Mitt Romney thumps Newt Gingrich… Romney handily defeated Newt Gingrich… Romney cruised to a dominating victory… The Romney victory a decisive win… Romney obliterated Gingrich.

Gingrich’s performance has been pretty disastrous… Comparatively poor showing by Gingrich.

While scanning the news this morning, the above captions are from various national outlets reporting on yesterday’s Nevada caucuses. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Mitt Romney won.

With 71.1 percent of precincts reporting, the former Massachusetts governor had 48% of the vote, with Newt Gingrich in second place with 23%, followed by Ron Paul with 19% and Rick Santorum was in fourth with 11%.

I’m not sure why only 71% of the precincts are shown as reporting the morning after, however, when you consider this is Harry Reid country, it makes sense that it may take a little time to “sort” out the results.

And for those paying attention, the totals show that non-Romney (52%) continues to outperform Romney (48%).

Just after the Florida Primary, there was a report that the media would now ‘pull the plug on Newt’;

Presidential candidates survive on the oxygen of media coverage. It’s what keeps them going, enables them to keep raising money. Once the coverage is withdrawn, it’s only a matter of time before their candidacies expire. Out of sight, out of mind, out of money.

Which appears to be a tactic well underway… unless there’s bad news to report which serves to further the task at hand.

So Romney wins Nevada. The only shocking thing about Nevada would have been had the race been tight. Romney carried the state in 2008, where eventual nominee John McCain finished a distant third, behind even Ron Paul. 

And Mormons account for 25% of registered Republican voters and overwhelmingly support Romney.

Here’s another tidbit that puts the opening terminology in a little better perspective, Nevada allocates its 28 delegates proportionally, which means that Romney picked up 10 delegates to Newt’s 4.

Yet, a leading Romney backer in Nevada was calling for Gingrich to drop out of the race instead of continuing to divide the party. Naturally, this ally was not as insistent on Dr. Paul and Santorum, who continue to split the non-Romney vote ensuring Romney’s success, to follow suit.

The supporter, Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, almost comically stated in reference to Ron Paul, that he should quit when it becomes apparent that there is “enough critical mass in terms of delegates”, probably sometime after Super Tuesday.

In a press conference held in Las Vegas, Newt Gingrich said, “We will continue the campaign all the way to Tampa. I suspect this debate will continue for a long time… I’m not going to withdraw. I’m actually pretty happy with where we are.”

So the only real news coming out of Nevada is that the national media continues to serve up their choice for the GOP presidential nominee, as was the case in ’08, and most Americans continue to belly up to the buffet line asking for seconds.

Cross Posted at Florida Political Press

Cross-Posted: TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons

Cross-Posted: TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons

Churchill never had the opportunity to meet Marco Rubio, but I believe he would have felt a kinship with my Senator. Today, Reuters joined the unholy alliance of jokers and schemers who have been engaged in a vicious quest to smear the name of Marco Rubio in the eyes of the American public, and specifically in the Hispanic community.

The mainstream media is doubling down on their attacks of Newt, accusing him of being “racist” because he called Obama a “Food Stamp President.” Yes, Newt said it. But nothing about that comment is racist. Newt didn’t mention race. He’s talking about Obama’s failed economic policies. He never mentioned race, but that isn’t stopping the mainstream media from inventing a race issue.

Everyone from NBC, CNN, New York Times and Washington Post are all jumping on the bandwagon, relentlessly accusing Newt of being racist. They even point out that there are fewer blacks on food stamps than whites. So what? Newt never mentioned race—the media did. Yes, black leaders are piling on, picking up the chorus that Newt is somehow racist and condemning him for something he didn’t say.

Perhaps liberals are over-sensitive because it strikes a little too close to home. When Kanye West made his famous speech “President Bush doesn’t like black people,” unemployment among black Americans was 8.2%. After three years under Obama, unemployment among black Americans is now 15.2%. But keep in mind, Newt didn’t even point that out. Newt simply said that liberal economic policies have failed and that people would rather have paychecks than food stamps. What’s racist about that?

