God! Watching the Republicans go through their nominating process is not for the squeamish. It is an appalling display. Everyone knew that with Newt Gingrich in the race, it could not go otherwise, but this is some ugly stuff.
Ballot box foul-ups call into question the results of the Iowa caucus. Was it Romney? Was it Santorum? No one knows for sure.
Rick Perry dropped out of the race with astonishing suddenness. He was in last night. He was out this morning. South Carolinians never even got the chance to vote for him. (You can bet he got a promise from Gingrich in exchange for it. I wonder how that will work out for him... Newt's not big on keeping promises.)
Mitt Romney went from unstoppable front runner, to a man very much in trouble electorally. Not only is his victory in Iowa now under question, but his lead over his competitors in the South Carolina primary has withered under the privately-funded attacks leveled at him about his association with Bain Capital.
Then, tonight, Gingrich's second wife thrust herself into the picture. I've been through a few relationships myself, so I'm not comfortable commenting about how things fall out with other couples. I know it can get ugly. And, let's face it, in this matter Gingrich is hoist upon his own petard. Recall how zealously and eagerly he examined President Clinton's lurid behavior back in the day.
But Newt, when asked at this evening's debate about his ex-wife's comments, handled it brilliantly. He blamed it on the media! Utterly shameless, of course. But brilliant! And, guess what? It may actually galvanize support for Newt with South Carolina Republicans.
The world they inhabit, those morally-narrow Evangelicals... it's confounding to me. Koo-koo crazy! I cannot conceive it.
A horrifying spectacle. Like a scene from a Cormac McCarthy novel. Or an Hieronymus Bosch painting. Yeah. Let's go with that. How about Garden of Earthly Delights?
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