Sununu: “Worry About Gingrich’s Ethics Problems” – Cavuto: “Character Counts”

Did you catch former NH Gov John Sununu on America’s Newsroom with Martha MacCallum this morning (FOX News)?

With all the Gingrich hoopla swirling around today, Sununu deftly drove home very good points that the news media is missing:

John Sununu Says People Should Worry About Gingrich’s Ethics Problems Instead of Romney’s Income Taxes

Mitt Romney’s GOP rivals have been hammering him about releasing his income tax numbers even after he promised to make them public in April, but during CNN’s GOP debate he had quite a talking point saying, “I’m not going to apologize for being successful,” to which he explained that he doesn’t want to give President Obama any early ammunition.

(emphasis added)

Three of the four GOP candidates haven’t released their tax returns; Gov Romney and Rick Santorum will and Ron Paul won’t. Sununu says this shouldn’t be an issue:

Specifically, he explained why people should worry about Newt Gingrich’s ethics problems instead, saying, “Three out of four Republicans on that ethics committee voted against Mr. Gingrich and the issues were so bad that his own leadership kicked him out of the leadership and it’s important to note that Nancy Pelosi was one of the members of that group that has those records on file and whatever Nancy Pelosi knows, Barack Obama knows, so Newt Gingrich better release that now … so the voters know what they know.”

Sununu points out that all the media ballyhooing about Romney’s answer regarding how many times he’ll share his tax returns in the future and the subsequent “booing in the audience” came from two Ron Paul guys who were sitting in the Paul cheering section. He said the two stood up – ready to make noise – as Romney was asked the question.

Greg Gutfeld (Fox News’ The Five, Jan 20, 2012):

“There’s something that Newt said that really bugged me, when he looked at the audience and talked about how everyone knows personal pain, and that everyone has someone close to them who knows personal pain — you can’t conflate people who inflict pain with people who receive pain. There are people who do bad things; there are people who do good things. You cannot look at the audience and say ‘you know my pain,’ because there are a lot of women out there who will say ‘No, I didn’t do that; you did that’.”

UPDATE – Pawlenty says Gingrich’s infidelities ‘concern’ him
The Hill – By Cameron Joseph
Jan 19, 2012

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Newt Gingrich’s infidelities were fair game in the campaign and that they concerned him personally.

In a post-debate interview in which he defended Mitt Romney’s record, Pawlenty said that voters “are going to have to decide for themselves” what they thought of the issue.

“When I see his ex-wife Marianne on TV expressing those kind of concerns it certainly concerns me,” he said.

“Obviously it’s a very big news story and one that voters are going to have to judge for themselves what that says about these candidates, what that says about the race, and what that says about their suitability,” said Pawlenty …

Neil Cavuto (FOX News – Your World) really bucked the popular Newt-is-so-right media fest today by sticking his neck out with this question:

What’s fair game at presidential debates?

“Character Counts”

BEWARE the grandiose, wily Newt. He’s a master at making himself look like a victim.

Speaking of grandiose, check out what’s below the fold:

A selection of Gingrich’s thoughts over the years on… Gingrich:

• “I Think I Am A Transformational Figure.” (PBS.org, 12/2/11)

• “I Am Essentially A Revolutionary.” (Adam Clymer, “House Revolutionary,” The New York Times, 8/23/92)

• “Philosophically, I Am Very Different From Normal Politicians … We Have Big Ideas.” (Andrew Ferguson, “What Does Newt Gingrich Know?” The New York Times, 6/29/11)

• “I Have An Enormous Personal Ambition. I Want To Shift The Entire Planet. And I’m Doing It. … I Represent Real Power.” (Lois Romano, “Newt Gingrich, Maverick On The Hill,” The Washington Post, 1/3/85)

• “I First Talked About [Saving Civilization] In August Of 1958.” (Robert Draper, “He’s Baaack!” GQ, 8/05)

• “Over My Years In Public Life, I Have Become Known As An ‘Ideas Man.’” (Andrew Ferguson, “What Does Newt Gingrich Know?” The New York Times, 6/29/11)

Pericles: “In a long interview on May 4, 1992, devoted almost exclusively to the topic of Gingrich, [former White House aide Richard] Darman concluded that Gingrich was ‘an unstable personality’ who talks about four or five great people in history, including Pericles and himself.” (Bob Woodward, “In His Debut In Washington’s Power Struggles, Gingrich Threw A Bomb,” The Washington Post, 12/24/11)

The Duke Of Wellington: “Obsessed recently with Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, [Gingrich] likened the appropriations triumph to the way the British expeditionary force maneuvered against the French during the Peninsular War, a campaign in Portugal and Spain in the early 1800s that eventually led to Wellington’s ascendance and Napoleon’s abdication.” (Michael Weisskopf and David Maraniss, “In A Moment Of Crisis, The Speaker Persuades,” The Washington Post, 8/13/95)

A Viking: “With his machine-gun staccato delivery, [Gingrich] is the center of attention. He terms himself a ‘Viking.’” (“Gingrich Delivers For GOP Faithful,” South Bend Tribune, 7/28/95)

Thomas Edison: “Once he took over GOPAC in 1986, the organization became what he called the creative thinking and research group of the Republican Party. ‘We are on the way to becoming the Bell Labs of politics,’ Mr. Gingrich proclaimed. ‘That’s the closest model you can find to what we do, and nobody else is in that business. The first thing you need at Bell Labs is a Thomas Edison, and the second thing you need is a real understanding of how you go from scientific theory to a marketable product.’” (Katharine Q. Seelye, “Birth Of A Vision,” The New York Times, 12/3/95)

Vince Lombardi: “By four in the morning, [Gingrich] had moved on to football metaphors. What the Republicans had accomplished, Gingrich said, was like the old Green Bay Packers sweep during the days of Coach Vince Lombardi: The opposition knows you are going to run at them, but they cannot stop you. Lombardi, Gingrich said, believed that the team that doesn’t break in the fourth quarter wins.” (Michael Weisskopf and David Maraniss, “In A Moment Of Crisis, The Speaker Persuades,” The Washington Post, 8/13/95)

The Wright Brothers: “At that dinner, held in a convention center in Johnston, Gingrich sought to add more emotional lift into his stump speech. ‘I am asking you to embark with me on a voyage of invention and discovery,’ he said, ‘to be as bold and as brave as the Wright brothers.’” (Jason Horowitz, “Newt Gingrich Draws Contrast With Romney,” The Washington Post, 12/1/11)

Moses: “On this night, Gingrich congratulated his troops on standing united and inspired them with stories about Charles de Gaulle’s heroism and George Washington at Valley Forge … At one point, he likened himself, lightheartedly, to Moses. He’d help them cross the Red Sea once again, Gingrich vowed, but only if they promised, this time, to stay on the other side.” (Matt Bai, “Newt. Again.” New York Times Magazine, 2/25/09)

Did ya get all that? Isn’t it a wonder that we get to share the planet with such a man?

H/t to MRC moderator Karen for last cartoon posted

► Jayde Wyatt