If Mona Charen’s recent attack on Newt Gingrich in a National Review piece, headlined “Who’s the most conservative of them all?” reveals anything, it’s that her own foundation as a conservative is a bit flawed.
Since when are Mr. Gingrich’s specialty - new ideas and plans for moving this country forward - the exclusive domain of the Democratic Party? What was Teddy Roosevelt if not a brilliant thinker, brilliant orator and fiery progressive?
The most telling crack in Ms. Charen’s logic is when she points out that Mr. Gingrich was “forced out” as speaker. She is right that it was not a cabal of liberals who did this. Rather, it was a cabal of old-line GOP establishment parking-cone types. They couldn’t control Mr. Gingrich, and they feared the erosion of their own power and influence, so they moved against the speaker in a great display of Republican disunity - to the delight of their liberal opponents.
The old-line crew is the problem, not the solution. I’m convinced that Teddy Roosevelt would enthusiastically endorse Newt Gingrich for the presidency, if only to see him break a few GOP rice bowls and shake up the establishment that can’t seem to win an election on its own merit.
J.B. HITTLE
Yankton, S.D.
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'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
By Susan Crabtree - The Washington Times
President Obama forgot to return the salute of a U.S. Marine while boarding Marine One Friday morning, then came back out to shake the Marine’s hand, according to a tweet by CBS News’ Mark Knoller.
By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times
House Republicans who are critical of the federal health care law have written to more than a dozen companies, including top insurers Aetna and BlueCross BlueShield, to ask if President Obama’s top health official tried to solicit funds from them to support the overhaul.
