Newt Gingrich and the Harvard Medical School Lab - According to Mark Shields

"....if Newt Gingrich is the nominee, Barack Obama will coast to a second term...Because, it will be all about Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich -- Newt Gingrich is such a flawed vessel and such a flawed candidate. He has more skeletons than the Harvard Medical School lab does...."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec11/sandb_12-02.html

Ahhhh, punditry!

Wonderful quote from pundit Mark Shields on the Friday night (Dec. 2nd) News Hour, with Jim Lehrer, who moderated a discussion on the show's commentary segment, "Shields and Brooks".

"Skeletons" are a metaphor Shields used to describe New Gingrich, a flawed candidate, a man who knows how to steal a political "Christmas" from the grasp of his Republican presidential "wanna-bees", but unable to live up to the appeal of Santa Claus, who was a man who cared about the welfare of others.

Gingrich is more than flawed when comparing his moral character with President Obama's, especially if the inquiring news reporters will pursue a discussion of the former House speaker's admitted infidelities with his current and past wives.

If candidate Mitt Romney is unable to garner the Republican presidential nomination, in competition with Newt Gingrich, then the presidential race 2012 will be about Newt Gingrich as a flawed candidate.  It will be a presidential campaign about character rather than substance.

If Christian RWE-RWEs (rightwingextremists) sincerely believe morality is more important in a president than intellect and political prowess, then they should start the voting line today in support of President Obama's second term.

On the other hand, if morality truly is the key ingredient to making RWE-RWEs politically satisfied, then they need to warm up to Mitt Romney, because he can stand toe to toe with President Obama to pass the morality litmus test, regardless of his many politically flip-flopped opinions.

Skeletons are good teaching tools, but when Harvard and other medical school students need experience, they need to work on real people.  Is Newt Gingrich a champion of "real people" or a political opportunist?

For example, real people should realize how Gingrich's opinions on child labor are scary, especially because a foot in the door on this issue will lead to exploitation.  If  Mr. Gingrich wants to employ idle children who have no role models, so as  to teach them work ethics, then he needs to support more programs for Head Start, and educational initiatives, to keep poor and inner city children in school, through college.

Caring people don't discuss divorce with their wife while she's recovering from surgery, either. (I hesitate using this story because it's so incendiary, but well documented.)  "she was recovering from surgery to remove a tumor, and the former House speaker admits that they 'got into an argument'." http://factcheck.org/2011/12/the-gingrich-divorce-myth/

In the same New Hour segment, Mr. Shields says a presidential campaign about Newt Gingrich and his character will be bad for our country, because the issues will be overshadowed by character judgments.

So, as I see it, the GOP presidential primary is about how much Christian conservatives can compromise with their own very high bar regarding who is qualified for American leadership.

Maybe Christian conservatives need to examine an actual laboratory human skeleton, so they can learn to realize how every human structural support system is flawed at the bones.