You’re being manipulated. A well-respected, highly influential news source has cast aside all journalistic integrity to shill for the liberal, GOP-establishment candidate in this presidential race.
The New York Times, you say? MSNBC? The Washington Post? No. We all gave up on those “progressive” rags a long time ago.
Regrettably, the latest media outlet to assume a decidedly yellow hue during this heated primary cycle is the Drudge Report. It pains me to even write this. Drudge has always been both my first and last Internet news stops of the day.
It’s often said, “Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.” Well, Drudge deals in pixels instead of ink, but the same principle applies.
Still, this is a fight worth having.
In past years, Matt Drudge has done a fair job of playing it down the middle during presidential primaries. Not this time. In the game of “Washington insider hold ‘em,” the Drudge Report is “all in” for Willard Mitt Romney. It’s not even subtle.
As the Politico reports: “Newt Gingrich better hope voters who lapped up his delicious hits on the ‘elite media’ and liberals don’t read the Drudge Report this morning … If they do, Gingrich comes off looking like a dangerous, anti-Reagan, Clintonian fraud.”
This, of course, is utter pablum. Gingrich is the last Reagan conservative standing in this race; or, as the venerable Nancy Reagan said of “the distinguished speaker, Newt Gingrich” in 1995: “The dramatic [conservative] movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive.”
To this day, Newt Gingrich is keeping that conservative dream alive and that Reagan torch aflame. America is beginning to get this, and it has the “Republican in Name Only” (RINO) establishment tied in knots.
Politico summarizes Drudge’s hit job on Gingrich: “The overnight Drudge Report banner: ‘Insider: Gingrich repeatedly insulted Reagan.’ The headline linked to a devastating takedown by Elliott Abrams in the National Review, who wrote, among other things, that Gingrich had a long record of criticizing and undermining Reagan’s most transformative policies.”
Baloney. Sorry, Matt Drudge, but Mrs. Reagan’s vote of confidence carries considerably more weight than your shameless smear on behalf of the Massachusetts moderate.
Cherry-picked quotes, biased headlines and hyperlinks to Newt-hating op-eds in order to patch together an ugly and distorted mosaic of the former House speaker is not journalism. It’s mercenary-style political prostitution.
At the top of Thursday’s Drudge was linked an opinion piece by another Romney surrogate, Ann Coulter, headlined “Re-elect Obama: Vote Newt!” In it, she skewers Mr. Gingrich and claims, “Romney is the most electable candidate.”
Odd when you consider that, less than one year ago, Coulter told a packed house at CPAC the exact opposite: “If you don’t run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee and we’ll lose,” she said. “By the way, I warned you about McCain.” (I don’t know, maybe Ann’s now angling for a gig as Romney’s Secretary of Snark. Look for her next book: “Moderate: An Autobiography.”)
But Coulter’s exactly right about that whole McCain thing. He recently endorsed Romney too. So did Bob Dole. Interesting. And they’re both vehemently opposed to a Gingrich nomination as well.
See where this is going? What do Bob Dole and John McCain have in common? Is this really who we think is going to unseat Barack Obama? Mitt Romney: the ideo-political love child – figuratively speaking — of Bob Dole and John McCain?
The RINO is a slow, lumbering beast. It is foolishly and predictably drawn, over and again, toward that “moderate” watering hole. There, it hopes to attract that equally perplexing animal, the “independent.” From this liaison, it is believed a bevy of voting offspring will be produced.
Never happens. In fact, the mushy middle is exactly where that fierce predator — The Democrat — wants its Republican prey corralled. Ever seen Wild Kingdom? Not pretty.
RINO Republicans and liberal Democrats have something in common: they both mistakenly assert that conservative candidates are unelectable. Ronald Reagan proved them wrong and so will Newt Gingrich.
No, I’ve got news for Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter and the rest of the establishment GOP: As 2010 proved and as I believe 2012 will show again, conservatives don’t shine to being told who our nominee is going to be.
We’ll pick him ourselves, thank you very much.
Matt Barber (jmattbarber@comcast.net) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law, and author of the book “The Right Hook – From the Ring to the Culture War.” He serves as vice president of Liberty Counsel Action. This column is printed with permission.
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Big deal. Two Progressives arguing about who is less Progressive. The winner will become the backup Progressive candidate in case “Obama” loses.
When I hear Newt rant against capitalism and then Mittens tell me that obamacare is nothing to get angry about , the urge to grab a snow shovel and whack some commonsense into those thick skulls is coursing thru my body. It is more than evident that we have allowed the weenie breaths to over breed in the case of elected officials, the jobs we gave them to do are not being done according to law, yet the inability of these disreputables to show integrity and merit to step aside, the job is now to keep the position and make it more comfortable than is required. Incumbency has lead to elitism, this has lead to abuse, a breakdown of relations, a major lack of representation for the tax payers and voters and now we need to change this imbalance. …..If we do not change the way these goldbricks hold office we are going to lose this Republic.
Just goes to prove that anyone can be boughtr. I wonder what Matt’s price was.
Mitt romney manager and board member od Damon corp guilty of medicare fraud corp had to pay 119 million dollars and mitt profit HALF a million dollars that he pocket. Romney medicare scandal and he wants us to vote for him, romney took blood money from seniors romney should have gone to prison. He is not going to get my vote, I am voting for Newt Gingrich no matter what lies romnie or his cronies cook up. If romnie becomes the nominee I will not vote for him I will not even hold my nose to give him my vote. Romnie is arrogant, hateful, very progressive, and he says romneys biggest donors are the same as obamas GOLDMANS SACH AND THE BAILOUT BANKS. oUR STIMULAS MONEY WENT FROM OBAMA TO BAILOUT BANKS to romney just think even if romney would win obama would not lose romney would owe obama. The unions thugs control obama, obama would control romnie and how many of you think that romnie would listen to us of what we have to say. Remember he just said, about healthcare nothing to get angry about. He forgot the 2010 election. He has been bought and paid for.
I meant to say 2011 election
I just don’t see how anyone can be behind newt, or Romney as Matt Barber (jmattbarber@comcast.net) is.
Looking at his voting record and what he said in the last debate: NEWT GINGRICH is for increases in government size, he wants Obamacare. He voted for the government control of the Dept of Education giving us the socialistic schools we have now which teach the ethics of the New Socialist Society. It’s the bases of taking religion out of schools and teaching internationalism which is against our nations sovereignty. Newt is not following the Constitution, he wants it replaced, he’s a Builderburg. He has been a member of the Council of Foreign Nations that was started to abolish national sovereignty. He voted for GATT which controls the World Trade Organization, NAFTA and TARP. Newt voted to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, now he wants to change our immigration system. Newt wants to continue foreign aid, Obama is giving it to our enemies. Newt Gingrich is diametrically opposed to the principles of the Constitution and Ron Paul. He backs the UN, the UN backs Agenda 21, NAU and NWO.
Ron Paul is against all those thing and the MSM is worried. This writer Natt Barber says he’s an attorney concentrating in constitutional law, but he didn’t say he was for the Constitution. He’s another Obamalit.