See Elizabeth Searle & Matthew Salesses in DigBoston…
And thanks to ROBIN on Facebook for being reminded of Carol Burnett’s AS THE STOMACH TURNS…
AS THE NEWT TURNS: GOP Race as Reality TV
Hard to say what was more bizarre: Mrs. Newt Gingrich #2 taking to national TV to tell how Newt allegedly suggested an Open Marriage because his then-mistress Calista ‘doesn’t care what I do’; Newt himself bristling then bitch-slapping CNN‘s John King for daring to bring up the widely publicized story; or the GOP debate audience leaping to its feet to cheer as Newt implicitly denounced his long-suffering second wife as a liar.
I’m a Soap fan but who needs The Young and the Restless when we’ve got Newt Gingrich’s ex-wives on the warpath, ex-candidate Herman Cain’s allegedly multiple mistresses, plus wanna-be-VP Sarah Palin & her Reality-TV-worthy family waiting in the wings?
What next in a GOP nomination race that just keeps getting stranger? Is Gingrich/Palin a real possibility? 
Will two of American Politics’ most twisted family trees entwine? And what of Rick Perry, finally dropping out of the race after recklessly declaring an ally leader to be a terrorist?
Has this madness left us forgetting sweater-vested Rick Santorum, who visited all those Pizza Rangers and won Iowa after all, only no one seems to care? Stay tuned…
(photos: deseretnews.com, anunews.net)
FROM JUDITH PODELL & ‘EARLENE’ VIA FACEBOOK:
Memphis Earlene is laughing so hard she’s got hiccups. Familiar blues territory — two women fighting over the same low-down, no-good, cheating man–but she finds it hard to believe how any woman could want him. As a matter of blues etiquette, Newt’s Ex was entitled to shoot him when he announced he wanted that open marriage.
**FOR MORE OF JUDITH/EARLENE, SEE:
http://memphisearlene.com/wp-comments-post.php
Hi Judith/Earlene–
Yep, I agree: hard to picture Newt as a guy women would fight over. And hard to picture Newt as President but unfortunately that could happen too! Yikes!
E.
PS: another great post on Facebook from blog fave Lupins. This censorship cartoon makes me think that no matter how much Newt yells, others– including, as he put it, when ‘they bring out an ex-wife’– will have their say:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150498535521275&set=a.180479986274.135777.177486166274&type=1&theater
This is just toooooo good.
Newt wants to be down there with the Christians and lions, but it’s increasingly clear he really belongs in the stadium seats, shouting “toga! toga! toga!”
Greetings Litotes–
Yes, we welcome and I’m sure Newt would appreciate your historic perspective.
A bit of history that keeps returning to me is how fiercely Newt criticized Clinton for his own mistress mistakes– but at least Bill wasn’t proposing a three-way with Monica and Hillary, or not that we know of!
Yes, good times for Celeb in Disgrace watchers, though, for sure. Keep your seat in the arena and keep the comments coming–
Party on! E
From ROBIN via FACEBOOK:
I’m reminded of that old Carol Burnett send-up, “As the Stomach Churns.”
PS to ROBIN:
Loved your reminding and looked up a YouTube link to Carol Burnett & Company– turns out the name was AS THE STOMACH TURNS, not Churns but either works for me. I put the link at the top of the post–
If only this GOP race were a comedy skit on a ’70s show rather than all too real Reality TV in the here and now–
Cheers
Elizabeth
I can remember when Gingrich divorced his older high school math teacher wife, who was in the hospital with cancer, and married Mary Ann. They were quite the power couple in Washington, and when he dumped her, I knew she would come back with a vengeance…and she did. But it didn’t make any difference and Newt turned it around to his advantage. This guy is dangerous and scary,but because he is the best debater in the sorry bunch of nominees, I fear that he could win it. I only hope that before the Republican Convention convenes, enough of his sordid, corrupt, immoral past will falsify his grandiloquent rhetoric.
Hi Barb–
Good to hear from you always and good to hear from someone who remembers Mrs. Newt #1. And yes, Mrs. Newt #2 is going for the jugular. I agree the fact that Newt does have the advantage of being a powerful debater. But I can’t see enough mainstream voters going for him to give him the nomination. I believe the GOP will win up with a very weakened Romney at the end of the day. As you put it so well, Newt’s “sordid, corrupt, immoral past” will drag him down in the end, or so we hope. Cheers– Elizabeth