South Carolina primary

Bush Leegers

Well, Newton Leroy Gingrich won the South Carolina primary, so you're probably wondering who Saul Alinsky is. Gingrich has mentioned him before, calling Obama a "Saul Alinsky radical," and he mentioned him again in his victory speech ... three times!

Saul Alinsky, born in 1909, was a community organizer who literally wrote the rules for a discipline that didn't exist yet. Here's part of what the NY Times said: Saul Alinsky, the Chicago activist and writer whose street-smart tactics influenced generations of community organizers, most famously the current president, could not have been more clear about which side he was on. In his 1971 text, “Rules for Radicals,” Mr. Alinsky, who died in 1972, explains his purpose: “What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. ‘The Prince’ was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. ‘Rules for Radicals’ is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.”

Clearly, Gingrich is trying to paint the president with an Alinsky brush, to make him appear "different" from the voters. It might work, it might not. We'll have to see.

Debatable

It's hard to believe that anyone was actually watching last night's debate in South Carolina. I think it was the 16th Republican debate, and I'm not sure what's left to debate, other than how much Just For Men Mitt Romney uses. But it had its moments.

When moderator John King began with a question to Newt Gingrich about whether he had asked his ex-wife for an "open" marriage so he could continue an affair with one of his staffers, Newt turned the question around, aimed it at the media, and stabbed King to death. The problem with American politics, he screamed, is American media. Newt was "appalled" that the "elite media" were so fixated on the trivia of candidates' personal lives. How dare King open a debate with such a question. The audience roared its approval and Newt didn't have to answer the question.

Personally, I couldn't care less whether Newt's marriage was open, closed, or under construction. I'm far more concerned with the damage he could do from the Oval Office than I am with whatever happened in his bedroom, but if you're going to ask an experienced politician an embarrassing question, you damn well better be prepared for a circular tap dance. Obviously, Mr. King was not.