Kicking Newt Around...(this is so "last month")

"Connecting" with folks in Oklahoma.

Since his apparent devolution back into irrelevance,  we haven't paid much attention to Newt Gingrich lately.  But this, from Talking Points Memo, deserves notice - if only because it's SNL-worthy:

Speaking at a town hall-style event at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK, Newt Gingrich mocked the Obama Administration's promotion of smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Let me start from a simple premise that Oklahomans will understand: you cannot put a gun rack in a Volt," Gingrich said.

Rick Santorum's Higher Ground

"With what judgment ye judge..."

Apparently Rick Santorum has his sights set higher than the Presidency. From his words one can only infer that he aspires to be our theologian-in-chief, rhetorically excommunicating millions of American Protestants from, in his view, "the world of Christianity."

               Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy         Clip from Up w/ Chris Hayes

Santorum has followed that humble judgement up with the earnest accusation this week against President Obama that he adheres to "some phony theology.  Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology, but no less a theology."

In this spirit of theological inquiry, our Bible lesson for today comes from the Gospel According to St. Matthew, HERE.

Stubborn facts about the GOP's spending cuts "austerity agenda"

Paul Krugman at NYTs:

Pain Caucus peddling failed ideas from Europe

(I)n early 2010 austerity economics — the insistence that governments should slash spending even in the face of high unemployment — became all the rage in European capitals. The doctrine asserted that the direct negative effects of spending cuts on employment would be offset by changes in “confidence,” that savage spending cuts would lead to a surge in consumer and business spending, while nations failing to make such cuts would see capital flight and soaring interest rates...

Now the results are in — and they’re exactly what three generations’ worth of economic analysis and all the lessons of history should have told you would happen. The confidence fairy has failed to show up: none of the countries slashing spending have seen the predicted private-sector surge. Instead, the depressing effects of fiscal austerity have been reinforced by falling private spending.