, referring to his promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
On April, 1, she—by her own account—had a shouting match with Trump in the Oval Office.
On the Right-wing “Howie Carr Show,” she claimed to have told him: “You’re not doing what you promised to do. Where’s the end of NAFTA? Where’s the wall? Where are the deportations? What are you doing talking about the DREAMers?”
Coulter (doing a Trump impersonation) claimed that Trump said: “I appointed Gorsuch.”
“And I said that doesn’t count. Jeb, exclamation point, would have done that. Rubio would have done that. How is your Presidency different than from Rubio would have done?”
“He’s failing right now,” Coulter told Carr. “The presidency isn’t over yet, he can still come back and do it. But people who voted for him shouldn’t be cheering for him every time he betrays them and this is a total betrayal for him to sign that [government appropriations] bill. It’s a total betrayal for him not to build the wall. And to pretend like it isn’t—yeah he can come back.
“And as I told The New York Times, if he does I’ll start a committee to put him on Mount Rushmore, if he builds that wall. But, right now, if you want to make a bet I don’t think we’re getting the wall.”
But for all her fury at Trump, she’s still peddling her 2016 book, In Trump We Trust, on her website—www.anncoulter.com.
And on April 18, she attacked former FBI Director James Comey, who has strongly criticized Trump during his nationwide tour to promote his newly-released memoir, A Higher Loyalty.
Comey had been fired by Trump on May 9, 2017, for—by Trump’s admission—pursuing “the Russia thing”—a probe into Russian subversion of the 2016 Presidential election.
According to Coulter: “We all owe a debt of gratitude to Comey for showing the American people why he was so badly in need of firing.”
In short: She backed a monster to wreak destruction on those she hated. And now she’s upset with him because he hasn’t acted monstrously enough.
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REPUBLICANS: “I DID IT (ADULTERY) FOR MY COUNTRY”
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary on September 9, 2025 at 12:17 amOn July 10, Texas politics got a jolt: State Senator Angela Paxton announced that she had filed for divorce from her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:
“Today, after 38 years of marriage, I filed for divorce on biblical grounds,” she wrote on X. “I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.”
By “recent discoveries,” she was referring to her husband’s adultery—as she had listed it as the “grounds for divorce” in her divorce filing.
“I move forward with complete confidence that God is always working everything together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose,” she concluded.
Angela Paxton
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
She and her husband had stopped living together since “on or about June 1, 2024.”
On X, Ken Paxton had a different take on the matter:
“After facing the pressures of countless political attacks and public scrutiny, Angela and I have decided to start a new chapter in our lives.”
Thus, he blamed his unfaithfulness on those he had antagonized and those—elected officials and the press—who had held him up to “public scrutiny.”
And it was Angela, not him, who decided to start “a new chapter” in their lives—by divorcing him.
“I could not be any more proud or grateful for the incredible family that God has blessed us with, and I remain committed to supporting our amazing children and grandchildren. I ask for your prayers and privacy at this time.”’
Apparently his gratitude for his “incredible family” didn’t prevent him from violating his marital oath.
As for his request for privacy: Paxton has declared all-out war on women seeking the right to abortion—not only denying them that right in Texas but seeking to deny them the right to obtain such freedom outside the state.
Ken Paxton
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Angela stood by him during his 2023 impeachment trial for corruption, but was not allowed to vote on any issues or participate on deliberations over whether to convict or acquit.
The Republican-dominated Senate voted to acquit him.
Angela Paxton seeks exclusive use and possession of their home in McKinney as well as financial support.
Paxton served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013. In 2013 he entered the Texas Senate and served until 2015. In 2014, he successfully ran for state Attorney General. He was re-elected to a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2022.
Long before Ken Paxton entered the ranks of Republican “family values” hypocrites, there was Newt Gingrich. Gingrich served as a member of the House of Representatives for Georgia’s sixth district, from 1972 to 1999.
Newt Gingrich
After serving as House Minority Whip (1989 – 1995) and leader of the House Republican Conference (1995 – 1999) he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1995 and served until 1999, when he resigned from Congress.
Gingrich rejected bipartisanship and damned Democrats as traitors and subversives. In 1996, he wrote a memo entitled “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control.” In this he urged Republicans to attack Democrats with such words as “corrupt,” “selfish,” “destructive,” “hypocrisy,” “liberal,” “sick,” and “traitors.”
He also encouraged the news media to disseminate such accusations.
Gingrich railed against President Bill Clinton for his adulterous tryst with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. But Gingrich had a secret: He was involved in an extramarital affair of his own.
He had cheated on his first wife, Jackie Battley, whom he had married in 1962 and divorced in 1981. He remarried his romantic partner, Marianne Ginther, in 1981. That union lasted until he met Callista Bisek, a House staffer more than 20 years younger. They married in 2000.
When his adulterous relationships became exposed, Gingrich had a ready explanation: “I did it for my country.”
Specifically, in a March 9, 2011 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, he said: “There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”
But for Gingrich—as for Paxton–there was an out: “I found that I felt compelled to seek God’s forgiveness. Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness.”
Not change his adulterous behavior. Just ask forgiveness from an imaginary Sky Daddy.
But while Gingrich relished employing “the politics of personal destruction,” he quickly took offense when others raised questions about his immoral behavior.
In 2012, now a candidate for President, he attended the Republican debate in North Charleston, South Carolina. A CNN reporter asked him about the charge by his ex-wife, Marianne, that he had sought an open marriage.
Gingrich exploded: “I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office and I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that!”
Gingrich’s self-righteousness didn’t win him the Presidency. On May 2, 2012, with $4 million in campaign debt, he officially withdrew from the presidential campaign.
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