During the 2008 campaign, the media never opened a debate in the Democrat primary by asking Hilary Clinton how missing documents from the Rose law firm showed up at the White House, or questioning her claim that she landed under sniper fire in Bosnia. Nor did they ever open a debate questioning Obama about his his cocaine use in college, his missing transcripts and birth certificate, or his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

When Newt fired back at an obvious media ambush during the opening question of the GOP debate in South Carolina, the mainstream media ratcheted up their attacks. Was it a coincidence that ABC decided to air their ‘surprise’ interview with Newt’s ex-wife after the last debate—and only hours before the South Carolina primary? Was it a coincidence that John King cited the ABC smear story to open the debate? Newt was right to be outraged, and his surge in support after his fiery answer shows that many voters feel the same way.

One thing is clear—the mainstream media isn’t even pretending to be impartial anymore. Republican candidates are constantly attacked and forced to defend themselves against every innuendo, while Obama gets a free pass on every issue. The double standard is now so obvious and so extreme that the media isn’t even making a pretense of being objective anymore.

After Newt fired back at ABC and CNN with both guns blazing, Ann Curry once again tried to ambush Newt during a live interview on NBC Today. First, she accused him of being racist because he called Obama a “food stamp President.” She went on to quote a New York Times editorial that implied that Newt and all South Carolina Republicans are racist:

“By mixing falsehoods with racial condescension, Newt Gingrich brought a raucous presidential debate crowd to its feet on Monday night in South Carolina, further cheapening his reputation and that of the state Republican Party…

In South Carolina, where a Confederate flag still waves on the front lawn of the State Capitol largely because of the efforts of the state Republican Party, it remains good primary politics to stir up racial animosity and then link it to President Obama.” –The New York Times

Curry wrapped up by asking Newt “Are you intentionally playing the race card to win votes?” Once again, Newt smacked down the liberal media ambush with a clear, forceful and passionate response:

“Modern liberals are totally off the deep end. When conservatives care about the poor and conservatives offer ideas to help the poor and conservatives suggest that the poor would rather have a paycheck than a food stamp, the very liberals who have failed them—at places like The New York Times—promptly scream ‘racism’ because they have no defense for the failure of liberal institutions which have trapped poor children in bad schools, trapped them in bad neighborhoods, trapped them in crime-ridden situations. Liberal solutions have failed, and their only answer is to yell ‘racism’ and hide.”

In their attack on Newt, both Ann Curry and The New York Times failed to mention that the confederate flag isn’t flying over the South Carolina Capitol—it’s across from the Capitol over a memorial to Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. And the compromise to fly the flag over the Confederate War Memorial was brokered by a Democrat governor more than a decade ago. This is not a Newt issue, and it’s not new issue. Now the liberal media is trying to use it to dismiss Newt’s surge in South Carolina by painting the whole state as racist. In their eyes, that might somehow diminish Newt’s success by convincing the rest of the country to ignore South Carolina completely.

We all know the mainstream media is biased. Now it seems they’re trying desperately just to remain relevant. Meanwhile, the surge in support for Newt after his smackdown of the liberal media is showing what everyone else already knows. The mainstream media is a joke.

I was watching Fox and Friends and they were discussing the debate the night before, 1/19 on CNN. Chris Wallace came on and they asked him about the first question and he thought that is was the right first question. No surprise there. Then they went on to discuss the back and forth between Santorum and Gingrich where Gingrich said he does have grandiose thoughts. Chris Wallace put on his best grin and said that when Newt said that he does have grandiose thoughts, he wonder about that and being how Newt was smarter that he, he looked up the term and found that is was not such a good thing, he then produced his best cute grin. I thought about what Chris said, (all of 5 seconds) and the 1770’s came to mind and a fellow named John Adams. He had a grandiose thought. He thought that the thirteen colonies could band together and separate themselves politically from Great Britain and make it stick. Their was a contemporary of his that had some grandiose thoughts and he wrote them down. Thomas Jefferson was the man and the Declaration of Independence is what he wrote. Now maybe “I’m so cute Wallace” might think that because that document is over a hundred years old, it has no meaning today. No matter, the fact is they were men with some GRANDIOSE THOUGHTS

