Occupy Newt

I usually don't throw a lot of opinionated stuff in here, but I can't resist. The anybody but Romney people perplex me. They really will choose anybody, because Mitt once was pro-choice, Romneycare, and well, I'm not sure what else.

I like Newt. He's loaded with ideas, funny, and he was Speaker during a good period. But come on:

1. He sat on a couch with Nancy Pelosi. This wasn't an explicit endorsement of Pelosi's environmental policies, but Newt did talk about what he agreed with Nancy on.

2. His marriages. Now, I'm libertarian, so I'm judging him. That's between him, his wives, and Jesus. Yet my social conservative friends are judging Mitt negatively because he was once pro-choice. This guy cheated on his wives. I don't see how you can be "pro-family" and be okay with that.

3. "Right wing social engineering" The Ryan budget was something the whole party chose to rally around, whether establishment or tea party. And Newt tore all that down in one interview. You might say that Newt backed off that, but it showed that Newt is a prima donna who doesn't work well with others. Those that served with him in the House say that he was a terrible leader and you can see that because he's the only Speaker I know of that's ever been thrown out by his own party. I think Newt would spend his Presidency fighting with Republicans.

4. Earmarks. Newt is the father of earmarks.

5. He was giving advice to Freddie Mac while they were bringing down the economy.

6. His support of the individual mandate, something he was still pushing a year ago. I'm even giving him a pass for lobbying for Big Pharma to create the prescription drug plan. If they did it for seniors in need, that's one thing, but it's welfare for the rich. Okay, maybe I'm not quite giving him a pass.

7. His attack on capitalism. The core of my beliefs is individual responsibility. I believe that other people shouldn't be responsible for me. If things don't go my way, I don't ask government to bail me out. What Romney did at Bain was amazing. He didn't ask for a government hand-out or expect someone else to do it. He went in to troubled companies and most of the time succeeded in turning them around. Having had my own business, I know how important people like this are.

And they're vilified by the left and the Occupy movement. And Newt has taken the Occupy rhetoric and hammered it on Romney. He's confirmed that wealthy people are evil robber barons who live off the misery of others. That's entirely inaccurate, but when a Republican says it, the left's argument is bolstered.

I can defend Romney better than he can defend himself, but I understand looking for an alternative to Romney. Just because Newt zings the media in interviews doesn't make him it.