Newt Gingrich... (*SIGH*)

Well, folks, more evidence highlighted in today's WSJ buttressing my fear that Newt Gingrich has "gone rogue."

Quoting:

The former Speaker blew through Des Moines last Tuesday for the Renewable Fuels Association summit, and his keynote speech to the ethanol lobby was as pious a tribute to the fuel made from corn and tax dollars as we've ever heard.

Mr. Gingrich explained that "the big-city attacks" on ethanol subsidies are really attempts to deny prosperity to rural America, adding that "Obviously big urban newspapers want to kill it because it's working, and you wonder, 'What are their values?'"

Ah, Newt... why'd ya have to do it...?

Bad enough you supported TARP... bad enough you "accepted" the supposed "necessity" of some government bailouts... but ethanol...? Really...???

Quoting:

Given that Mr. Gingrich aspires to be President, his ethanol lobbying raises larger questions about his convictions and judgment.

Nope. No more "questions." Gingrich has - unfortunately - just given us the answer.

Newt Gingrich has now officially "Jumped the Shark" as far as I'm concerned.

Ethanol is a litmus test. Period. Support for "corn ethanol" subsidies is simply beyond the pale.

Quoting:

In his Iowa speak-power-to-truth lecture, [Gingrich] even suggested that the government should mandate that all new cars in the U.S. be flex-fuel vehicles - meaning those that can run on an ethanol-gas mix as high as 85% - as if King Corn were in any danger of being deposed.

(*SIGH*)

Quoting:

[F]lex-fuel cars when they get 25% to 30% fewer miles per gallon with E85, according to Energy Department data.

(*SIGH*)

Quoting:

Some pandering is inevitable in presidential politics, but, befitting a college professor, Mr. Gingrich insists on portraying his low vote-buying as high "intellectual" policy. This doesn't bode well for his judgment as a president. Even Al Gore now admits that the only reason he supported ethanol in 2000 was to goose his presidential prospects, and the only difference now between Al and Newt is that Al admits he was wrong.

Folks... the only thing I can say is... "The King is dead - let's bury the son of a bitch."