All Hail Newt

God save us all. The king of hypocrisy is eyeing the White House. Newt, the man who brought down Democratic leader Wright (rightly so) and tried his best to bring down Bill Clinton (wrongly so), all the while being one of the biggest sleazes on Capital Hill, may decide to though his hat in the ring for 2008. His accomplishments include

* Several extra marital affairs, one with Callista Bisek, a 23 year younger congressional aid. His "indiscretions" have been traced back to a 1974 campaign.

* Pressed his wife for a divorce as she was recovering from cancer surgery in a hospital bed. He was quoted as saying, "She isn't young enough or pretty enough to be the President's wife," when presidential aspirations where still fresh in his mind.

* 22 bounced checks from the Congressional bank.

* $4.5 million by Harper Collins, a publishing company owned by Rupert Murdoch. A week after the initial offer, Newt met with Rupert Murdoch - and Murdoch's legislative lobbyist - to discuss politics of Murdoch's problems with the FCC. Gingrich's story kept changing through the controversy. First, Newt's spokesman said that Murdoch knew nothing about Gingrich and the book deal. On Friday January 13,Newt's spokesman admitted that Murdoch actually met Newt on a park bench the week before the deal was made, but didn't talk about it. He also said he knew nothing about Murdoch's lobbyist being at their meeting. The next day, he admitted the lobbyist was there, but claimed he didn't say so because no one asked.

* Illegally used tax-exempt charitable organizations to finance his and other conservative candidates' campaigns.

Source: just google the SOB (sorry, but I have about as much respect for him as I do DeLay)

With Islamists in mind, Gingrich mulls 2008 presidential run (Link to Full Story)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Trailblazing ideologue Newt Gingrich, who engineered the 1994 Republican takeover of the US House of Representatives, said he may run for president in 2008, promising to fight what he calls "an Islamist insurgency against the modern world."

He also spoke about a need to center US society around religious values formulated by "our Creator."

Aspirations of the former House speaker have been an enigma in the US capital since his 1998 resignation from Congress following his party's losses in mid-tern elections.

But when asked on the "Fox News Sunday" television show if a presidential run was in his plans, Gingrich answered: "I'm not ruling that out."

The darling of US conservatives did not elaborate, but he already has something resembling an electoral platform: his book "Winning the Future," which goes on sale Monday.

The mid-sized tome promotes what is being described as Gingrich's vision of America's greatness in the 21st century, including his plan for winning the war on terror, re-establishing God in American public life, reforming the underfunded Social Security (news - web sites) pension system, restoring patriotism, and making US health care more accessible.

In a portion of the book made available to AFP, Gingrich argues the United States faces two immediate opponents: "the irreconcilable wing of Islam" and dictatorships that, in his words, empower radical Islamists.