1.) Newt Gingrich behaving like, well, Newt Gingrich— It’s been less than a week since Newt Gingrich announced he’s running for president, and at least one prominent conservative is saying it’s over already. TheDC’s Jeff Poor writes: “As the day has progressed, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s comments on Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ attacking House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan have come to haunt him. On Monday’s ‘Special Report,’ syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer became the latest conservative figure to criticize Gingrich, calling his bid for the presidency ‘over.’ ‘This is a big deal,’ Krauthammer said. ‘He’s done. He didn’t have a big chance from the beginning but now it’s over. Apart from being contradictory and incoherent as we saw in those two bytes you showed where he contradicted himself in the course of one day on the individual mandate – calling the Republican plan, which all but four Republican members of the House have now endorsed and will be running on, calling it radical and right-wing social engineering is deadly.'” Krauthammer thinks Gingrich won’t recover from breaking Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not attack fellow Republicans. On one hand, how many Republicans have really followed that rule in the last 20 years? On the other hand, doesn’t Gingrich have enough problems already without creating more for himself? BTW: Gingrich used to think Ryan’s plan was great, but that was a long time ago. Way back in, um, March. BTW Pt. 2: Trump isn’t running. Was he ever, really?
2.) Barack’s bin Laden bounce: bye-bye — Conn Carroll at the Washington Examiner: “If you blinked, you missed it. President Obama’s six point post-Osama bump in the Gallup daily tracking poll is gone. Today’s rolling average number, posted at 1 pm, shows Obama back down to his pre-bump 46% approval rating. The Friday before President Obama announced that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden (April 28), Gallup’s presidential-approval tracking poll had him at 46%. Gallup’s first available three-day rolling average sample after Osama’s death was Thursday, May 5, and measured Obama’s approval rating at 52%.” In other words, the state of amnesia brought about by Bin Laden’s death was only temporary.
3.) Pelosi’s patronage pampers the profitable — Nancy Pelosi once said that we had to pass Obamacare so we could find out what’s in it. And now that we’re finding out what’s in it, her own constituents are getting a pass on it. TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports: “Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district… Pelosi’s district secured almost 20 percent of the latest issuance of waivers nationwide, and the companies that won them didn’t have much in common with companies throughout the rest of the country that have received Obamacare waivers. Other common waiver recipients were labor union chapters, large corporations, financial firms and local governments. But Pelosi’s district’s waivers are the first major examples of luxurious, gourmet restaurants and hotels getting a year-long pass from Obamacare. For instance, Boboquivari’s restaurant in Pelosi’s district in San Francisco got a waiver from Obamacare. Boboquivari’s advertises $59 porterhouse steaks, $39 filet mignons and $35 crab dinners.” It’s all about helping the little guy. Oh wait, they don’t want us calling it “Obamacare.” How about calling it “Astonishing Corruption”? No, that doesn’t really narrow it down.
4.) You can’t spell “I am f’ed” without “IMF” — On Sunday a French guy named Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who happens to be managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested in Manhattan for sexually assaulting a hotel cleaning woman. Now several other women are accusing DSK (as he’s known in France) of assaulting them in the past. You might think DSK bears some personal responsibility for his own behavior, but that’s just because you’re a stupid American capitalist pig. NYT: “Gilles Savary, a member of the European Parliament who belongs to Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist Party, wrote on his blog that the arrest of Mr. Strauss-Kahn had hints of American-style hypocrisy. ‘Everyone knows that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a libertine, and that he is distinguished from others by the fact that he doesn’t try and hide it,’ he wrote. ‘In puritanical American (sic), infiltrated by rigorous Protestantism, financial misdeeds are far more tolerated than pleasures of the flesh.'” Isn’t it interesting how the people who are so much better than you tend to be so much worse?
5.) Schwarzenegger to Shriver: “Remember when I told you I’d forsake all others? I lied.” — Speaking of wealthy, powerful men who can’t keep it in their pants, what has Arnold Schwarzenegger been up to lately? Oh, not much. LA Times: “Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff. Shriver moved out of the family’s Brentwood mansion earlier this year, after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the paternity. The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January.” Hey, it could’ve been worse. Could’ve been TWINS. One thing’s for sure: the kid isn’t named JUNIOR. Arnold just plain forgot to tell us about his illegitimate child before now, but you can’t expect a man his age to have TOTAL RECALL. See, because those are the titles of some of his movies.
6.) $#*! My Network Cancels — When CBS announced a new sitcom based on a Twitter feed with less than 75 entries — made up entirely of quips uttered by someone other than the author — some on Twitter met the news with disbelief, followed by deep depression. But now there’s great news: the show has failed! TheDC’s Laura Donovan: “CBS’s comedy ‘$#*! My Dad Says,’ which aired 18 episodes total, has been canceled, according to Entertainment Weekly. Based on 30-year-old Justin Halpern’s Twitter page, which chronicles his unconventional father’s crude comments, the show features William Shatner as the politically incorrect, foul-mouthed dad and Jonathan Sadowski as his struggling blogger son.” Blogger? Who wants to see a blogger on TV? Yuck. And let this be a lesson to you, Hollywood: Nobody wants to watch William Shatner trying to be funny on purpose. At least not for more than 30 seconds at a time.
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