May 20, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
May 20 is … Eliza Doolittle Day
By God, I think you’ve got it!
My pick for the Preakness is Dance City. The Preakness currently has a full field of 14 horses entered. If no horses are scratched before post time Saturday afternoon it will be the first full field since 2005.
The Preakness is run on a dirt track at a distance of 1 3/16 miles. It is the shortest of the Triple Crown Races. It is one furlong shorter than The Kentucky Derby and three furlongs shorter than The Belmont.
If you are unfamiliar with how distance is measured in thoroughbred racing, in modern terms, a furlong is the equivalent of an eighth of a mile. In the United States, thoroughbred horse races less than one mile are calculated in furlongs while races of more than a mile use the United States customary units of a mile, mile and a quarter and a mile and a half. However, you won't see the length of a race described as a mile and two furlongs, it would be a mile and a quarter.
Newt Gingrich was on Meet the Press last Sunday after he called President Obama “the first black President” and “a food stamp President” earlier in the week. The host of the program, David Gregory, a well known anti-Republican news reporter, hen alleged the statements were racist and questioned Gingrich as to why he was using race in his campaign. Gregory was dead wrong in this ambush. Gingrich handled it well and pointed out, “Forty-seven million Americans are on food stamps. One out of every six Americans is on food stamps. And to hide behind the charge of racism? I have -- I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist.”
I do not have much faith or use for Newt Gingrich but he deserves more respect from a guy who only has his job because Tim Russert died. Gregory also ambushed President Bush when he worked the White House beat for NBC. He was removed from that job when he became an embarrassment to NBC.
Although Newt was ambushed by Gregory on the racist angle, his own buffoonery caused him more problems all week long. Newt Gingrich's catastrophic first week as an official Republican primary candidate may knock him out of the race before it even gets started. And if he stays in, fundraising will now be much more difficult, and that could hasten his exit, Republican sources said.
The former House Speaker from Georgia's once biggest advantage over other long shot candidates, an established fundraising network, is withering before his eyes. "The last 48 hours have called into question if Newt can even make it to July 4, because his fundraising is going to dry up," said one veteran Republican strategist. "No serious finance bundler is now going to step forward in such an organized campaign and take a leadership role."
Another Republican operative said he had spoken with an old friend of Gingrich's in the South who had been planning a fundraiser for the campaign. There were 18 co-chairs for the event until Gingrich's appearance on "Meet the Press" Sunday, where he labeled Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc) proposed budget plan "radical" and "right-wing social engineering."
"He said like 13 of them dropped off within 24 hours of 'Meet the Press,'" the GOP source told The Huffington Post.
The full impact on Gingrich’s fundraising will not be clear until mid-July, when second-quarter reports are due to be filed with the Federal Election Commission. A disappointing haul could be a knockout blow. He could always sell his expensive jewelry to raise cash.
Gingrich aides declined to comment on their candidate’s ability to raise money going forward, and Gingrich’s finance chairwoman Gay Gaines did not respond to a request for comment. Gingrich’s advisers have said in the past that they hope to pull in $30 million for the primaries. Just last year, Gingrich’s 527 group, American Solutions, raised $28 million. But that was before Gingrich’s week from hell. "Clearly if somebody was on the fence about whether they wanted to donate $100 or $50, the last four days they would have said, 'Maybe I’ll just hold on to it,'" Rich Galen, a former Gingrich adviser, told The Huffington Post.
It began with Gingrich’s charged comments about the Ryan plan, which have prompted an outpouring of criticism from conservative leaders as varied as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Gingrich apologized to Ryan and went on Fox News to say, "I made a mistake."
But Gingrich’s troubles compounded when Politico reported Tuesday that he had owed Tiffany’s between $250,000 and $500,000 for jewelry. The same day, a gay rights activist added insult to injury by dumping glitter on Gingrich at a Minnesota book signing to protest the former Speaker's views on gay marriage.
Without using the ties he developed while in Congress, where would Newt Gingrich get the financial wherewithal to secure credit at Tiffany’s for half a million dollars?
Video footage also surfaced of a conservative Republican in Iowa, Russell Fuhrman, confronting Gingrich in a hotel lobby on Monday.
"What you just did to Paul Ryan is unforgivable," Fuhrman said. When Gingrich protested -- "I didn't do anything" -- Fuhrman savaged Gingrich while continuing to shake his hand. "You're an embarrassment to our party. Why don't you get out before you make a bigger fool of yourself?" Furhman said as Gingrich slinked away.
Wednesday brought more ridicule. Gingrich's spokesman’s bizarre comment to HuffPost, blaming media "literati" and the "political elite" of trying to sideline Gingrich, went viral and became instant political comedy fodder. The Wall Street Journal speculated that the lengthy and overly dramatic statement from Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler might have been written by the candidate himself, but Tyler claimed the words as his own.
The calls for Gingrich to step aside grew louder Wednesday. "It’s time for Newt to disappear into the background. His moment has passed, and this tailspin has been decades in the making," wrote conservative blogger Tabitha Hale on the popular blog RedState.com. Longtime Republican ad-maker and political consultant Alex Castellanos also called on the GOP to discard Gingrich in order to "release the past and inherit the future," in an ed-op published by The Daily Caller, a conservative news site.
"The opponent Obama needs to run against, the only one he can beat, is the old, uncaring Republican," Castellanos wrote. "It is not a caricature he needs to create. It lives, it walks, it breathes. It’s the Gingrich."
Just a couple of thoughts I had.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.
www.ebookmall.com (Do search by my name or book Title)
www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
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Book Titles:
Holmes the Ripper
A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." - William Faulkner
Mam’selle - Art Lund
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
Bellamy Brothers