Romney will be attacked because of Bain Capital. As Rush Limbaugh said it will become the new Haliburton. Is what Romeny did at Bain wrong? No, it is the job of a CEO who has been delegated the job of reorganizing a company to cut expenses. The first cut is always in payroll. The real problem is that in this election the media has created the playbook. (That’s what happens when the party has no leadership.) The playbook says “yes, it’s the economy stupid,” but the media spins this into “no job creation” and a “wealth favoritism system.” The Democrats and their media propaganda wing have created this playbook through the ridiculous efforts of the “Occupy” and have used that fraud to establish the injustice of the economic system. By doing so they have completely hijacked the debate.

As a result the election will not be about the economy it will be about the fairness of the system. Romney doesn’t know how to change the playbook and make this a referendum on the economy. What frustrates me is that Obama’s record is so horrendous that any clear spoken candidate should be able to change the discussion into one that explains that the United States now owes more than it makes, that unemployment insurance does not help people get back to work, that the housing market is part of the free market and banks should not be relieved of their duty to scrutinize prospective homeowners, and it is not the government’s job to bail out bank executives who just made a killing in the market and then lost their shirts when the trades they had been touting turned out to be naked, risky losses. A clear speaking leader could point out these and more of the horrible policies that Bush put in place and Obama exponentially implemented. Instead we have this false pretense that the economic woes are based on a social injustice.

There is injustice. The injustice is not economically based by lies in our court system that is now hearing a case that will decide if the EPA can, out of the blue, declare someone’s home a wetland site and take it through fines levied against the Department’s dictates. The injustice lies in a system that takes from the property owner without just compensation. Once more the injustice lies with a government that does not serve the people through the consittution but through the concept of altruism as if our Constitution were nothing more than a philosophy book.

We are in grave times. This noble experiment, this great America is crumbling under the weight of a progressive attack and all we can do is fall in lock step with the party officials who live under this fantasy that they know best.

Stand up! Dump the losers overboard just as those brave patriots did over 200 years ago. The dream has not been broken it has merely been hijacked. There is a conservative alternative. It is not Perry. It is not Ron Paul. It is not Romney. Demand more. The stakes are just too great.

[The following is satire, written in the ironic tone. All candidates should be vetted on all issues before the general election. We apologize for any confusion. --The Mgmt]

Why is everyone criticizing Mitt Romney all of a sudden? Even worse: Mitt Romney is being attacked for being a capitalist. And worst of all: by fellow Republicans!

Leave Mitt alone!

Clearly, this issue should not be brought up at all. Newt Gingrich is the person who’s been going after Romney most vocally on this topic. To wit, in New York Magazine:

Gingrich is planning an assault in South Carolina that centers on Romney’s career at Bain Capital. At this point, Romney is a heavy favorite to win. What’s more, Gingrich’s Bain attack is indistinguishable from the themes that pro-Democratic groups are using to discredit him against Obama.

Heck, it’s so brutal, it’s even called “Swift Boating” in the essay. And we know there’s nothing more unfair and mean than that!

Newt should stop this type of attack immediately. Instead, assuming Mitt Romney continues to skate through to the nomination, we should leave it to Barack Obama to raise it. Only a liberal should raise this issue, and then it should be amplified 24/7 by the mainstream media.

If Mitt’s the GOP nominee, next summer we’ll let the liberals and their lackeys in the press drone on about how Romney hurt workers. We’ll see more video ads featuring laid-off workers like this.

We’ll hear more stories about Randy Johnson, who’s poised to be the next Cindy Sheehan. No, not that Randy Johnson. This one doesn’t have a fastball, but brings heat by following Mitt around at Romney rallies.

…now Mr. Johnson is planning to travel around the country, and wait patiently on the side of Mitt Romney’s campaign events, prepared to tell his story to anyone who wants to listen.

Gee, do you think Mr. Johnson will find someone who’ll want to tell his story next summer?

Don’t forget that next summer it’s going to be heating up, weather-wise. This means Occupy hippies will be awakening from hibernation, rubbing Cheetos dust out of their eyes, and coming out of their parents’ basements ready to resume their tantrums. This means the narrative returns to the evil rich. And who is more evil and rich than a Republican who dares to stand between Obama and a second term?

Senator Carly Fiorina was unavailable to comment.

So, add it all up and what do you have? Bain ads showing laid off workers and rusty cobwebby factories that Bain shut down. Tent cities with communists chanting against the wealthy. Don’t forget future media darling Randy Johnson on every news show as he tells his sorry story again and again. Who knows? Maybe others will come out and join him!

Rather than put Mitt Romney’s feet to the fire now, we should just let Obama and his MSM megaphone fan this flame all summer long, culminating in a crescendo of cacophony right around October.

Yes, that would make much more sense than vetting the GOP frontrunner now. Because whatever Newt or the others throw at Romney will be a big pillow puffball that will only tickle Mitt compared to the heavy artillery Obama’s prepared to roll out.

Yeah. Newt should really back off the “anti-capitalist” attacks.

Leave that for October to the lethal — and sincere — anti-capitalist experts in the White House.

Razor

If you liked this, similar posts were made by Legal Insurrection, Dan McLaughlin, and James Taranto.

These are the words of a progressive, Congressional Black Caucus member, a Democrat by the name of Andre Carson, Indiana Representative.  Carson was making these remarks at a Congressional Black Caucus event in Miami.  This was an event sponsored by the CBC and part of a tour to several cities.  Carson was not speaking for himself, but as a member of the CBC.  Here are his words in their entirety.

““I’m saying right now, under (CBC) Chairman Emanuel Cleaver’s leadership, we have seen change in Congress … but the tea party is stopping that change,” Carson said at the event, according to the video. “And this is beyond symbolic change. This is the effort that we’re seeing, of Jim Crow.”

“Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens,” Carson continued. “Some of them in Congress right now with this tea party movement would love to see you and me — I’m sorry, Tamron — hanging on a tree.” Washington Post, Felicia Sonmez, ‘Rep. Carson: Tea party wants to see African Americans ‘hanging on a tree’ August 30, 2011.

Coupled with Rep. Maxine Waters’ comments that the Tea Party can go to hell, this packs a powerful, and dangerous, punch.  With House Democrats calling Tea Party movement members terrorists and hostage takers, this marks a particularly dire moment in our political civil history.

Tamron Hall of MSNBC was moderating this little event back in August 22nd or 23^rd according to the CBC website.  The Party-run media squelched Carson’s outburst for a week until it made its way onto Glenn Beck’s The Blaze.  Instead of reporting this kind of vile accusation, MSNBC decided to hide it, but like all bad pennies it turned up.

Local media has avoided any publication about this scandal, a sitting U.S. congressman accusing a group of his citizens of wanting to lynch people.  What’s more, they don’t even seem slightly interested in our own progressive CBC member’s opinion as to the comments.  Repeatedly, the Star Tribune and KSTP have been emailed, tweeted, called and asked to pursue the story.  They have refused to do so.  Rep. Keith Ellison has also been contacted but he refuses to comment.

This is an important discussion that must be had.  We cannot have faith in a government that ignores or excuses its members from making these kinds of claims.  Heated rhetoric is one thing, but calling a large number of your citizens vigilante, racist Klansmen is another story.  Carson’s words should be condemned and firmly rejected.  Our civil discourse will not recover until such a time as actual civility happen.  When people have disagreement about their government, these arguments should be made honestly and sincerely.  They should not use such devices as blanket accusations of violence against their adversaries.

This is wrong.  The so-called journalists in this state should be ashamed.

Crossposted at Looktruenorth.com